Ch 5: The Sly Sheriff and Bill-Hair Tea

Eric sat behind his desk at Fangtasia deep in thought, absentmindedly twirling the note he had retrieved from the abandoned shack through his fingers. He brought the parchment to his nose and inhaled. Closing his eyes he savored the unique smell. When he had found the first note taped to Fangtasia’s back door after he rose he had thought it was a joke. A very bad joke that someone would pay for. Pamela dealt with plenty of pranks at the bar, although they were usually teenage humans over the phone. His progeny was huffing and complaining when he commanded her to go to the location indicated to check it out. When she called him to tell him there was indeed another note about vampire drainers he had immediately gone to investigate. The first thing he noticed when he entered the shack was an intoxicating scent. Although it had faded he knew right away they were dealing with a supernatural being, or at least part supernatural. The strong smell of human was unmistakable as well. Upon further investigation he became more intrigued and curious about the entire situation. His office door flung open and Pam sauntered in. “They’re singing like canaries.” Her red lips turned upward in a devious grin. She placed her hands on her hips and stood before Eric with pride. Her ability to torture and extract information from humans was unnecessary with glamour but she did it anyway for kicks and giggles. “So it’s true. They are drainers,” Eric frowned. “How many?” “Three that they remember. But they’ve blacked out so many times from being high on V so much. Who knows? It could be more.” “Anyone from our area?” He dreaded the answer. Of course there would be, the despicable pair of humans lived here. He just hoped that maybe he could pawn off some of the responsibility on another Sheriff. Pam’s grin was replaced by a sneer of disdain. “A baby vampire from Monroe last year. Gabe’s child. She was only two years old.” Eric sighed. “I’ll have to give him a call.” Gabe was a good friend of his and a loyal subordinate. He had known the Italian vampire for over a hundred years and remembers when his progeny had gone missing last fall. The case had been open for almost a year. Pam’s eyes flickered to the note that Eric was tapping lightly under his nose. “What do we know about our little source?” “Female, virgin, smells good.” He said staring into open space, a million thoughts running through his mind. “I will indulge her for now.” Until he wouldn’t. A small grin formed on his lips. Pam raised an eyebrow. She knew Eric’s sense of smell was good but sometimes it still intrigued her. He picked up the most subtle scents just from analyzing the note and area it was found with his nose. He even picked up a trace of saliva on the note. What she didn’t know was why he was playing this little game with the human air freshener. “Could be a trick.” Pam trusted no one. Eric taught her that. “I don’t think so. Drainers are of no consequence to her. It would seem that she is trying to help me but I don’t know why.” The only one’s who flocked to him were those who wanted to fuck him, kill him, or steal what was his. It usually was not a good thing. But somehow he sensed this was not the case regarding this woman. She was a mystery and an enigma. “A female telepath and seer. That is a rare commodity that we could use.” Pam said, stating the obvious. “I would rather have her as a cooperative and loyal commodity. I don’t think she is fully human. She’s skittish right now, we have to play this right.” He looked at Pam and his fangs slid out at the clever idea that formed in his mind. “Find me a battery powered surveillance camera that is capable of satellite feed back to my laptop… Get it tonight.” Eric decided he would agree to the woman’s terms, for now. He didn’t want to scare her away before he was able to figure out what she wanted, and he wasn’t sure what she may be capable of. She claimed she would know if he hired someone to snatch her. He wasn’t sure if that was the truth but for now he wasn’t going to take the risk. She never mentioned anything about electronic devices. He could hide a camera in the shack and she would most likely never know. This may provide him with valuable clues as to her identity. Plus, he wanted to know if she looked as attractive as she smelled. That would be a nice treat. His very own seer telepath, who not only smelled good, which was an indication her blood was delicious, but who was also beautiful. He chuckled disgustedly with amusement. Beautiful? So few human women were anymore, at least the ones he came in contact with. They could be beautiful if they took care of themselves. But the fangbanger variety that he was so used to did little to appease his appetite these days. And it wasn’t just their lack of physical beauty, their attitude was deplorable as well. No, he would not hold out any hopes that this woman was any different than the hordes of female’s that graced his club and eventually his bed. I watched Claudine in disgust as she happily sipped on Bill Compton hair tea. “Do you seriously enjoy that?” I asked with a scrunched up nose. It actually smelled pretty good. “It is quite delicious, Sookeh,” Claudine said with a deep southern drawl that was the all too familiar voice of Bill Compton. I laughed so hard my face started turning red and I had to stop just to catch my breath. Hearing Bill Compton’s voice coming out of the petite fairy’s mouth was just too much. She smiled mischievously. “How did you know he called me Sookeh?” She shrugged. “The magic in the tea I guess.” “How long do the effects last? Maybe I should drink some and make the phone call myself.” I didn’t really want to make the call but I thought it would be fun to talk like Bill Compton. “About 24 hours, give or take.” She told me, sipping again. I couldn’t help but cringe a little inside everytime her lips touched that cup. I may even throw it away after this is all over. “Okay, never mind.” I definitely didn’t want Bill’s voice for the next 24 hours. Claudine took the last sip from the tea cup. “Okay, that’s all of it. I know what to say, and I’m ready. Do you have the vampire’s phone with you?” “Yes, and Sophie-Anne’s number is programmed in. We’re in luck.” We would have been screwed if it hadn’t been. But that little prick had known about me this whole time. The number in the phone only proved it. I cannot believe Sookie had been played like that. But that is where we were very different. I wasn’t the naive little girl that she had been, plus it