14 - Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman Look to the Future - Part Two

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Chapter Fourteen

Johnny Cash stopped singing and the bar went quiet. The jukebox had run out of quarters.

The old timer looked at me through a beery haze. He focused his faded hazel eyes and blinked.

Then he said, "I din't think your kind drank beer."

It wasn't judgmental or anything like that, just a casual observation.

Since my back was to the blond she called loudly, "Hey Slip, you din't think a WHORE like her drank beer?"

By "my kind" she didn't know Slip meant a vampire.

She laughed loudly, ending in a phlegmy coughing fit. She hadn't seen the fangs but Albert had. He dropped the glass he was drying and it bounced on the rubber mat that lined the area behind the bar. Sam had used a mat like that too, it cut down on broken glassware if one was fumbled.

"Hey now, hey now," Albert said mildly, holding up his hands, drying rag dangling from his left hand, "We don't want no trouble."

"If you don't want no trouble then why don't you throw that WHORE out on her for-sale tail?" the woman suggested loudly and laughed at her remark.

A few other chuckles joined her. She wanted to be the only woman and certainly the only blond in the bar. She saw me as a threat, encroaching on her territory.

"Shut up, Maybelle," the old timer next to the old timer that had bought me the beer yelled at her, "You don't know what you're talkin' about, as usual."

He too was unperturbed by the sight of a vampire. He had seen plenty in his years, he was thinking, a pretty vampire gal was the least of it.

A few of the younger men laughed. They were at the other end of the bar behind me and couldn't see my face.

I was thinking, "Go in! Snick back in!" to the dang fangs but they wouldn't budge.

"I better go," I said quietly to the old timer. "Thank you for your kindness."

With the fangs it sounded like "Ah etter ga. Hank ya or or hindneth."

I took a step back and felt a large hot calloused hand roughly grab my arm. I really hate it when a man grabs my arm. It's disrespectful bullying and it forces me to hear their disgusting thoughts loud and clear. I turned and saw one of the young guys, a big strong raven haired man in a green work uniform that said "Steve" on an oval patch over the pocket.

"She's a vamper!" he exclaimed, not having enough sense to immediately let go of my arm.

He turned back to his friends at the other end of the bar and grinned. "We done caught us a vamper gal!"

He smiled like a hunter that just brought down a ten prong buck. His grip tightened on my arm until it was painful.

"You ain't caught nothin' you idjit," the old timer said, "She could tear your arms off if'n she wanted."

Steve was thinking some mighty nasty thoughts about me.

"Yeah, you better let loose of her," another senior citizen in a crisp ironed plaid shirt chimed in. He gave a loud burp and muttered, "S'cuse me." into his beer glass before taking another sip.

"Come here for a little fun?" Steve grinned at me, then glanced back at his pals, playing to his audience.

"I never had me a vamper," he added, as if that would make his offer more attractive to me.

I found it interesting to be threatened in this way. This was the kind of brutish intimidation I had experienced many times before as a vulnerable human woman, but with the new power of a vampire there was no fear in me.

Or I should say, I was not afraid of Stevie boy. I was slightly fearful I might fly off the handle and rip his stupid grinning face off with my razor sharp teeth. So far I was in complete control.

"How about a little kiss?" he asked, leaning in towards me, reeking of sour whiskey breath.

He was obviously still showing off for his buddies. They cheered and made "woo" sounds.

Without thinking I flashed away from him as his wet lips came towards me. Unfortunately Steve didn't let go of his death grip on my arm so he was instantly dragged half the length of the bar floor. He fell at my feet, dazed. I was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated from being jerked so suddenly. He should have let go I thought angrily. He groaned when he tried to use his arms to raise up.

One of the other young guys stood up. He wore a similar green uniform, his oval name label said, "Joey". He was bigger than Steve, a real brute with a unibrow and three day growth of stubble. He was the kind of man Sam used to call "mad at the world", looking for an excuse to start a fight.

"Hey, that vampire woman is attacking Steve!" he exclaimed, starting towards me, ham sized fists clenched. He might have big fists but I was Vampire and he was only a puny breather. I mean, human.

"She's gonna drag him out into the parking lot and drain him. Stop her!" the blond yelled dramatically.

Or maybe that last bit was "Stomp her!" Her speech was slurred so it was hard to tell. Her red rimmed eyes glittered. She wanted Joey to beat the stuffing out of me.

Fat chance, lady, I thought.

"Probably steal his wallet too," she added.

Steal his wallet? It takes one to know one just like my little nephew Brett would have said.

"We don't want no trouble in here, Miss," Albert repeated. He was slowly reaching for the cell phone under the bar to call the cops.

"Grab her! Don't let her leave. She hurt Steve!" another young guy said. "She's gonna need to pay his medical."

He was thinking that everyone knew vampires were all rich bastards from the money they stole from their victims.

Albert was just about to hit the second 1 in 911 when I mentally commanded the room.

"Stop!" I said and thought.


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more to come ....(Wonderful Wednesday Were-Readers! Hope your week is going well. You light up my life with your insights and encouragement. The star at the top is just knowing you made the time to stop by. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Z - Keep getting better, you are greatly wanted and adored in these here parts!)

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