CHAPTER TWO

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           THE FAN THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BRING THEM COLD GUSHES OF AIR WASN'T DOING MUCH IN THE LOUISIANA HEAT. Dakota was fanning herself with a newspaper, sweat trickling down the back of her neck. Her blond waves were pulled back by a hair clip and even her loose dress felt like a weighted blanket on her skin. Jason sat before her, stuffing his face with pancakes their grandmother had made for them. Dakota watched him, brow raised as syrup dripped down the side of his mouth.

"You want the rest of that?" he reached forwards and took the bacon from Sookie's plate. The youngest of the three tried to slap it back out of his hands but he had already stuffed it into his mouth. Sookie scoffed and rolled her eyes at her brother.

"If you're gonna wear that suit, you might want to start watching what you eat." Jason commented, seeing how Sookie was in her bathing suit, only a blouse covering her arms. Dakota snorted, shaking her head in amusement as Sookie rolled her eyes. "You look nice, though."

"That was Everlee Mason." Adele Stackhouse stumbled into the kitchen, phone to her chest. "Guess who was found strangled to death in her apartment? Maudette Pickens."

"Oh, my lord." Dakota frowned.

"She didn't show up for work." Adele added. "She wasn't answering her phone, so her boss called Bud Dearborne. He rode over, got the manager to let him in and they found her."

"I went to high school with Maudette." gasped Sookie, trying to comprehend what she was hearing.

"Can you believe it? A murder in Bon Temps." Adele was worried as she sat down with her grandchildren.

"Well, why are you surprised now that we got ourselves a vampire?" Jason said, eyes darting from his sister to Dakota, chewing the inside of his cheek.

"Just because he's a vampire, doesn't mean that he's a murdered." defended Sookie, thinking of Bill Compton, the vampire she had met in Merlotte's the night before.

"Oh, come on. Fang-bangers go missing all the time in Shreveport and New Orleans. They never find them, but everybody knows the vampires are killing them and then disposing of the bodies." said Jason, giving his sister a pointed look.

"What's a fang-banger?" wondered Adele.

"A vampire groupie." Sookie explained.

When Adele raised a brow, Dakota chimed in. "Men and women who like to get bitten and then have sex with vampires."

"My stars!" Adele gasped, affronted.

"Maudette was a fang-banger?" Dakota questioned as she turned to Jason. "How do you know that?"

"I don't know, Kota!" Jason snapped as he got up from the table and went over to the sink. "The way you and Sookie just know things sometimes."

"You don't have to snap at me!" she argued, narrowing her eyes.

Jason sighed, closing his eyes before giving her an apologetic look. "There's also hookers who specialize in vampires. They drink True Blood to keep their supply up, and they keep a bodyguard there in case the vamp gets a little to frisky." The three women fell silent. "I read that in a magazine."

"I wonder how much one would charge for something like that." said Adele, tilting her head to the side in thought.

"A thousand bucks." Jason replied without hesitation as Adele's eyes went wide, turning to Dakota who shrugged as she rested her head on her palm.

"See, now that just makes me sick." Sookie said.

"I know," Adele agreed. "What kind of cheap woman could ever do something like that?"

"No, it makes me sick that they're getting a thousand bucks to lay there and do nothing while I bust my ass for ten bucks an hour plus tips." Sookie shook her head.

"Oh, I don't think they just lay there." Dakota grinned, turning to Sookie. "I think they're expected to, you know, participate."

"Ew," Sookie shuddered.

"Well, thanks for lunch, gran." said Jason as he put his cap on and he left the kitchen in quite the hurry. Sookie's chair scraped over the wooden floor as she ran after him.

"What a wonderful topic to discuss for breakfast." sighed Adele.

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DAKOTA ENTERED MERLOTTE'S WITH HER BAG SWUNG OVER HER SHOULDER AS SHE MADE HER WAY TOWARD THE BAR. Thursdays were always bar shifts for her. The brunette hid her bag underneath the bar and pulled on her apron. It was relatively empty still and she was kind of hoping it would stay like that for the night.

"Kota," Tara walked up to her as she jumped on one of the bar stools. Sam had given her a job the night before as long as she wasn't going to scream at the costumers. Some deserved it, though. "How are you?"

"Fine?" Dakota turned, confused as she began to clean glasses for her upcoming shift. Tara raised a brow. Did she even know? "You mean, Jason? That boy gets in too much trouble but he's no killer. They will release him once they figure that out."

Her cousin had been arrested and brought into questioned that afternoon for the murder of Maudette Pickets. Dakota knew he must have been involved with the woman for them suspect him, but he was no murderer. Sure, he could be an asshole sometimes, but he wasn't violent.

"Yeah," Tara agreed as she took a sip from her beer. "they can't keep him locked up for something he didn't do."

"Exactly." Dakota nodded with a smile.

"Hey," Lafayette came up from behind her, squeezing her shoulder as he passed Dakota in greeting and glanced at his own cousin. "Hooker. How you doing? What you doing here?"

"I work here." Tara stated shortly.

"Oh, no the hell you don't."

"Oh, yes, the hell I do too, you ugly bitch. You need to make peace with that." retorted Tara and Dakota had to suppress a snort as she watched them bicker back and forth in amusement.

