CHAPTER TEN

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         LAFAYETTE HAD CALLED HER A STUPID CUNT WHEN SHE TOLD HIM THE REASON AS TO WHY SHE HAD A LATEX DRESS ON HER BATHROOM FLOOR THAT EVENING.  Dakota couldn't blame him because if Sookie had told her the same thing she might have had the same reaction. It had been four days since she had been at Fangtasia and she hadn't seen Eric or Pam, and maybe it was for the best.

The feeling of being covered in blood was still fresh on her mind and she didn't like it one bit. Dakota had taken three showers that night and she still felt disgusting. The smell had been horrid. The fact that vampires exploded once they'd met their true death was something she hoped to never witness again. Lafayette had kept her mind of it most of the weekend as they watched movie after movie.

Unfortunately, it was no longer weekend and Dakota had to go back to work and it was a morning shift, which she loathed. Dakota was not a morning person, and though she could appreciate quiet mornings alone at home, she didn't want to deal with crude thoughts so early in the day.

"Oh my god." gawked Amy, a new waitress. The woman was dating Jason and she was nice enough, though her mind was an odd place to be in. "It is beautiful."

"I know, right?" Arlene gushed, looking at the diamond on her finger.

"You got engaged?" Dakota asked, taking the redheads hand and inspecting the ring. It was small, but it suited her and looked good on her hands. Just the right size for Arlene. "I had no idea. Congratulations, Arlene."

Arlene almost squealed in happiness. "Thank you, darling. Rene asked me Saturday evening. Oh, it was so romantic. I can't believe this is happening."

"So, you guys having an engagement party or what?" asked Amy.

"Oh, we'd like to." nodded Arlene. "But I don't know where we'd throw it. You know, our place isn't big enough." The redhead emphasized the last sentence, raising her voice every so slightly so Sam who stood at the bar could hear her.

Sam pulled a face and sighed, glancing at Dakota for a moment before turning to Arlene. "You could have it here, if you like."

"Oh, thanks." Arlene said, knowing exactly what she was doing. "But I wouldn't wanna put you out like that."

"You wouldn't be putting me out. It'd be like any night." Sam shrugged his shoulders. He was way too good for his friends when some of them didn't treat him the same way. "Except I'd close the place to the public for you and your nearest and dearest."

"Oh, wow, Sam." she grinned at Amy and widened her eyes a bit as she peeked at the bar owner. "That would be amazing. Except I was thinking, could we maybe do it in the warehouse next door? Or even outside? 'Cause if we did it in here, it'd feel like work, you know?"

"You were thinking, huh?" Sam raised a brow, amused. "About the party I only just now offered to throw for you?"

Arlene choked out a forced laugh. "You are a spectacular man, Sam Merlotte."

"And you are one hell of a conniving suck-up." He shook his head. "When you need to be. I'll cover the catering and the band. The alcohol and all the other incidentals are on you and Rene."

"Got it!" she grinned, smacking her hands against the bar happily. "And I may be conniving, but I still mean it. You are gonna make some woman extremely happy one day."

"Well maybe someday I'll meet a woman who's willing to take that chance with me." Sam said, as he began to serve customers. Sookie entered the bar, scowl on her face. "Good morning, Sookie."

"Ain't nothing good about this morning." The blonde woman stalked off towards the office.

Dakota hadn't seen Sookie since Friday evening and walked after her cousin, closing the office door behind her. If Sookie noticed her, she didn't say anything. The blond pulled her shirt over her head and put on her white tee with Merlotte's logo on it.

"You can't seriously still be angry at me." Dakota said, arms crossed.

"I can." Sookie said, not bothering to glance at her. "I can't believe you went with him. He is evil. Bill said he uses humans as toys and that we can't trust him."

Dakota blew out a breath, leaning against the wall as she watched Sookie fold her shirt and put it away in her section. "I won't be doing it again, okay?"

Sookie sighed and looked at her. "What did he want anyway?"

"He knows about the telepath thing." Dakota said, telling a version of the story. "Someone was stealing money from him, and he wanted me to find out who, that's all."

