chapter six
fangtasia
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Rory was beginning to regret tagging along with Bill and Sookie. She sat in the back seat as Bill drove and Sookie sat in the passenger side. It was eerily quiet in the car, and Rory couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, the silence unsettling. The only sound was the classical music coming from the radio, a default setting Bill put on.
Sookie seemed just as much awkward from the silence as she turned to Bill. "Penny for your thoughts."
"I thought you liked not knowing what I'm thinking."
"Most of the time I do."
Bill paused. "You won't care for it."
Rory sunk deeper into her seat, elbow resting on the car door as she looked at the passing trees out of the window, fingers touching her forehead, although she was careful not to mess up her makeup.
"That doesn't mean I don't wanna know."
Bill looked at Sookie than glanced behind at Rory through the rearview mirror. "You look like vampire bait. More so you, Sookie."
Rory craned her head, eyes glancing down at Sookie's red and white summer dress and hair pulled back by a white head band. Whilst Sookie looked like a church girl coming from mass, Rory choice something a little more laid back, what she would normally wear to a bar, a white spring dress with a deep v-neck, that was a little shorter than she would have liked, her red leather jacket hung over it with black heeled combat boots to make her appear a little taller than what she normally was. Her hair was kept down it its natural blond waves, curtain bangs framing her face. Rory could see how Sookie screamed vampire bait.
Sookie laughed at his comment. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Bill's eyes stayed on the road as he drove in the dead of night. "I promised your grandmother no harm would come to either of you at Fangtasia tonight. I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to keep that promise with you dressed like this."
"I can take care of myself just fine." Rory piped up from the back seat. Sookie nodded in agreement. "And I can take care of Sookie too. No vampire is gonna get their fangs near her without getting through me." Bill cracked a small smirk, believing her.
Sookie's head tilted at the vampire. "So are you saying you think we look nice?"
"Doesn't matter what I think." Bill glanced at her with a smirk forming on his lips. "This isn't a date, remember?"
Sookie faced back towards the road and Rory popped her head in between their two seats. "Better not be, 'cause I ain't third wheeling with ya'll, so you better not be touchy."
Sookie and Bill glanced at the girl, chuckling.
Rory followed after Bill and Sookie as they got out of the car and approached the main entrance. It honestly wasn't much. Besides the glow up sign and red fancy tarp with red velvet carpet leading to the door, Rory wouldn't think this was a bar.
Rory rolled her eyes as Bill wrapped his arm possessively around Sookie's waist as they walked in and Rory was greeted with what looked more like a club than a bar. Vampires brought in their humans and danced seductively against each other. Rory had somehow managed to ignore the whispers pressing into her front lobe.
Rory almost ran into Sookie's back when they suddenly stopped. A blond pale skinned woman stood in front of them, wearing a leather corset that accentuated her curves. She was a beautiful woman. "Bill, haven't seen you in a while." Her stoic and cold expression looked to Bill.
"I'm mainstreaming."
"Good for you." She placed her hands on her hips. "Who's the doll?" She looked at Sookie, not seeing the other blond behind her.
"Pam, this is Sookie and Rory. Girls, this is Pam." Bill introduced them and Pam's emotionless eyes flickered to the older blond and appeared at Sookie's side. It was subtle, but Rory could see the small smirk Pam wore when she looked Rory up and down, taking her appearance in. Her smirk widened when Rory met her stare with an equally unfriendly look.
"Pleased to meet you." Sookie exclaimed, extending her hand out to shake. Pam simply glanced down at it. Sookie frowned and Rory grabbed Sookie's hand to put it back to her side.
Pam arched an unamused eyebrow. "Can I see your ID's?"
"Sure." Rory responded as she and Sookie dung their ID's out of their wallets. Sookie giggled humorously, saying, "How funny. Who'd have thought? Getting carded at a vampire bar."
Pam glanced at Bill as if asking why the hell she was so perky and annoying as she grabbed their ID's and read them. "I can no longer tell human ages. We must be careful we serve no minors... in any capacity." Pam trailed off as her eyes shifted between the two girls. "Twenty-five and twenty-seven, huh? How sweet it is."
Rory took back her ID cautiously, not cowering under Pam's steely stare, keeping her shoulders raised as Bill guided the two girls past Pam and towards the bar. Rory glanced back over her shoulder where Pam stood, the female vampire sniffing the air before smirking as their eyes locked.
