Life Starts After Dark

I was grateful for the sun; that was all I could say. After my encounter with Eric, I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to go back to Shreveport again, much less Fangtasia.

I realized, of course, that it was time for me to get a job. The most available job for a woman my age in this town was a waitress’s job in Merlotte’s.

I dressed, deciding on a simple black tank top and beige shorts. I put on a pair of wedges, tied my hair up, and brushed my teeth. Then I just put on some mascara and lip gloss, and went on my way.

I pulled into the gravel parking lot at Merlotte’s Bar and Grill, and was pleased to find that it looked normal enough.

There was a nice, friendly diner atmosphere about the bar. Of course, the place was decorated with taxidermy heads of bucks and alligators, but it seemed to fit the place perfectly.

I walked up to the bar where a red haired woman was serving drinks.

“I was wondering if I could speak to Sam Merlotte. I’m looking for a job.”

“Oh, thank god for that. We have been short on employees for months! Just go down that hallway and he is the first door on your right.” The redhead beamed at me, and then I walked down the hallway she indicated and knocked on the door.

“It’s open,” a voice called from inside, and I took that as an invitation, walking inside and shutting the door behind me.

“Hello. My name is Skylar. Skylar Jones. I just moved here from California, and I was wondering if you had any job openings.”

“You are looking for a job here?” he asked. He sounded ecstatic.

I nodded. “Yes, sir,” I said, shuffling my feet and looking at the wood grain patterns in the floorboards.

“You can call me Sam,” he informed me. I looked up and saw him smiling at me. He was handsome, and there was something very kind in his blue eyes. I liked him already.

“So, what do you think, Sam?”

“Have you been a waitress before?”

“Yes,” I replied dutifully. “I waited tables in college and even got a bit into bartending before I moved.”

“Perfect. We would be glad to have you.”

“So, when can I start?” I asked eagerly.

“Is tonight too soon?”

“Tonight sounds perfect.”

_______________________________________________________________________

I started work at 5:00 pm.

I came across another waitress with blonde hair and a tan that most California girls would kill to have naturally. I had always tried to tan at the beach back in California, but remained as pale as ever.

I shook her hand as I introduced myself. “Hi, I’m Skylar.”

She smiled at me. “Sookie Stackhouse.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said. I could tell already that she was a good, kindhearted person.

“You’re from California, right?” she asked.

How does she know that? Did Sam tell her already?

“Yes,” I said, confirming it with my lack of a Louisiana accent.

“Be careful then, girl. The men will be all over you tonight. You’re gorgeous, so that doesn’t help either. California girls are exotic material around here.”

“Ha. There is nothing exotic about being a Californian. The economy was in the dumps, anyway. I needed a change of scenery.” I put the order of fries in front of a large woman and continued on my way of taking orders and delivering food to tables.

“So, how are you liking it in Bon Temps?” a man asked when I placed his order in front of him.

“It certainly has been interesting so far,” I said with a chuckle.

“My name’s Hoyt,” he said, introducing himself and shaking my hand. Everyone was so up in everyone else’s personal space around here. But so far, this guy seemed nice enough.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Hoyt. I’m Skylar.”

Then I had to move on because the cook, a fabulous gay black man named Lafayette, called “Order up!”

I grabbed the plate from the counter and heard Lafayette whistle. “Girl! You are going to be in trouble tonight looking like that.”

I laughed. “That’s what everyone keeps saying.”

________________________________________________________________________________

It was around 8:00 pm when Jason Stackhouse walked into the bar. I knew who he was immediately because Sookie had warned me about him ahead of time. But I was used to dealing with womanizers. This one would be no different.

He was hot, I could say that much. But he was also full of it. I could tell it just by the way he sauntered right on over to me as if he were thinking that this one was already in the bag.

“Hello, there. My name is Jason. And what’s your name?”

“Skylar, and if you will excuse me, I am working,” I said without looking at him once. I pushed right past him. I heard Sookie laugh as I passed her.

I received some generous tips, mostly from the young, single men. Jason hardly left me a tip at all, probably because I had iced him earlier.

Eventually, Sookie’s boyfriend, a vampire named Bill, walked into the ball and picked her up at the end of her shift somewhere around 11:00 pm.

After they left, I went up to the bar where Sam was working.

“Mind if I sit for a few?” I asked hopefully.

