RPOV
I heard yelling downstairs, so I got up. I ran into Jessica at the top of the stairs. Blood tears were welling up in her eyes. "Jess, what's wrong?" I asked.
"I-I caught James and Lafayette having sex in our car!" She practically wailed.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm sure that was a huge shock."
"Yeah, you could say that!"
Jason came up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Jess, you okay? You need to sit down?"
"I don't think I can sit down," she said.
"You guys can sit in my room, I'm done moping for the night. Feel free to take over for me." I walked down stairs. Part of me felt bad for leaving Jessica like that, but the other part of me said, if I got involved in someone else's relationship right now, I wouldn't be able to hold it together.
Lafayette came through the front door and almost ran into me. "Have you seen red?"
"She's upstairs. Congratulations for adding some drama to this party, it needed a little spice." I walked around the house, everyone was so happy. I could hear it in their thoughts. Instead of insulting Sookie they were praising her. They pitied me, but there was also a note of awe, something I wasn't exactly new to, but it was nice to be complimented. I did a loop, getting another glass of Coke in the kitchen before continuing through the living room. I saw Sookie coming in from outside.
"Are you feeling better?" She asked.
"Yeah, getting a little tired tough. Thought this might pep me up," I said. "Looks like you're in a good mood."
"I'm drunk."
"You deserve it after all of this."
"We should get drunk together again," she said. "You're a fun drunk."
"I'll make sure to pencil you in about six months from now." Sookie laughed. "Have you seen Bill?"
"Yeah, he's outside. You better hurry, I think he's about to leave."
"Thanks." I opened the door. Bill was staring off into space. He looked up surprised.
"Hello, Rachel. I haven't seen you tonight."
"I've been out of sorts, to say the least."
"I'm so sorry about what happened to Alcide, I wish that there was something I could have done."
"It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anyone's fault but those awful intolerant people." I shook my head. "I think that's the hardest thing to wrap my mind around. He wasn't killed by Hep V vampires, or in a werewolf fight. He was killed by normal, everyday humans with guns."
"The thing you have to be most scared of isn't supernatural," Bill murmured.
"I hope in a few decades humans will realize there isn't much of a difference between us and them. Maybe this Hep V thing is the first step, in a weird way. I know people are terrified now, but they have to see that it was humans that caused this."
"I see where you're coming from. Hopefully this will open the world's eyes. Hate breeds hate."
"I want a world where my child will be safe, no matter what species she is."
"She?"
"I keep saying that. I don't know, maybe it's a boy, but I have a feeling."
"I hope she gets that world."
Screams from inside got my attention and I ran back into the house. Lafayette was pulling Lettie Mae from the living room. "What's going on?" I asked.
"She stabbed me!" Willa said.
"This party is just going to hell, honestly," I mumbled.
"You're all fucking crazy!" Nicole said. She looked around the room. "A few days ago a bunch of rabid vamps ran through this town killing people. They kidnapped us! People are fucking dead, and your response was to throw a party? Who does that?"
"Nicole, let's go talk about this in the other room," Sam said.
Nicole shook him off. "No, Sam. This needs to be said. Shit like this doesn't happen in other towns! At least Lettie Mae gets it! None of this is normal. I need to get out of here. Come on, Sam, let's go." Sam steered Nicole towards the door.
"She's got a point," I murmured.
LPOV
"Okay, go in, find mommy and daddy and get Sarah," I told them. "I'll be in the back, if Sarah is here she's not going to be marching through the front door. If I find her, I'll text you."
"See you in Conservative Hell," Pam said with a fake grin.
I straightened Eric's cowboy hat. "Have fun!"
I watched Eric and Pam head towards the main entrance while I went around the side of the building. The catering truck was parked by an open door, which was being watched by a greasy security guard. I sauntered up towards him. "I am so sorry to bother you, sir, but can you help me?" I asked putting on the sickliest, sweetest, southern accent I could muster.
"What do you want lady?" He said. He looked up, but not enough that I could see his eyes due to the brim of his hat.
"Do you know if President Bush is inside, I am his biggest fan and I would just die if I got to meet him?"
"This is an invite only event, you need to get off these premises before I call for backup."
"Oh honestly I'm just a girl. I'm sure you could handle me." That got him; he puffed up trying to look macho, looking me in the eye. I dropped the accent. "Now sir, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me in. Oh, and forget I was ever here."
I walked into the building and down the back hall. I could tell I was getting closer to the party, because I could hear the voices and clinking of glasses. Waiters scurried down the hall, but I was too fast for them to see. Suddenly there were gunshots. I stopped, and was almost run over by Sarah Newlin and her mother. I sprinted to the end of the hallway, ready to intercept them, when several Asian men in suits appeared. One of them shot Sarah's mother in the back and kept moving. Sarah ran right into Eric.
I doubled back, catching the men's attention. They turned, but before they could attack, I had stolen one of the men's guns and shot the other two. Eric grabbed the face of the third and ripped his jaw off. I stared at him, and then looked down the hall for Sarah who was sprinting to safety. "I had that," I said, before chasing after her.
