So, this is my new story now that I've found the time to start writing again. It's AU in a world where Eric was the Vampire King to send Bill to procure Sookie, but the telepath is much more than anyone thinks she is.

I have also decided to use Godric in this, so please don't hate me for crossing the worlds over. I wanted a more sympathetic maker for this storyline, and I am not a huge fan of Appius in the books.

This was slightly inspired by Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series, which everyone really should read – Cat and Bones are truly great characters.

But of course, I don't own The Southern Vampire Mysteries, and nor do I own the Night Huntress series. But boy do I wish I did.

Note: Lux Æterna is Latin for 'the eternal light', but is also the name of one of my favourite pieces of music from the Aronofsky film Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell.

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Lux Æterna – Chapter One

"You wished to see me, your majesty?"

I didn't look up, and remained sitting motionless in the large leather chair behind my impressively imposing desk and carried on reading the document in my hand while Bill Compton waited for me to finish. It wasn't an important document, and I'd had already memorised it, but I took satisfaction in leaving Compton to stand waiting for me.

Finally, once I'd spent much longer than necessary reading the document, I removed my legs from the desk and sat up straight in the chair. I indicated for Compton to sit down in the chair opposite me, and the younger vampire did so immediately.

"You're originally from Bon Temps?" I asked, although I already knew this to be accurate.

"I am."

"And you have family there?"

"My only remaining relative died there recently."

I already knew this as my child Pamela had been the one to kill the old human, making it look like an accident rather than a vampire attack. It also meant that he owned a house in the small town as new laws meant that vampires could own property.

"It has come to my attention that there is a human living in Bon Temps that may be a telepath. You are to go to Bon Temps to find out whether this is true."

Compton shifted nervously in his seat, an action which was distinctly un-vampire like. I knew all too well that he did not like the task that he'd been given, and I waited patiently for Bill to complain. Which of course, and as predicted, he did.

"With all due respect sir, your child is Sheriff of Area Five. Can she not see this telepath and see if the reports are correct?"

I didn't answer him, but instead slowly stood up and walked around the large desk so that I was leaning on the front of it and only inches away from Compton.

The room was large, with dark woods, rich burgundy walls and various lamps lighting the room rather than one overhead light source. I preferred this, as strip lighting seemed too clinical to me, and lamps reminded me of a safer version of candlelight without the fire hazard.

Compton sank back into the chair, and he knew instantly that he should have kept his displeasure to himself. Bill knew well enough that I wasn't his biggest fan, but with the database of all known vampires that he was producing, he also knew that I wasn't going to kill him. Or not yet, at least.

Compton was a fan of the pomp and circumstance of the Louisiana Court with its bounteous females and blood-bags on tap, and he'd become far too accustomed to it. Added to the fact that Compton was power hungry a natural brown-noser, it only made me wish to be rid of him more.

"My child is Sheriff, and she has other duties that do not concern you." I used my height to intimidate him as I towered over him sat in the chair. "You are local to the area, and you are to make yourself known and accustomed with the locals. You are to make it known that you are mainstreaming and that you do not wish them any harm. You will then find this Sookie Stackhouse and establish whether the information I have is correct or not."

"Yes, your majesty," Bill said with a bow of his head, to which I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Only then will you contact either Pamela or, in her absence, myself. You are to tell no other vampire or being of this suspicion on pain of final death, and you are not to bite this human or give her any of your blood. You are only to establish if she is a telepath or not. Glamour her or one of her family if you know no other way of finding out."

There was a flash of annoyance in Bill's dull brown eyes at the last request, but he nodded his agreement to me.

"You will leave later on tonight. Make sure that you are packed."

"But…"

I shot him a look that said 'shut up', and he did just that. He stood up slowly, nodded once and exited the room. Once gone, I allowed myself a smile before picking up the phone on the secure line and dialled the number for my child.

"Maker, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Pam answered immediately, but her tone was as bored as ever.

"I have good news for you. I am sending Compton to stay in Bon Temps. I have –"

"Good news for you, maybe," she interrupted her tone bitter. "Why do I want him in my area?"

"Because I don't want him in mine!" I joked back. Pam was the only vampire other than Godric that I let my act down with, and that was only when we were alone. "I have some information regarding one of the human residents. I've been told that she may be a telepath."

"Is that really something to trust Compton with?"

She had a point, and I'd been debating with myself whether Compton was the right vampire for the job. But it was true that as a local to the area he would be easily able to absorb himself into the small town society so seemed to be the logical choice, even if I didn't personally like him. And the vampire knew which side his fangbanger was buttered, so knew not to piss me off.