Rory quickly adverted her eyes, and they shifted around the room. They landed on a woman danced on top of a tiny stage, her movements inhumanly fast. A vampire, Rory guessed.
"This feels a little bit like what a vampire bar would look like if it were a — a ride at Disney World." Sookie imagined. Bill hummed, "Well, don't get too comfortable. It tends to get more authentic as the night wears on."
Her eyes looked away again, but this time it landed on the main grand stage where a man with shoulder length locks of blond hair sat on a chair, which looked more like a throne, as if he were royalty in this bar. The man was already looking at her and when their eyes connected from across the room, Rory felt a splitting headache beat into her skull, the voices pounding against it like a brick wall. This caused her eyes to fall to the ground as her hand flew up to press against the side of her head.
Sookie noticed and worriedly placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Rory, you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just a headache." Rory shrugged, her fingers passaging the left side of her head. Sookie's brows furrowed, asking, "Is it the voices again?" Rory nodded slowly.
"Voices?" Bill inquired, with an intriguing tone in his voice.
"I'll explain another time, Bill, not when they're pounding in my head." Rory patted Bill on the arm.
Bill nodded, "Let's get you both something to drink." Bill lead them over to the bar where a a shirtless man just wearing a black leather vest greeted them, tattoos aligning his arms and his shoulder length black hair greasy. His fangs were out to show, face void of emotion as he greeted Bill.
"How's it going, Bill?"
"Very well."
"I'll say it is." The man looked at the two blond's, basically licking his lips. "These your meals for tonight?"
Bill shook his head, "These are my friends Sookie and Rory. Girls, Longshadow."
"Nice to meet you." Sookie said over the loud music and chatting. Longshadow simply stared coldly at her. "I'll have a gin and tonic, please. Rory?"
"Uh, dry martini." Rory shrugged as she leaned against the bar, too busy massaging the side of her head. Sookie rose her eyebrows as she looked at her with surprise, "A dry martini? "
Rory shrugged innocently. "What? I need alcohol to function."
Bill suppressed a chuckle as he ordered a bottle of O Negative. Bill watched the vampire behind the bar. "Longshadow, Sookie and Rory here would like to know if they could ask you a few questions. Would this be acceptable?"
Sookie dug into her purse, producing two pictures. "I just have a couple of pictures I'd love you to take a look at. You recognize either of these women?"
Longshadow took the two pictures, analyzing them through narrowed eyes. "Yeah, I've seen them both here before."
"Great, thank you."
"Do you also happen to remember who they hung around with?" Rory asked, elbows on the bar as she leaned closer, her headache still prominent but now less of a problem than before. Longshadow simply glanced over at the older girl, "That's something we don't notice here. You won't either."
"Thanks for your hospitality." Rory mumbled under her breath as he placed her dry martini in front of her. She knew he could hear her, she wanted him to. Sookie nodded gingerly, "Thank you. We appreciate you taking the time."
Longshadow held up the photo of Maudette. "This one. She wanted to die."
"How do you know?"
"Everyone who comes here does in their own way. That's who we are: Death." Rory narrowed her eyes on the vampire, his last word making a ringing sound in her ears as her eyes focused in one him like a camera zooming in on a video. She barely acknowledged Bill paying for their drinks and dragging the two girls away until they were at the table.
Rory eyed her martini before taking a long sip, earning a look from Sookie. Rory simply shrugged. The alcohol burned as it went down her throat, it almost distracted her from the thoughts of a human male creeping up towards the stage with the man she saw from earlier sat in his throne.
Oh, my God. He's so powerful. So beautiful. The closer I step, the more beautiful he gets. You can do this. Just walk up there and offer yourself to him...
Rory zoned out Sookie and Bill's conversation. She watched as the man knelt down at the guys feet, kissing his shoes. But, the man who radiated power didn't even glance at him, instead his eyes landed on Rory's and she could feel goosebumps rise on her skin, seeing no emotion behind his eyes.
"Rory?" Sookie glanced over to her entranced sister, eyebrows furrowing as she wondered what distracted Rory. She followed her gaze over to the man whose eyes were solely on Rory. "Who's that?"
"Oh, you noticed him, did you?"
Sookie's head snapped towards Bill. "No, it's not like that. I just—"
"Everyone does." Bill shrugged. "That's Eric. He's the oldest thing in this bar." Rory gasped lightly when Eric kicked the man who was kissing his knee and the man flew through the air until he landed across the room. A large bloody gash on the man's forehead attracted all the vampires and he was soon swarmed by the bloodthirsty monsters. Bill looked at Sookie. "Still think you're in Disney World?"