I turned the corner and instead of finding Sarah, I ran right into handful of guys in suits. I shot one of them with the gun I'd taken from the other guy, but when I tried to shoot again I realized I was out of bullets. "Damn it!" I threw the gun down and attacked, but suddenly there were chains around my neck. The silver burned and I clawed at it, which did nothing but burn my fingers. I dropped to my knees, but was quickly yanked up and my hands were restrained.
I was pushed down the hallway, I could hear fighting and when we turned the corner I saw Eric still tearing people apart. Another man pushed Pam past me. "Eric," she whimpered. He turned, saw us, and then dropped the men he was holding. More men and suits surrounded and restrained him.
We were dragged out of the building and tossed into cars. I noticed the guard I'd glamoured into letting me into the building, had been killed. We were driven through town and then loaded out at a large office building. They walked us up stairs and sat us at a table in front of a window over looking the city. A man sat a timer on the table in front of us. "Time until dawn." He bowed and then left us alone.
I looked in between Eric and Pam. "Just for future reference, when vampires meet the sun..."
"You're in the splash zone," Pam said.
I grimaced. "Lovely."
RPOV
I walked through the cemetery back to Bill's house. There were still guests at Sookie's, despite the turn the party had taken. I was far too exhausted to entertain them anymore. I knocked on the door, but there wasn't an answer. The door was unlocked and so I just went in and up to my old room. It was mostly empty. When I'd moved to Shreveport with Alcide I'd cleaned out my rooms at Bill's and Sookie's. After doing a quick search through the drawers I found an old oversized t-shirt and changed into it.
I could hear the shower running in Bill's room. Lily had always complained the walls were too thin in this old house. I lay down on the bed, but tried to keep my eyes open. I wanted to let Bill know I was staying here for the day. I was almost asleep when the water turned off, but I pulled myself out of bed anyway.
By the time I got to Bill's door, he was on the phone. I started to open the door, just to give him a wave and then head to bed. But something urged me to listen in. "I need to get my affairs in order," he was saying. "I'm Hep V positive." I stepped away from the door. A creak on the stairs startled me and I turned to see Jessica standing on the first landing. I walked down slowly. "Did you hear?" I whispered. She nodded. Bill ran past us, not even noticing our presence, and went into his office.
We followed him. He looked up, startled. "Oh, hello."
"I'm going to sleep here, is that fine?" I asked.
"Of course, you know your room's always open," he told me. "How was the party?"
"Alright, I guess," Jess said.
"Didn't James come back with you?" He asked her.
She shook her head. "We kinda had a fight."
"I'm sorry to hear that." He picked up a briefcase. "I have to go out for a while, I'm not sure when I'll be back." He kissed both of us on the forehead and headed towards the door.
"Bill," Jessica called. He turned around. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'll see you later." He left and I turned to look at Jessica.
"Jess, what do we do?"
She shook her head. "You should get some sleep."
LPOV
Approximately two hours later, the doors opened. The men who had brought us into the building walked in, followed by another man in a white suit and a cowboy hat. He leaned on the table. "Howdy, Mr. Northman, Ms. Compton, Ms. De Beaufort. My name is Katsurou Ryouichi, but my friends call me Mr. Gus Jr." He took a seat. "Now, I'm the North American president of Yokonomo Corporation. As I'm sure you know, our signature product was TruBlood."
"That's unfortunate for you," I mumbled.
"Unfortunate is putting it lightly, Ms. Compton." He slid a picture of Sarah Newlin across the table. "Now, I'm going to need y'all to help me out with this situation. Do you know this woman?"
Eric took a look at the photo and pretended to think. "Yeah, I know of her."
"Do you have any information about where I might find Ms. Newlin?"
"Nope," Eric said.
"That's, as Ms. Compton would say, unfortunate. The sun is going to rise in three minutes, and you'll be frying like eggs on Texas asphalt. So I'll ask again, where is Sarah Newlin?"
"I have no idea."
"Eric," Pam hissed.
"Shut up, Pam," Eric said.
Mr. Gus looked at her. "Do you know where I can find Ms. Newlin?"
"Don't do it Pam, he'll take the information and kill us anyway."
"Give me your word," Pam said to Gus. "If your honor is so important to you, give us your word you won't kill us."
"You have my word."
"One more condition," Eric said. "I'm the one who kills her."
"Nope," Gus said standing up. The sun was starting to rise and I could tell Pam and Eric were both feeling the burn. "Sarah Newlin destroyed my company, that is not something I take lightly."
"She killed my sister, when I find her I'm going to-"
"Eric, please!" I said. I looked at Gus. "While you're sitting in the ruins of your company, Sarah Newlin is going to be having a laugh at your expense. Unless you let us go."
"The sun doesn't seem to be affecting you, Ms. Compton. We can always make a deal after your friends are dead. Maybe you'll be more willing to talk then."
"You don't know me very well."
"I kill Sarah Newlin, you can have the body," Eric said.
Mr. Gus looked at him for a second. "Deal." He nodded for one of his men to close the blinds.
"Sarah Newlin has a vampire sister," I told him.
"With mommy and daddy dead, Sarah will have no place else to run," Pam added.
"The address?"
"When night falls, we'll take you there," Eric said.
Gus nodded and put his hat back on. "Unchain them."