"Honestly, Pam, I don't believe it to be true, but I wouldn't be being prudent if I didn't investigate it. I have never met a telepath before, and I don't believe that Godric has met one either."

"So the chances are fairly slim," Pam agreed. "How did you hear about this?"

"One of the blood-bags in the Palace started to boast that her cousin was telepathic. I glamoured her, and she certainly believes it to be the case. But she's also a drug addict, so I'm still not confident that she's telling the truth." It was well known that glamouring could be subjective when the human genuinely believed something to be true, and drug addicts in particular were known to be unreliable. "But I want Compton watched. I don't fully trust him, and I'm looking for an excuse to end him."

"Maybe he could trip, fall and land on something wooden and pointy?"

I smiled. "If only. His bitch maker would have to be dealt with, though. Although here's hoping that she carries on pissing Edgington off. If I find out that she's a pile of ashes, her child will be next in line."

Lorena Ball was known to be a crazy as any vampire and more insane than most, but she was annoyingly protective of her progeny Bill Compton, for some unknown reason. It meant that, unfortunately, if anything happened to Compton she'd be out for retribution. And despite the six hundred or so years I had on her, her unpredictability made her a dangerous vampire.

"I'll have him watched. A crime of treason is hard to justify."

"Quite. I've told him to report to you once he has his findings. If it seems she is telepathic, let me know straight away and I will deal with this personally."

"Will do."

We both hung up the phone without a farewell, and I sank back into my chair and carried on plodding through my emails. There was something to be said for a world without email as it made life, or undeath, a lot busier. But any vampire had to move with the times if they wanted to stay corporeal, and embracing human technology was part of that.

I wasn't confident that Pam would report that this breather was a telepath, and I was also interested to know how Compton would go about trying to prove it. Instead, I ordered my dinner from the menu provided by the Palace Madame and chose a redhead to snack on and relieve a little tension.

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Sookie

"Order up, Sook."

I turned quickly and headed back to the kitchen, giving Lafayette a grin as he handed me the basket of chicken and curly fries, and I placed it in front of Sheriff Bud Dearborne with a smile. I quickly checked to see that all my tables were happy, and I went to stand at the bar for a glass of water.

"I wish I had your energy," Arlene complained as she came to stand next to me. "My feet are killing me, and I'm fit to drop. You're just some kind of freak."

In her thoughts, she called me much worse but I rammed up the walls of my mind and ignored her internal musings. I knew she didn't mean it particularly maliciously, but she was jealous of the fact that I didn't get as tired as the other waitresses.

I'd always been that way; I managed perfectly well on three or four hours' sleep, and despite the fact that I truly loved the sun (sunbathing was my one major sin), I'd always felt energised as soon as the sun set.

"I guess I'm just lucky," I defended with a smile. I knew better than to rise to her bait.

I'd been working at Merlotte's Bar and Grill since I returned to Bon Temps after getting my degree at Tulane University down in New Orleans. I'd majored in English Literature, but as I didn't want to become a teacher, I'd found very little use for my degree, and with the job market as it was, I was struggling to find a job.

Even though my parents had died when I was only seven, I was lucky in that I lived with my Gran so I wasn't homeless at least. And although I paid her a little rent each month and helped with the groceries and jobs around the house, I was able to save each month with a view to eventually leaving home and moving to Shreveport to get a job doing something I was more interested in. Not that I didn't enjoy waitressing, but I always viewed it as a stopgap to something more.

I'd been lucky in that my grandfather had left money for both my brother Jason and I to go to college, albeit Jason hadn't used his for that purpose and had instead blown the lot of some ridiculous truck and other toys for the bachelor pad of his that used to be our parents' home. I'd often wondered quite how Jason – who was three years older than me – and I were related, as other than the same blonde hair and blue eyes, we were nothing alike.

And thinking of the devil, my brother walked into Merlotte's with three of his friends and went to sit in their usual booth. I knew what they'd be drinking, so ordered two pitchers of beer at the bar and went over with the alcohol before taking their food order.

"Cheers, Sook," Jason said after taking a large slug of beer. "Hey, did you hear that the Compton place next to Gran's has a new owner?"

"No. How'd you hear that?"

He pointed his thumb to Hoyt sat next to him, and answered me once he'd had another slug of beer and taken a handful of the peanuts on the table. He didn't wait to finish masticating before he spoke.

"Hoyt's mom."