“Go ahead. You have been working non-stop for six hours. I think you deserve a break.”

“Thanks, Sam,” I said gratefully. I tightened my long ponytail and stretched my back.

“So, where in California did you come from?” he asked.

“Sunny LA. But it just got old after a while. And when the sales tax went up to nine percent, I took that as my cue to pack up and get the hell out.”

Sam laughed at that, but then he went rigid. He looked like a dog on point. I followed his eyes and froze.

I saw Eric walk into the bar and sit at an empty booth.

“I’ll take care of him,” I grumbled, snatching a bottle of TrueBlood from behind the counter.

“How do you know he’s a vampire?” he asked.

“You knew, didn’t you?” I commented with raised eyebrows before I walked over and slapped the bottle of synthetic blood on the table in front of him.

“This is cold,” he said in a flat tone, looking up at me with those intense blue eyes.

“Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it?”

“And it’s O positive,” he complained.

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked. This guy really pissed me off to no end.

“I would rather have some AB negative, please.”

“Well, we are all out of that,” I stated simply.

“Not completely,” he said, staring at my neck.

“Well, that’s certainly not going to happen.”

I laughed at that a bit, even though it was creepy that he knew my blood type.

“I find it entertaining that all of the interesting people in Bon Temps work at Merlotte’s,” Eric chuckled.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you think you were the only special one, Skylar?”

I ignored what he said. “What do you want?” I asked, eager to get him to leave. I slid in across the booth from him and glared at him.

He leaned in way into my personal space until his face was only inches from mine.

“You,” he whispered softly.

If anyone else had said that to me, I would have laughed. But it was Eric that said it, and it made me shiver instead.

“Well, isn’t that nice,” I said sarcastically. “Just leave, Eric. Trust me; there is nothing here for you.”

“Oh, I think there is, Skylar.”

“No, really, Eric. Go back to Shreveport. Your bar is full of fangbangers. I am sure you will find one willing to do what you want.”

I could feel him staring at me for a few minutes after that while I waited tables. I knew when he was gone without looking, because the bar was immediately empty of his powerful presence.

“What the hell was that, Skylar?” Sam asked.

“Just a vampire I met in Shreveport last night,” I tried to say nonchalantly. I failed miserably.

“At Fangtasia?” he asked in alarm.

“Yes. He seems set on me. That’s just too bad for him, though.”

“Be careful.” He looked worried. “Vampires are not something to be messed with.”

“Oh, don’t I know it.”

________________________________________________________________________________

I had my key in my front door when he appeared beside me.

“Shit! Eric, don’t do that!” I was still trying to catch my breath, and my heart was pounding double time.

Eric was laughing at me.

“I hate vampires! Every last one of you needs to just go to hell!”

“You are very attractive when you are angry,” he said, trying to contain his laughter.

“I’ll show you attractive…sharpening a stake with your name on it,” I muttered.

He went straight faced in an instant, and then his fangs were out. “I do not take well to threats,” he spoke very calmly in a way meant to frighten me.

“You can’t scare me,” I said in a defensive tone.

He grabbed me gently by the neck, but firmly enough to where I wouldn’t be able to get away. He touched his tongue to the tip of one of his sharp fangs.

“Do it. I’m not afraid,” I said. If he was going to kill me, then there was nothing I could do about it, was there?

Surprise lit his features. “You mean it.” It was not a question.

“I’m not your average girl, Eric. You can’t use scare tactics on me.”

He let me go, and I could breathe more freely.

“I do not wish to hurt you,” he said simply.

“I know that,” I laughed.

“How?”

“If you had wanted to hurt me, you would have done it behind Fangtasia last night. It wasn’t as if I could have run away from you.”

“True.”

“So, do you want to be a little more specific about why you want me?” I asked expectantly.

“I want you to touch me again. Maybe you will see something again.”

“Will you leave me alone if I do this for you?” I asked, hoping that he would agree.

“No.”

“Well, I don’t think I have much choice, do I?”

“No, you don’t.” Then he took my hand in his, and placed it on cheek. He put his hand over mine, and I closed my eyes.”

There I am, lying on the ground. I look so very…broken. Eric is fighting someone, moving so fast that I can’t see him or who he is fighting clearly. And I am lying on the sidelines, dying.

I gasped, snatching my hand away, just as I felt my eyes roll back in my head.

Then…I fainted.