AN: A huge thank you to my Beta All About Eric for sending back this chapter in record time. And thank you dear readers for all the wonderful reviews! They always make my day.

Chapter 4: Meow

The next morning I drove to the public library before my shift to look up local paranormal shops on the Internet. Unsurprisingly, there was a scarcity of such ventures in Bon Temps, but I managed to find a witchcraft supply store called Moon Goddess Emporium in Shreveport. According to their website, they had a large section of occult books, so I was hopeful I could find some helpful literature on Bond-magic. I made a note of the address and headed to Merlotte's. There, I met Arlene and Terry's adorable baby for the first time. Arlene's behavior was close to manic, but I credited post-partum hormonal imbalance for her paranoia.

After my shift I stopped by the grocery store and, when I came home, I found the back door had been fixed and a brand new microwave oven had been delivered. There were also two packages waiting for me.

The first one was a cell phone with a note explaining that I was now on Eric's phone plan. The contact numbers of all my friends had already been programmed into my new device, which was a nice (if high-handed) touch. Despite his offer of financial support the previous night, I had no intention of letting Eric become my sugar daddy, but I figured a phone was an acceptable gift. After all, I was kind of an official 'companion', now.

The second box contained a jar of pale green bath salts. The accompanying message was written in a heavily-slanted scrawl and signed by a certain Dr Ludwig. Apparently, I was to put a pinch of the crystals in my bath every night to treat my scars. I had to admit I was pleasantly surprised that Eric had gone to the trouble. I was doubtful the alternative medicine would have any effect at all on my blemishes, but the thought was there.

I had one more surprise waiting for me when I discovered a decanter of blood in my fridge. I rolled my eyes but left it there: since Eric would not be drinking from me, I couldn't begrudge him for bringing over his own dinner. That also answered my curiosity about whether he would be feeding from fangbangers.

Thinking of my forthcoming 'date' with Eric reminded me that I needed to warn Jason away from my house for the night. My association with the vampire was one bombshell I wanted to drop on my own terms; I didn't want my brother to just stumble upon Eric and me. I called his cell phone but got his voicemail. I figured he was still at work, so I tried the Sheriff's office. The receptionist informed me that Jason hadn't reported to work and then, at my request, put me through to Andy.

"Hi Andy! Do you know where Jason is, by any chance?" I asked.

"It's Sheriff Bellefleur to you," he answered gruffly. "And why the hell would I know where your brother is? I'm his boss, not his babysitter."

"Wow! Easy, Sheriff! I'm only asking you because I haven't been able to get a hold of him in two days; and now I hear he hasn't showed up for work. Is it customary for him?"

"He's probably hanging out with those inbred hicks from Hot Shot. Listen, I gotta go," Andy huffed, then he hung up before I could respond. Since Hot Shot was all I had to go on (and considering I had planned on checking out the community anyway), I jumped in my car and headed there.

Hot Shot, as it turned out, was the kind of place that gives the South a bad name. It looked like a large junkyard and its inhabitants like extras from the movie Deliverance. A young boy named Timbo greeted me. When I mentioned Jason's name, he became visibly anxious and unconvincingly assured me that he didn't know my brother's whereabouts. As soon as I dropped my shields, I knew my suspicions had been warranted. His were-mind was slightly hazy but I could read him well enough. To my horror, I learned that Jason was being held prisoner in the hangar right in front of me by the fugitive Felton, who had apparently very recently re-surfaced, and none other than Jason's girlfriend Crystal.

I pretended to accept the boy's explanation and made a big show of getting in my car and driving away. About one mile out, I whipped out my cell phone and called Andy again.

"Andy, I found Jason. He's being help prisoner in a hangar in Hot Shot. You better come here this instant and bring the cavalry with you or I swear to God I will make you regret the day you were born."

I cut the call before he could utter any protests and got out of the car. I jogged back to the community and stealthily made my way to behind the hangar. I sensed that Jason and Crystal were alone in a room but Felton was close by. Based on Felton's thoughts, it was obvious that he had developed an addiction to V. That fact actually worked on my favor: since his mental faculties were so weakened by the drug, I had no trouble locking onto his mind and sending a befuddlement spell. That kind of magic wasn't actually my forte but it worked beautifully on Felton's unstable brain. I waited until I heard him exit the hangar to investigate an imaginary disturbance somewhere else. I attempted to duplicate the process on Crystal, but the were-bitch's mind proved resistant to my powers. I had no choice: I would have to confront her.