He didn't need to say any more than that as everyone knew that there was no bigger gossip in town than Maxine Fortenberry.

"I'll let Gran know, if she doesn't know already." I gave Hoyt a smile and he rolled his eyes, knowing all too well what his mama was like.

I left the boys to their drinking and carried on with my job. However, where I thought the night was just like a normal one, it seems that I was wrong.

I noticed, while stood at the bar, that Sam's posture seemed to suddenly stiffen, and I noticed that his gaze was fixed on the door. Only a second later, a dark-haired man walked gracefully into the bar, looked around, and then sat down at a table in my section in the middle of the bar. I knew instantly that he wasn't alive.

I'd always had better senses than normal, even as a kid, and on top of my telepathy it made me only more of a freak to all the other kids in the town, even if they didn't know the specifics of what was wrong with me. It was why I noticed Sam stiffen, and why my instincts told me not to trust this vampire.

"Careful," Sam mouthed to me. He knew of my quirk, and had always been more accepting of me than a lot of the others in the town. And if I was right, it was because there was something not quite normal about Sam Merlotte. I didn't know what it was, and he'd never trusted me enough to tell me outright, but I knew that there was something other about him even if he didn't look out of the ordinary.

"Will do," I said with a smile and a nod to reassure him.

I slapped my fake smile onto my face and walked through the bar up to the vampire. His eyes had followed me as I approached, and I could see an intensity in his them as if he was trying to control me, or compel me to do something. I'd read internet rumours from the anti-vampire groups that the undead had the ability to control humans, and I wondered whether this was what he was trying to do to me. Whatever it was, it wasn't working.

"Hi, can I help you?" I said in a friendly tone when I approached him. He had a flash of annoyance cross his face, before he regained his control and turned on the charm.

"You can … Sookie Stackhouse." His eyes had lingered over my nametag on my chest, and he had a satisfied smirk on his face. "Do you have any True Blood?" he was smiling at me now, and I had to admit that the vampire was good looking, but there was just something I didn't trust about him.

"I'm sorry … we don't. The boss, Sam, bought some when you guys came out of the coffin, but it went out of date. You're Merlotte's first vampire."

He smiled and raised an eyebrow. "It's quite an honour, Sookie. But if I may, I'd like a glass of red wine." I gave him a surprised look, as it was obvious that he wasn't going to drink the stuff. "I'd like to stay here awhile, and I understand that I at least need to order something."

I acknowledged his request and went back to the bar where Sam was already pouring him his drink having overheard our brief conversation. He was still staring at the vampire, and I could sense how uncomfortable he was with having him in the bar.

It seemed strange him being here, as it was quite true that Bon Temps had never had a vampire in its midst before. But this one had a local accent, or at least was putting on a damned good one. I didn't know how good vampires would be at putting on such accents, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

"Thank you very much, Sookie," he purred as I placed a napkin in front of him and then the glass of wine on top of it. I could tell that most of the other patrons of Merlotte's were watching him, and I had to concentrate hard to not hear their thoughts. It was one of the curses of being a telepath that when everyone was thinking the same thing, it was hard to keep their mind-voices out of my head. "Would you care to join me?" He indicated to the empty chair opposite him.

"I'm busy working, I'm afraid." I tried to keep it polite and my smile plastered on my face.

"You surely get a break?"

"When I can. I've just had one, and we're kind of busy here tonight." It was a lie that I'd just taken a break, but I was willing to forego one if it meant that I could avoid him.

"Maybe we can talk when you have finished for the night?"

It was still three hours until the bar closed, and I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at his offer. "I'm fine, really. It was nice to meet you …" I left the question hanging as the vampire had not given me his name.

"The name's Bill."

I suppressed a smile at his name and took the hand that he'd offered. His skin was cool and smooth, which surprised me considered he was so old. Not that I really knew his age, but he had an old-fashioned aura about him that made me think he was at least one hundred years old.

"Bill Compton," he continued, and I felt a chill go down my spine. Was he the new owner of the old Compton place next to my Gran's house? Next to where I lived?

"Compton?" I queried.

"Yes. And I understand that you are Adele Stackhouse's granddaughter. I had a lovely conversation with your Grandmother earlier tonight. She's a great lady." He leaned forward. "I think she's quite taken by me, and I've promised to talk to her civil war group and tell them some of my memories of the war." So he was probably at least one hundred and fifty years old as a vampire.

