EPOV

The past week has proved to be.... irritating. Several vampire owned businesses in the Shreveport and Dallas areas have been attacked. Burned to the ground is more accurate. To begin with, we thought that it was a coincidence, buildings burn every day. But when four thriving businesses were destroyed in the span of as many days... we knew that this was an attack.

Even though the Fellowship of the Sun hasn't claimed responsibility, we know that they are behind this. All of the buildings were owned by prominent vampires, all were burned during the day, and according to the incident reports, the same accelerates were used in each case. The manner of dousing the buildings and the means of ignition were also almost exact.

Of course the ignorant zealots wouldn't think to use different methods for each fire. Or perhaps they had, and purposely made them identical... to send us a message.

The Fellowship has been under close scrutiny from the police and the media, since the Dallas suicide bombing. The Newlin's have claimed that the boy, Luke acted on his own... without any help or instruction from the church. And with him being dead, there isn't any way for the authorities to confirm their suspicions that the church is involved. The case is still open, and there are large rewards set in place for anyone with any information that can link the Fellowship to the bombing. Humans are nothing if not greedy, and we are hoping that the prospect of one hundred thousand dollars will be enough of a temptation for someone on the inside to bring forward proof. Time will tell if this works.

As far as the fires, we have been lucky and so far there have been no casualties. Most vampires don't rest anywhere near their businesses, it would make us too easy of a target. But the financial loss has been great. Two of the businesses were nightclubs, similar to Fangtasia. Both of them were in Texas, in Area Nine. The other two were located in my Area, one was an art gallery and the other was a high end dress shop. Both of the owners are longtime citizens of my Area, vampires that have shown me fealty throughout the years. I have given them my word that we will find the humans behind this and deal with them quickly.

The Magister is extremely displeased with the events of the past week. At the Tribunal two nights ago, he called me to task for not finding the culprits and stopping the attacks. I hate being chastised... especially in public. This just fuels my anger toward the fire starting bastards, and they had better pray that the authorities find them before I do.

I've been spending most of my time at Fangtasia, checking the alerts coming through the channels and staying in close contact with Isobel. I've also upped the vampire presence in the bar. The attacks have all been during the day so far, but that could change. As far as daytime guards, I've hired several Were's to stand sentry duty during the hours that I can not be present. I normally can't stand the two natured, and try to have as little contact with them as possible, but under these circumstances, they truly were the best option available.

Another irritating thing about this self imposed lock down of mine is that it has severely impacted the amount of time that I've been able to spend with Sookie. Things have been going remarkably well in regards to her, and I hate that our courtship has had to be put on somewhat of a temporary hold. I have told her as little about what is going on as possible, as it is not her concern. But I have let her know that it displeases me to have been away from her this week. We do talk nightly over the phone, and those few moments have proven to be the bright spot of my nights.

The last time I saw her was five days ago, for our second official date. I went to her home and took her on a moonlit picnic. Pam had once again given me her Dear Abby advice on the matter of dating activities and that combined with how happy it made Sookie when she saw that I was willing to eat with her gave me the idea. I drove her down near the bayou and we spent the night talking and laughing. I told her some more about my past which I think surprised me more than it did her. I haven't spoke of my human life to anyone in more years than I can account. Even Pam doesn't know that much about my human years. That time ended when I became vampire, on that night so long ago when Godric offered to make me his companion of the night. I left the person I was lying there with my dead men in that bloody field, and embraced my new life. I became a new man, or new vampire and shed my human qualities... my human emotions. Or so I had thought.

For some reason Sookie is very easy to talk to. It's like she is able to strip me of my barriers and see down into the real me. She see's the man within the vampire. I'm not sure that I like feeling vulnerable to her, but it is a new experience to say the least. One that I'm curious to explore further.

This night seems to drag on. I feel like I've been awake for days, and it's only a little before ten. Even Pam's ribbing can't seem to break through my bad mood. Normally I find my child's sense of humor enjoyable... she walks a fine line between humor and insubordination, and she plays her role well. As she should, seeing how long she has been with me.

But tonight I'm not amused and I tell her so. She grumbles about my mood, telling me that I'm bad for business. I suppose she is right, I have had little to no patience with the vermin as of late. I've done my duty and sat out here on my throne, letting them get a glance at the big bad vampire. But that's as far as I've went this week.

I've lost count of how many of the pathetic people I've kicked away from me, tonight alone. For some reason they think that they can just come up and I will be so happy that they have graced me with their presence. Please. They should be glad that I don't drain them dry and throw their bodies in the bayou to rot or become alligator food.

Shaking myself from this train of thought, I take a look around. Pam is over by the bar, talking to some little pixie looking woman. She has leaned in close and is whispering in the girl's ear. I can sense her attraction to the human, and I would bet that she wont be going home alone tonight.

That thought brings me back to my own lack of sexual companionship as of late. I'm sure that has something to do with my horrible mood, at least in part. I don't even know why I'm abstaining. Sookie and I haven't talked about commitment... or monogamy. I shudder a little at the word, and it's implications.

What in the hell has happened to me? If someone would have told me six months ago that I would even be considering monogamy to a human, I would have told them that they were crazy and quite possibly have even killed them for thinking such a thing. It's so out of character for me to willingly commit myself in any part, to anything. Commitments cause problems, cause unneeded drama. And I have enough drama in my life without adding to it.

But on the other side, it would be nice to have someone to come home to each day. Someone who I could trust, could care about. I've gotten quite accustomed to mine and Sookie's nightly talks, to hearing her voice over the phone telling me about her day. To having her listen to me. She is getting more comfortable with me, and I with her. Our talks are easy, the laughter frequent. I can't think of a time in my life where I have felt as free as I have the past few weeks. And when she embraces me or places her warm lips on mine, I find that a part of me wants to the be the man that she wants me to be.

Wishing that I could see her tonight, but knowing that it's not possible... I decide that it's best to turn my thoughts away from her. I busy myself with texting back and forth with Isobel, she hasn't learned anything new since last night... and like myself, she is getting anxious about the situation. She has posted guards to watch over the Fellowship, so at least if they try something at night.... there is a good chance that we can be alerted in time to thwart the attacks.

I send her one final text and slip my cell phone into my pocket, looking around the bar. I notice that Pam has moved back to door duty, her pixie girl watching her every move adoringly. I give my child a smirk and a wink as I gesture to her night's companion, and she gives me a huge smile in return.

I find myself glad that she will have someone to spend time with after she leaves this place. She spends most of her time here and I worry about her. I released her years ago, but she still stays by my side. Her loyalty knows no bounds and I know that I couldn't have picked a better person to bring to this life. I trust her completely and I know that she is the one person who will never betray me. I realize that there may be a time that comes when she wishes to leave me, but I hope that it wont happen soon.

At this, I feel a tremor of excitement trickle through me and I know that it's not coming from me, but from Sookie. It is strong, like she is close by... but that doesn't make any sense, she should be home in Bon Temps tonight. I try to hone in on the feeling, to see if I can figure out what has her so excited when I hear Pam give a great laugh and I look up.

There she is, standing beside my child in the loveliest pale yellow dress, her hair pulled back and her eyes shining. My light in the darkness, my Sookie.