April 7

April 7 Meeting

I was pacing. First, Pam called and said that Eric wanted everyone to be in the meeting tonight. So I PMed everyone and told them to be there. Then, Bill called and said the same thing. Then God Speed got a call from Jessica that was damned near hysterical. The fact that I had not heard from Eric worried me til it dawned on me to peek in the casket and there was the Sheriff of Area Five, sleeping like a marble carved angel sans the wings. I shut the lid quietly on him and made a pot of fresh coffee and lit a cigarette.

The news was still pretty thin on the ground, but the little bits we’d gotten and the flash from the new adventures had me worried. I had not seen anything about my Bill, who would be away from us during part of the summer, and we discovered that they were looking for Hunter. And then the little flash of a young, evil looking Vampire eye balling Tara was enough to make me wary and worry about our collection of friends in the sleepy little nowhere of Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Having gotten my message everyone was assembled in the parlor. I had warmed Tru:Bloods waiting and we had picked at our food, making such a waste. Finally Eric sat up and rose from the coffin and retrieved his bottle and sat down by me and God Speed.

“We should wait for the others,” he said to the rush of questions.
I got up and began my pacing again. Butter came and sat down where I had been sitting and Eric pulled her close to him and kissed her and rubbed her belly. GS offered his place to Fairy who changed seating in no time.

Pam came in and Eric excused himself for just a few seconds to chat with his child and second in command in his native tongue. He returned to his spot and settled down between two of his wives. “Bill and Jessica will be here shortly,” he said casually.
I smoked another cigarette and after went and poured myself a cold Pepsi and sat down on one of the ottomans. I was as nervous as a whore in church when the two Vampires came in. Eric looked at Bill, an unspoken question on his face and Bill shook his head in the negative. The Viking cursed softly under his breath.

“We should begin,” said Pam.
“As all of you know, they are looking for someone, a little boy, someone important to Sookie,” said Eric. “We need to be on the lookout for him as well.”
“Eric,” said Raki. “We don’t always know when they find them, you know, sometimes we only know when we see the adventure that they found that person.”
“I understand dearest,” said Eric. “But you are all remarkable…what is it you call it Aslinn?”

“Trawlers?” I suggested.
“Yes, trawlers,” affirmed Eric. “I am amazed sometimes by the ways you have at your disposal to find information.”
“We will of course be on the lookout,” said God Speed.

“And I want each and every one of you to be careful. Franklin has made his appearance and I am none too pleased,” said the Sheriff. “He is a Vampire I do not care for and would be more than happy to drive a stake through if he harms any of my friends.”

“We should really forge more blood bonds with the members here,” said Pam. “Purely for their own protection.”
“That is something we may want to consider,” said Eric. “I know not all of you are bonded to us.”
“If we should find Hunter, what should we do?” asked Westexan.
“Bring him here, and we will take care of him,” said Eric.
“You?” asked Fairy.
“Of course, dearest,” he said. “I would never harm a child.”
“No, I mean, would you take him to your home?” she asked.
“No, my home is not suitable. I would arrange for his safety among humans,” he said.
“And his mother?” I asked.
“His mother has become a creature of the Queen,” said Eric.

We all sat there. I was no telepath, and certainly I could read no fathomless Vampire minds, but the humans in the room were telegraphing a question I was not sure any of us would ask til Sal spoke up.

“Do you like the Queen?” he looked at Eric but his gaze quickly shifted to the other Vampires in the room. Eric looked uncomfortable. It was Pam who spoke.
“Being a loyal subject to a Vampire King or Queen is not based on whether we like them or not,” explained Pam. “The one in power is who we owe fealty to, and none other.”
“Pam, if for the sake of argument, the Queen ordered you to kill…your maker, would you?” asked Minnie.
“That would be a task which would have to be accomplished first. But I would not seek to kill Eric, he is my maker and my master and my friend. I owe him everything I am,” she said. It was quite an emotional statement from Pam, who was generally stoic about emotional matters.

“Is there any chance the Queen has sent Franklin to Bon Temp to do something to Sookie?” I asked. “Get to her through Tara?”
Bill and Eric looked at one another. They looked at me. “Tell me Aslinn, why would you think that?”
“I don’t know, it was something that just sort of popped into my head. It is different from the way the Connection plays it, but…there is no reason not to suspect such a thing….is there?” I looked at Bill and Eric.
“I would not say that you should not suspect any motive of his, for surely, as you well know, the Queen has every reason to want to control our interaction with Sookie, she did warn me after all not to have any part of her, blood or otherwise. But do not let this suspicion cloud your thinking because he is dangerous and I want you all to be very careful about him,” said the Viking.