I was going to have to have words with my Gran about who she let into the house. But then if he had used his mind-control trick on her…

"You've moved into the house next to ours." It was a statement, and I wasn't quite able to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

He gave me smile that could only be described as slightly sinister. "I have. When my last remaining descendant of the Compton line passed away recently his property reverted back to me. I helped to build that house."

"Great," I said in fluent sarcasm. "Are you planning on staying?"

"It is my intention to, yes."

"No offence, but there aren't too many people to eat around here." I heard a gasp from one of the tables nearby, and I looked up to see Maxine Fortenberry intently listening in to my interview with the vampire.

"I am mainstreaming," he informed me. "Blood substitutes are quite able to sustain me so that I will not need to snack on the local population." He said that loud enough for the nosey busybodies to overhear him. It was almost as if he was making a mission statement.

"Okay. Well, it's nice meeting you Bill Compton."

I turned quickly to not give him any time to speak to me further, and I remained busy for the rest of the night, Sam seemingly able to find me extra duties to do when none of my tables needed my attention.

Yet the vampire remained in his seat, and I could feel his eyes on me the whole time that he was in the bar.

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"He's kind of hot though. I bet he's learnt a few tricks in the bedroom over the decades." Lafayette was peering out of the kitchen and eyeing up our new vampire resident. He even smacked his made-up lips at him, and I couldn't refrain from laughing.

"That's just gross. You get that he's dead, right?"

"Sookie, you don't know what you're missing out on," Dawn Green announced as she placed a pile of empty plates into the kitchen and leaned in closer to Lafayette and me. "Sex with vampires is incredibly hot."

I caught a brief glimpse into her mind of her having naked rough sex with a bald-headed and tattooed vampire while being tied up. It was more than I wanted to see, and I quickly focused on my mental shields.

"There's a vampire club in Shreveport. You should go. Y'know, loosen up a little." She gave me a knowing wink.

I was certainly not planning on attending any vampire club, and even more so after my run in with this vampire. If they were all like him, I was more than happy to stay away.

"You've been bitten?" I asked her, suddenly curious. She grinned and nodded. "Does it hurt?"

"Hell no. It's the most pleasurable thing I've ever felt, particularly when they bite your femoral artery. I nearly passed out from that orgasm."

She luckily turned quickly on her heal and walked away from us. Lafayette gave me an understanding look and carried on with his job. I looked over to see that the vampire was still sitting at the table in the centre of the room with his full glass of red wine, but Sam caught my attention and nodded for me to join him in his office. Once inside, he turned up the radio, obviously so our conversation wasn't overheard.

"You okay, Sam?"

"I'm not happy about him being in here. Bon Temps was fine without any vampires living here, and now one just shows up."

"You're thinking that it's suspicious?"

"Maybe. He's living next to you?"

"It seems that way," I said with a shrug of annoyance. "I really don't like him. There's something untrustworthy about him."

"He's a vampire, Sook. They're all untrustworthy."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And how many have you met?"

"A few," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"How?"

"It was a few years back, and not around here."

"Vampires only made themselves known two years ago. How long have you known?" I glared at him and waited for his answer.

"Awhile. There are things in this world that you don't understand, and I need you stay away from them."

"You need me to stay away from them?" I repeated back to him, a sharp tone in my voice. "You are not my dad or my boyfriend, and you do not get to tell me what to do. And anyway, how do you know?"

"I just do, Sook," he snapped back before calming himself a little and taking my hand in his. "I'm your friend; I want to look out for you."

"I get that, Sam. But you don't need to protect me. I do get that there are other things in this world; I'm a telepath, remember? It's not as if there are many of us knocking around." Sam was one of the few that knew the truth about my disability.

"I know." A sudden strange look crossed his face, and he tiled his scruffy dark blond head to the side in a manner that reminded me of Lassie. "Can you hear him?"

I frowned, knowing what he was referring to. "I didn't really attempt to. I was blocking out everyone else, so I didn't specifically try to see if I could hear him. Why, do you think I'd not be able to?"

"I don't know Sook, he's dead after all. But trust me; if you can hear him, you need to keep that to yourself. Don't even tell me." There was a glimpse of fear in his eyes, and I knew he was being serious.

"Sure thing, Sam." I was just about to leave his office, when I stopped, turned and faced him again. "You know, you can trust me with whatever you're hiding. I won't think any different of you."

"You … you haven't looked?"

"You're my friend, Sam. I try and stay out of my friends' minds. And anyway, you've always been harder to read than other people. I normally only get emotions from you."

I gave him a smile and went back into the bar where the vampire was sitting alone still. I decided to test Sam's theory and went up to him.

