Hey there! First of all I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed and added me on my other story. I am really very grateful and I am already working on the next chapter. Don't worry I haven't decided to leave it. I will be updating just as soon as I have written it :)
Now this one is a different story. I've been nursing this baby a while. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. While I have a bit of if written up already, I do need to go back and edit it...heavily.
All SVM characters belong to the wonderful CH, the rest are all mine :)
"Thanks for coming in Lexie!" said Sam. He's my boss. I work in a bar in Bon Temps. Yep, I am a waitress. Not the most exciting job in the world but for a rookie like me, it is the best place to learn to interact with humans. Goddess in training, that is me! Oh did I mention my name is Alessandra Hellion, Lexie to my friends.
Giving Sam a warm smile while tying my apron on I responded.
"No problem Sam, I wasn't doing much today anyway."
Looking around Merlottes I saw the usual dinner crowd, putting on my dumb blonde smile I hussled. I worked part-time. It was mostly for human interaction, as I certainly did not need money. Money was not a problem for me, my family was wealthy. Half way through my shift, I was waiting on a chicken basket for one of my orders when I felt a tingle at the back of my neck. I opened up my mind shields enough to scan and felt a blank mind. I have met my fair share of vamps, Weres, fairies, and most other magical creatures as part of growing up in my father's court. Dad is the god of the underworld, Hades. I am the offspring of a Greek deity and a fairy princess. Yeah, my step-mum was not happy to see me, but hey what can she do, it's not fair to ask dad to keep to himself for nine months every year. Persephone was vindictive and completely self-absorbed, she had no qualms about taking out her frustrations with my dad on his only child.
Looking back on that night, I should have realised his appearance in the Bar was an omen for me, things were about to change. I did not pay attention to it though; my second sight teacher was always aggravated with me for being so blind. My excuse; I will have to deal with the future eventually. No need to worry about things to come if they will happen anyway. I have been avoiding many things for almost six years now. I should have realised that they would catch up with me when I least expect it.
The vamp walked in and paused taking everything in. Abandoning the wait for my current order, I slid in next to Sam behind the bar.
"Do you still have any of that blood we ordered a while back?"
He looked up from pouring a beer.
"Sure Lexie, why?"
I bobbed my head in the general direction of the door; he looked, sniffed and went back to pouring the beer as he replied.
"Should be at the back of the fridge somewhere, double check the dates though, it's been there a while."
"Thanks."
While I checked the types of blood we had and finished up with the food order the vampire sat in my section. I quickly scanned the minds of other customers and realised that they had no way of knowing he was a vamp. Weird to me it was obvious that he was undead, even without my mental check. Vampires looked different to my heightened senses; they smelled dry and earthy, and slightly glowed.
Walking up to his table, I put my best waitress smile on.
"Hi there, what can I get you?"
The vampire looked at me with a slightly disgruntled look.
"Good Evening. Do you have any True Blood?"
"Sure do, we have AB and O negative." I checked.
"O negative. Please." His southern twang was obvious; ok not too old then and a possible local, interesting. Not surprising I have never seen him before; Bon Temps is not exactly a high traffic area. Small southern town in northern Louisiana, I could have settled anywhere, but while on my grand tour of the human world, I fell in love with this state. New Orleans was too high traffic for me. Way to many vamps, daemons and other troublemakers that I did not want to deal with. It was bad enough that dad kept sending trouble my way. His excuse, so I would not get soft. Urgh! I heated up the blood, gently shook it out and brought it back.
"Here you are, enjoy your evening." I said smiling.
He thanked me without even looking my way. Typical. Undead, ungrateful and thinking they are the superior of everyone vampire.
I got back to the bar, giving Sam an eye-roll, he smirked. Sam and I got along really well, he's a shifter. One of those rare, take any form kind. Super cool if you ask me. I kind of bulldozed him at first when I brought that up. He keeps a very low profile in the shifter community, wants to blend in and all. He knows about me too, he asked, and I figured it would make him feel better since I outed his furry secret. I kept trying to get him to talk to his fiancé about it, she should know whom she's dating, but he's being a stubborn mule about it.
Things were quiet, nobody realized they had a vamp in the bar, humans in the town haven't met many as yet, so they probably would get nervous at first. I noticed the vamp speaking to the Rattrays. They looked shifty, and boy did I know shifty. I helped dad with his job, training for the future, he put me on hell gates at some point, to better learn about the more nefarious side of human nature and not so human. Yep, that's my dad, big warm fuzz ball! Did I mention his idea of keeping me in shape? Sending his underlings to kill (not that I can be killed really, just temporary comatosed) me as their punishment. Well, they do usually either die or get maimed but that is so not the point.
I opened up my shields again, to read their thoughts, ohh these two were so going to the deep end and soon. Drainers didn't survive very long, call it professional hazards, vampires did not appreciate their life blood being taken unwillingly, an ongoing problem since coming out of the coffin. V was the new drug of choice. Knowing their plans for this particular vamp, even with his attitude, did not make me happy. I walked over there to see if anyone wanted to have more drinks, they didn't. While turning away I whispered knowing the vampire will hear what the humans at the table would not.
