Wednesday, September 16th Meeting

Our new location of the meeting place of the True Blood Anonymous group was strange and I felt oddly out of place. The room was still as plain as any the other room where we usually met but I busied myself with making coffee and putting out the chocolate cup cakes iced with peanut butter icing. God Speed and Hoyt, staying away from each other, were setting up folding chairs into our customary circle.

We had been forced to a new location and a quick email to the lead counselor with our conundrum led us to this new locale, found by the man with the deep comforting voice, assuring me that this location would be perfect as a temporary fix.

I surveyed the room. Again, there were two exits. I placed a chair for my counselor by the door. I thought about my counselor with his soft southern voice, his cool but gentle touches. It would be good to hear his voice again.

Eric Lover and Westexan came in. Westexan had a warm dish of pizza breads and Eric Lover had brought her sangria punch, a drink recipe straight form the Merlotte's Menu thread at the forum.

"Well, this is quite a place. Who found it for us?" asked Westexan.
"I emailed the Lead Counselor. He was a man of action and emailed me right away with the address of this place," I said.
"How are they?" asked Eric Lover, indicating the two males, fuming away at each other. If looks could kill, they would both be dead. Eric Lover poured me a plastic punch cup of sangria. I sipped it.
"Well, if they keep it up, I am going to need about four of these," I said raising my glass. "It will be a job of work to keep those two in check."
"After what I saw happen to Jessica Sunday night..."began Westexan when she was interrupted by by a loud voice. God Speed was standing up, inches from Hoyt.

"What do you mean if it hadn't been for me she would be okay?" roared Hoyt.
"You heard me, you were so busy that you didn't take of her. When her guardian gave me permission to see her, nothing bad ever happened to her!!" said God Speed.
"It wasn't my fault she couldn't reach me!!" said Hoyt defensively.
"At least I have a cell phone, and not some lame beeper," said God Speed
"She didn't call you did she?" asked Hoyt.
"Boys!!!" I said loudly. "Settle down. She is as much her own person as any of us here."
"All I know is that should anything happen to her, you would be..." said God Speed
"What?" said Hoyt.
"Let's just say my focus would not be on her guardian but you," said God Speed solemnly.
"You!" I pointed at Hoyt. "Sit over there," I said, pointing at a chair directly in front of the place where the lead counselor stood. "God Speed, you sit over here between me and Eric Lover."
"That's just fine with me," he said, looking at Hoyt as he sat down hard on the folding chair.
"Don't you eyeball me," said Hoyt.

Raki, True Blood Fan, Viking Lover and Violet, faithful as ever to all things kleenex came in. Mel and Liz rattled in, Mel looking perturbed by the change of locations. I handed her a hot cup of coffee but she turned it down for a cup of sangria. Liz, on the other hand took the coffee and they both went to their seat.

Mikeylikesit and Dude came in and got their drinks and a couple of pizza rolls and a cup cake apiece and sat down. Minnie, the last of our little group, came in and sat down, looking warily at God Speed and sat down by Westexan.

The lights went out except of course for the central panel and before we could even blink to accustom ourselves to the light our four counselors appeared. We quieted down and waited expectantly.

"How is everyone tonight?" said the soft southern voice of my counselor. I closed me eyes and uttered a prayer of thanks. I didn't know why, but I thought for sure that my counselor would be absent tonight. But the sound of his voice calmed my fears if only for a moment.
"Aslinn, dearest, it was good that you did all that wonderful research about the maenad. You had many good ideas, especially the importance of all the symbolism to the maenad. It certainly distracted her, to see her holy images destroyed," said the deeper voice of the lead counselor.
"I was glad to be of help, but Dude knew what was going to happen all along," I said.
"Yes, he did," said the southern voice of my counselor.
"Well, I thought it might be something like that," said Dude, sipping his sangria.

"I am glad that Lafayette survived, but what will happen to him next? He is still working for Eric, selling what we discovered was blood supplied by the queen," said Mel.
"I don't know, but it looks like Eric is on the queen's personal shit list because Bill learned of Eric selling V," said Raki.
"Yeah, about that," I said. "Did Eric have anything to do with Bill's abduction?" I said, a little tersely.
"We don't know if he had anything to with that," said Liz.
"Seems funny that Bill gets taken after Eric says that he would take of him," I said.
"How would he know how to find him?" asked Violet.
"Sookie of course, he has tricked her into having his blood. He is 'a part of her now'," I said. "He can find her fast."
"I think it was Lorena," said Minnie. "She has the biggest grudge against Bill and Sookie."
"But how did she know where they were?" I asked.
"Bill has had her blood, in fact, Bill is her blood," said Dude. "She could find him easy. Godric sensed Eric."

"And Jason," said Mel, trying to diffuse the tension in the air.
"What about Jason?" said the soft southern voice.
"Well, he doesn't remember everything, but he remembers most all of it and then he shot Eggs. What will that do to him?" said Mel.
"That remains to be seen," said the lead counselor.

"Sam was brilliant, turning into that bull and tearing the maenad's heart out," said God Speed.
"He was the only one who was brilliant," said Hoyt.
"What do you mean about that?" said the southern voice.
"Jessica! What is going to happen to her?" asked Hoyt.
"It is your fault, you knew how fragile she was and you didn't take care of her," said God Speed.
"Why is it my fault?" said Hoyt.
"Don't get me started," said God Speed. "What will happen to her?"
"What do you think will happen to Jessica?" said the female counselor, her young protege gasped audibly.
"I don't think it will be good, whatever it is," said God Speed. Hoyt snorted loudly, muttering something about a brilliant answer. God Speed, to his credit, held silent, but his fists were balled up.


"So what is going to happen with Bill and Sookie?" asked Eric Lover. I reached toward Violet for tissues and she handed me a bunch.
"Are they going to break up? You know that is how the Connection wrote it," said True Blood Fan.
"But the Source may take it in a different direction entirely," said Mikeylikesit.

I wiped at my eyes, watering easily with the memory of the scene.
"Aslinn, what is wrong dearest?" said the lead counselor.
"It was so sad when Sookie said 'What about when I grow old and weak and you are still the same,' She was right but I would have said yes, right away," I said, my voice trembling.
"Is that all?" said the lead counselor.
"Well, no, she didn't get to give Bill her answer. Sookie is Bill's miracle, and now he has been taken without knowing that she said yes, and he will be wherever he is, with God knows what happening to him and thinking Sookie didn't want him," I said. "I don't know how I will cope."

"Not knowing the answers to all these questions will be hard to cope with. Will we be able to cope with not knowing what the hell is going to happen to Bill, of wondering if Eric had anything to do with it, or if Jason will be nagged with guilt? And what about Sam? Apparently, he has come to see the adoptive parents who abandoned him in time to get an address of his real parents. What will happen? Is Jessica in mortal danger now that she has gone mad? Will anyone find out that Eric is working for the queen, selling V? And why? And how will Tara cope with Egg's death? And will Bill and Sookie stay together?" said Viking Lover. "And will Sookie explore who and what she is?"

"I don't know, but we have 91/2 months to wait before we know," I sniffed.

"Excellent work," said the southern voice. "We will meet again to discuss all these things next week."

I went to the coffee table and began covering the few treats left when I felt a presence behind me. I raised my head but did not look around. He leaned in close to my ear.

"Trust me," he said softly. And like that he was gone.

"Right," I said under my breath.

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