The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

by Charlaine Harris

  ERIC: “I’ll call him and then come find you.”

  Dead in the Family

  Timeline

  THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH 2006. Grieving the death of her lover, Tray Dawson, Amelia decides to return to New Orleans and pick up her life there. Sookie, too, is struggling with the emotional and physical aftermath of the torture she endured at the hands of the fairies. Amelia questions Sookie about her feelings for Eric as they pack up the car, and Amelia offers to help Sookie find a way to free herself of the blood bond. Sookie accepts, and she and Amelia say an emotional good-bye. As Sookie thinks over the events and losses of the past few months, she acknowledges that there are people she wants dead for the pain they caused and wonders if her own life is worth the cost.

  THE END OF THAT WEEK. Sookie wakes one morning to find her cousin Claude sitting on her front porch. He asks how his sister died, and Sookie tells him that while she didn’t witness Claudine’s death, she believes Breandan was responsible. Claude sits silently, and Sookie waits for him to strike and kill her. He finally leaves, walking toward the road. Sookie enters her house and falls to her knees, trembling; she realizes that she wants to live, after all.

  THE SECOND WEEK OF MARCH. Sookie works out with her friend JB du Rone at the health club in Clarice, where he is a personal trainer, and then she talks with his wife, her best friend Tara, about the upcoming birth of the couple’s child. When Tara tells Sookie the baby will call her Aunt Sookie, she begins to plan a future.

  THAT SAME WEEK. Spending the night with Eric, Sookie wakes in a panic, an event that has been occurring far too often. Eric weeps with her, but as he explains why he did not come to her aid during her torture, she is at first skeptical. Eric says that Victor Madden chained him to a wall with silver so that he could not rescue her. Victor alleged that Eric’s actions would force the vampires into the Fae War. Although Pam was also held, she was not chained, and vampires loyal to King Felipe allowed her to call him to remind him of his personal pledge to protect Sookie. Felipe then demanded that Victor free both Eric and Pam. Hearing the pain and rage in Eric’s voice, Sookie accepts his explanation but tells a surprised Eric that Victor must die.

  THE THIRD WEEK OF MARCH. Jason invites Sookie over to enjoy a barbecue with him and Michele, and she is happy to see that not only is he recovering from the losses he has suffered but he seems to be maturing as well. Jason admits that he hasn’t come out as a werepanther yet and still wants to keep his status private, but he has told Michele, who accepts him as he is, including his fairy heritage.

  THE FOURTH WEEK OF MARCH. Watching Sookie at work, Sam lets her know that he is pleased to see her smile again. They talk, and he asks if she has seen Bill. When she admits that she believes Bill has been avoiding her, Sam encourages her to visit her former lover.

  THE END OF THAT WEEK. Sookie goes over to see Bill and is alarmed when she sees his condition. Although he has been taking blood from his fellow vampires, he still has not recovered from the silver poisoning he suffered during the Fae War, and he admits that he no longer has any interest in his computer or in anything else. When Sookie asks what will help him, he tells her that he would have completely healed already if he could have taken blood from his maker, Lorena. Sookie asks if Lorena had created other children, and Bill tells her that Lorena turned a woman but he cannot reach out to his only sibling for help. Sookie leaves, determined to find a way to help her friend.

  Having seen Bill and decided to help him, Sookie finds a level of peace and is able to sleep through the following nights. She finally relaxes enough to fully enjoy making love with Eric again.

  WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12. Alcide calls, asking if the Long Tooth pack can use Sookie’s land for their full-moon run the next night. She agrees, telling him to also contact Bill, whose land shares a property line with hers. She is curious about why Alcide can’t use his own land as usual. He tells her that fishermen who claim that his late father allowed them to camp on the land are staying there. Both Alcide and Sookie are a bit uneasy at the sudden arrival of strangers on the Herveaux land so close to the full moon. When she gets to work, Sookie tells Sam about Alcide’s call and suggests that he join the Weres for the evening. Sam casually mentions that he is dating someone from the pack and that while it might be fun, since he could shift into a wolf if he chose, he ultimately feels that it wouldn’t be right. He confirms that Sookie will still attend his brother’s wedding with him when it is rescheduled, admitting that he doesn’t think that he should take a shifter to the event.