The seriousness of the discussion was heavy on our minds even as we began to relax and chat about the things we were seeing in the encore of the adventures. It was amazing that we were able to speak seriously with them, and with this being 8 ½ weeks til June when we would be going on new adventures, we were ready to feel the rush of excitement.

Still, I pondered Pam’s suggestion. I knew that Fairy had a blood bond with the Viking and Raki had stolen a taste of his blood and as Bill had said, all you need is a drop or two. And while Bill had my blood, I had never had his. Did I want a blood bond with Bill? I suspected that Bill had made one with Renee. I had to admit I had been reticent and to be honest, he had with me. I think we were afraid of it. I was a very emotional and passionate person. While the others were admiring the new poster, a pair of water coolers, one decidedly not filled with water, I got up and gathered T:B bottles to rinse and recycle.

Besides, would he want to feel my distress during the summer’s adventures when he would be away from us and we would possibly see bad things happen to him? How about when I was with the Barrister, my human lover, and the only other man in my life that I had strong emotions for? As though he was telepathic, Bill appeared by my side.

“You clean when you are troubled,” said the southern Vampire. “My wife did the dishes when she was upset, like you.”
“Just thinking,” I said, watching the reddish water chugging down the drain. I dropped the rinsed bottle into the recycling bin.
“You know GS and Jen have a bond with Vampires,” he said.
“Yeah, but that is good, they can be felt by them in case of trouble,” I said. I grabbed another bottle and held it under the tap to put water into it.
“But you and I have never forged a blood bond,” said Bill.
“No, we haven’t,” I said. “I haven’t asked, but neither have you.”
“Does that upset you?” he asked, putting his cool hand on the nape of my neck. “I think it does a little.”
“It does, but I am more afraid of what it might do to you, when you are away from us and maybe….” I swallowed my fear like a nasty tasting lump. “You are going to have trouble enough when that time comes and I am so emotional I would not want it to distract you from keeping you head.”

Bill watched me drain the last bottle and drop it in the recycling bin and I rinsed my hands off. He picked up the dish towel and pulled my hands into it and dried them. He pulled me into the circle of his arms. I wrapped my arms around him tight and squeezed him to me.

“But perhaps the bond will give me courage if you and all my spirit wives are bonded to me and send me positive strong feelings,” he said. “You know Sookie is going to be distracted and will have a lot more of Eric’s blood possibly. I will feel that. But if I can feel all my spirit wives being strong for me and giving me courage, that would be good for us.”
“I hadn’t thought about that,” I said. “I wished I had when we were together last night.”
“There is always another night sweetheart. I am seeing Renee this evening and I will forge my bond with her, and then…when we go to the May Celebration, I will forge a bond with Violet,” he said.
“Yeah, May Day is a special night for her isn’t it?” I said.
“It is,” he confirmed. “You will all give me strength to get through what I must, and beyond that. How is your friend?”
“He is fine, he is coming to see me,” I said.
“Good, don’t be troubled darling,” he said in his soft voice.


After the meeting, the four Vampires met at Eric’s neat ranch style house in Shreveport.

“Well, we are almost ready,” said the Viking, slumped elegantly in the high backed leather chair he favored. “Have we agreed to make bonds with all of our friends? Bill, any resistance with Aslinn?”
“No, none,” he said. “And by the time the adventures begins I will have bonded with all my spirit wives,” said Bill. “What about Butter? She is expecting, will you be able to forge a bond with her?”
“I think a small taste will be safe for her and the child, as old as I am she would only need a drop or two. No fear of over cooking them,” said Eric. “Pam?”
“I have made the arrangements with all I care to be bonded with,” she said, a little miffed.
“Jessica? Did you make your arrangements with Sal?” asked Bill.
“Yes, and one or two others,” she said. “What about the Barrister?”
“Yes, when he arrives, you should definitely make arrangements to bond with him,” said Eric. “You know, I think the Barrister will be handy to have in our circle. Aslinn is such a practical little woman, if she is going to fall for a human, she falls for one who just happens to make a useful member.”
“She has,” said Bill, though he did not seem happy about it.

WAITING STILL SUCKS!!!!!!!