Mallory Reads 'Dead Until Dark'

In the first chapter of Dead Until Dark, we are introduced to our heroine, small-town cocktail waitress, Sookie Stackhouse.

I’m blonde and blue-eyed and twenty-five, and my legs are strong and my bosom is substantial.

Every man’s dream girl, right? But Sookie has a “disability” as she calls it. She can read minds. I imagine being able to read minds would make for a crappy dating life. And not just a crappy dating life, a crappy overall life. I can honestly say I would not want to know what people thought about me all the time. The people in town all think that Sookie is crazy, bless her heart.

The book begins when a vampire walks into a bar. LOL. Kinda sounds like the beginning of a bad joke... Anyways, he takes a seat in Sookie’s section. She’s all happy and stuff cause she’s never met a vampire before.

Ever since vampires came out of the coffin (as they laughingly put it) two years ago, I’d hoped one would come to Bon Temps.

Vampires have revealed themselves to the world and are now a part of society. This would be nifty if it really happened. I have to admit, I would want to meet one, too.

I knew immediately what he was. It amazed me when no one else turned around to stare. They couldn’t tell! But to me, his skin had a little glow, and I just knew.

I wonder if the fact that vampires glow to Sookie is linked to her mind reading. I don’t really remember, but I think it may have something to do with her heritage.

The next character we are introduced to is Sam Merlotte. All we know about him so far is that he is Sookie’s boss at the bar. Sookie goes to take the vampire’s order and seems enthralled by his appearance.

He was a little under six feet, I estimated. He had thick brown hair, combed straight back and brushing his collar, and his long sideburns seemed curiously old-fashioned. He was pale, of course; hey, he was dead, if you believed the old tales. The politically correct theory, the one the vamps themselves publicly backed, had it that this guy was the victim of a virus that left him apparently dead for a couple of days and thereafter allergic to sunlight, silver and garlic. The details depended on which newspaper you read. They were all full of vampire stuff these days. Anyway, his lips were lovely, sharply sculpted, and he had arched dark brows. His nose swooped down right out of that arch, like a prince’s in a Byzantine mosaic. When he finally looked up, I saw his eyes were even darker than his hair, and the whites were incredibly white.

The vampire needs to get with the 21^st century apparently. Sideburns? This is not the 1970’s, vampire. At least, I don’t think it is. Also, what does a Byzantine mosaic prince look like?

We also get some insight here into the vampire rules in Sookie’s world. Once, Courtney and I attempted to do a vampire study and found that in almost every work of fiction involving vampires, the rules as to what vampires can and cannot do, what can hurt and kill them, and where and how they live, differ. Right now, we know that vampires in these books are affected by sunlight, silver and garlic. But they don’t seem to be dead, just infected with some sort of virus.

Since Sam has not yet received the supply of synthetic blood he ordered, (Why has he ordered synthetic blood if there are never vampires in Bon Temps?) the vampire orders red wine. Kinda like blood. Sookie’s time with him is interrupted by the Rattrays, Mack and Denise. They are nasty people who’ve been in jail for unknown crimes.

Sookie goes back to the bar and Sam pours the wine for their guest. He is also aware the newbie is a vampire.

Sam’s eyes are Paul Newman blue, as opposed to my own hazy blue gray. Sam is blond, too, but his hair is wiry and his blond is almost a sort of hot red gold. He is always a little sunburned, and though he looks slight in his clothes, I have seen him unload trucks with his shirt off, and he has plenty of upper body strength. I never listened to Sam’s thoughts. He’s my boss. I’ve had to quit jobs before because I found out things I didn’t want to know about my boss.

She takes the wine to the vamp and is then irritated when the Rats go sit with him. She complains to Arlene, a fellow waitress who is red-headed and 10 years older than Sookie. Arlene is dating Rene Lenier, a man who was also her second husband. She has two kids.

We learn more about the synthetic blood she mentioned before. The Japanese created it so vampires could get all of their required nutrients without eating people. But this does not satisfy their hunger, and sometimes there are “unfortunate incidents”. Yeah… they still eat people in secret I bet. Arlene thinks the vampire is hungry and Denise is flaunting her neck like a slab of steak at their table. This makes Sookie mad.

It’s evident early on that Sookie is a better person than me. She seems to genuinely care about people she doesn’t really know. That makes me sound like a terrible person, doesn’t it? Oh well.

Then, NEW CHARACTER! Jason Stackhouse, Sookie’s brother, comes in. He’s described as a good-looking womanizer. But all the ladies still line up to be used by him. Now I’m no feminist, but why do women want to be with men like this? When you know what they’ve done to other women? Do you think it will be different with you? That you can change them? Just stop it! You don’t need a man to be happy! *Stepping down from soap box*

He came into the bar looking for a hookup and settles his sights on DeeAnne, some rando girl. Run DeeAnne!

Sookie heads back to check on the vampire and learns from the Rattray’s thoughts that they were, in fact, arrested for draining vampires.

Since vampire blood was supposed to temporarily relieve symptoms of illness and increase sexual potency, kind of like prednisone and Viagra rolled into one, there was a huge black market for genuine, undiluted vampire blood.

Another thing to add to the vampire rules list: their blood heals and increases libido. Interesting. Also when you drain a vampire, they usually die soon after. The vampire gets up and leaves with the scumbag couple and Sookie freaks out.

Okay, so this vampire is obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Now given, I don’t know what they said to him, but they are basically described as trailer trash and they were totally rude to Sookie! What could they have told him to make him be like, ‘Yeah, I’ll go with you guys. Cool.’? No.

Sookie asks her brother if he still has this chain in his truck that he apparently uses to fight people with. Umm what? He tells her he does and seems to realize she needs it for dangerous things but lets her go. He does ask if she needs help, but when she says no, he just goes back to flirting. Brother of the year. Sookie get Arlene to cover for her and goes out after them. She finds the chain and creeps off to the edge of the parking lot into the darkness where she finds them draining the vampire.

He must also not be the strongest vampire ever if these two morons managed to get the better of him. Just saying.

They have the vampire wrapped in silver chains so he’s rendered helpless. In a slightly unrealistic moment (like any of this is real…VAMPIRES REALLY LIVE AMOUNG US!), Sookie throws the chain at Mack and it gets somehow wrapped around his neck. He drops his knife, Sookie grabs it, and threatens Denise. The two head back to their car. I guess they decided to give up since Mack could not get the chain off and Denise thought she would get stabbed….or something. They do try to run Sookie over with their car but miss her.

Sookie tends to the vampire, pulling off the silver chains so he can move again. Then, LOL.

“Thank you,” he said stiffly. So he wasn’t thrilled about being rescued by a woman. Typical guy. Since he was being so ungracious, I felt I could do something rude, too, and I listened to him, opening my mind completely. And I heard… nothing. “Oh,” I said, hearing the shock in my own voice, hardly knowing what I was saying. “I can’t hear you.” “Thank you!” the vampire said, moving his lips exaggeratedly.

New list item: vampires are immune to telepathic powers.

Then he tries to get all seductive but she’s not having any of that. She also proves to be smarter than him.

I held my arm out and turned my neck. While he’d been recovering, I’d been wrapping the Rat’s chains around my neck and arms.

I like a smart heroine. Ones that totally lack common sense and don’t seem to value their own safety are annoying. She still realizes this dude is a vampire who drinks blood and probably kills people, even if he is attractive and seductive. He offers to let her keep the blood the Rats drained from him, but she refuses. Then she laughs in his face when he tells her his name is Bill.

She goes back to work and finishes her shift before going home. Serving drinks, saving lives, all in a day’s work.

Sookie lives only four miles from the bar, but her house is far off the road, down a long driveway and through the woods. Also it’s really her grandma’s house. (Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go….) And it’s near a cemetery. Creepy. Sookie’s grandma, Adele, is waiting up for her. This sounds like something my grandma would do if I lived with her. She calls me every day as it is, so I get it.

Sookie informs her gran that she met a vampire and the old woman wonders how old the vampire is. She is a member of a club called The Descendants of the Glorious Dead, and they would love to have him come and speak to their club sometime. Sookie promises to ask if she sees him again.

We learn that both of Sookie’s parents died some years ago and she has lived with her grandmother ever since. The next day, Jason shows up as Sookie is sunbathing. Rene, who works with Jason, told him he’d heard about what happened between Sookie and the Rattrays the night before. She informs Jason she was defending herself and the vampire.

Jason lives in his parent’s old house. Adele had raised the two after their parent’s deaths but after two years of college, Jason had moved out on his own. Money their parents left them had helped keep them both afloat since. Sookie lives with her grandmother largely to help the woman pay her bills, as she owns a lot of property and only draws from social security.

Jason reveals to the two (after lunch and other conversation… why wait since this is CRAZY NEWS?) that Maudette Pickens, a girl that graduated from high school with Sookie was murdered. She had vampire marks on her inner thighs but what killed her was strangulation. NEW TERM: fang-bangers. Vampire groupies who like being chewed on. Bill could be a suspect. Though, as Sookie points out, so could Jason. Her brother often visited the gas station where Maudette worked and had certain sexual relations with her on more than one occasion.

Later at the bar, Sookie gets a good scolding from her boss. Pretty reasonable, I’d say. Why did she go out there alone with no backup?

He gripped my shoulders and gave me a little shake. Then he stood looking at me with wide crackling blue eyes, and I felt a surge of heat rushing out from him. Touching accelerates my disability, makes it imperative that I hear the person touching me. I stared right into his eyes for a long moment, then I remembered myself, and I jumped back as his hands dropped away. I whirled and left the storeroom, spooked. I’d learned a couple of disconcerting things. Sam desired me; and I couldn’t hear his thoughts as clearly as I could other people’s. I’d had waves of impressions of how he was feeling, but not thoughts.

Hmmm… very interesting. Why can’t she seem to hear his thoughts? He’s not a vampire. Could he be something else? Something…  not quite human? Also, will this become a love triangle? LOVE TRIANGLES ARE THE BEST! At the moment, it looks like a no. Sookie is possibly a virgin, sex being too complicated for someone who can hear everything their partner is thinking, and also she likes her job and hooking up with the boss is not always a smart idea. But then…

The next two nights were better. We fell back into our comfortable relationship. I was relieved. I was disappointed.

Disappointed? Perhaps there is hope after all.

Sookie makes mention of Rene and Hoyt, Jason’s other friend, and how they’ve informed her the Rattrays are still pissed and want revenge and stuff. Sookie doesn’t seem worried, which is probably not smart. Bill returns to the bar and asks her, for the second time, what she is. He senses she is a telepath, I suppose. Or maybe something else that I can’t talk about because it doesn’t happen until way later. She avoids the question but asks him if he will meet her after work so she can ask him something. Why she can’t just ask now, I don’t know. It’s not like it would take that long to ask ‘will you come talk to my grandma’s club?’ but okay.