"What? No killing?" Sookie raised a brow.

"I don't know what Bill has told you, but he's not so bad."

"Just be careful." Sookie said and left her standing in the office.

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DAKOTA WENT UP THE PORCH STEPS, FUMBLING WITH HER KEYS AS SHE TRIED TO UNLOCK THE FRONT DOOR IN THE DARK. The porch lights weren't on, and she wondered if Jason had even bothered to come and try to fix them. The blond pushed against the door and stepped inside the house.

It was cold inside, which was odd considering the heat outside. It was quiet, which she usually liked but something felt off and she stayed in the doorway, eyes moving around in the dark.

The woman took a few steps inside towards the stairs, moving her hand up the wall to look for the light switch. Her digits were wet, and her heart rate picked up, chill running down her spine when she turned the lights on.

There was a gasp from her mouth and her eyes widened, as she stumbled back against the wall. Sookie's cat, Tina, was hanging from the ceiling fan, cut up with her head missing. Blood splattered the walls and floor beneath her.

"What the fuck." she breathed, feeling panic creep up her spine.

Dakota took a step forward and before she knew it, she was slammed onto the floor, harshly. Her head hit the floorboards and she groaned in pain, looking around frantically. A heavy body pushed her down onto the rug, straddling her. He wore a hood and Dakota was in too much shock to think rationally and try to identify him.

He pulled out a knife from his boot and her eyes widened. Dakota smacked at his arms, to no avail. He raised the knife above his head, and she just barely moved her neck, the knife planted beside her in the rug.

Dakota screamed and trashed underneath him, managing to get a good scratch on his cheek. He cursed at her, and she brought her knee up, kicking him in the balls. He doubled over and she slid from underneath him as fast as she could.

He reached for her ankle, trying to pull her back but all he got was a shoe as she slid away.

"I'll fucking kill you, bitch."

Dakota was already out the door and down the porch steps, running for her life. The blond had no time to search for her car keys and opted to run for Bill's home, praying to God he was home. Dakota didn't dare to look behind her to see if he was following, she just kept going as fast as she could.

There was a sharp pain in her foot, and she cried out as she fell to her knees, hands digging in the soil beneath her. The blond pushed herself up and limped through the graveyard that was located between her and the vampire's home.

The lights were on, and she almost cried in relief as she made her way across the field. Her heart rate was going a million miles per minute. The doors opened and Dakota didn't even register who had opened them before she flew through the entrance, falling to her knees on the rough wooden floorboards, probably scraping her knees open, but she couldn't care less, as long as she was away from her home.

The blonde's breathing was ragged, and she tried to catch her breath, holding onto her side.

"Dakota, what happened?" Bill was at her side in an instant, crouching down before her. He noticed her blood covered hands, tangled hair and missing shoe with worry. She looked like a mess.

"Some – someone tried to kill me." she breathed, moving around so she was sitting down, flinching as she moved her foot. "He was inside my house, he killed Tina."

Dakota hadn't even seen Eric at the front door, Pam and someone she hadn't seen before beside them. The tall vampire's face seemed to be made of stone as he looked down at her, closing the door with his shoe. He had heard her heartbeat and smelled the anxiety on her as he opened the door a moment ago.

"Was Sookie with you?" asked Bill, urgently.

"No, she's at Merlotte's." said Dakota, grimacing at her aching muscles. "I just got home. He jumped be out of nowhere."

Eric whispered something to Pam and the other man and with a roll of their eyes the two of them disappeared out of the house, slamming the door shut. Dakota flinched, absentmindedly grabbing at her foot. The Viking also crouched before and grabbed her ankle in his hands.

"I've sent Pam and Chow to your house." Eric said, moving his eyes from her face to look at the underside of her foot. He could easily see the cut through the mud covering her skin. He dropped his fangs from his gums and cut his thumb like he had done Friday evening.

He moved his bleeding digit to her skin and rubbed his blood on it, mixing it together with her own, watching as it closed beneath his touch. It hurt, a lot and she closed her eyes tightly.