"Shit. Sam must have lost his damn mind 'cause you should not be allowed to work in no situation where you actually gotta interact with people." Lafayette shook his head, turning towards the customer that had come up to the bar.

"That is so not true." Tara argued. The trucker before them snapped his fingers at the woman. "Do not snap at me! I have a name. And that name is Tara." She got up from the stool and stood before him, hands resting on the bar top. "And isn't that funny? Black girl being named after a plantation." The man laughed. "No, I don't think it's funny at all. In fact, it really pisses me off that my mama was either stupid or just plain mean. Which is why you better be nice if you plan on getting a drink tonight."

"Tara," Dakota warned, watching in amusement.

"Sorry, ma'am." The man apologized. Tara narrowed her eyes slightly before leaning back with a nod.

"Koko," Lafayette began, leaning against the bar. "Do you know if Sookie found out about her brother getting arrested and all?"

"I don't know." Dakota shrugged. "I haven't seen her since this morning. I hope so, she's gonna freak out if she didn't."

"Jason couldn't kill anybody." Tara stated. "And he sure as hell could have done better than Maudette Pickens."

"Look at you. You still got a thing for him." Lafayette teased.

"I do not." Tara looked affronted.

"Yes, you do." Dakota sided with Lafayette.

"That boy is too damn stuck-up for me." Tara shook her head, denying her yearlong crush on the oldest Stackhouse sibling. Tara had fawned over him for years now and Jason was either oblivious or he didn't return the feelings.

"That boy is sex on a stick." Lafayette added. "I don't give a good damn how stuck-up he is."

"Gross," Dakota cringed. "Don't you have something to fry?"

"Arrested?" Sookie's voice came from the back of Merlotte's.

"Uh-oh." Dakota sighed.

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THE TELEVISION IN THE KITCHEN WAS CURRENTLY SHOWING AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN SOMEONE FROM THE VAMPIRE LEAGE, NAN FLANAGAN, AND SOMEONE FROM THE CHURCH, REVEREND NEWLIN. The latter was a religious freak, refusing to speak to the vampire directly. Dakota turned it off, getting annoyed with the man and his views.

"I don't think Jesus would mind if somebody was a vampire." Dakota said, turning towards her grandmother. Sookie nodded in agreement as the older woman filled their plates with sausages and eggs.

"I don't either, honey."

The youngest Stackhouse took a bite, eyes widening as she inspected the meat. It was as if fireworks exploded her tastebuds, she had never tasted anything like it before. "Is this sausage different from what you usually make?"

"No," Adele chimed, turning away from the stove to look at her.

"It tastes so much more complex than it usually does."

"Oh, dear. You think it's gone bad?" Adele frowned.

"No, it's delicious." Sookie shook her head. "It's like I can close my eyes and see the farm the pig lived on and feel the sun and rain on my face and even taste the earth the herbs grew out of."

"Are you drunk?" Dakota wondered, raising a brow.

"What? No!" Sookie denied.

The screen door opened, and Tara ambled inside. The girl looked hungover as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Tara stayed at Merlotte's quite late yesterday with Sam and Dakota wondered if they got up to something. "Good morning, Miss. Stackhouse."

Adele greeted her cheerfully and ushered her to sit down while she put on a new batch of coffee just for her.

"You look awful." Dakota stated.

"I feel even worse." Tara sighed, resting her head in her hands. "Can I - ?"

"Yes, you can take a shower here." Sooke nodded with a soft smile on her face. "And borrow my clothes."

"Thanks," she smiled gratefully. "any news about Jason?"

"Yeah, we heard from Everly already." said Sookie with a single nod. "They let him go last night."

"I knew they let him go." Tara grinned.

"I didn't." Sookie shrugged.

"Glad you're still alive." Tara raised a brow. "You obviously didn't go out with that vampire last night." When Sookie stayed silent Tara scoffed. "Come on, Sookie. You can't be that dumb."

"Lucky gran was in bed when I got in last night." Sookie sighed.

"Did he bite you?" Tara leaned forwards, narrowing her eyes.

"No," Sookie stated.

"He only fed her his blood." Dakota chimed in. Tara's mouth fell open as Sookie tried to shush her friend who began to swear at her. The Rattray's had attacked Sookie the night before, Bill had healed her by feeding her his blood. Dakota was actually thankful of him.

"Am I too late for breakfast?" Jason stumbled inside, grinning from ear to ear as he entered. "Hey, Tara."

"Hey. Hey, Jason." Tara gushed, smiling shyly as she looked up at him. "I'm so glad they didn't lock you up."

"Yeah, me too." He nodded, taking a piece of pie from the fridge. "I don't even know why they suspected me. I think somebody heard I'd been with Maudette."

"Were you?" Dakota wondered.

"No."

"Are you sure?" Sookie teased. "She was a woman."

"That's funny. At least she was human." He shot back at her.

Sookie glared at her brother, turning back to the table with narrowed eyes. Adele rushed back into the kitchen. "You never believed what happened. Apparently, a tornado touched down over at Four Tracks Corners. It turned over that rent trailer in the clearing. You know the one. It killed that couple that's been staying there."

"Mack and Denise Rattray?" Jason frowned as Sookie, and Dakota shared a worried glance. 

"They were trapped under the trailer." Adele nodded. "Mike Spencer said they were crushed to a pulp."

Holy shit.