But when she goes to leave work that night, it’s not Bill waiting on her, but Mack and Denise.

Mack Rattray jumped out from behind my car and in one stride got close enough to clip me in the jaw. He didn’t hold back one little bit, and I went down onto the gravel like a sack of cement. I let out a yell when I went down, but the ground knocked all the air out of me and some skin off of me, and I was silent and breathless and helpless.

I think now I will start counting how many times Sookie gets beat up. Consider this 1. They start kicking her and she realizes they are going to kill her. She tries to fight them but they continue the beating until she hears the sound of a dog growling.

“What the hell is that?” Mack Rattray asked, and he sounded absolutely terrified.

So not a dog, I’m guessing. But then… what? Before we can find out there is a snarl, not from the dog-creature, and screams. The Rattrays seem to disappear. The dog hangs around until the snarl-er comes back.

Oddly enough, soon after that I heard two voices. Then a pair of knees covered in bloody blue jeans came into my view. The vampire Bill leaned over so I could look into his face. There was blood smeared on his mouth, and his fangs were out, glistening white against his lower lip.

Guessing the Rats are dead. And two voices? Who does the other belong to? Dogs don’t talk, do they? Bill takes Sookie out into the woods and feeds her his blood to heal her.

“Sorry, don’t wanna be a vampire,” I said, and my voice was weak and thready.

This is something that separates Sookie from a lot of heroines in vampire novels. She doesn’t, at least as of now, want to be a vampire. Perhaps that will change.

I tried to stick out my tongue, managed. He was bleeding, squeezing to encourage the flow of blood from his wrist into my mouth. I gagged. But I wanted to live. I forced myself to swallow. And swallow again. Suddenly the blood tasted good, salty, the stuff of life. My unbroken arm rose, my hand clamped the vampire’s wrist to my mouth. I felt better with every swallow. And after a minute, I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, I was still in the woods, still lying on the ground. Someone was stretched out beside me; it was the vampire. I could see his glow. I could feel his tongue moving on my head. He was licking my head wound.

Ewww. Am I right? Anyway, the blood heals her and then she spills her guts to Bill, telling him she can read minds. Well, all minds but his. Then he tells her he killed the Rattrays. Kinda sweet I guess. Hey I just met you, and this is crazy, but I killed the people who hurt you, so like me maybe.

She doesn’t seem especially bothered by his confession. Which, given, the Rats were rats and probably deserved to die, but I still think I’d be all freaked that I was chilling on the lap of a murderer. She asks him if he’ll talk to her grandma’s club since he was turned in 1870 at the age of 30, which makes him around 160 years old. He asks if he can call on her sometime and she says yes.

“And what about the dog?” I said. I turned to look at my savior. He wasn’t there.
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In chapter two of Dead Until Dark, vampire groping!

The morning after Sookie’s first beating, her Gran gets a call informing her about the Rattray’s deaths. A tornado hit their trailer and they were both crushed to death. :0

On her way to work, Sookie goes by Four Tracks Corner, where the two lived, to survey the damage for herself.

The trailer, a very small and old one, lay crushed ten feet behind its original location. The Rattray’s dented red car was still resting on one end of the accordion-pleated mobile home. Bushes and debris were littered around the clearing, and the woods behind the trailer showed signs of a great force passing through; branches snapped off, the top of one pine hanging down by a thread of bark.

So Bill can turn a whole trailer over, but he can’t stop two morons from taking his blood?

While she’s at the trailer, Mike Spencer, the medical examiner, and Bud Dearborn, the sheriff, pull up and question her. They know she had a spat with the Rattrays and while they also know she could not have caused all of the damage around them, they suspect that maybe her new vampire friend could have. They reveal a piece of information Sookie did not know about Bill. He lives in the old Compton house, a house that just happens to be right next door to Sookie’s. (Well over the cemetery and through the woods.)

It is quite obvious that the two do not fancy vampires and do not think Sookie should be associating with one either.

When she gets to work, everyone is talking about the “tornado”. When a customer slips his hand up Sookie’s shorts, Rene jumps up to defend her. He tells her it’s because she reminds him of his sister, Cindy, who moved to Baton Rouge several years back. That’s nice, I guess.

The next day, Sookie and her Gran spend the whole day cleaning the house before Bill comes over. When he arrives, he sits and talks to Adele about the past. He says he knew Jonas Stackhouse, Sookie’s great great great great infinite amount of greats… grandfather who first moved to Bon Temps and built the house she now lives in.

Also Bill shops at Dillard’s. Why Dillard’s, Bill? Why not Macy’s? Or JC Penny?

After their chat, Bill takes Sookie on a walk. He confirms he’s killed people. He doesn’t yet disclose to her how he became a vampire, but reveals another item for our list: vampires can glamour people, which basically means vamps can control human minds. Interestingly enough, when he tries to use his glamour on Sookie (she asks him to BTW), it doesn’t work. Bill also tells her that most people cannot see a vampire’s glow like she can. WHAT IS UP WITH SOOKIE? (I know, but still.)

And to get in another list item: Bill can levitate. But not all vampires possess the same powers. Which begs the question, what other powers do some vampires have?

Sookie talks more about her abilities and how she has learned to “put up a wall” over the years to help block thoughts out.  We also discover that Sookie’s parents died in a flash flood accident on a bridge when she was in the second grade. Then,

“It’s not your fault you were infected with a virus.” Bill snorted, even managing to sound elegant doing that. “There have been many theories as long as there have been vampires. Maybe that one is true.” Then he looked as if he was sorry he’d said that. “If what makes a vampire is a virus,” he went on in a more offhand manner, “it’s a selective one.”

Okay, so maybe vampires don’t have a virus? But to become one (list it) a vampire has to drain a human to the point of death and feed them their blood. Then, 48 hours later, new vampire. However,

“…when people are near death for some other reason, a car accident or a drug overdose, perhaps, the process can go…badly wrong.”

Hmm. Might this be important later? REMEMBER THIS!!

I was getting the creepies.

LOL. Who says creepies?

The conversation shifts when Sookie asks Bill what he plans to do with his newly inherited property. He responds that he plans to live there as long as he can because he’s tired of being a nomad. Or something. But the house is in serious need of work. The only problem is, Bill can only come out at night and the plumbers and electricians don’t usually work then. Sookie, being the good person that she is, offers to call them for him to help schedule a time for them to come out to his house.

“A vampire’s daytime resting place is his most closely guarded secret,” Bill said stiffly.

I guess this makes sense. If they’re weaker during the day, they wouldn’t want enemies knowing where they sleep. Then Bill dashes back to olden days and scolds Sookie for her short dress. Get with the times, Bill. I should also mention that my criticism of Bill’s sideburns wasn’t totally fair. Apparently, this is like Interview With a Vampire. Once you’re turned, you look exactly the same for all eternity. And I’m talking, no changing your hair style or anything.

Also Bill was married and had five kids when he was alive. And fought in the Civil War, for the Confederacy. Sookie talks again about not being able to date, they touch each other’s hair, talk about soap operas, walk some more and then,

He turned his head so his lips touched mine. After a moment, I reached to circle his neck with my arms. His kiss deepened, and I parted my lips. I’d never been kissed like this. It went on and on until I thought the whole world was involved in this kiss in the vampire’s mouth on mine. I could feel my breathing speeding up, and I began to want other things to happen.

They say goodnight and he invites her to come over to his place tomorrow.

Whereas she’s supposed to be off work the next day, she ends up having to go in because Dawn, another waitress, did not show up for her shift. At Merlotte’s she accidentally reads Arlene’s mind and gets upset when the red-head scolds her. Sam attempts to comfort her and reveals he knows the truth about her ability.

“I try not to listen, but I can’t always keep my guard up.” I felt a tear I hadn’t been able to quell start trickling down my cheek. “Is that how you do it? How do you keep your guard up, Sookie?” He sounded really interested, not as though he thought I was a basket case. I looked up, not very far, into Sam’s prominent, brilliant blue eyes. “I just…it’s hard to describe unless you can do it…I pull up a fence—no, not a fence, it’s like I’m snapping together steel plates—between my brain and all others.”

I kinda feel really bad for Sookie right now. Like I said before, it would really suck to be able to read minds.

“You have to hold the plates up?” “Yes. It takes a lot of concentration. It’s like dividing my mind all the time. That’s why people think I’m crazy. Half my brain is trying to keep the steel plates up, and the other half might be taking drink orders, so sometimes there’s not a lot left over for coherent conversation.” What a gush of relief I was feeling, just being able to talk about it.

Sam reveals he has spoken to Bill, who claimed Sookie could not hear his thoughts. Sam asks if she can hear his. NO, SHE CAN’T! WHY? But she only tells him she doesn’t want to try to read his thoughts because then she might have to quit her job. 

Just try it sometime, Sookie,” he said casually, turning to open a carton of whiskey with the razor-edged box cutter he kept in his pocket. “Don’t worry about me. You have a job as long as you want one.”

Sweet. But will she try to read his mind again? She must, she must!

When Sookie gets to Bill’s later that night, she notices that he has company. Unsure of whom it could be, she knocks on the door. Mistake.

The door was opened by a female vampire. She glowed like crazy. She was at least five feet eleven and black. She was wearing spandex. An exercise bra in flamingo pink and matching calf-length leggings, with a man’s white dress shirt flung unbuttoned, constituted the vampire’s ensemble.

Sounds like a real winner. Also, RUN SOOKIE! Turns out, hooker chick was not alone. She was accompanied by two other vampire males and two humans. Fang-bangers. They have an uncomfortable (for Sookie) encounter, where the vamps make suggestive remarks about Sookie and Bill’s relationship and accuse her of not feeding him well enough. Bill claims Sookie as his, presumably to keep the others away from her.

The vampires and their human blood bags start a big grope fest that disgusts Sookie. But she does learn vampires are capable of sex. Malcolm, the (apparently gay) male vampire, offers Jerry, his human, to Bill to feed on. But Sookie hears in Jerry’s mind that he has Sino-AIDS, a disease that also affects vampires. She stops Bill from drinking his blood and informs Malcolm, Liam, and Diane (the vamps) that Jerry was trying to poison them because a vampire had stolen his lover or something.

Jerry chokes Sookie for a moment. (Does this count as getting beat up?) But then the vampires pounce on him and knock him out. They drag him off, presumably to kill him. But Diane wonders how Sookie knew about Jerry’s secret. Bill manages to cover for her and the trio leaves.

Sookie is spooked by the whole thing, also pissed when Bill pokes fun at her, and leaves. It may be important to add that Bill confirms vampires can have sex but can’t have babies.

Not sure how well I’m feeling Bill at this point. He hasn’t won me over.