"If he's still there, they'll find him." he said, letting go off her ankle and setting her leg back down with more care than she thought he could muster.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"Let's get you up." Eric said, grabbing her elbow and pulling her to her feet carefully and she shivered from the cold of his skin against her own.

The vampire led her toward the couch and sat down on the table in front of her. Bill grabbed a can of soda from the table and handed it to her. It was unopened and warm, but Dakota appreciated the gesture anyway.

"I think it's the same person who killed Maudette and Dawn." Dakota said, rubbing her arms to comfort herself. "And gran."

"Did you get a good look at his face?" asked Bill.

"No," she shook her head as she looked toward him. "I couldn't get a good look at him. He had his hood up."

Bill nodded his head slowly, turning to Eric. "I can't leave now. She could have been killed. It could have been Sookie."

Eric considered it for a moment before taking his gaze off Dakota. "You're coming, that's final. The Magister does not like to be kept waiting."

"They'll be without protection."

"Not my problem, William."

Dakota frowned as the door opened. Pam and Chow walked in, and the woman shook her head. "There's no one there. We searched the area but the only thing I found was a drunkard on the main road. Can we go now?"

Dakota shared a glance with Bill. "I am not going back there alone."

"You will come with us." Eric said, to which Pam raised a brow. Bill disagreed immediately. Eric shot him a look and turned back to the blond before him. "Bill wants to see his pet before he leaves, we'll take you there."

Bill snarled at him for having called Sookie 'his pet', but it was true. Dakota had no idea what they were talking about or why Bill had to go away, all she wanted was to see a familiar friendly face and get whoever attacked her only moments ago.

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DAKOTA LOOKED LIKE A MESS, WEARING ONLY ONE SHOE, SCRAPED AND BLOODY KNEES WHILE DIRT COVERED MOST HER SKIN AS THEY REACHED MERLOTTE'S. Pam made a face at her as she passed the woman, wrinkling her nose at the scent of soil. Dakota frowned and quickened her step, entering Merlotte's bar and grill.

"Bill? What's going on?" Sookie went straight to Bill, eyes falling on her cousin in worry. "What the hell happened?"

"Dakota was attacked." Bill whispered. "she's alright."

Sookie wanted to say something when she noticed the vampires behind him and the whole bar had gone silent. Tara stood behind the bar, looking somewhat frightened as she set a glass on the counter.

"Wow," Eric turned to Pam. "this place is even more depressing than I thought it be."

"What are they doing here?" Sookie demanded.

"Just give me a minute and then we'll talk." Bill said, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Where's Sam?"

"I don't know, why?"

"H – he's in his office." stammered Tara, pointing towards the back room with a shaky hand.

Dakota peered around the room, spotting the back of Lafayette's head in the kitchen, and she pushed past Eric and Pam and a very distraught looking Arlene.

Her best friend glanced up from his phone and raised a brow as he took in the state, she was in. He was about to make a funny comment on her attire before he noticed the look on her face. Dakota let out a sob and fell into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck and hugging him tightly wanting all the comfort she could get.

"Koko," he frowned, wrapping his arms around her waist. "what's wrong? What happened?"

Lafayette peered around the bar through the opening in the kitchen wall and caught the stare of Eric, his eyes widening when he saw the vampires. He had been to immerged in his phone to see them enter. He swallowed and cussed in his mind, wondering what the fuck these vampires were doing here.

"Someone broke into my house." she sniffed, burying her head in his neck. "He killed Tina and then attacked me."

"What?" he leaned back to look at her. "What the fuck, is you okay?"

Dakota nodded her head, rubbing her face with her hands as she stepped out of his embrace, wiping the tears from her face.

"Can I stay with you for a bit?"

"You don't even have to ask, Koko." he said, nodding his head. "Damn girl, trouble seems to be attached at your hip lately."

The woman gave him a look before chuckling, he was right. Dakota turned her head and met Eric's blue eyes, he held her gaze for a moment before he exited the bar.