saturday night and the moon is out

[feel_human]

Tucked away off the road in Bon Temps, there's a road house. Warm light spills from its windows, and the sound of a jukebox playing drifts out into the muggy Louisiana night. The regular assortment of trucks and Hail-Mary-please-keep-this-lemon-goin'-just-a-little-longer cars sit in the dirt parking lot; what amounts to about half the town's small population... or, at least, of those of the 'drinking age and above' persuasion.

Inside, it's a bar of the type scattered all across the American South: homey, no-nonsense. Booths and tables. A man in a plaid flannel shirt wiping the bar; a crossdresser in the kitchen singing Gospel hymns and rolling his hips in time with the words just to scandalize the prep cook. A handful of waitresses, bustling about.

Sookie makes her way briskly through it all, a tray balanced on her palm and her eyes kept stubbornly front, as voices swarm around her. Aloud, and... less so.

...I’m just going to have one beer tonight Jesus one beer that’s all...

...better not gripe about me eating fries not after what I did for him last night...

...I cannot wait to get the hell out of this podunk town...

 

 "Well, make sure you do, and before it’s too late," she responds, thoughtless, to the young man. "Because every year you wait? You just get more and more stuck here. Believe me, I know."

He stares at her. So do his parents.

So does the other table. And she realizes, too little too late, that he hadn't said that out loud, not at all. She laughs, uncomfortable. "I’ll get y'all some ketchup," she says, brightly, and flees, ponytail swinging against the nape of her neck as she goes.

Stupid, Sookie, she chides herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

 

Comments

[feel_human]

Sookie comes to intercept her as she reaches for the iron, taking both board and iron out of her hands. “Here, Gran, I’ll do that,” she says, and glances at Sam.

“Why don’t you have a seat over at the table? Sam and I wanna… we got some things to tell you.”

Adele looks mystified, then claps her hands together, delighted. “You’re datin’!”

“Um.” Sookie blushes. “Not that.”

[gavemea_45]

He feels the back of his neck heat up even as he guesses that answers the question of whether or not Adele Stackhouse would approve of a stranger from out of town taking her granddaughter out for coffee, or going on a picnic, or anything else. Sam settles the basket on a chair, and struggles for something to say.

"Um," he starts. "Not that she's - not that I'm not - anyway, it's not that."

[feel_human]

“Oh, I see.” Adele glances from one to the other of them, noting their matching flushed faces, and wisely decides to say nothing more. She takes a seat and looks at them, expectant. “Then what is it?”

Sookie flicks a look at Sam, then goes to fill the iron with water, trying to decide how to start. “It’s about… about that man at the bar last night. The one who came after me in the parking lot?”

[gavemea_45]

"He called himself Bill," Sam offers. "It's as good a name as any, I guess. The thing is, Mrs. Stackhouse--"

He's turned to face her, keeping back so as not to crowd her.

"-- he's trouble. Real trouble."

[feel_human]

“What sort of trouble?” Adele asks, disturbed. “Why, you don’t think he’s responsible for Maudette, do you?”

Sookie lifts the basket of laundry off the chair and nods for Sam to sit. “We don’t know, Gran,” she says, quiet. “But… the thing is, we’re not sure Bill is, exactly… human.”

[gavemea_45]

He takes the seat she indicates and promptly leans forward in the chair, elbows on his knees and an earnest look on his face.

"I know it sounds crazy. It'd be hard to believe if we hadn't seen it."

[feel_human]

“Sookie,” Gran says, distressed. “What are you sayin’?”

Sookie exchanges a glance with Sam, then comes over to take her grandmother’s hand. “Gran… he’s a vampire. They’re real, honest to goodness. I saw his fangs and everything.”

[gavemea_45]

He wishes there was a way to ease the shock. As it is, all he can do is back Sookie up.

"It's true," Sam murmurs. "I'm sorry."

[feel_human]

Adele stares at her in shock. “Vampires? Sookie, are you tellin’ me a story?”

“No, Gran, never.” She comes to crouch at Adele’s side, curling her fingers around her grandmother’s. “You know I’m… different. I guess there are a lot of things like me out there we don’t know about, and vampires are one of them.”