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In chapter 3, serial killers!

Sookie wakes up in a less-than-good mood, the phone ringing off the hook. It’s Sam, who asks Sookie if she will go over to Dawn’s house and see why she has not shown up for work…again. Even though she really doesn’t want to, Sookie agrees.

While on the way, we learn more info about Sookie’s family. Jason is three years older than Sookie, making him 28. (I like to know how old people are, so what?) Two years ago, Sookie’s aunt died of cancer and her only child, Hadley, had vanished to who even knew where. Basically, Gran has gone through some crap and it’s amazing she’s still in such high spirits.

Sookie arrives at Dawn’s duplex and knocks on the door but gets no response. She notices that pollen has fallen on the porch and there are no tracks, indicating Dawn has not gone anywhere. Ruh-roh. Rene shows up, well he lives across the street so I guess it’s less weird he happens to be around, and asks Sookie if she needs help. Why does he wanna help her all the time? Anyway… when Dawn still doesn’t come to the door, Sookie ventures around the side of the house and peers into the girl’s bedroom window.

Dawn was in bed on her back. The bedclothes were tossed around wildly. Her legs were spraddled. Her face was swollen and discolored, and her tongue protruded from her mouth. There were flies crawling on it.

That image disturbs me. And Sookie. She yells for Rene to call the cops and Sam, which he does. I suppose in the process of yelling, Sookie wakes Dawn’s neighbor, JB du Rone, who pokes his head out the window. JB was a high school classmate of Sookie’s. He is also one of the only men she’s ever dated. (And about as smart as a sack of hammers.) But he’s good looking and kinda sweet. So when Sookie can’t hold her emotions in any longer, he puts an arm around her to comfort her through her tears.

He tells her he’s not super surprised Dawn’s death appears to be violent because quote, she “liked ‘em rough.” When the cops, Kenya Jones (big black woman) and Kevin Prior (skinny white dude) show up, Sookie explains why she was at Dawn’s. Sookie hears Kevin, Rene, and JB all think about how they’ve slept with Dawn and hope no one finds out. That would look suspicious, after all. But in regards to Rene,

I couldn’t spell out his thoughts exactly, they were very black and snarled. Some people I can’t get a clear reading on. He was very agitated.

That is suspect. What’s also suspect:

Sam came hurrying toward me, slowing down when he saw JB was touching me. I could not read Sam’s thoughts. I could feel his emotions (right now a mix of worry, concern, and anger) but I could not spell out one single thought. This was so fascinating and unexpected that I stepped out of JB’s embrace, wanting to go up to Sam and grab his arms and look into his eyes and really probe around in his head. I remembered when he’d touched me, and I’d shied away. Now he felt me in his head and though he kept on walking toward me, his mind flinched back. Despite his invitation to me, he hadn’t known I would see he was different from others. I picked up on that until he shut me down. I’d never felt anything like it. It was like an iron door slamming. In my face.

What? So Sam isn’t your average run-of-the-mill human, it seems. Interesting.

He proceeds to ignore her for a few minutes (real mature, Sam) and we discover that he owns the duplexes Dawn and JB live in. He lets Kendra and Kevin into the house where they confirm Dawn is dead. (Well, yeah…most alive people don’t let flies crawl around on their tongues…) JB asks Sookie on a date and she politely refuses. She’s already got two men vying for her affections, JB. Back off, bro!

Sam finally talks to Sookie and says he’s sorry for sending her. He thought Dawn had just shacked up with some dude and last time he’d gone to her place to check on her, she’d fussed him out. Then a kind of sweet moment happens:

He didn’t turn to look at me or make any reply. But his fingers folded around mine. For a long moment, we stood in the sun with people buzzing around us, holding hands. His palm was hot and dry, and his fingers were strong. I felt I had truly connected with another human.

Sookie needs friends, ya’ll. JB informs her that Dawn said Sookie had a thing for Bill, which was ridiculous because Sookie couldn’t handle Bill….or something to that effect. Andy Bellefleur, resident detective, shows up to question Sookie. He asks about her relationship with Dawn and Sam’s relationship with her. It would appear (to me at least) that Sam is a suspect. NO!! He can’t be the killer. I like him. He then proceeds to ask her about Bill. He is also a suspect, of course.

When Sookie gets to the bar we are introduced to Andy’s cousin, Terry.

Terry had had a bad war in Vietnam, and he existed narrowly on government disability of some kind. He’d been wounded, captured, held prisoner for two years, and now his thoughts were most often so scary that I was extra special careful when I was around him. Terry had a hard life, and acting normal was even harder for him than it was for me. Terry didn’t drink much, thank God.

Poor Terry, man.

We are also introduced to Lafayette, the chef at Merlotte’s. The very flamboyant chef. And we meet Charlsie Tooten, a fill-in waitress, who is not that great at her job. (But what can you do when one of your waitresses is murdered?)

When Sam returns to the bar, he tells Sookie that Dawn was strangled, just like Maudette. She also had fang marks on her thighs. He seems to suspect Bill.

“Sookie.” His voice was so serious and quiet. It made me remember how he’d held my hand at Dawn’s house, and then I remembered how he’d shut me out of his mind, known I was probing, known how to keep me out. “Honey, Bill is a good guy, for a vampire, but he’s just not human.” “Honey, neither are you,” I said, very quietly but very sharply.

Burn.

That evening when Sookie gets home from work, Bill is waiting for her. She tells him about Dawn and the connection to Maudette. She feels good at first when he doesn’t seem to know her, but when Sookie describes the former waitress, Bill admits she came to his house the night the other vamps were there. Wait, I thought that was last night?? Umm…. Is this supposed to make us suspicious or was this a typo-thing?

Anywho… Bill upsets Sookie when he tells her that he would not have protected Dawn the way that he protected her because Sookie is “different”. She freaks out for a minute and then chills to let Bill know he is a suspect. He informs her that a vampire would have just drained the girls instead of choking them.

“Then,” I said wearily, “either you have a crafty vampire with great self-control, or you have someone who’s determined to kill women who’ve been with vampires.”

Bill denies that he killed them so Sookie asks him to take her to the vampire bar in Shreveport, thinking that maybe the girls met another vampire there. When she mentions Andy, Bill gets all weird.

“You told those other vampires that I belonged to you,” I said. “Yes.” “What exactly did that mean?” “That means that if they try to feed on you, I’ll kill them,” he said. “It means you are my human.”

Excuse me? I get he was trying to protect her, but I have problems with this. Possessive men irritate me.

So they plan to meet two nights from now to head to Shreveport. Seems dangerous. SPOILER ALERT!!! It is.

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In Chapter 4, Fangtasia… yeah… read on.

The chapter begins with Sookie at work. She picks up from patron’s thoughts that half of them think Bill killed the girls and most of them are afraid someone else is going to die. Jason has also become a suspect in some minds. He did have “relations” with both women. (Though who didn’t, am I right?)

Sookie gets ready for her sort-of date with Bill and puts on, what I think is, a questionable dress.

It was cut square and low in the neck and it was sleeveless. It was tight and white. The fabric was thinly scattered with bright red flowers with long green stems.

Maybe it’s just me, but this dress sounds mighty ugly. Maybe it’s the flowers that are throwing me off. I don’t like prints that much.

Bill doesn’t seem to like it either though. But that’s later.

First, Sookie has to go to Merlotte’s to pick up her paycheck. Rene and JB admire her, Jason seems to want her to put more clothes on, Lafeyette gives the thumbs up, and Sam loses focus. (It must be the boobs.) Sam asks Sookie into his office, questioning why she looks so dressed up. He doesn’t seem thrilled that she has a date. Then something really weird as hell happens:

But instead of indicating I should leave, Sam stepped over and smelled me. He put his face close to my neck and inhaled. His brilliant blue eyes closed briefly, as if to evaluate my odor. He exhaled gently, his breath hot on my bare skin. I stepped out of the door and left the bar, puzzled and interested in Sam’s behavior.

Okay, I like Sam, but this is just creepy. She’s puzzled, I’m weirded out. But also kind of interested I guess.

When I got home a strange car was parked in front of the house. It was a black Cadillac, and it shone like glass. Bill’s.

One black Cadillac waiting for the right time… Carrie Underwood, people.

“Is this all right?” I asked anxiously. I felt the blood surge up into my cheeks. “Yes,” he said finally. But his pause had been long enough to anger my grandmother. “Anyone with a brain in his head has got to admit that Sookie is one of the prettiest girls around,” she said, her voice friendly on the surface but steel underneath. “Oh yes,” he agreed, but there was a curious lack of inflection in his voice. Well, screw him.

LOL. Adele is the best. But, as it turns out, Bill was just worried Sookie’s outfit would draw too much attention. Well yeah, with those flowers on it. Oh well, guess I’m alone in my world.

They get to the vampire bar, named Fangtasia (clever), and Bill introduces us to a new word: mainstreaming. This is a vampire’s way of saying they are trying to live among humans.

I wanted to hear more, but then I got my first comprehensive look at Fangtasia’s interior. Everything was in gray, black and red. The walls were lined with framed pictures of every movie vampire who had shown fangs on the silver screen, from Bela Lugosi to George Hamilton to Gary Oldman, from famous to obscure. The lighting was dim, of course, nothing unusual about that; what was unusual was the clientele. And the posted signs.

Most of the bar patrons are humans, some fang-bangers, some tourists, and only like 15 vamps. Signs are hung up all around, stating that no vampires are to feed on humans in the bar. Naturally Sookie sticks out like a sore thumb in her white dress. She shows the photos of Dawn and Maudette to the vampire bartender Long Shadow, who recognizes them, but can’t tell Sookie who they hung around with, but…

“That one,” he said, poking a finger at Dawn’s picture,” she wanted to die.” “How do you know?” “Everyone who comes here does, to one extent or another,” he said so matter-of-factly. I could tell he took that for granted. “That’s what we are. Death.”

Comforting thought. They sit at a table for a while, where Bill is approached by several fangers propositioning him while Sookie silently fumes.

“The vampire over there is handsome; he has scanned you twice,” he said. I almost wondered if he was doing a little tongue biting himself. “You’re teasing me,” I said uncertainly after a moment. The vampire he’d indicated was handsome, in fact, radiant; blonde and blue-eyed, tall and broad shouldered. He was wearing boots, jeans, and a vest. Period. Kind of like the guys on the cover of romance books. He scared me to death. “His name is Eric,” said Bill. “How old is he?” “Very. He’s the oldest thing in this bar.”