  THURSDAY, APRIL 13. The Weres arrive for their run, and Sookie meets Alcide’s new girlfriend, Annabelle Bannister, and his new second, Basim al Saud. She recognizes Alcide’s friend Hamilton Bond as well as the slender young woman she met at the Hair of the Dog and two women from Priscilla Hebert’s pack who surrendered to Alcide after the Were war. Sookie settles into her home for the evening with the doors locked and curtains drawn as the pack leaves for the hunt.

  FRIDAY, APRIL 14. Basim comes to the door as the Weres are leaving to report to her that they have discovered signs of a vampire and at least one fairy on her land as well as a buried body. Sookie immediately realizes that the body must be that of Debbie Pelt and thanks him, considering the implications as the last of the Weres drive away.

  Hearing a knock at the back door, Sookie is surprised to find Claude standing on her doorstep, a large tote bag in hand. He confesses that he is lonely in the house he once shared with his sisters and asks if he can stay with her for a while. He feels as if he is starving without the company of his own kind, and Sookie has enough fae blood to help him. Claude also delivers a letter from her great-grandfather, Niall Brigant, written on the skin of the water sprites that murdered her parents. The letter informs her that before leaving the human realm, Niall used profits from the sale of his pharmaceutical company to ensure that the FBI would no longer bother her. Niall’s letter also states that Claudine had left Sookie all the money in her personal bank accounts and that Mr. Cataliades, who is handling the estate, will be sending Sookie a check. She calls Amelia to see if she plans to return to Bon Temps, and when her friend tells her she must stay in New Orleans, Sookie tells Claude he can have the room upstairs. She asks Claude if he had been in her woods recently, and when he denies visiting, she tells him of the scent of fairy that the Weres reported. After asking him why the news doesn’t make him want to rush out to find whomever of his kind has remained on this side, Claude tells her that he fears it is her great-uncle Dermot and that Dermot would not be happy to see him. Sookie comes to the conclusion that Claude is realizing that he needs others, especially family, after the loss of both his sisters.

  At work at Merlotte’s, Sookie is thrilled when Holly shows off her new ring and announces her engagement to Hoyt Fortenberry. Sookie continues thinking about matrimony, and Tara, her pregnancy showing, comes in to satisfy one of her cravings. Sookie later decides that since Eric is her boyfriend—she is resolutely determined not to use the word “spouse”—she will seek his advice about the events of late.

  Eric sends Pam to pick up Sookie after Merlotte’s closes, and Pam immediately scents fairy in Sookie’s house. Sookie explains that Claude has come to stay with her, but Pam doesn’t buy Claude’s loneliness and offends Sookie by telling her that she is foolish to be taken in by the fairy. They discuss Victor Madden on the drive to Shreveport, a discussion that continues at Eric’s house. Sookie informs them that the Weres used her land and tells Eric that not only is there an unidentified fairy but there is a body buried on her property. Eric asks Pam to leave and then verifies that the body is Debbie’s. They enjoy some passionate sex before Sookie leaves. As Pam is driving Sookie home, Pam reminds Sookie that she didn’t tell Eric that Claude is living with her. She also expresses her reservations about Sookie and Eric’s relationship, telling Sookie that in his position in Felipe’s new regime, Eric cannot afford to be distracted by anything or anyone. Pam sees a car on the side of the interstate and identifies Bruno Bra
zell, Victor’s second, standing beside it in the rain, waving them down. Realizing that Bruno has another vampire, Corinna, with him and that the obvious intention is to kill Eric’s second and his lover, Pam hands Sookie a silver dagger, telling her that she cannot take them both on, so Sookie will have to help fight for their lives. Pam slips out the driver’s side door, and Sookie steps out to approach Bruno. Corinna is standing to Bruno’s right, looking around warily for Pam. Bruno admits that Victor has someone watching Eric’s house, and the decision was made to attack Pam and Sookie when they were spotted leaving together. Sookie wonders aloud why Victor cannot simply enjoy having Eric on the payroll, but Bruno tells her that Victor fears Eric’s power and his access to Sookie’s ability. Bruno suddenly grabs Sookie by the neck. She is able to pull the knife out as she and Bruno struggle, falling and rolling down the embankment, and she stabs him up under his ribs, killing him. Pam makes her move at the same time, sending Corinna to her final sleep as well.