Rory took another long sip of her martini before she realized it was now empty and she was sucking dry air. Sookie zoned out as she listened to people's thoughts whilst Rory tried her best to stay out of them and keep the voices at bay. The alcohol sure helped a lot.
"You able to pick up anything?" Bill asked a concentrated Sookie. Sookie sighed out in frustration, shaking her head, "All anyone's thinking about here is sex, sex, sex."
"You don't need to be telepathic to pick up on that." Rory remarked with a small snort of laughter. Sookie wrinkled her nose at her sister.
"Uh-oh." Bill suddenly said, the two girl's heads whipping towards him.
"Don't say uh-oh." Sookie panicked. "Vampires are not supposed to say uh-oh!"
"It's Eric. He's scanned Rory twice." Rory's spine straightened at the mention of her name, not knowing if she should feel scared or angry. Bill gritted his teeth in annoyance. "He's going to summon us."
Rory scoffed, "He can do that?" She asked in disbelief.
"Oh, yeah." As if on cue, Eric made a motion for them to come to him with his fingers. Bill helped Sookie of her seat while Rory simply jumped off, straightening out the bottom of her dress.
They approached and Eric's eyes shifted onto the man. Rory stood beside her sister whilst Bill occupied her other side. "Bill Compton. It had been a while."
"Yes, well, I've been—"
"Mainstreaming." Eric finished in minor amusement. "I heard." Eric looked away and to Sookie then Rory. "I see that is going well for you."
"Yes, of course. Uh, sorry. Eric, these are my friends Sookie and Ror —"
"Aurora Stackhouse." Eric cut him off, cold stare on the blond whose shoulders tensed. "How do you know my name?" Rory questioned, lips pulled into a frown.
"I never forget a pretty face." Pam said, leaning against Eric's chair as she pointed to her head. "You're in my vault."
Rory narrowed her eyes in the vampire, humming, "Lovely..." Pam threw her a wink. The only problem was, Rory never told Pam her whole name, only Rory.
Sookie turned to Eric. "It's nice to meet you."
Eric looked at her. "Well, aren't you sweet."
"Not really." Bill nudged Sookie in the side. Eric simply chortled before turning to Pam and speaking to her in a foreign dialect none of them could decipher. Eric turned back to the three when Pam answered him, "Miss Stackhouse's, I understand you've been asking questions about some of my customers. If you have anything to ask, you should ask it of me."
"Alrighty." Sookie produced the two photos of Dawn and Maudette, handing them over to Eric. "You recognize either one of these girls?"
Rory watched as the corner of Eric's lips quirked up as he pointed to one picture. "Well, this one offered herself to me." Eric looked up, eyes coincidentally meeting Rory's steel irises. "But I found her too pathetic for my attentions." He glanced back to the other photo. "Now, this one, however... I have tasted."
"I remember them both." Pam added, with a simple glance down at the photos. Rory tilted her head at the she-vamp, "On account of the vault?" She questioned, earning a harsh nudge in the side from Sookie. Eric's eyes lifted to the older blond with interest, almost showing his amusement with the way she talked to Pam.
Pam's expression didn't falter. "Never had either of them, though. They weren't really my type." Rory narrowed her eyes back at her, knowing the true meaning behind Pam's words, or threats she should say.
Sookie saved her sister from making a scene that would surely lead to their deaths and plucked the photos from Eric. "Well, thank you very much. That is all your time we need to take."
"I'm not finished with you yet." Eric's voice was commanding and low. Sookie frowned deeply as Eric's eyes flickered over to Rory, a small smile then gracing his lips as he gestured with his hand to the empty seat beside him. "Please, Miss Stackhouse. Sit."
Rory glanced back at Bill and Sookie who gave her looks to obey before he snaps her neck. Rory swallows the lump forming in her throat as she sat down on the leather seat, crossing her right leg over the other.
Eric smirked at her from the corner of his eye as he addressed Bill. "So, Bill... are you quite attached to your friend?"
Bill stepped forward with a snarl. "Sookie is mine."
"And Aurora?" Eric craned his neck towards the blond sat beside him. Sookie gave Bill a look for him to lie to save her sister but Bill could only grit his teeth, not bothering to hide the resentment he held for Eric, "She is... not mine."
"I am no one's." Rory snapped her head around towards Eric, glaring softly into his own eyes that peeked with childlike amusement. He admired the confidence and determination swimming in her eyes as he looked.
