The Way I feel under your Command

C'mon now, try n' understand
The way I feel under your command
Take my hand, as the sun descends
They can't hurt ya now, can't hurt ya now, can't hurt ya now...

Because the Night- 10,000 Maniacs

I liked going to Eric’s house. We woke to a message from Eric to meet him there, that he had to talk to us. We were a little flummoxed. Eric did not know much about what was happening in Bon Temps and I wondered if we should tell him about Pam and Nora or let Tara tell him. Of course if we told him too soon, he would just race off into the night and we would not know what he wanted to talk to us about.

I pulled my car up to the house and Sean and Renee got out and Aolani and Len and Minnie got out of her car. Aolani asked Minnie if she had her key handy and Minnie showed her the key, she already had hers out. Minnie let us in and we slid out of our shoes and spread out. “Do you all want something to drink?” I asked.
“I’ll get it,” said Minnie.
“Just bring the bottle, dearest,” said Eric, stepping out into the living room, pulling on a shirt. He’d just had a shower. “How are all my friends and allies?”
“How are you?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
“A little thirsty, but otherwise I am fine,” he said. “I am getting ready to hunt, so we don’t have much time.”

“So, Willa,” said Barrister.
“What of Willa?” asked Eric.
“Why did you turn her?” asked Barrister. Minnie brought the bottle of wine and Eric took the bottle and removed the cork and Renee brought out the wine glasses. Eric poured the wine and we sat down. Eric sprawled out in a big overstuffed chair.
“What are the chances that her father will not put her in the camp? I have a Vampire homing device in my little Willa,” he said.
“So you were just blowing smoke up her ass when you told her she deserved to be a Vampire?” asked Renee.
“Maybe,” he said, looking thoughtful. “Maybe not, I have not decided. If she is taken to the camp, then I know where the atrocities are being carried out.”
“And what if you find them, what will you do? Will you be able to get her and all your little fangy brethren and sisteren out the camp and to safety?” asked Len.
“Perhaps, can I count on you to take some of them in?” he asked.
“Is that safe?” asked Barrister. “After all, they will be injured and we only have so much Tru:Blood on hand.”
“This is true and there are no familiar Vampires in there I know of,” said Eric. I did not even risk a glance at my friends because we knew differently. Eric would see us glance at one another. “So how are things doing with Bill and Sookie?”

“Just peachy,” said Aolani. “Bill is still being an enormous butthole and Sookie is not making the smartest decisions, but she is holding her own.” Eric looked away.
“Sookie has made her decision, she chose none of the above,” said Eric.

“Sam is in hot water, he has that daughter of the shifter who died at the AVL and Alcide is dead set on getting her back and he is making fast enemies with his second in command,” said Len. “I would not be surprised if she challenged Alcide to the pack.”
“Not of interest to me,” said Eric.
“Me either,” said Renee. Eric stood up and grabbed his coat. He kissed Aolani and Minnie and headed for the door.
“Minnie, lover, lock up the house. You are more than welcome to stay, I won’t be back tonight,” he said.
“Be careful out there Viking,” I said. “The night is dark and full of terrors.” He grinned.
“The dead travel fast,” he said and was gone.

“Should we have told him about Pam and Nora?” asked Renee. I shrugged.
“We can’t interfere with the goings on of this world,” I said. “But I wonder…”
“Wonder what?” asked Barrister.
“I wonder if we can talk to Niall?” I asked.
“Maybe,” said Aolani. “We could back to the house and set up that diagram and send for his spirit, anyway.”
“A Vampire Faery,” I said. “I think we should talk to him.”

The drive back to the house was a little uncomfortable. The Caddo Parish police where on the road, along with that LA VTS, or whatever that was, and we were well known to be friends of the fang. Our House was just that, the fact we had light tight rooms for our fangy friends was no one’s business. Yet, I cursed when the blue and red wick wack lights bloomed in my rear view window and I pulled over into the parking lot of the local Grabbit Quick. I took out my little bill fold with my license and registration and insurance. The police officer was the same law officer who pulled over Bill and Sookie.

“Yes officer?” I asked. “Is there a problem?”
“We are just doing random stops in the area. Are familiar with a Vampire bar around here, Fangtasia?” he asked, shining a flash light on us. It was a bit warm and I knew this was a UV light.
“We used to go there for the music,” I said.
“For the music,” he said.
“Yeah, we used to know the Vampire who owned it, but he isn’t there anymore and we don’t really visit it anymore,” I said.
“And no one will either,” he said smugly. “You knew the owner?”
“Just to nod at him, we liked the music and the dancing and he had a great selection of imported beer,” I said.
“Just to nod at him. Sure you didn’t know him better?” he asked.
“Not really,” I said. “Anything else officer?”
“You all be real careful now,” he said, handing me back my license and registration and insurance.
“You too,” I said.

I rolled up my window and we headed out. Aolani and Minnie and Len were already there. We walked in.
“What did he want?” asked Aolani.
“He just wanted to sniff us, he ran an UV light over us to see if any of us were Vampires and he asked about Eric and Fangtasia.” I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottled water.
“What did you tell him?” asked Minnie.
“I said we used to go to Fangtasia and we were familiar with the owner, just nodding terms, and we hadn’t been there in a long while, which is the truth,” I said. I went into the magik room and grabbed some candles and our sheet painted with the magikal doorway. When I came back, I looked up.
“Tara? What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t know where else to go,” she said.