[gavemea_45]

"Not like you." Sam's voice is firm. He shifts a little in his chair, trying to draw Adele's attention.

"Ma'am, I know how it sounds, I swear I do. Most people never have to confront anything like this. I'm sorry you do. I'm sorry Sookie had to, too. I'll do everything I can to help you through this."

[feel_human]

Adele turns a frank and amazed glance on Sam. “Sookie told you? About her… ability?”

“Yes,” Sookie tells her. “I may only have met Sam last night, but I trust him, Gran. You can, too.”

[gavemea_45]

It's humbling, to hear Sookie confess her trust in him like that. He silently promises her that he'll live up to it, and nods to Adele.

"She did," he confirms. "And she's right, you can trust me. I'll help explain anything you want to know, anything I can."

[feel_human]

“Why is that?” Adele asks, wondering. “How are you familiar with such things?”

[gavemea_45]

Sam draws a careful breath and flicks a fast glance at Sookie before meeting Adele's eyes.

"Because one of those things killed our mother when I was six months old," he says, as gently as he can. "And my family's been hunting them ever since."

[feel_human]

Adele and Sookie both look at him with identical shocked expressions.

“Sam,” Sookie manages, finally. “I’m so sorry.”

[gavemea_45]

"Thanks. I didn't tell you to make you feel bad for me, though," he says. "Just to explain why I know the things I do. Sookie, it's like I told you last night - usually people don't find out about these kinds of things unless something bad happens."

Sam shrugs, very slightly. "When it does - some people go on to become hunters, like we did. There's more of them - us - out there than you'd think. We try to make sure that people are safe, as much as we can."

The corner of his mouth turns up in a wry smile. "Call it a family business."

[feel_human]

Adele looks at her, and she nods, keeping her gaze level. “So you see he knows what he’s talkin’ about,” she says.

“But the reason we’re tellin’ you is so you know to be safe, when I’m at work tonight.”

[gavemea_45]

"Three things, Mrs. Stackhouse. Just three and you'll be safe, okay?" Sam says, easy and warm.

"First, if a stranger shows up after dark, don't let him in. No matter what. A vampire can't come inside unless it's invited. If they do get in, they say that invitation can be revoked, but the best protection is not to let them inside at all."

[feel_human]

This goes so against Adele’s breeding that she opens her mouth to protest, but Sookie shakes her head. “Please, Gran,” she says. “I know it feels wrong, ‘cause you want to be hospitable, but will you please do it, for me?”

Adele looks at her for a long moment, then pats her hand and looks back at Sam. “All right,” she agrees. “No invitations in after dark.”

[gavemea_45]

Relief surges through him, but he tries not to show it. "Thank you," he murmurs. "Second thing. If a stranger shows up after dark, don't look them in the eyes. They can get people to do things, that way."

[feel_human]

Gran looks unhappy, but nods. Sam might as well be asking her to stand on her head or learn Chinese, this is so alien to Gran’s nature, but Sookie’s happy to see she’s taking them seriously.

“All right,” Adele agrees. “And the third thing?”

[gavemea_45]

"Stay inside between sunset and sunrise." Forestalling a concern that he's expecting, Sam adds, "I'm going to go to Merlotte's while Sookie's at work, to keep an eye on things there. But I know she'd feel a lot better knowing you're safe here at home."

[feel_human]

“Well, I don’t go out so much after dark as I used to, anyway,” Adele murmurs, and nods before she sighs.

“My stars. I almost wish you two were lyin’ to me, though for what reason I couldn’t say.”

“I know, Gran,” Sookie says, soft. “I’d have a hard time with it myself if I hadn’t seen what Bill can do last night. I just want you to be safe.”

[gavemea_45]

He'd give a lot to be able to tell them that none of it was real. Unfortunately, he can't, and Sam curses Vampire Bill in the silence of his own mind, just for a moment.

"I know," he murmurs. "I really do. I'll get things taken care of as soon as I can, so you don't have to worry about it any more."

[feel_human]

“How, exactly, are you plannin’ on doin’ that?” Adele asks, as Sookie stands and goes to plug in the iron. She glances at Sam, but holds her tongue, choosing instead to set a pillowcase over the ironing board.