"Hm. What a joy. For me." Rory glared daggers when Eric smirked at her before he turned to Sookie and Bill who still stood. "Sit with us. We have catching up to do, you and I. It has been too long."
"Yes." Bill pursed his lips as he grasped Sookie's hand in his and lead her over to the two other seats on Eric's other side, Sookie worriedly glancing back at Rory before glancing at Eric who's eyes were on an uncomfortable Rory, looking her up and down. Sookie and Bill sat in the seats.
"So, Miss Stackhouse..." Eric began, eyes fixated on Rory until Sookie leaned closer to them with panic in her eyes. "We have to get out of here."
"Sookie." Bill warned lowly.
Sookie turned to the vampire in the middle. "Eric, the cops are coming. There's gonna be a raid."
Eric's facial expression stiffened. "Tell me you're not an undercover cop." Sookie shook her head, pointing to a man in the crowd by himself, "I'm not but that man in the hat is."
Eric faced forward, not look of fear on his face. "Even if you're right, we do nothing illegal here."
Rory gasped lightly under her breath as her eye lids fluttered shut and she was dragged into a vision playing behind her closed eyelids. It was the guy from earlier Eric had rejected and he was in the bathroom with a female vampire. Rory couldn't explain why but she knew the vampire was draining very ounce of blood from his body, his life force slipping way and about to meet the grim reaper.
Rory's eyes flew open and she turned to Eric with eyes wide. "There's a vampire named Taryn in the ladies room with that man you kicked before. She's feeding on him. And she's killing him."
Eric and Pam's heads snapped to her and Pam asked, "How do you know that?"
Rory glanced over at Sookie and Bill on the other side, both shaking their head for her not tell them the truth. She didn't even get a chance to decided before the police came in with their guns raised. "Police! Police!"
Chaos ensued and Eric sprung up into his feet. "Follow me." He ordered, going into the back. His hand being softly placed on Rory's lower back as he guided her in the front with him. They exited through a back door and Bill was quick to swipe Sookie into his arms.
Sookie stopped him from running. "Wait, what about Rory?"
Eric simply smirked as he approached and Pam was reading to run at vamp-speed. "Don't worry, I'll take her home."
"Over my dead body." Bill growled.
"Now is not the time to compare dick sizes," Rory announced a little too loudly for her liking. Eric glanced at her in hilarity, not expecting the girl to have such a foul and blunt tongue. "Eric... let's go."
"What? Wait —" Before Sookie could finish her protest of having Eric take Rory home, Eric had swept Rory into his arms bridal style and in a flash they were gone, nothing but wind left in their wake. Pam had left a moment before too and now Bill and Sookie stormed towards Bill's car. Sookie prayed silently that no harm would come to Rory that night.
Before Rory could even blink, the wind was in her hair and she closed her eyes. When she re-opened them, they were out front of her house. She was glad she had given him her address beforehand because she could barely talk the whole 'ride' here.
"Home sweet home, Miss Stackhouse." Eric's chest rumbled against her head, announcing their arrival. He let Rory go, granting her access to jump out of his arms and pull the hem of her dress down that had ridden up when he picked her up.
She awkwardly turned to the man, crossing her arms over chest. "Uh, thanks for the... lift, I guess."
"Anytime." Eric bowed his head, smirking as he sniffed the air. His eyes sparkled with intrigue. "What are you?"
Rory quirked a confused eyebrow. "Um, a waitress?"
"As much as I enjoy your little humor, I am very serious. What are you?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Your blood... it smells — different." Eric paused as he leaned closer to her, head craning down due to their height difference. Rory's breath got caught in her throat as her body stiffened. "It's more savoury than that of human blood, compelling. So, you are most certainly not just a waitress, Miss Stackhouse."
Rory's eyebrows flew to her hairline. "I am just a waitress. There's nothing special about me."
"I beg to differ." Eric's lips quirked into a smirk, eyes swimming in hers before they lifted over her end, analyzing her house where Gran currently slept. "Lovely home, Aurora. Have a goodnight, I expect to see you again soon."
Before Rory could part her lips to speak, he was gone, dashed off into the darkness of the night and a small gust of wind hit her face, hair flying a little. Rory pursed her lips before she rolled her eyes and marched up the front porch of her home and into her house, staying up to make sure Sookie got home safe and sound considering she didn't know Bill super well to trust him completely. She wasn't naive like Sookie, she knew the limits.
She sat at the kitchen table with a small lamp on.