helped to have seen the show from start to finish. I had this shit in the bag. We both took a deep breath. We had been practicing for the better part of an hour. She played Compton and I was the Queen. We acted out every possible scenario I could think of. Claudine was a quick thinker and smother talker. I guess hundreds of years of life experience will do that to you. I handed her the phone. “It’s ready. Just press call when you want to begin.” She took the phone and nodded, turning it on speaker so I could hear. After a few seconds passed she pressed the send button. I held my breath as it rang. “Compton,” I heard the Queen purr on the other end. “Have you made contact with Hadley’s cousin?” “Yes,” Claudine said in Bill’s voice. “I made contact tonight at her place of work.” “And?” Sophie-Anne demanded. “Is she telepathic? Is she special?” “Unfortunately, no. She isn’t even very attractive.” Claudine winked at me. I put my hand over my mouth to prevent a giggle. “Really?” She said clearly disappointed. “I glamoured her and sampled her blood. It was ordinary.” “Did you question her about reading minds while she was glamoured?” “Of course. I’m not sure why her cousin thought she could be telepathic, she definitely isn’t.” Claudine tried to sound irritated that her time had been wasted. “Perhaps the girl lied to Hadley about it when they were children. Human children often do that.” “Well Shoot!” The Queen pouted. “I was so looking forward to my very own pet telepath. Not to mention all the baby Faeries I would have had.” Just the thought caused me to shiver. She was truly disgusting. Breeding Fae for personal use was horrible. Maybe I would pay her a little visit in order to insure the safety of any Fae she might find else where. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, my Queen.” “Very Well. I will be in touch should I need your procurement services again, William. Ta Ta” “I am at your service, my Queen.” Claudine laid it on thick. The Queen disconnected and Claudine snapped the phone shut. My eyes were wide. “I can’t believe we just did that!” “I would not make a habit of using this method. It can be dangerous and it’s against vampire laws to deceive a monarch. Should this Queen of Louisiana find out she will hunt you. We can’t have that.” “Don’t worry. I don’t think I will want to have anything to do with the Queen again. I still have some of Bill’s hair just in case. I’ll power his phone off so it can’t be tracked.” “Is there anything else you need from me tonight, Sookie?” “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about my powers.” I ran a hand through my hair trying to figure out where to start. “Can you help me learn to control my telepathy? You know putting my shields up and stuff?” “I’d love to, Sookie.” “In the past I always thought of my telepathy as a disability.” TV Sookie did, not me. “I want to fully embrace my fae powers, including other things like using my light.” Claudine’s eyes widened. “Sookie, I’m overjoyed to hear that. Very few fae-human hybrids truly embrace their fae side and so never unlock their full potential.” “What do you mean?” I cocked an eyebrow. I figured Sookie just had less power since she was only part fae. “Well, it doesn’t matter how much fae or how much human you have in your genes. You either have the spark or you don’t.” “Wait a second. I thought I had less light and it could run out since I’m a halfling?” I swore I specifically remembered Sookie’s fairy grandfather telling her to not use it unless she had to or she would loose it forever. “Yes, at this point that is true. Your light is not infinite. But you can learn to draw it back into yourself after you use it. That will get you by for now. The reason it is finite is because, lets be honest Sookie, you have always despised your differences to humans in the past. You wanted to be normal. That sort of negative energy works against your magic like a poison. With proper training and practice, and your willingness to fully embrace your light it will grow into as much as any full blooded fae would have. And since your line is royalty you could potentially be even more powerful than an ordinary fairy.” Boy! Niall left this bit of information out when he was talking to Sookie in the show. I guess he just wasn’t willing to give her the proper training that she needed. “Are you saying I can eventually have all the light a normal fairy has? All the power and benefits that come with it if I cut out the negativity about myself?” I definitely am not negative about being magical. I love the idea of smiting the shit out of stuff. “Yes. And then probably some other powers as well. Like I said, your line is royal.” “Well I definitely don’t have extended life. Don’t some fairy’s live thousands of years?” “If you really are willing to embrace your powers as you said then yes you will age slowly like all fairies who carry the spark. Another common ability is using your light to heal, as a shield, or even a weapon.” I realized that Sookie from TV never really embraced her fae side. She always moaned about wanting to be human and thought her gifts were a disability. She had even tried at one point to get rid of that power. If what Claudine was telling me is true all I have to do is hone my skill and embrace my fairy side and I could live 1000’s of years. My jaw nearly hit the floor. It was incomprehensible, and my outlook on life changed that very second. It sounded to good to be true. Then again I wasn’t sure if I had to go back to my original world, the one that seemed less real then this one at this point. When and if I go back will I have these powers still? Will I still be part fae? “Can you teach me?” “Of course, Sookie. That is part of my job as your fairy godmother after all.” We made plans for her to begin teaching me but tonight I was exhausted. I just wanted to go to bed and I was excited to go back to the shack tomorrow and check if Eric responded to me. I was really nervous that he was going to try something sneaky but I pushed that out of my mind. I could only hope that my plan worked. If I approached him directly at Fangtasia I felt like he might claim me. He doesn’t even know me. I knew from watching the show that despite him trying to act like a bad ass he was actually a pretty complicated person. He did have a heart buried in there somewhere but at this point I wasn’t willing to risk meeting him. A/N: Eric looks down at you through his extended fangs. “Only good little humans leave reviews. Don’t make me show you what happens to naughty humans.”