Could this fellow be important? (He’s important!) They approach Eric, who introduces himself and his table-mate, Pam, also a vampire. Sookie asks the two if they have seen the dead girls. Eric informs her that he’d slept with Dawn and Pam confirms she’d seen them both but never been with them. Before they leave, Eric propositions Sookie, to no avail. Bill tells Sookie that since Eric and Pam are centuries older than him that he would have been required to let Sookie go with Eric if she’d wanted to, even though she was “his”.  He asks her for the second time why she didn’t tell the fang-bangers to get lost when they were hitting on him before.

“Okay,” I said sharply. “Listen up, Bill! When you came to my house, I had to invite you. When you came here with me, I had to invite you. You haven’t asked me out. Lurking in my driveway doesn’t count, and asking me to stop by your house and leave a list of contractors doesn’t count. So it’s always been me asking you. How can I tell you that you have to stay with me, if you want to go?”

You go, Sookie. Bill is grating on my nerves a little bit. Is there officially another Team to be on yet? Sookie realizes Eric is still staring at her and suspects he’s trying to glamour her. Then she accidentally tells Bill that she’s only trying to find the killer to protect him and he doesn’t seem too happy about it.

She decides to open her mind to hear the thoughts of people in the bar and discovers one of the tourists is really a cop who has called the police on his radio because he saw a vampire feeding from a human in the bathroom. Didn’t they read the signs?! They rush to leave, indicating Eric and Long Shadow should leave as well. Bill tells Eric about the incoming raid and he, logically, wants to know how Bill found out this information.

Sookie speaks up and tells him she can read minds. Probably not the smartest idea, Sook. They get in the car and Bill drives them to some abandoned parking lot and pounces on her. Well, not really but he does grab her and kiss her. Then the cops show up and ruin the moment. They question them about being at the bar, but since neither have bite marks on their necks, they are allowed to leave.

They arrive back at her house where she becomes convinced he’s just not that into her. Really, Sookie? Really? He had to pull over on the way home just to make out. Anyway…

I rested my cheek again his for a moment. “Thanks for taking me,” I said, and moved away quickly before he thought I was asking for something else. “I’m not calling you again.” And before I could lose my determination, I slipped into the dark house and shut the door in Bill’s face.

So there, Bill!!

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In chapter 5, Team… Sam? Also, sadness forever!!!

A few days pass and Sookie has still been trying to process everything that is happening in her life. Andy comes by the bar almost every day and always tries to get a rouse out of Sookie by thinking inappropriate things on purpose. One day, she has had enough and breaks down. This angers Sam, who tells Andy if he ever comes back, he better not even sit in Sookie’s section.

Later in the day, Sam does the, to Sookie, unexpected.

“I wondered if you’d like to go to the Descendants meeting with me and have a cup of coffee afterward.”

Like, a date?

I was flabbergasted. My brush stopped in midswoop. A number of things ran through my mind, the feel of his hand when I’d held it in front of Dawn Green’s duplex, the wall I’d met in his mind, the unwisdom of dating your boss.

It’s true. Dating your boss isn’t always the best idea. But…but…he’s just so nice.

“Sure,” I said, after a notable pause.

There’s a brief listy item mentioned when Sookie gets home: vampires, as far as she knows, are not repelled by religious items or places. She tells her Gran that she will be coming to the meeting with Sam, and the older woman seems pleased. (I think I’m pleased, too.) Sookie’s date outfit this time seems better than the dress, but also strange to me. You would think since I live in Georgia that the style here wouldn’t be that different from Bon Temps, but maybe it’s a smaller town… She goes with khaki pants and a bronze silky shirt.

They arrive at the meeting and we’re introduced to Sterling Norris, one of Gran’s friends, and also the mayor of Bon Temps. (Let me just take the time right now to say that the entire time I was first reading this book series, I pronounced Bon Temps like it’s spelled. It wasn’t until I started watching True Blood that I realized it’s pronounced more like Bon Taw. Just an FYI for those non-Cajuns out there.) We also meet Maxine Fortenberry, the president of the Descendants.

Then Bill arrives and begins telling war stories. Actually quite sad war stories. One in particular was about a man named Tolliver Humphries. (Tolliver is an unusual name and it appears in two of Charlaine Harris’ series. I suppose maybe she used it in this one first and liked the name so much that she had to use it again. I’m pretty sure the Tolliver in this book is never mentioned again.) He tells a story about how a boy in their troop was shot and dying and crying out for help but no one could get to him without putting themselves in danger of getting shot. But Tolliver risked it and died for his troubles. The boy lived though.

After the meeting, Sookie and Sam head out to a local diner.

“Do you have feelings for him?” After all the indirection, Sam had decided to storm the main gate. “Yes,” I said. “Sookie,” Sam said, “you have no future with him.” “On the other hand, he’s been around a while. I expect he’ll be around for another few hundred years.”

Okay, touché. But the real question is, does she want to become a vampire, too? Cause that’s really the only way this could work out in the long run. Unless she plans to just stay with him while she gets old and dies and he doesn’t. But, didn’t she say in previous chapters that she didn’t want to be a vampire? Maybe she will change her mind. There are still 12 books to go, after all.

Sam confesses he’s liked Sookie for a long time, but it just irritates her because why did he wait until Bill was around to tell her? He acts like he wants to explain himself, but he doesn’t. When they get back to Sookie’s, she stumbles out of the car and

Sam caught me. First his hands gripped my arms to steady me, then they just slid around me. And he kissed me.

=0 WHAT? Could be a little soon there, but I’m still kinda liking it.

I assumed it was going to be a little good-night peck, but his mouth just kind of lingered. It was really more than pleasant, but suddenly my inner censor said, “This is the boss.”I gently disengaged. He was immediately aware that I was backing off, and gently slid his hands down my arms until he was just holding hands with me.

At least he knows how to take the hint. He leaves Sookie not really knowing how she feels about him or this whole situation. When she gets in the house, she immediately realizes that something is wrong. It smells… coppery. OH NO THAT IS NEVER GOOD! I have a feeling it’s not because there’s a heap load of pennies lying around.

She searches the house, finding nothing. That is, until she goes into the kitchen.

I screamed, over and over. My hands were fluttering uselessly in the air, trembling more with each scream. I heard a crash behind me, but couldn’t be concerned. Then big hands gripped me and moved me, and a big body was between me and what I’d seen on the kitchen floor. I didn’t recognize Bill, but he picked me up and moved me to the living room where I couldn’t see any more. “Sookie,” he said harshly, “Shut up! This isn’t any good!”

Way to be sensitive there, Bill.

The vampire reveals that he road home with Gran, helped her carry her stuff inside and then went home to change clothes. He came back over because he wanted to see Sookie. A likely story. Sookie calls the police and Andy shows up quickly. Soon after, Sam comes back. Terry, who was filling in for him at the bar, called him after Sookie phoned to let Sam know she wouldn’t be in for a few days.

Then Jason arrives, he and Sookie share a heart breaking hug on their knees (those are always the saddest). The four of them go sit outside while the police peruse the crime scene. Sookie explains to Jason what happened, or rather, how she found the body.

I could not even look at my brother’s face. “It was my fault.” My voice was nothing more than a whisper. “How do you figure that?” Jason said, sounding nothing more than dull and sluggish. “I figured someone came to kill me like they killed Maudette and Dawn, but Gran was here instead.” I could see the idea percolate in Jason’s brain. “I was supposed to be home tonight while she was at the meeting, but Sam asked me to go at the last minute. My car was here like it would be normally because we went in Sam’s truck. Gran had parked her car around back while she was unloading, so it wouldn’t look like she was here, just me. She had given Bill a ride home, but he helped her unload and went to change clothes. After he left, whoever it was…got her.” “How do we know it wasn’t Bill?”

This passage tells us several things. For one, I think Sookie is right. I’m sensing a pattern in the murders. All of the women were romantically (or sexually) involved with vampires. Whether it’s a vampire or someone who hates fang-bangers, I think it’s fair to say that Sookie was the target. Bless her heart. Secondly, Jason makes a legitimate point. How do we know it wasn’t Bill?

Then Jason turns into a major douche. First he gets all mad at Sookie because Adele had left her house and all of her land to Sookie, and Sookie alone. Then he comes over and slaps her in the face. It gave me great satisfaction when Sam tackled him and smacked his head into the ground. Andy comes out of the house and starts to accuse Bill. Sookie defends him and he knows now she is for sure trying to protect him, and he tells her he thinks she was the target.

Bill, Mr. Sensitive of the Year.

Sookie takes a moment to read everyone’s thoughts.

Bill was taking deep breaths, trying to control his hunger for Jason’s blood. I couldn’t read his thoughts, but I could read his body language. I couldn’t exactly read Sam’s thoughts, but I could tell he was very angry. Jason was sobbing. His thoughts were a confused and tangled blue mess. And Andy Bellefleur didn’t like any of us and wished he could lock every freaking one of us up for some reason or another.

I know this is a sad chapter, but I actually laughed at that part.

The funeral was conducted largely off pages, but apparently a lot of people came to it. All Sookie’s co-workers were there, so Sam must have closed the bar. Sweet. Also Sookie discovered that in order to keep Adele’s house and land, she had to sign over her half of her parent’s house to Jason. Seems fair. Speaking of jerk-wad, the two of them call a truce for the funeral festivities. They chat with all of the people who bring them casseroles. Maxine asks Sookie if she plans to move since her Gran was killed in the house, but Sookie insists she will stay. Maxine also mentions that she thinks vampires killed the girls. Maybe not Bill, but some of the vamps Bill associates with.

Legitimate theory.

Then something else strange happens. A woman comes up to Sookie and asks where Adele’s brother Bartlett is. Sookie reacts in an odd way, saying they aren’t close to him anymore and thinks about throwing out the food the woman brought. Sookie refuses to call her uncle when Jason says they should. So, what did Uncle Bartlett do?

We shall find out later.

Halfway through and we’ve progressed through the story nicely. 

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In Chapter 6, things heat up.

In the days that follow the funeral, Sookie stays home and cleans house. One day, Arlene comes by and helps Sookie clean out her grandmother’s room. Sookie has decided to donate a lot of Adele’s clothes to the disaster relief agency. Once she got everything boxed up, she decides that now the room is hers and she wants to move into it. They flip the mattress and change the sheets. I agree with Arlene, in that it seems a little soon to be moving in there. Mostly because I think I would be a little creeped out.

After Arlene leaves, Sookie showers and tries to eat. Then, while she’s combing her hair, there’s a knock on the door. It’s Bill. Now, I’m only going to put this next line in because there is a very similar line in a future book and I have to wonder if the reuse is significant.

He took me in with some surprise: the nightshirt, the wet hair, the bare feet. No makeup. “Come in,” I said. “Are you sure?” “Yes.”

So he comes in and she informs him of what she has been up to. Then he offers to comb out her hair, which is sweet, I guess. I can’t say I’ve ever had a guy comb my hair, but maybe I would like that. While he’s doing that, he talks a little about his human life. He had a sister named Sarah. She was the only of his siblings to survive the war. He briefly mentions his wife and kids, but doesn’t seem to really want to talk about them. I wonder if we’ll learn more about them later. (We will.)

Then… Okay, I’m going to type this next part because, even though I don’t particularly care for Bill (which will be explained more later into the series), it is kinda hot.

Warning: THE FOLLOWING IS RATE M FOR MATURE!!!!

He turned me so I was facing him on his lap, my legs on either side of his. I put my arms around him and bent a little to kiss him. It went on and on, but after a while Bill settled into a rhythm with his tongue, a rhythm even someone as inexperienced as I could identify. The nightshirt slid up to the tops of my thighs. My hands began to rub his arms helplessly. Strangely, I thought of a pan of caramels my grandmother had put on the stove for a candy recipe, and I thought of the melted, warm sweet goldenness of them. He stood up with me still wrapped around him. “Where?” he asked. And I pointed to my grandmother’s former room.

Pause. That is strange, right? I’m not the only one who thinks that’s strange? It’s kinda like the thought of having sex in your parent’s bed while they’re not home. And yeah, I know Gran is not coming back and she did change the sheets and stuff, but still. But, I guess she may as well go ahead and break it in…..

He carried me in as we were, my legs locked around him, my head on his shoulder, and he lay me on the clean bed. He stood by the bed and in the moonlight coming in the un-shaded windows, I saw him undress, quickly and neatly. Though I was getting great pleasure from watching him, I knew I had to do the same; but still a little embarrassed, I just drew off the nightshirt and tossed it onto the floor.

Now I’m just gonna skip around to the good parts.

“Oh, Bill,” I said anxiously, when he was beside me in the bed, “I don’t want to disappoint you.” “That’s not possible.”

Good answer, Bill.

A moment later he found out the true extent of my inexperience. “You should have told me,” he said, but very gently. He held himself still with an almost palpable effort. “Oh, please don’t stop!” I begged, thinking that the top would fly off my head, something drastic would happen, if he didn’t go on with it. “I have no intention of stopping,” he promised a little grimly. “Sookie…this will hurt.” In answer, I raised myself. He made an incoherent noise and pushed into me. I held my breath. I bit my lip. Ow, ow, ow. “Darling,” Bill said. No one had ever called me that.

Okay, there’s a reason people don’t say darling. It’s kinda old fashioned and lame.

He gasped, and jerked, and he began moving in earnest. At first I was dazed, but I began to catch on and keep up. He found my response very exciting, and I began to feel that something was just around the corner, so to speak- something very big and good. “Oh, please, Bill, please!” and dug my nails in his hips, almost there, almost there, and then a small shift in our alignment allowed him to press even more directly against me and almost before I could gather myself I was flying, flying, seeing white with gold streaks. I felt Bill’s teeth against my neck, and I said, “Yes!” I felt his fangs penetrate, but it was a small pain, an exciting pain, and as he came inside me I felt him draw on the little wound.

So there you go. Vampire sex. Then, I have to give it to Bill, he gets a good sappy line in.

“But was that all right for you? I mean, about on par with other women at least? I’ll get better.” “You can get more skilled, Sookie, but you can’t get any better.”

They discuss how she will be sore the next day and she points out that his blood has healing power. So here I’m thinking, he’s gonna feed her some. But no.

It was so sudden that I cried out, but he casually rubbed a finger in his own blood, and then before I could tense up he slid that finger up inside me.

Okay, so am I to understand that vampire blood can heal wounds by rubbing the blood directly on the area in pain? That’s what it seems like here. Before when she was all beat up, he fed her his blood instead. But perhaps that is because she had so many injuries then, some internal. Hmm…

At work the next day, everyone seems to notice Sookie has a pep in her step. Arlene especially. When the other waitress asks her who the lucky guy is, Sookie is reluctant to tell her at first. Charlsie and Lafayette join in on the conversation and try to guess. But it’s Sam who gets it right. Vampire Bill. The others are shocked and a little worried. But it gets worse when Sam pulls the collar of her shirt down to reveal the bite marks.

So, it was kind of insensitive of him to do that. Sookie’s personal life is her own business. But I’m still glad he did it. Secrets don’t make friends, Sook. And you need friends. But she is pretty pissed about it.

I looked right into Sam’s eyes, thinking I’d never forgive him for doing this to me. “Don’t you touch my clothes,” I told him, stepping away from him and pulling the collar back straight. “Don’t tend to my personal life.” “I’m scared for you, I’m worried about you,” he said, as Arlene and Charlsie hastily found other things to do. “No you’re not, or not entirely. You’re mad as hell. Well listen, buddy. You never got in line.”

Harsh. And technically, he did ask her out before Bill did. Bill STILL HASN’T! All he did was get himself in trouble, causing Sookie trouble and more trouble, and getting her grandma killed, and then sexing her up three days later. (Sorry! Trying not to show my distaste for Bill. Failing…)

Jason also comes into the bar, telling Sookie the police have been questioning him a lot and Sookie suggests he get a lawyer- Sid Matt Lancaster: aggressive defense attorney.

Later in the evening, Bill shows up. Then his vampire entourage, Malcolm and Diane. They make a bit of a scene, informing Bill that not all vampires want to mainstream like he does. Surprisingly, they leave without much trouble. I feel like these vamps are up to something.

Sookie and Bill leave and go back to his house where he apparently has a grand bathroom. Well, vampires have to bathe, too. He suggests they take a bath together and there’s an awkward session of Sookie trying to undress Bill. We don’t get to see the bath moment, not that I particularly care, but sorry to those who wanted to read about that.

Moving on…

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In chapter 7, the old doubt monster makes an appearance. Also, fire!

We discover in the first few pages of this chapter, exactly why Uncle Bartlett was not invited to the funeral. Sookie tells Bill how her uncle used to molest her when she was a child, before her parents died. When she told Adele, the woman had cut all ties with her brother. Good for you, Gran! Also, poor Sookie. As if her life wasn’t hard enough being able to read minds.

Sookie spends her first night at Bill’s and when she wakes in the morning, she is alone. Of course. Bill’s off in the ground somewhere. But waking alone only causes Sookie to think of all she can never have with Bill.

I’d had little niggling thoughts from time to time, but for the first time the flaws in my relationship with the vampire hopped out of their own hidey-hole and took over my brain. I would never see Bill in the sunlight. I would never fix his breakfast, never meet him for lunch. (He could bear to watch me eat food, though he wasn’t thrilled by the process, and I always had to brush my teeth afterward very thoroughly, which was a good habit anyway.) I could never have a child by Bill, which was nice at least when you thought of not having to practice birth control, but… I’d never call Bill at the office to ask him to stop on the way home for some milk. He’d never join the Rotary, or give a career speech at the high school, or coach Little League Baseball. He’d never go to church with me.

All true. And definitely something to think about when dating a vampire. You can’t have a human life with them. So it’s pretty much give that up, or end it.

And I knew that now, while I lay here awake-listening to the birds chirping their morning sounds and the trucks beginning to rumble down the road while all over Bon Temps people were getting up and putting on the coffee and fetching their papers and planning their day-that the creature I loved was lying somewhere in a hole underground, to all intents and purposes dead until dark.

So she loves him now? Ugh.

I was so down by then that I had to think of an upside, while I cleaned up a little in the bathroom and dressed. He seemed to genuinely care for me. It was kind of nice, but unsettling, not to know exactly how much. Sex with him was absolutely great. I had never dreamed it would be that wonderful. No one would mess with me while I was Bill’s girlfriend……. And I could relax with Bill, a luxury so precious I could not put a value on it.

Okay, so he cares. And yeah the sex is good, but really what does she have to compare it to? And he can protect her, but would she really be in danger if it wasn’t for him? I think the biggest thing is that she can’t read his mind, but is that enough to give up all of that other stuff? I’m just saying, if human things don’t become less important to Sookie, she’s never going to be happy with a vampire.

When Sookie exits Bill’s house, she is surprised to find Jason there. He’s not thrilled at her dating Bill, but doesn’t say anything. He does; however, tell her that Uncle Bartlett is dead. Wait, what?! Sookie tells Bill Uncle Bartlett hurt her and then he ends up dead? This cannot be a coincidence. Jason is upset that Sookie isn’t sad about her uncle’s death. He tells her to get over what Uncle B did to her. What a jerk.  I wanna like Jason, but he keeps being a terrible person.

It takes Sookie until she gets to work to make the connection between her dead uncle and Bill. Really? It took that long? I knew it right away! She freaks out, understandably. This is the second time Bill has killed someone who harmed Sookie. Which, given, they all deserved it, but that’s not really the point. Sookie’s afraid now to say anything around Bill for fear he will kill everyone who does her wrong in life.

She tells him just that when he comes over that night. He defends himself and says he loves her. But she informs him that if he does, he has to let her live her life and quit killing people. She tells him she wants to love him, but it seems too difficult. So she asks for a break from him.

“I have to have a little time.” “Before…” “Before I decide if the love is worth the misery.”

I guess that’s what it all comes down to. And I want to emphasize this line because I feel like it will be important in the final book in this series. Is loving someone worth the misery they can cause you?

Bill mentions again how Sookie tastes different from other humans. When will we find out why this is? We do eventually, but I don’t remember when…

So anyway, they kind of break up. Sookie spends the next few days trying to get back up to par, since Bill keeps drinking all her blood and stuff. She eats garlic foods all she wants and catches up on sleep. She also finds out her uncle left her $20,000 but she donates it to a local mental health center. At work, she begins to notice rising anger in the patrons. Liam, Diane and Malcolm have been causing problems in the area, and one night Sookie hears Rene and Mike talking about a raid on the vampire’s house. She brushes it off, at first, as drunk men just talking.

Bill comes in one night with Harlen, a teenage vampire who’s passing through the area. She serves the two but is not happy, for some unknown-to-me reason. They tell her that they are going over to Malcolm and them’s house later, and she tells them to be careful but doesn’t elaborate. She regrets this later as the talk of raiding the vampires increases. She can tell Sam is nervous about it, too.

The next morning Jason calls and informs Sookie that the mob had burned down the trio’s house that morning. She rushes there.

The remains of four coffins sat side by side on the scorched grass. There was a body bag, too.

Uh-oh, a human must have been inside.

I trudged on through the debris, inhaling the smell of burned things, wet charred things, a smell that wouldn’t leave me the rest of my life. I reached the first coffin and looked in. What was left of the lid was open to the light. The sun was coming up; any moment now it would kiss the dreadful thing resting on soggy white lining.

Vampires really sleep in coffins? I know, I know. That’s not the most important thing that happened here. Sookie worries Bill is one of the four unidentifiable bodies that are flaking away as she stands there. Sam unexpectedly shows up at the scene.