"I thought you didn't get a break?" he asked me straight away, his tone slightly malicious and accusatory.

"I didn't. Sam wanted my help with something."

In the brief pause in our conversation, I lowered the shields of my mind and tried to listen to him. But there was nothing. Not a thing. I could tell that he was there, and I could only describe it as a 'void', but there was certainly no thoughts in that void. If I'd trusted the man more I'd have found it quite relaxing.

"I'm sure he did." I noticed that Bill Compton was glaring over my shoulder at Sam as he resumed his position behind the bar.

"Can I get you anything else? We're about to start closing up."

"No, I'm fine. Maybe I could see you home being that we live so close."

"I'm fine, really."

"You can trust me, Sookie." He was intensely gazing into my eyes once more, but I simply looked away and over to Sam who walked up to us.

"Mr Compton, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I will not stand for anyone to threaten or try to intimidate my staff."

Bill stood up and took a step closer to Sam, but to his credit, Sam didn't step back or look at all scared of the vampire.

"I was simply asking Miss Stackhouse if she wished me to escort her home."

"And she declined your offer. Therefore you can leave."

Bill Compton scowled at him and stalked out of the bar. I let out a sigh of relief and looked to Sam. "Stay away from him, cher. I don't like the thought of you getting mixed up with vampires. None of them can be trusted, even ones that claim they're mainstreaming."

"I still want to know how you know more about vampires then the rest of us," I said to him quietly.

"I'll tell you, Sook. Just not now. And please trust me on this one."

"Sure, Sam."

We closed up the bar as normal, and I walked to my little yellow car, but not after scanning the area for signs of any 'voids' which would indicate there was a vampire nearby. Luckily, there was nothing. When I got home Gran was sitting at the table reading a ratty old book she'd no doubt picked up from a second-hand store, although by the looks of it, it was at least forth-hand.

"How was work?" she asked me. She already dressed in her bed-clothes with her dressing gown over the top and a half-drunk mug of hot chocolate on the table. She often waited up for me, despite the fact that I was in my mid-twenties and plenty capable of looking after myself.

"Okay. Although a vampire came in."

I watched her closely for any sign of recognition, but she smiled widely at me when I mentioned it. "You met Mr Compton? Isn't he wonderful? He came and talked to me this evening – he has first-hand memories of the civil war and knew your great-great-great-grandfather very well. He's going to talk to our group!" She was clearly very enthusiastic about Bill's arrival in Bon Temps, and he'd certainly become a hit with my Gran by agreeing to speak at her Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting.

"Did you talk about me at all?" I asked her, trying to sound innocent. I didn't normally peak into her mind, as I respected her privacy, but on this occasion I did.

"A little. I talked about my family, so obviously about you and Jason, but little else. Why?"

It was strange – in her mind there seemed to be holes where I'd have expected her memories of that to be. It only made me more suspicious of Mr Compton.

"Just wondering, is all. He mentioned you when you came in and knew I was your granddaughter."

She smiled again. "He's such a wonderful man with such old-fashioned values. A man like that would be great for you Sookie." She stood up and patted me on the shoulder as she passed. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Don't stay up too late."

"Night Gran."

I watched her as she headed down the corridor to her bedroom. I was even more distrustful now as Gran had never been one to comment on my love life – or lack thereof – and I couldn't help but feel that she'd somehow been influenced by this vampire.

As I wasn't tired yet, I grabbed my laptop from my room, and sat down in the living room with a beer. I started searching on the internet for everything I could about vampires, including how to get rid of them. Wikipedia had extensive information on the vampires, although I wasn't sure how much of it was true so I searched other sites as well, including ones of the anti-vampire groups.

One of the consistencies was that a vampire had to be invited into a home, and their invitation could also be rescinded at any point.

"Bill Compton, I rescind your invitation."

Not I that expect it to, but I felt a strange surge through the house that to me indicated that whatever I had just done worked. I at least felt a little safer going to bed knowing that he couldn't come inside and drain me or my Gran of blood while we slept, something that I hadn't actually thought to ask my Gran, but I didn't see any puncture wounds on her neck.

At around three in the morning, I finally started to feel sleepy, so went to take a relaxing warm shower and climbed into my bed. I did a mental check around the house, but luckily didn't find any telltale voids that indicated there were vampires nearby, and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

.

So … what do you think? Okay? As I said above, I'm going things a little differently, both with Eric and Sookie. Any theories?

I'd love to know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading.