CHAPTER ONE

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          THE SUN HAD SET NOT TOO LONG AGO AND MERLOTTE'S BAR AND GRILL WAS BUZZING WITH FOLKS, WHICH WAS A GOOD THING BECAUSE THAT MEANT MORE TIPS FOR DAKOTA ELKINS AND HER CO-WORKERS. Nights like these were always good for business and Dakota was glad to have picked up the extra shifts. The blonde had managed to make forty dollars in tips, tucked securely into her apron. 

The young woman ambled back toward the bar, grinning at Arlene Fowler as she walked passed the red headed woman.

"Can I get two beers and a tequila?"

The bar owner glanced up and shot her a quick smile as he tossed the towel he had been using to clean the bar top with, over his shoulder. Sam Merlotte crouched down and took three clean glassed from the cabinet underneath the bar. "Sure thing, Kota."

The woman leaned against the wooden tabletop and glanced around the crowded room as she pulled on her hair to tighten her ponytail. Sookie was making her way towards her, brows furrowed as she peeked at the couple of men in Arlene's section. Dakota turned towards them, feeling a throbbing ache in the back of her head as she allowed their thoughts to reach her ears.

The tits on that one, man. I'd do anything to hit that after her shift. Her lips would look real nice around my cock.

Dakota grimaced as she tuned them out and pulled her cousin towards her, holding onto her shoulders. Sookie gave her a tired smile, brushing a strand of hair from her face. Sam set the beers and tequila in front of her with a smile before he turned to Dawn who was giving him a new order of drinks.

"They're disgusting." Dakota muttered as she took the drinks from the bar, the coldness nice against her skin. "I wish people could keep their thoughts to themselves. You should really try to shut them out, Sook."

"I'm trying, Kota." Sookie sighed, shaking her head. "I can't focus."

"We'll work on it."

Dakota stood on the tips of her toes and kissed the top of Sookie's head before giving her a reassuring smile. With the drinks in her hands, she left her cousin at the bar and went to her section, giving a young couple the drinks with a kind smile on her face. They gave her their order and she wrote it down on her notepad and made her way back towards the kitchen, hanging it up for Lafayette who was flipping burgers behind the stove. Dakota took a few long strides and hopped on a chair next to the bar, waiting for the food to finish.

"I'm not paying you to sit around." Sam joked, raising a brow at her as he rubbed a glass with a cloth to clean it.

"Shut up, Sam." she rolled her eyes, giving him a playful grin as she rested her elbows on the bar top. "You know I work more shifts than anyone. Besides, all my costumers are well taken care of."

"You could always take some days off." he said, putting the glass down and turning towards her. "I don't know why you're insisting on working all the open shifts. I might ban you from the bar for the next month."

"Don't you dare." Dakota warned, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she watched him clean.

Sam Merlotte had moved to Bon Temps a few years prior and they'd been friends ever since. He was kind and offered her a job when he first opened his bar. Dakota knew he had this obsession with her cousin, but he was a good man. Sam was kind and handsome and Sookie could do with someone like him if she'd open her heart to it.

The phone rang and Sam picked it up, greeting the stranger on the other end. "Hey Tara." He glanced at Dakota before turning to Sookie who had just reached the bar with two empty glasses. "Yeah, she's right here."

He handed the phone to Sookie who gave him an apologetic smile, turning the phone away and saying, "I'm so sorry, Sam. She knows not to call me at work."

Sam shook his head with a smile. "Sookie, it's alright. You don't abuse the privileges like Arlene does!" He turned towards the redhead who was about the leave with an order.

"Hey, I heard that! I have kids, Sam!" she drawled, placing a pint of beer for a customer. Sam rolled his eyes and began to scrub at the bar with his towel, cleaning marks from dried drinks.

"This better be an emergency." Sookie demanded on the phone. "Again? ... I'm glad you can be so picky, Miss Say-Hello-To-The-Rest-Of-Us." The blond' eyes widened as she glanced around the bar after a moment. "Tara, he is my boss." Dakota snorted and turned away from her.

The door of the bar opened the Mack and Denise Rattray entered, choosing a seat in Sookie's section. The couple was known to sell drugs around Bon Temps. They sold V, which was illegal. Dakota wondered how they got the vampire blood.

Dawn strutted towards them and looked at Sookie. "Mack and Denise Rattray just sat down in your section." Sookie turned around quickly, furrowing her brows as she looked at the two of them.

"Don't let them get to you, chere." Sam tried to reassure her. "They're not worth it."

As Sookie stalked off to their table, Dakota hopped off the stool and made her way towards the kitchen. "Lafayette," She leaned on the counter, watching as her friend stood above the stove, stirring in the soup. "is the Chili almost finished?"

"Almost done, baby." He turned his body towards her and raised his brows. "Oh, Koko. Chicka-Chicka-bow-wow. You look like a porn star with that tan and red lipstick. You got a date?"

"No," she shrugged her shoulders with a grin on her face. He was the only one that called her Koko and she loved it. "when I wear makeup, I get bigger tips."

Lafayette choked out a laugh and shook his head. "Yes, girl, that's it. These damn rednecks are suckers for packaging."

"And I get even bigger tips when I act like I don't have a brain in my head. But, if I don't, they're all scared of me." Sookie came up beside her, joining the conversation with the couple's order. Dakota nodded, agreeing with her.

"They ain't scared of you, honey child." Lafayette corrected her. "They scared of what's between your legs."

"Lafayette!" Sookie looked affronted as Arlene came up to them with her order. "That's nasty talk. I won't listen to that."

"Do you even know what's between a woman's legs, Lafayette?"

"I know every man, whether straight, gay, or George motherfucking Bush is terrified of the pussy."

"Lafayette!" Sookie's eyes widened.

"Oh, what are we talking about?" Dawn came up beside Sookie.

"Pussy," said Dakota to which Dawn raised her eyebrows and blew her a kiss, before both of them fell into a fit of laughter.

"Hey, listen," Arlene said, giving Lafayette a pointed look. "not everybody is gay, okay? Not everybody wants to have sex with you."

"Oh, you would be surprised, Arlene. People you know." Arlene scoffed, but amusement was clear on her face. "That's all I'm saying."

"Well, I don't want to have sex with you." Dawn drawled out, grinning.

"Me neither." Arlene laughed.

"Shit, you bitches don't know what yous missing. I got six gears on these hips." Lafayette pretended to thrust against the kitchen counter and Dawn moaned from beside Sookie who looked petrified.

"No, baby." Dawn shook her head as she turned around and strutted away. "You don't know what you're missing. You can watch her walk away. Make you wanna slap it? Huh, you wanna slap it?"

"Everybody knows that. Everybody been there. John's been there."

Sookie rushed from the kitchen and Dakota had to keep herself from laughing at her. She shared a glance with Lafayette as he handed her the order. He winked at her as she walked away back towards the bar and placed it on the table for the woman who smiled at her kindly. Dakota adjusted her apron as she walked back. Tara was sitting there with her head in her hands.

"My life sucks."

"Oh, Tara, don't you be feeling sorry for yourself. That's just lazy." Sookie said, sitting down beside her.

"Well, why can't I keep a job?" Tara complained.

"Maybe, because you can't keep your mouth shut." Dakota shrugged.

"Bitch, who asked you?"

Dakota snorted, rolling her eyes as Tara let out a small chuckle before rubbing her face and downing the drink before her.

"I think Tara might drink my entire bar." Sam said, leaning towards Dakota as he glanced at the woman who was downing another shot. Tara looked at him and gave him a dead glare.

"Better hide it all." Dakota agreed, jokingly.

The door to Merlotte's opened and the four of them turned around, following the stranger with their eyes as he sat down. The bar had gone silent as he sat beside the Rattray's table.

He was handsome. Dark hair, a brooding look on his face and a leather jacket over his shoulders. He moved his head up, eyes connecting with Sookie's who had been openly staring at him since he came in. The blond didn't move, and Dakota had to shove her shoulder to snap out of her trance.

"Oh my god, I think Merlotte's just got its first vampire." Sookie was excited, bright smile on her face as she turned towards her co-workers. Dakota furrowed her eyebrows, eyes still on the man.

"I think you're right." Sam shared a look with Tara.

They hadn't had a vampire in Bon Temps, at least not to their knowledge. It was a small town. Everybody knew everyone. New faces were rare. Dakota had never met a vampire before.

"Can you believe it? Right here in Bon Temps! I've been waiting for this to happen since they came out of the coffin two years ago." Sookie gushed as she rushed off towards his table.

They watched her talk to the man, Sam heaving a sigh. The vampire couldn't keep his eyes off of her and the bar owner rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He wasn't against vampire's, but he didn't really want them near his bar as much.

"I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of this vampire." Tara said, focused on the pair at the end of the bar.

"What a bitch!" Sookie complained as she stormed back towards them. Denise Rattray was throwing herself at the vampire, pushing her arms together so that her tits looked bigger. "You ... really think that ... she's gonna let him bite her?"

Tara let out a huff as she turned to her best friend. "You know how many people are having sex with vampires these days? Sometimes those people ... disappear."

"No," Sookie said quickly, defending the vampire she hadn't even spoken to for more than a minute. "He's not like that."

"Sookie," Dakota started. "You don't even know him. I know this is exciting to you, but he is still a stranger. Vampire or not."

"You don't know how many people he's sucked the blood out over the last however many centuries he's been alive!" Tara added.

"But he's not scary."

"Sweet Jesus in heaven, Sookie!" exclaimed Tara, in annoyance. "He's a vampire!"

"Yeah, but the synthetic blood has everything ..."

Sam was annoyed too, giving the younger blonde a pointed look as she glanced back at the booth. He was trying to ignore Denise, brooding look on his face. "Are you willing to pass up all your favourite foods and spend the rest of your life drinking Slim-Fast?"

Sookie only gave a roll of her eyes and went back to his table.