Using a side entrance, I sneaked inside until I could see the bed upon which my brother was being held. Crystal was straddling him. She had her back to me and was pouring some water into his mouth. I nearly heaved when I plucked from her mind what she had planned for Jason: Felton, the community's only healthy adult male, had grown irreversibly impotent from V abuse so he had convinced Crystal to turn my brother into a were-panther and then have him impregnate every female in Hot Shot to ensure the propagation of the bloodline.

I felt the wave of rage shoot through me and my hands began to glow. At that precise instant I wanted to kill Crystal, and I might have done so if my eyes hadn't met Jason's. The dread I could read in them brought me back to myself. I knew I would risk hurting my brother if I used my powers against Crystal, so I calmed myself down and, after carefully grabbing a rusted pipe from a shelf, I furtively closed the distance to the bed. As soon as Crystal was within reach, I clocked her on the back of the head. The blow was not hard enough to do serious damage, but she was out for the count. I slid her body onto the flood then proceeded to untie Jason.

"Sookie!" he urgently whispered as I battled the knots. "Felton's in the next room!"

"I took care of him," I breathed back. "Police are on the way."

We made it outside just as we heard the approaching sirens. The subsequent arrest of Felton and Crystal, which I watched from a safe distance, was surprisingly anti-climactic. Felton did make a pathetic attempt at a stand-off, and some shot-gun rounds were fired, but in the end he was subdued without any casualties. Crystal had regained consciousness just in time to be shoved in a police car. While she was waiting to be carted out, I went to confront her.

"Don't think I'm done with you! You depraved bitch!" I hissed at her through the partly-opened widow. She scowled at me and attempted to spit in my face but the jet of saliva ended up dribbling on her side of the glass. She did try to appeal to Jason when he came to hug me but he was having none of it. To my disappointment, he insisted that only Crystal and Felton be arrested, despite the fact that most of Hot Shot had been complicit in his imprisonment.

I returned Jason to his cottage (he had refused to go to the hospital) and helped him settle down. His house was quite the mess so I did some housework while he took a long bath. After he'd cleaned himself up, he joined me in the living room and allowed me to try my healing magic on him. I watched with satisfaction as the bruises around his wrists and ankles faded and his features relaxed from the pain-relief. I could sense he was still starving, though. The fridge was full of cold pizza slices and microwave dinners so I briefly left him to go shop at a nearby convenience store for all the ingredients needed to fix him his favorite comfort food: Gran's special fried chicken recipe with all the fixings.

Jason was very subdued throughout dinner and I didn't have the heart to reveal Crystal's full plan to him. It was bad enough that he had been betrayed by a woman he thought he loved; he didn't need to know he had just escaped maiming and ritual gang-rape on top of everything. I offered to stay the night but Jason made it clear that he wanted to be left alone to lick his wounds in private. I respected his wishes and hugged him goodnight.

It was quite late as I drove home and I was knackered from the day's events, so when I saw a shirtless man walking by the side of the road, I first thought I was hallucinating. I slowed down as I came closer to the stranger and experienced a jolt of recognition. The broad shoulders, blond hair, and impossibly long legs couldn't belong to anyone but Eric Northman.

What the hell was he doing wandering around on foot, half-naked? Where was his flashy car? Was this his version of the walk of shame? If so, I didn't really appreciate him coming straight to my house after a tryst. He could have at least bothered to get dressed again, for Christ's sake.

I rolled my window down and called: "Eric?"

Instead of politely acknowledging me, he went into panic mode: he crouched and turned to face me with his fangs down and his hands clawed.

What the fuck?

Astonished, I gathered my magic in case he decided to attack and cried: "Eric! It's me, Sookie! What are you playing at?"

The vampire narrowed his eyes and studied me for a moment. I was startled by his appearance: his hair was in disarray and his eyes were wild. I saw no hint of recognition in them.

"Who are you?" he eventually said.

"I… I'm Sookie," I replied in disbelief. When he didn't react, I added: "I'm your... friend."

At this, he stood up straight and lowered his hands. "You know me?"

By now I was pretty much convinced that Eric wasn't performing an elaborate prank. There was something really wrong with him and I was completely at a loss as to what to do next. The confused vampire suddenly caught my scent in the wind and his gaze shone with a predatory gleam I immediately recognized for what it was.

"Why do you smell so good?" he asked dreamily.

Oh shit!