https://img.wattpad.com/219a78258da25ed351c67adea560fb52913.
THE NEXT DAY
"You Can't Go In There!" Kevin called to the girls, struggling to get in front of them as they ran for their brother's cell.
"We're goin in there whether you like it or not, he is our brother!" Sookie tried to charge past him.
"I'm sorry girls, he's only allowed one visitor at a time," Kevin tried to reason.
"Kevin, you can either let us by or throw us in there with him, either way I suggest you shift!" Lacey refused, the pair finally breaking past their barrier to see Jason trapped behind steel bars. "Jason!"
The girl's arms moved through the bars, each trying to hug him. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," Jason cried.
"You've nothin' to be sorry for. I just wish we'd got here sooner before you went and confessed to something you didn't do," Sookie's brow protruded in a permanent frown.
"I don't even remember doin' any of it. I just know I did—"
"You ain't no fuckin' killer, Jason Stackhouse!"
Jason's expression only grew more somber with Lacey's outburst, "How can you know that?"
"'Cos we're real close to findin' out who the real killer is."
"His name's Drew Marshall. He had a sister named Cindy, and we think he killed her..." Sookie explained. "Strangled her just like Maudette and Dawn and--...Amy."
'If they know all this, then how come they haven't gone to the cops and gotten their brother out of that cell?'
Lacey glared in Renea's direction, "Because the cops are fuckin' useless and seem more then happy to put Jason away if it shuts everyone up."
"Besides, we don't have any evidence yet. We don't even know what Drew Marshall looks like!"
"So, you can't really be sure he's the killer," Renea reasoned.
"I've seen what's inside his head," Sookie shivered, Lacey again attempting to gauge Renea's reaction through his thoughts—she almost winced at the jumbled voices shouting over each other for attention.
"Listen, I know you two wanna help me but, that's only 'cos you can't accept the truth." A tear traveled down Jason's cheek as he spoke. "I'm a murderer, and I'm goin' to hell. Plain and simpl--"
Sookie gripped his hands firmly, "You aren't hearin' us. We think we know who the killer is. All we gotta do is find him."
Jason pulled away, standing to grip the bars and belch out, "Andy!"
"Listen to me, don't be stupid--"
"ANDY!"
"What's your problem!?" Andy walked into view.
"Make Them Go Away!" Jason pleaded.
"Am I you're fuckin' butler(?)"
"Jason..." Laceys voice cracked as she spoke.
"Please, just get them outta here..." Jason turned away, unable to see his sister's hearts literally breaking because of him.
"All right, you heard him. Zoo's closed," Andy gripped each girl's arm, forcing them toward the exit.
"Well, did you get the fax from the Bunki police department about Drew Marshall? The man who's probably the real killer!?" Sookie shouted.
"Never heard of no fax from no Bunki P.D. or Drew whoever, but I'll tell you one thing: The 'real killer' is right there where he belongs," Andy motioned behind him.
The atmosphere shifted as rage burned through the eldest Stackhouse's gut, "I just want you to know that when me and my sister crack this case for you, all you'll be in this town is a joke, Andy Bellfleur, an a sorry excuse for a human bein'!" Laceys frustration toppled past her lips before she gripped Sookie's hand and stormed off.
-TIME SKIP-
"Where's your head gone?" Lacey almost jumped with the voice, Hoyts brows pulled together in concern at the sight of the shaking Stackhouse.
Her bottom lip was chewed, "Huh?"
"You just seemed a bit out of it," he motioned to her designated 'hiding place' in the staff smoking spot. "I was just wonderin' if you were okay, you're more than welcome to talk to me if you're not."
Her smile wobbled, "I really appreciate that, Hoyt, but I swear I'm fine."
"Alright then," his gaze narrowed in doubt, "Well, I also want you to know that I don't believe what they're sayin'."
Her eyes narrowed a fraction, "What they're sayin' about what?"
"About Jason bein' the killer," his chest puffed out in promise. "If there's one thing I know about Jason then it's how big that boy's heart is, but I hate to say that some people care more about punishment than listenin' to the facts."
Her smile grew more genuine, more confident. "Thanks Hoyt, I really appreciate it." A part of her felt bad that her worry that afternoon wasn't caused by her brother's predicament, mind more focused on a 'mysterious' bouquet of her favourite flowers and a saucy note promising that Eric didn't plan to give her space for much longer... "He's lucky to have you for a friend, and I'm glad to say I'm lucky enough if you'd consider me that way too."
The man's cheeks sparked with a blush, "I'd hope for nothin' more—"
"Hoyt!" The distant shriek of Mrs Fortenberry interrupted anything else he might have wanted to say, his shoulders bunching in a wince. "Hurry up before I melt in this heat!"
He sighed in regret, "I-I best get goin', I promised momma I'd treat her to lunch."
"Don't let me keep ya," Lacey grinned. "And thanks for our talk, Hoyt, I really do appreciate it."
"Anytime," his wave was weak as he turned, trudging back to his mothers car so she wouldn't complain about him not opening her door.
The Stackhouses' shoulders sagged when she was once again alone, fingers tapping in the debate of ending her break with a cigarette before a panicked Merlotte burst from the staff exit. "Sam?" Lacey frowned when he grabbed her forearm, proceeding to tug her in the direction of his car— "What the hell, Sam?!" She struggled to break loose from his panic.
"It's Sookie! Renea is the murderer and Sookie's with him," the two didn't pay any mind to seatbelts and actual road safety as they pulled out the driveway at full speed, dirt kicking up behind them with the engines viscious roared.
"How do you know?!"
"His vest. It smelled exactly like the scent that covered Dawn's bed sheets, it's definitely him." The pair were quick to hop out when the car stopped. Sam rushed inside an open door, "SOOKIE! SOOKIE!" While Lacey noticed a shotgun denting her bushes. The 'human' looked up to watch Sam inhale deeply, his clothes disregarded as he rushed up a dirt path and transformed into a dog before Laceys very eyes. Although she wanted to remain frozen, allowing Sam actually being a shifter to sink in, she knew she couldn't let Sookie down like that.
She couldn't let her down ever again...
Lacey panted as she ran, sparsely able to keep up with Sam before he came to a sudden stop, sniffing the air once again. Lacey took the opportunity to close her eyes, reaching out to see if she could hear either the attacker or the victim—
'--You fuckin' hear me, you filthy fuckin' cunt? I'm gonna tear out your goddamn throat with my hands and fuck your dead face...'
'Please, please, please--someone, anyone! Just please. I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die--'
"This way, Sam!" Lacey directed the pair towards the graveyard, thoughts no longer required as she could openly hear her sister's groans and screams of pain.
"Mind-Readin', Vampire-Fuckin' Freak Bitch! You Think You're So Smart?! You Smart Now?!" Sam stormed ahead, a new burst of energy powering him into biting Drew's side. The dog was flung as Drew knocked him down with a statue, the eldest Stackhouses pounding steps quieting to a cautious approach. "Fuckin' with me!" Drew kicked Sam's dog form in anger, Lacey finally stopping behind him and gently picking up a shovel just as Sam morphed back into his human form. "The Fuck?"
"Drew!" The man turned in time for Lacey to strike him right in the face. "Fuckin' VILE!" She struck him again, "PIECE!" And again, "OF SHIT!'' The end of the shovel came down into the killer's neck, a small twist of the handle completely dislocating his head from his body. "Sook?" She looked behind her to see her passed out figure gone, "Sookie?!"
"Here," a sob broke through the air. Lacey helped Sam to his feet so the pair could join her beside a crisp corpse.
Sookie cradelled the head of the vampire up past his bedtime, "I...am...sorry..." Bill croaked, Sookie's sobs only increasing.
"No!" Sookie cried, "No, Bill, please!"
"We gotta get him out of the light," a very naked Sam lifted the dead man, Lacey and the shifter both working to cover him as quickly as possible while Sookie cried. The trauma of almost being killed only intensifying the fear of losing the man she loved.
-TIME SKIP-
The smell of hot cocoa filled the Stackhouse kitchen. Lacey rested against the fridge, barely touching her drink that she'd been cooling down with the air from her lips for the past half hour. Her drink had turned stone cold, but she didn't care, all she could do was stare at the spot in the kitchen where she found her Gran. The fact she'd actually killed the man who'd stolen her from this world both filled her with a sense of pride and relief as well as a deep set of guilt and fear. Fear she could lose control to the point of actually killing a man instead of just letting the law handle him.
"Hey," she jumped slightly with the new voice, the crowd that seemed to be suffocating her drugged up sister having dispersed. She looked up to find Lafayette and Tara aim for the porch, the distant sound of Arlene relaying Sookie wasn't completely alone.
"Hey, Sam. Cocoa?" She offered another cold mug, the drink accepted but not touched. "Is she alright?"
"Are you alright?"
"Sam--"
"Sookies looped out on a bucket of drugs, ain't nothin' you need to worry about with her."
"I can't help it," her shrug was weak. "Thank you, by the way." He frowned, "If it weren't for you then my sister would probably be dead by now. I owe you a lot for that."
"You don't owe me nothin'--"
"Can you just let me be nice," he scoffed out a chuckle. "You're one of the greatest men I've ever met, Sam Merlotte, and if Sookie would rather be with a dead man then that's her loss."
"I thought you supported her an' Bill?"
"I support her happiness, and when he's actually here he makes her happy. I ain't gonna ward him away just 'cause he's a vamp, that'd be horribly hypocritical of me." Sam tried to look down, "Oh, don't do that, you must already know at this point. If my support of them wasn't enough of a neon sign, you must have heard word of the vamp that claimed me as his the other night in Merlotte's."
"I didn't wanna pry..."
"And I appreciate that..."
"Did you love a vampire?"
"...With all my heart. It ruined me from lovin' anyone else."
"Because of how it ended?"
"No, I can handle heartbreak like it's nothin' at this point. It ruined me because he was everythin' I ever wanted in another person when it came to someone lovin' me, I felt a spark with him that I've never recreated in all my years alive. Nothin' compares to him, and it fuckin' sucks in all honesty."
The pair shared a weak chuckle, "Do you think you'll ever go back?"
"Well, that depends..."
"On what?"
"On him somehow provin' he sees me as more than a 'special little blood bag' or a trophy for his own amusement, and I very much doubt that's possible."
"So, what's your plan?"
She grinned at his words, "Move on. I've spent too long dwellin' on all that makes me miserable. We've seen recently how short and precious life is, an I ain't wastin' another second of it. Sookie was right, I need to start puttin' myself first if I ever wanna enjoy the good I've been blessed with."
A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER
Sookie raised a brow when she saw Lacey dumping another bouquet of lilies in the staff trash can. The young telepath held her tongue on mentioning the gifts being left in Sam's office for her every night for the past two weeks, a crisp white note shredded before also being dumped each time. She knew they were from Eric, but that was as far as Lacey elaborated before forcing up a smile and changing the subject, letting loose the odd comment of how 'Eric was part of her past, and the only way he'd see a hint of her future was if she was shoving a stake up his ass.'
The older telepath squared back her shoulders, sucking in a breath and grabbing a recent order before aiming for Hoyt's table with a smile. "Here ya are, Hoyt. A garden burger with fries, and a pitcher of beer--anythin' else I can get for ya?"
"No, I'm all good with this, thanks. Hey, Lace--?" He paused her escape, "Where's vampire Bill at tonight? Is he out celebraitin' at some sort of vampire party?" His wagging brows forced Lacey to giggle.
"I ain't got a clue. All I heard was him and Sook plannin' to celebrate later tonight, and thankfully it's at his place." Her smirk encouraged his cheeks to tinge with a dark shade of pink.
"Well, just tell her to tell him congratulations from me. I mean, I don't care what nobody says--if I met a nice vampire girl, I'd be proud to have her on my arm."
"Well, I'd love to see your momma's face if you brought her home for dinner," more laughter escaped the waitress.
"Yeah, me too..." He rubbed his chin "You know, yeah, I mean--well, do you think Bill will know anybody my age?"
"I'll be sure to ask the next time I see him(!)" She promised with a wink.
"Seriously?" His call of disbelief only made her laugh harder.
-TIME SKIP-
"Seriously!" Lacey rushed after Andy.
The Detective took to grumbling under his breath, "Where's my car?"
Tara's speed joined Laceys right, "Andy Bellfleur, the only thing you're drivin' tonight's us crazy!"
"Portia said she's on her way to pick you up. Give me your keys," Sookie's speed reached Laceys left.
"I don't have them. I left them in the car..." He stopped, "Right here, underneath this light," he pointed to the ground. "Some son of a bitch stole my car!"
Sookie's arms crossed when a disbelieving brow raised, "Are you sure this is where you parked it?"
"This whole town's gone to shit! Nobody used to go murderin' each other! Stealin' cars! That's what happens when you don't let a good cop do his job!"
"Ain't that it over there?" Tara motioned behind him to the next street light.
"That ain't where I parked it," Andy denied, Sookie and Tara syncing a judgmental 'Uh-huh'. "What the hell?" Andy questioned as he got closer, the car's repetitive beeping sound encouraging him to tug on the back door--a leg flopping into view. "That ain't mine, I swear!" Andy denied as the three girls screamed in shock, the growing noise attracting the attention of Sam Merlotte--"Would you three shut up! I can't think!" Andy struggled to shush the trio.
"Andy! What the hell did you do?!" Tara blamed.
"There's someone inside!" Sookie shouted to Sam while pointing to the car.
The Shifter froze, "Christ! What happened?"
"You Step Back!" Andy ordered, "I got it."
"Andy's got it..." Sam reassured.
"I got it, I got it. Don't touch anything," Andy pointed at the group while talking.
"What even happened?"
Sookie swallowed when Sam looked to her for an explanation, "We wer--we were out tryna find Andy's car."
Andy grumbled, "Because someone fuckin' moved it!"
"And then suddenly there's this person in there," the blonde continued.
"We need an ambulance! Sam, call the cops!" Tara stressed, Sam holding her shoulders firmly in an attempt to calm her down.
"What?! I am the cop!" Andy complained.
"Easy, easy. Shhhh..." Sam held Tara close to him, the chaos of the moment distracting from how affectionate the comfort was.
"Oh god! Oh my god--Please tell me it's not Lafayette, please!" Tara cried into Sam's shoulder.
"Check for a pulse," Sookie commanded Andy.
"Forget it. There ain't no pulse."
Lacey's eyes widened, "What? Why?!"
"Because there ain't no heart. Sick fuck." Andy's torch was shone on a blood stained bra, a hole cut into the chest of the corpse corroborating Andy's discovery.
"It's not him. It's not Lafayette..." Sam finalised, Lacey releasing a sigh of relief she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "Who the heck is that?" Sam asked as Andy pulled the tarp up further, finally revealing the identity of the deceased.
Once Tara recognised the womans face, she screamed bloody murder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6dUNr5dEbU... (Elastic Heart by Sia)
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Thanks for reading x