“So why are you here, Sam?” “For you,” he said simply.

The police ask Sookie to check the human body, but it is not someone she recognizes. When she hears one of them call the vamps Southern Fried Vampires (it is kinda funny), she freaks out on him and Sam has to drag her to the car. He drives her home and then does a strange thing: he makes her clean her house. They spend the whole day cleaning every inch of the living room and kitchen.

“I want to thank you some time, but I can’t thank you now. You saved me today.”

TEAM SAM FOREVER! Even though I still feel like there’s things we don’t know about him.

After dark, Sookie heads out, in the rain, towards Bill’s. But she stops in the cemetery, convinced he’s sleeping there. She calls out his name until he finally comes up from the ground, all covered in red clay. He’s confused as to why she’s there and she tells him what has happened. Then…

The next moment his teeth grazed my shoulder, and his body, hard and rigid and ready, shoved me so forcefully I was suddenly on my back in the mud. He slid directly into me as if he were trying to reach through me to the soil. I shrieked, and he growled in response, as though we were truly mud people, primitives from caves. (LOL mud people.) My hands, gripping the flesh of his back, felt the rain pelting down and the blood under my nails, and his relentless movement. I thought I would be plowed into this mud, into my grave. His fangs sank into my neck. Suddenly I came. Bill howled as he reached his own completion, and he collapsed on me, his fangs pulling out and his tongue cleaning the puncture marks. I had thought he might kill me without even meaning to.

A bit of rough sex for the readers.

Bill carries Sookie back to his house and puts her in the bathtub. When he asks her what she was doing all day and she tells him Sam made her clean:

“Sam,” Bill said thoughtfully. “Tell me, Sookie. Can you read Sam’s mind?” “No,” I confessed, suddenly exhausted.

Curious. What does Bill know? What’s more curious is that after Bill talks about how Sookie could be in danger if someone comes for him, he tells her that if he dies, to go to Sam. Is this because he knows Sam really cares about Sookie? Or is it because he knows something else?

Before they do it again, Sookie asks Bill to refrain from biting her. Probably a good idea.

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In Chapter 8, oh Jason.

Sookie and Bill are back together, but things aren’t awesome. Bill’s still mad about his frenemies’ deaths, everything is tense, and there’s still a murderer on the loose. Arlene and Charlsie have been worried, as has Sookie. But Arlene has her kids and Rene at home, and Charlsie has her husband Ralph. Sookie lives alone.

Jason comes into the bar one night, gets drunk, and tells Sookie the police have questioned him again. He called Sid Matt, who told him not to speak to them anymore alone. But it turns out that Andy is really investigating Jason because he had made movies of him with both women. Yeah… sex movies… Never a good idea. I mean really. When has making a sex tape ever turned out for the good? They always end up in the wrong hands.

The autopsies also showed that all of the victims still had most all of their blood, which pretty much means a vampire did not do the killing. Also, their bite marks were confirmed to be old. Bet those arsonists are feeling a little bad now. Dawn and Maudette were confirmed to have had sex before and after they died. Eww. Undead sex is one thing, but sex with a dead dead corpse is just disgusting. Jason is supposed to give a semen sample to the police so they can compare it against those found in the women to prove he is innocent. But Jason doesn’t trust DNA tests or something.

He asks Sookie if she can help him. He wants her to read the minds of all of the men who come into the bar to try to figure out which one of them killed Dawn, Maudette, and Gran. She explains how it’s not that easy because some people’s thoughts don’t come in clearly, they have to be thinking of the crime at exactly the right moment, and when there are a lot of people around, it’s hard to figure out which thought is coming from which brain.

Arlene asks Sookie to babysit her kids, but then reconsiders when she realizes Bill will be there. This pisses Sookie off.

“Sookie,” she began helplessly, “honey, I love you. But you can’t understand, you’re not a mother.  I can’t leave my kids with a vampire. I just can’t.”

I understand this. And I feel like Sookie should, too. I get that she loves and trusts Bill, but she’s the only one. No one else really knows him, has ever talked to him. Why should they trust him? I wouldn’t. But Sookie is nonetheless mad all the way home.

Bill shows up at her place after she doesn’t go to his and doesn’t call. She stomps around in a bad mood and then does a strange thing. She digs a hole in her backyard and reveals to Bill she plans to plant a live oak tree. Then, Bill persuades her to have sex with him. Afterwards, he braids her hair while she tells him about Jason’s troubles. Again with the hair. Do men really like to do this?

After they discuss Jason, Bill drops some bad news on Sookie. Eric has asked to see her. Remember Eric? Good-looking, blonde, really old vampire who tried to glamour Sookie at Fangtasia? He has ordered Bill to bring Sookie to him, and since he is older and stronger, Bill basically has no choice. If they don’t go, Eric will send other vampires to collect the telepath. Bill isn’t 100% sure why Eric wants to see Sookie, but she suspects it has something to do with her ability.

“I guess this is the downside of nontraditional dating.”

This is the downside? What about all of that other crap from a few chapters ago?

Bill then suggests something he thinks will help.

“Tonight, I think you should drink from me.” I made a face. “Ick! Don’t you need all your strength for tomorrow night? I’m not hurt.” “How have you felt since you drank from me? Since I put my blood inside you?” I mulled it over. “Good,” I admitted. “Have you been sick?” “No, but then I almost never am.” “Have you had more energy?” “When you weren’t taking it back!” I said tartly, but I could feel my lips curve up in a little smile. “Have you been stronger?” “I-yes, I guess I have.” I realized for the first time how extraordinary it was that I’d carried a new chair, by myself, the week before. “Has it been easier to control your power?” “Yes, I did notice that.” I’d written it off to increased relaxation.

So not only does vampire blood heal you, but also makes you… healthier? This is a little unsettling because while all of those things are good, they are also traits associated with vampirism. Sookie’s not slowly becoming a vampire, is she?

She agrees to do it and he instructs her to bite his neck.

“Damn.” I breathed, and steeling myself, I bit his neck. I did a good job because there was no sense prolonging this. I tasted the metallic blood in my mouth. Bill groaned softly and his hands brushed my back and continued down. His fingers found me. I gave a gasp of shock. “Drink,” he said raggedly, and I sucked hard. He groaned, louder, deeper, and I felt him pressing against me. A little ripple of madness went through me, and I attached myself to him like a barnacle, and he entered me, began moving, his hands now gripping my hip bones. I drank and saw visions, visions all with a background of darkness, of white things coming up from the ground and going hunting, the thrill of the run through the woods, the prey panting ahead and the excitement of its fear, pursuit, legs pumping, hearing the thrumming of blood through the veins of the pursued… Bill made a noise deep in his chest and convulsed inside me. I raised my head from his neck, and a wave of dark delight carried me out to sea.

This was pretty erotic stuff for a telepathic barmaid from northern Louisiana.

This is some pretty erotic stuff for a non-telepathic secretary from northern Georgia, too.

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In Chapter 9, never make deals with a vampire.

Sookie and Bill head to Shreveport to see what Eric the old vampire wants. Sookie is all irritated because Bill had to feed on another human.

“You smell different,” I said after we’d been on the highway for a few minutes.

Guess vampire blood enhances your sense of smell, too. When they get there, they enter through a service entry. Pam greets them at the door. She leads them to Eric’s office. (I’m pretty sure it never directly stated this before, but Eric owns Fangtasia.) Eric, Long Shadow, and a middle aged human dude named Bruce are in there. Eric wants Sookie to read Bruce’s mind because someone has been embezzling money from the business.

When Sookie asks him what will happen to the guilty party, Eric claims he will call the police, but Sookie does not believe him.

“I’ll make a deal, Eric,” I said, not bothering to smile. Winsome did not count with Eric, and he was far from any desire to jump my bones. At the moment. He smiled, indulgently.”What would that be, Sookie?” “If you really do turn the guilty person over to the police, I’ll do this for you again, whenever you want.”

What?! Bad plan, Sookie. Bad plan! Then…

Eric actually seemed to be thinking that over. And suddenly, I was in his thoughts. He was thinking he could make me do what he wanted, anywhere, anytime, just by threatening Bill or some human I loved. But he wanted to mainstream, to keep as legal as he could, to keep his relations with humans aboveboard, or at least as aboveboard as vampire-human dealings could be. He didn’t want to kill anyone if he didn’t have to.

It was like suddenly being plunged into a pit of snakes, cold snakes, lethal snakes. It was only a flash, a slice of his mind, sort of, but it left me facing a whole new reality.

Gasp. Sookie can read vampire thoughts. Maybe it’s the vampire blood she consumed.

She proceeds reading the thoughts of Bruce, who didn’t do it. Pam brings in Ginger, a waitress. Her brain is a little crazier. Sookie realizes the girl has been glamoured. Ginger knows who stole the money, but can’t remember because she was compelled to forget. They decide to bring in Belinda, another waitress who is friends with Ginger. Sookie asks her which vampires Ginger has let feed from her and when she thinks a name, Sookie can’t help but let her eyes drift to the vampire in the corner.

Long Shadow pounces on Sookie and bites a chunk out of her arm.

…And when I heard the awful noise and felt his body press even harder on me I didn’t have any idea what it meant. I’d been able to see his eyes over the top of my arm. They were wide, brown, crazed, icy. Suddenly they dulled and seemed to almost flatten. Blood gushed out of Long Shadow’s mouth, bathing my arm. It flowed into my open mouth, and I gagged. His teeth relaxed, and his face fell in on itself. It began to wrinkle. His eyes turned into gelatinous pools. Handfuls of his thick black hair fell on my face……There wasn’t an odor, but there was gunk, black and streaky, and the absolute horror and disgust of watching Long Shadow deconstruct with incredible speed.

Add this to the list. What happens to a vampire when they are staked? Well….that. I think I prefer them turning to dust.

Eric had staked the vampire. But soon all focus is on Sookie, her mouth dripping with vampire blood. They are curious as to how she feels. She thinks about how everything is brighter, clearer. She’s also still bleeding, I reckon. I guess this turns all of the vamps on or something cause Sookie seems in a hurry to get out of there. Bill and Eric almost get into it, but they manage to distract him with Ginger and get back to the car. Bill wants to have sex and his apparent blood lust scares Sookie. She gets him to snap out of it and instructs him to take her home, which he does.

Consuming more vampire blood? That cannot be good.

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In Chapter 10, everybody loves Sookie. Except the killer.

The next day, when I was getting ready for work, I realized I was definitely off vampires for a while. Even Bill. I was ready to remind myself I was human.

Seems legit, given that she is now somehow enhanced. But she’s relieved to find out that she’s not sensitive to sunlight and enjoys regular food.

Sookie goes back to work, with noticeable differences in her appearance. And everyone notices. First, she cuts lemons and limes in like 30 seconds without realizing it. Then,

I looked up at Sam, not too far, and it seemed to me his wiry, curly, red-blonde hair snapped with energy. It seemed to me I could hear his heart beating. I could feel his uncertainty, his desire. My body responded instantly. I focused on his thin lips, and the rich smell of his aftershave filled my lungs. He moved two inches closer. I could feel the breath going in and out of his lungs. I knew his penis was stiffening.

Snap. Is this the blood talking?

Charlsie takes this moment to enter the room and break up this little moment. The rest of the day, Sookie spends time listening to the thoughts of the bar patrons for Jason, trying to determine if any of them know anything about the murders. Sheriff Dearborn and Andy both pass through and both think about how they may have to arrest Jason. Apparently his sex tapes feature bondage. 50 shades of Jason.

Andy’s sister Portia comes with him to the bar. She is described as looking like the female version of Andy. She is also a lawyer, but Sookie didn’t want her to represent Jason because she’s a woman and Jason is a man-whore. Sookie also spends some time thinking about how she doesn’t have any friends she can talk to about her vampire problems. Charlaine Harris, please give Sookie some friends!

Sookie gets off work but then decides to head back to the bar that night to read more minds. She avoids eye contact with Sam while she’s there, still reeling from their earlier encounter. Sexual tension! Then, to top off the night, Bill shows up with another girl. Jason joins Sookie in her pissed-offedness. Bill explains that the girl is a gift from Eric and insists that he is going to send her back.

Vampires seem to think of humans as possessions. I have problems with this.

Surprisingly, Jason offers to drive the girl, Desiree, back to Monroe. Sookie is suspicious of his intentions, as am I. Bill convinces Sookie to drive somewhere and talk to him. They go to her parent’s pond and have a chat about their doomed relationship.

“It scared me that Eric can control our lives while we’re a couple.” “Do you not want to be a couple anymore?” The pain in my chest was so bad I put my hand over it, pressing the area above my breast. “Sookie?” He was kneeling by me, an arm around me. I couldn’t answer. I had no breath. “Do you love me?” he asked. I nodded. “Why do you talk of leaving me?” The pain made its way out through my eyes in the form of tears. “I’m too scared of the other vampires and the way they are. What will he ask me to do next? He’ll try to make me do something else. He’ll tell me he’ll kill you otherwise. Or he’ll threaten Jason. And he can do it.”

She has a point. Dating Bill has come with more strings attached that Sookie originally anticipated. And Bill has yet even more bad news. Eric has now become more fascinated by Sookie. Drinking vampire blood, according to Bill, makes humans more attractive to vampires and also other humans. This might explain her earlier encounters at the bar. Now Bill worries that Eric will attempt to pursue Sookie and thinks maybe if she becomes useful to him in another way, like reading minds for him, he will leave her alone otherwise.

Bill also tells Sookie that Eric made Pam into a vampire.

They determine they are okay in their relationship but not great. Then, Bill seems to get some brilliant idea of how to keep Eric away from Sookie, but says he can’t tell her what that is just yet. They also determine that it would greatly benefit them if they could find Dawn, Maudette and Gran’s killer. Sookie is convinced that the same person who killed them, started the whole riot thing against the Monroe vampires.

Sookie goes home, but not long after she enters the house, she hears something bang against her door. Afraid, she calls Bill, who rushes over. The only thing he finds is Tina, Sookie’s cat, dead outside. She had been strangled.

SO MUCH SADNESS! Why do psychos have to kill animals? Why does it seem sadder when animals die?

Sookie decides to bury the cat in the hole she dug in the yard, since she’d never gotten her live oak. Bill smells the scent of a person, sees footprints outside. The killer has been there. Bill agrees to stay the night, or at least until sunrise, in case the man (or woman) decides to come back.

\

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In Chapter 11, Sam has a secret, I knew it!!!

This is the next to the last chapter and we just keep learning new stuff. How is this all going to end?

When Sookie tells her co-workers about her cat, the women seem sad and Sam tells her she should call the police. She agrees to phone Bud, but is upset when he starts asking questions about Bill.

Arlene asks Sookie if she will watch her kids, and Sookie agrees. Guess Arlene has changed her tune about Bill. Though, out of respect, Sookie should not invite Bill over anyway. But she does. Colby, who is 8, and Lisa, who is 5, arrive at Sookie’s that evening. Rene drops them off as Arlene is not dressed. They spend some quality time together, coloring and reading and then Bill comes over.

Bill is pretty good with the kids, oddly enough. He manages to entertain them until Arlene and Rene arrive to pick them up. The two interact well enough with Bill, but then another vampire shows up.

The newcomer was husky, taller than Bill, and he wore old jeans and an “I Visited Graceland” T-shirt. His heavy boots were worn at the heel. He carried a squirt bottle of synthetic blood in one hand and took a swig from time to time.

This vampire seems familiar. It’s not… It can’t be. Can it?

Maybe I’d been cued by Rene’s reaction, but the more I looked at the vampire, the more familiar he seemed. I tried mentally warming up the skin tone, adding a few lines, making him stand straighter and investing his face with some liveliness. Oh my God. It was the man from Memphis.

Elvis?! No way. Bill instructs Sookie to call him Bubba. He doesn’t react well to his former name. Something went wrong when he was changed over to a vampire. Remember in like chapter one or two when Bill was talking about making vampires and he said that sometimes things go wrong if the person dies of a drug overdose or something? Well, Bubba is the prime example of this. Also, he likes to eat cats apparently.

Bubba’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer and is hired by other vampires to do odd jobs to survive. Bill, as it turns out, has hired Bubba to watch over Sookie because he has to go to New Orleans for a few days. He tells Sookie he will explain everything when he gets back. Bubba is supposed to chill out in the woods at night and keep watch over Sookie’s house and make sure no one tries to harm her.

Arlene discusses her concern about Bubba with Sookie at work the next day. Sookie explains why Bubba was there and what he’s supposed to be doing. Arlene confesses that she and Rene both have issues with vampires. Rene’s sister Cindy dated a vampire once and he did not like that at all. Sam suggests that if Cindy came to town, she could apply for a job at the bar. They were short on waitresses lately since… you know… they keep dying and stuff. Sam asks Sookie to go through some of the applications he has on his desk to pick out any potential new waitresses.

While she is looking through the applications, she finds one for Maudette. She also notices a cup from the gas station where Maudette worked on Sam’s desk. She has the sudden thought that he knew all of the victims, too. And he doesn’t like the fact that she is dating Bill. When he comes into the office, she tries to get a rouse out of him by talking about Bill, and thinks twice about telling him that Bill is out of town. She later sees him talking to Arlene, looking worried.

That evening when she is home alone, she calls the bar to see if Jason is there. Terry answers and tells her he’s not. She wonders why Sam isn’t working that night. She also ponders on Sam’s lack of relationships, and how Dawn had aggressively pursued him. This is making Sam look very suspicious. But we know he could not have killed Gran because he was with Sookie the whole time. Unless he has a partner. Please don’t let Sam be the killer, please!!

Sookie gets a call from Terry a little later telling her that Jason showed up at the bar. She heads over, only to find out Jason is not there and Terry never called. She’s worried, acceptably so. When she goes back to her car she sees a stray dog wandering around. She decides to take it home with her for some company. Now, this is weird to me. And maybe it’s because I’m not a dog person, but I would never pick up a stray animal and just take it home with me. What if it has rabies or something? If it bites her, she’s likely to die! (Ode to HTE right there.)

She brings it in the house and names it Dean. (First she tries to name it Buffy, Rover and Rex but the dog will have none of that.) It follows her upstairs and jumps up on the bed. She changes and gets ready for bed.

The next thing I knew, it was dawn. I could hear the birds going to town outside, chirping up a storm, and it felt wonderful to be snuggled in bed. I could feel the warmth of the dog through my nightgown; I must have gotten hot during the night and thrown off the sheet. I drowsily patted the animal’s head and began to stoke his fur, my fingers running idly through the thick hair. He wriggled even closer, sniffed my face, put his arm around me. His arm?

WHAT????

I was off the bed and shrieking in one move. In my bed, Sam propped himself on his elbows, sunny side up, and looked at me with some amusement. “Oh, ohmyGod! Sam, how’d you get here? What are you doing? Where’s Dean?” I covered my face with my hands and turned my back, but I’d certainly seen all there was to see of Sam. “Woof,” said Sam, from a human throat, and the truth stomped over me in combat boots.

Sam is a dog?! OMG!!! Turns out, he’s a shapeshifter. So his secret is that he’s a shapeshifter, not the killer, right? I surely hope so.

He explains that he can change into anything. He has to change when there is a full moon, but can change anytime he wants with concentration. He changes into the last animal that he saw. His preferred form is a collie dog. He wanted to tell Sookie his secret now because she seemed to handle Bill being a vampire well. But, since Sam is a supernatural creature, that means that vampires are really supernatural beings as well. They are not just infected by a virus. They are actually dead.

Sookie throws up, apparently unable to handle the fact that she’s been sleeping with a dead guy.

She wonders again why Sam turned into a dog and let her bring him home. He claims he was trying to protect her since Bill was out of town and he knew she would never let him stay over as a human. It is a little creepy that he watched her change and slept in the bed with her, but she seems to get over it pretty quick. Sam also gives us something for the list. Vampires have a very structured world. Not sure what that means yet, but I’m sure we will find out. (We will.)

Sookie fetches Sam some clothes of Jason’s (punny) but before he can change, Andy shows up. Sam turns back into a dog while Sookie talks to the detective. He informs her that there has been another murder. Amy Burley. This is the same woman who happens to be the top application Sookie had picked out for Sam earlier. Uh-oh.

Strangely, Sookie offers Andy a place to sleep since he seems exhausted. He accepts and goes to lie down.

I retrieved Jason’s clothes from the closet, put them on the couch in front of the dog, and sat with my back turned. But I realized I could see in the mirror over the mantel. The air grew hazy around the collie, seemed to hum and vibrate with energy, and then the form began to change within that electric concentration. When the haze cleared, there was Sam kneeling on the floor, buck-naked. Wow, what a bottom. I had to make myself close my eyes, tell myself repeatedly that I had not been unfaithful to Bill. Bill’s butt, I told myself staunchly, was every bit a neat.

“I’m ready,” Sam’s voice said, so close behind me that I jumped. I stood up quickly and turned to face him, and found his face about six inches from mine. “Sookie,” he said hopefully, his hand landing on my shoulder, rubbing and caressing it. I was angry because half of me wanted to respond. “Listen here, buddy, you could have told me about yourself anytime in the past few years. We’ve known each other what, four years? Or even more! And yet, Sam, despite the fact that I see you almost daily, you wait until Bill is interested in me, before you even…” and unable to think how to finish, I threw my hands up in the air.

Sam drew back, which was a good thing. “I didn’t see what was in front of me until I thought it might be taken away,” he said, his voice quiet. I had nothing to say to that.

There is something between these two and I hope one day we get to see more of it. Also, I have a theory/hope regarding that last line that I’ll discuss later on.

The two drive back to Merlotte’s, Sam hiding in the backseat. When they get there, they see Jason’s truck in the parking lot. He is inside of it, unconscious. There is a videotape on the dashboard. Sam calls an ambulance. Sookie rides with Jason to the hospital. Andy, who woke up at Sookie’s, arrives at the hospital and handcuffs Jason to the bed.

Oh crap.

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In Chapter 12, the killer is…

The final chapter begins with Sam informing Sookie that Jason has been arrested. The blood found on his shirt had not belonged to him, but to Amy Burley, the victim. Sookie calls the hotel Bill is staying at to leave a message for him. She lets him know Jason was arrested and she wants him to come home as soon as possible.

Sid Matt arrives at Sookie’s. He explains Jason was arrested for first-degree murder. Jason had confessed to being with Amy the night before. He said she had been acting strangely, but he’d had sex with her and had a drink with her but couldn’t remember anything after that. Sookie tells the lawyer that even if someone could think that Jason killed Dawn and Maudette, there is no way he would ever kill their grandmother. Sid suggests that maybe Bill killed Gran so the woman would not keep them apart. Sookie assures him that Adele liked Bill and supported their relationship. The lawyer doesn’t seem to believe that.

“You know, Miss Sookie, I’m not for this vampire stuff. I think it’s taking a chink out of a wall we should keep built up, a wall between us and the so-called virus-infected. I think God intended that wall to be there, and I for one will hold up my section.” “The problem with that, Sid Matt, is that I personally was created straddling that wall.”

Good point, Sook.

“Well,” Sid Matt said bravely, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his sharp nose. “I am sure the Good Lord gave you this problem I’ve heard about for a reason. You have to learn how to use it for his glory.” No one had ever quite put it that way. That was an idea to chew over when I had time.

Sookie does have this gift for a reason. We just have to wait a bit to learn exactly what that reason is.

Back to Jason, Sookie is convinced Amy was in on some plan to get back at him. But what the girl did not know, was that whoever she had made her deal with had planned to kill her at the end of the night to frame Jason for murder. Sookie figures whoever framed Jason had to have known Amy was upset with him and known he liked to make videos. Someone close to Jason, perhaps? Sid Matt informs Sookie that Jason does not want to see her.

That night after Sid Matt leaves, Sookie goes to check on Bubba and then goes back inside and takes some time to feel sorry for herself.

My brother was in jail, my boyfriend was in New Orleans, my grandmother was dead, and someone had murdered my cat. I felt lonely and sorry for myself all the way around.

Bless her heart so much.

Bill never calls back. Sookie is woken up that night by a scream outside the window. Bubba was chasing someone. When she talks to him a bit later, he tells her someone was trying to get into the house. He’d chased the guy out to the road where he’d jumped in a truck and drove off. Bubba hadn’t gotten a good look at the guy.

Jason made bail the next day. He doesn’t want to talk to Sookie about any of it, and when she starts creeping people out at the bar, Sam makes her go home. She spends the evening alone at home.

She hears a noise at some point during the night. When she yells for Bubba outside, she gets no answer. Her first instinct is to call the police, but she finds out her phone line is dead. She debates staying in the house, but decides it might be safer to venture into the woods. This may seem like strange logic at first, but isn’t this what we want victims to do in every scary movie? Run out the door as opposed to running up the stairs?

Wisely, Sookie goes to look for her Gran’s rifle that she kept in the coat closet. But it is not there.

He’d been in my house! But it hadn’t been broken into. Someone I’d invited in. Who’d been here? I tried to list them all as I went to the back door, my sneakers retied so they wouldn’t have any spare shoelaces to step on. I skinned my hair into a ponytail sloppily, almost one handed, so it wouldn’t get in my face, and twisted a rubber band around it. But all the time I thought about the stolen rifle. Who’d been in my house? Bill, Jason, Arlene, Rene, the kids, Andy Bellefleur, Sam, Sid Matt; I was sure I’d left them all alone for a minute or two, perhaps long enough to stick the rifle outside to retrieve it later. Then I remembered the day after the funeral. Almost everyone I knew had been in and out of the house when Gran had died, and I couldn’t remember if I’d seen the rifle since then.

So right now, it could be anyone. Also, Sookie is pretty sharp, thinking of her shoes and hair. She grabs a pocket knife and decides to make a run for it. She creeps behind the flowers outside first, then to the car, then bolts for the woods. But she trips and injures her leg and thigh. She hears movement and takes off running. She runs directly to one of her and Jason’s childhood climbing trees and hauls herself up. The man runs past without noticing her. When he’s out of sight, she climbs back down and heads for the road.

On the way, she finds a dead cat and an unconscious Bubba. She realizes someone poisoned Bubba to get him out of the way. Someone who knew Bubba liked to eat cats. Who knew that? Bill, Sam…

I let down every shred of defense. Into my head poured images that made me sick, made me terrified. Dawn, asking someone to punch her, then finding out that he’d got one of her hose in his hand, was stretching it between his fingers, preparing to tighten it around her neck. A flash of Maudette, naked and begging. A woman I’d never seen, her bare back to me, bruises and welts covering it. Then my grandmother-my grandmother-in our familiar kitchen, angry and fighting for her life.

I was paralyzed by the shock of it, the horror of it. Whose thoughts were these? I had an image of Arlene’s kids, playing on my living room floor; I saw myself, and I didn’t look like the person I saw in the mirror. I had huge holes in my neck, and I was lewd; I had a knowing leer on my face, and I patted the inside of my thigh suggestively. I was in the mind of Rene Lenier. This was how Rene saw me.

Rene?! OMG! It makes sense if you think back on it. And Arlene had said Rene didn’t like vampires.

Sookie begins running and makes it to the cemetery. She hides but calls out to him, wondering if his sister is still alive. The answer of course is no. Cindy was the first girl Rene had killed. Also, he’d had sex with her after she was dead. Sick.

Rene catches Sookie and punches her, breaking her nose, then her collarbone. But she doesn’t fall down. Presumably because of all the vampire blood.

I thought of my brave grandmother, and I launched myself at him, grabbing him by the ears and attempting to hit his head against the granite column. His hands shot up to grip my forearms, and he tried to pull me away so I’d lose my grip. Finally he succeeded, but I could tell from his eyes he was surprised and more on guard. I tried to knee him, but he anticipated me, twisting just far enough away to dodge me. While I was off-balance, he pushed, and I hit the ground with a teeth-chattering thud.

Then he was straddling me. But he’d dropped the cord in our struggle, and while he held my neck with one hand, he was groping with the other for his method of choice. My right arm was pinned, but my left was free, and I struck and clawed at him. He had to ignore this, had to look for the strangling cord because that was part of his ritual. My scrabbling hand encountered a familiar shape.

Rene, in his work clothes, was still wearing his knife on his belt. I yanked the snap open and pulled the knife from its sheath, and while he was still thinking, “I should have taken that off,” I sank the knife into the soft flesh of his waist, angling up. And I pulled it out.

Bam! Take that, you psycho! Rene screams and jumps back off of Sookie. She waits for him to try to attack her again, but he doesn’t. He just falls. Sookie heads to Bill’s house and uses his phone to call 911. Before they arrive, she loses consciousness. Hell, I probably would have lost it way before then.

She wakes up in the hospital. Andy is there and tells her they have Rene. He’s not dead, sadly. Later, Kevin the cop is there and explains Rene spilled his guts about everything. So really, I guess it’s a good thing Rene didn’t die. This way it won’t just be Sookie’s word that he was the killer. Kevin’s partner Kenya comes in and they call Andy to come back. Sookie gives him all of the details of the previous night.

Her first non-cop guest is surprising. JB du Rone comes in. I have to wonder if this means JB will be a more important character than I originally thought. I kind of figured he was just a random guy Sookie knew, but now he’s visiting her in the hospital? Hmm. Jason is her next guest, which makes sense. Then Arlene, who is in tears and apologizing to Sookie. Obviously this woman has reasons to cry. Her boyfriend was killing people.

Sookie receives a flower delivery. Three to be exact.

The potted plant was from Sam and “all your coworkers at Merlotte’s” read the card, but it was written in Sam’s handwriting. I touched the glossy leaves and wondered where I’d put it when I took it home. The cut flowers were from Sid Matt Lancaster and Elva Deene Lancaster-pooey. The arrangement centered with the peculiar red blossom (I decided that somehow the flower looked almost obscene, like a lady’s private part) was definitely the most interesting of the three. I opened the card with some curiosity. It bore only a signature, “Eric.”

Eric? Why is Eric sending flowers? And how did he know she was even in the hospital? Curious. Additionally, I find it odd that Sam did not visit Sookie in the hospital. So JB visits but Sam doesn’t? I wonder why that is.

Later, Bill finally shows up. He’s upset and wants to kill Rene, but Sookie asks him not to do that. That will only cause them both more trouble. She also won’t accept his blood. Everyone, including her, has noticed how the blood is changing her. Bill already knows what happened, as Bubba told him part of it, and Sam told him the rest. When? While Sookie was asleep? Was that when Sam visited?

Then Sookie asks Bill what he was doing in New Orleans.

“We’re a little organized,” he told me. “I was trying to think of ways to keep us safe from Eric.” Involuntarily, I looked at the red flower arrangement. “I knew if I were an official, like Eric, it would be much more difficult for him to interfere with my private life.” I looked encouraging, or at least I tried to. “So I attended the regional meeting, and though I have never been involved in our politics, I ran for an office. And, through some concentrated lobbying, I won!”

Vampire politics, huh? Not sure I’m crazy about that idea. Bill’s new job if Fifth Area Investigator. He doesn’t elaborate for now.

A collie trotted down the corridor, looked in the open door, said, “Rowwf,” and trotted away. Astonished, Bill turned to glance out into the corridor. Oh, yeah, it was the full moon, tonight-I could see it out of the window. I could see something else, too. A white face appeared out of the blackness and floated between me and the moon. It was a handsome face, framed by long golden hair. Eric the Vampire grinned at me and gradually disappeared from my view.

There’s something I would like to point out about this scene. I think it’s interesting that Bill, Sam and Eric all make an appearance. Knowing what happens in the rest of the books, I have to wonder if this is a foreshadowing of the end of the series. Will these three people/supernatural beings be there when everything ends? I have a feeling they will be.

Well, that was Dead Until Dark. Thanks for reading along with me! Next to come, Living Dead in Dallas.