"They are planning on draining you. Don't go outside, it's an ambush. Oh and try not to make a mess."
He looked up gave me a slight nod in passing, but I noticed the hardened expression. Oh well, whom ever was on hell duty will be signing these two in real soon. I wasn't bothered by death, mostly because of where I was raised, since I saw death almost everyday of my life it was normal for me, and after the stint on hell gate duty, I definitely encouraged it in some cases. Blood thirsty, who me, nah?
Finishing up my shift at closing time, I was happy to get out of Merlotte's.
"See you in a couple of days Sam." I waved good-bye and was out of there.
My dreams of a quick drive home in my baby, 1970 black mustang, were dashed as soon as I saw who was leaning against it. As he stood there, I took him in for the first time, he was very good looking, I'll give him that. Tall, with dark hair and those lovely old-fashioned side burns, if he did not have such an attitude, I would have found him intriguing, maybe. I resigned myself to a quick, how do I talk myself out of trouble conversation, while thinking up of ways to explain my knowing about the Ratrays ambush. Stopping in front of him, I nodded in greeting.
"Yes?" I never said I would be polite.
My not so grovelling and less than fearful attitude took him aback.
"How did you know?"
Feeling that playing dumb would probably not work I figured on a part truth.
"I overheard them when they were in the bar before about V. When I saw you talking to them, I wasn't sure but I'd figured they weren't after friendship and cuddles."
"Ahhh, so you have not had dealings with them, you have never taken V?"
Insulted was the first emotion that I identified, pissed off was a close second.
"You know that a thank you is usually called for when someone just saved you arse!"
His lips thinned into a line, I got the feeling he was not so good at apologies.
"Thank you for the warning. It was appreciated." He forced out, dragging the words out of himself with great reluctance.
I smiled, glad he bought my explanation. I really was enjoying bringing him down a peg or two.
"You are welcome, now I realise you are up at night but I've been working a double and really do need my rest." He took the hint moving away from the car, as I passed he inhaled, I heard more than saw his fangs pop. So much for going under the radar. My combination of divine and fairy was very much appreciated by vamps, great just fucking great.
"What are you?"
Lie Lex, lie.
"Oh! How silly of me, my name is Alessandra Hellion, Lexie to my friends, nice to meet you." Letting it hang I hoped like hell he would get distracted while I concentrated on tamping down my scent. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Bill Compton at your service Miss Hellion." Bill said, while his fangs retracted, his face still suspicious. I figured it was a good time to get out of there, before my luck ran out.
"Pleasure meeting you Bill, have a good night." I said while getting into the car. Quickly starting the engine and getting the heck out of there.
Damn, that was close.
I woke up the next morning to a bright sunny day. No work today, no daemons or other trouble on the horizon. I was looking forward to a cloud free day. I had warning wards around the property I lived on, not to mention the barriers, which were pretty much impenetrable. I was a good warder, one of the best. Coffee in hand I made my way to the veranda where I could appreciate lovely sunshine.
I loved my house. Set on twenty acres of land, I bought the land and build the house myself, well, I designed it myself. It was gorgeous. Lovely sandstone brick on the outside with large windows and a black roof. I know not very practical of me, and extremely expensive, it was worth it though. The windows were from floor to ceiling and very wide, it almost felt like I was living in the forest that surrounded me. I had three bedrooms counting my own, a study filled with books and the living area with an open plan kitchen and dining. Inside was done in shades of browns and greens, it was simple, elegant and very relaxing. Some people would call it masculine, but what the hell do they know, right? I had my gym as well, practising in the living room would have been a strategical nightmare with all the furniture, not to mention expensive and I did not like practising in the rain, often. My practise room took up almost the same area as the house; they connected through a small corridor leading off the living room. It had large windows on all side and a very high roof. I had all of my swords and an assortment of other weapons on display around the walls. I did have a few weapons around the house too; I was nothing if not cautious. Having grown up in Hell, with Hades as a father, yes, I had my share of enemies. I also had a lot of power backing me up from both sides of the family, but a girl just had to learn how to protect herself. I loved to kick ass!
I heard the phone ring in the living room, sighed and got up.
"Lexie?" Sam's voice drifted out of the reciever as I picked up the phone.
"Hey Sam! Everything ok?" He sounded worried.
"I was just about to ask you that.I saw you talking to the vampire on your way out and got worried."
Like there was a chance in Hell a lone vamp could possibly take me down.
"He just wanted to say thank you for my heads up on the Ratrays. They were planning on draining him outside."
"Are you serious?" he voice coming out a little cracked.
"Yeah, I picked it up from them. But I have a feeling everything turned out ok, well for the vamp, not so sure about them though."
"Yeah. I doubt they would have been let off lightly. Glad you are ok Cher. Oh. Thanks for covering the shifts yesterday. I appreciate it."
"You are welcome. I enjoy helping you out, Sam." I did, I like to socialise sometimes. Helped with the human interaction and all that, plus I really did like Sam, he was one of the few friends I had around here. We said our goodbyes and I confirmed that I'll work the weekend lunch shifts.
After finishing my coffee, I headed to the gym for my daily practise. I was very good in several human combat styles, daemon and fairy fighting as well as weaponry. I loved swords, had a few favourites too. Nothing beat Lilliane though. Magically enhanced to kill anything she sliced through, she was always with me. A tattoo gift, very rare and precious. I also had Zionos, my big furry bodyguard, who has been with me since my birth.
Zionos currently stretched out on the veranda lazing in the sun, his lovely black fur gleaming. Black and big, he was my favourite jaguar to hang out with. I loved him to bits, for his fierce loyalty and cuddly personality (when it came to me that is), my enemies saw the darker side of my companion. He was an ava'h, my protector, tattooed at birth by my uncle, Aries.
"How was your run, Zi?" I said while getting a pair of sais off the wall.
The usual exciting grumbled at me. You know I would love to chase something larger than those rabbits.
"Zi, we talked about that, besides, you have Sam to play with now during the full moon." Sam and Zi met, when Sam ran onto my property a while back during his full moon run. They hit it off straight away, well, after Sam turned himself from a collie to a copy of Zionos.
Full moon is not till next week. He is such a grouch in the mornings, which was exactly why I ignored him and practised.
After practise, I hit the shower and then decided to sunbathe.
Zi and I chatted about the last daemon dad sent our way. He must have just got out of training, it always amazed me how cocky the newbies were. Didn't they just learned to use their brain? We didn't really hurt him that bad, since I felt sorry for the idiot. He must have pissed someone off really bad to be sent out to me, most of the time they did internal punishment. I thoughts turned dark when I remembered Underworld, the memories forever tainted by the events that led me here.
You probably should't have helped that vampire last night. That remark brought me out of my depressing memories.
"I didn't have much choice, Zi. They were planning on draining him in the car park, I couldn't have that." I may not be the best person to turn to for Christian thoughts, as the humans say, but I was brought up with a respect for the life of others as well as death. Having spent that time working on Hell's guard duty, learning all the crimes people (and I mean that in a very multicultural/supernatural type of way) did to each other, cured me of any lingering thoughts of kindness. Some just did not deserve it at all.
I am not the one who ran out on Hades because and may I quote this, I am not interested in becoming your delegate and lackey girl. You said you hated politics and we both know that is were any association with vampires will lead.
I glared, but did not have any real come back to that. It was all true, I did say that to dad. Zionos though knew the real reason behind my escape and why I left court behind. I was also thinking that as much as I hated politics, I was starting to miss the excitement of it. Our politics were a lot more bloody then the human kind. Intruige, death and blood was the corner stone. I really did enjoy it until… NO! I will not think about it.
Turning my thoughts back to today I realised I needed to get a move on. It was Wednesday, so I knew Kassie, my best friend and half daemon, would be dropping by. We planned a night out.
I was just finishing up getting ready when she waltzed in.
"Damn girl, you look good!" She said by way of greeting.
"Thanks darling!" I smiled at her back through the mirror. I did look rather scrumptious. My tanning session gave me a natural warm glow. My jet-black hair was done up in an intricate up do, and made my eyes stand out. They are emerald green, sparkling jewels as Dad would say to me when I was little. I wore a gorgeous green dress that made them pop. It was showing off just enough of my assets to make it a sexy stylish number. I had my girls on display and my lovely curves were right there too. The dress finished mid thigh and my golden legs never looked so good.
I gave Kasie's outfit a thorough look over as I finished my hair. "You look all fired up too." Returning the compliment, she was a redhead, part of her daemon heritage. She wore a lovely deep purple top with black shorts and sexy purple pumps. She looked amazing and she knew it.
She grinned and went to scratch Zi's head. He promptly started to purr for her. I rolled my eyes at the traitor but smiled anyway.
"Where are we going? Have you found any hot places in the area?"
We agreed to check out the local seen this time round. Kassie, lived in NY and both of us could teleportl, we did have the whole world at our feet…literally.
"I haven't but we can head off to Shreveport, I heard there are some decent clubs there." I replied sheepishly. Damn, forgot about that.
"Well, lucky for you I have. I know exactly where we are going tonight." He eyes sparkled.
"Oh." I admit I was curious. I looked her way, waiting for more details.
"Nope. Not telling. Your punishment for being such a lazy cow and not doing your research."
Pouting for a while, I put on some lip gloss which was the only thing apart from mascara that I bothered to wear. I head really good skin and didn't need any. Grabbed my clutch and came up to Kassie and Zi, who was still purring away.
"Come on Zi. I am ready to go."
He cast me a disparaging look clearly not happy with the interruption but shimmered and I felt him under my skin. A familiar weight settled at the bottom of my spine, his favourite sleeping spot.
We locked up and hit the road towards Shreveport. I lived close to the halfway point between Bon Temps and Shreveport. Not wanting many neighbours with all the fun and supernatural activity that usually surrounded me, so it didn't take us very long to get there, both of us detested human speed limits. Kassie directed me and we were soon parking in front of the club of choice. It was at the quiet end of the strop mall, right next to toys-r-us.
"Fangtasia?" I said doubtfully.
She shot me a big grin while sliding out.
Let me know what you think about Lexie.