  Pam immediately calls a panicked Eric to tell him that they are all right and that he is not to come to them in case Victor still has him under surveillance. She and Sookie decide to move Bruno’s car to a location far away from the two disintegrating vampire bodies. When Pam and an exhausted Sookie finally reach her home, Sookie is surprised when her vampire friend hugs her and tells her she did well.

  SATURDAY, APRIL 15. Sam notices that Sookie looks tired when she gets to work in the morning. When he asks about the Were run, she tells him that it seemed to go okay, leaving out the news of trespassers and the buried body. Sam reveals that he is dating Jannalynn Hopper, the young woman Sookie first met at the Hair of the Dog and who later participated in the Were war, dispatching the wounded enemy Weres with great efficiency. Their discussion is interrupted by Tanya Grissom, who announces that she and Calvin got married, so she needs to change her paperwork at Merlotte’s to reflect her new last name. Claude comes in to tell Sookie that her water heater isn’t working, and Terry Bellefleur, overhearing Claude’s complaint, offers to take a look at it. Claude flirts with Terry, who bluntly states that he isn’t gay. Sookie takes Claude aside before they leave and warns him that Terry is fragile because of his wartime experiences. She is relieved when Terry returns an hour later, seemingly none the worse for his time with Claude. She pays him for the part he needed, but he lets her know that Claude took care of the labor.

  Kennedy Keyes, Merlotte’s new bartender, arrives for her evening shift. Worried that someone will take advantage of Kennedy or see her as a challenge because she served time for manslaughter, Sam has also hired former serviceman Danny Prideaux to watch the bar when Kennedy works if Sam is not there.

  After work, Sam and Sookie go to dinner at the Crawdad Diner to catch each other up on their lives. As they leave the restaurant, Pam calls to let Sookie know that Bruno and Corinna have not shown up for work in New Orleans, but no one suspects Pam and Sookie. As she closes her phone, Sookie finds a troubled Sam standing behind her. He tells her to remember that he is always there for her if she needs help and, touched, she promises him the same.

  FRIDAY, APRIL 21. Sookie is startled when a nude Claude hands her a towel and the phone as she steps out of the shower. Remy Savoy is calling to ask Sookie if she can babysit his son, Hunter, overnight while Remy attends a family funeral, feeling that the grief-filled situation would be hard for the telepathic five-year-old to manage. Sookie agrees, and they set a time for Remy to drop Hunter off. When the two arrive that evening, she is delighted when Hunter remembers her. Remy is nonplussed that his son, whom he’s never left for so long before, seems totally unconcerned as he leaves. As Sookie and Hunter communicate, Hunter reveals his worry that he will never be a regular man like his dad and the other men he admires, and Sookie is able to reassure him that she knows another telepathic man who has been able to make his telepathy work for him. As they are talking, Heidi, a vampire tracker sent by Eric, arrives to check out Sookie’s woods. Hunter is fascinated by the vampire, who tells Sookie that she was turned when her son was the same age as Hunter and that her son is now a drug addict. As Heidi leaves to scout through the woods, Sookie reflects on the heartbreaking story.

  After dinner, Sookie and Hunter talk about their telepathy a bit, and she tries to explain to the little boy why most people will not understand his gift and how he must learn to be respectful of the privacy of others. She soon realizes that not only is Hunter very adept at picking up thoughts but he can also feel when she is listening to him.

  Heidi returns to report that two fae have recently been in her woods and that neither of them is the fairy she smells in Sookie’s house. Heidi also identifies the vampire who wanders the woods at night as Bill Compton. She confirms that there is an old grave back in the woods but startles Sookie with news of a brand-new grave in a clearing near the stream.

  SATURDAY, APRIL 22. Hunter wakes Sookie early, telling her of his dream of a tall man with yellow hair who came into his room, smiled at him, and then walked into the closet. Her suspicion that Eric is in the house is confirmed when she finds a note from him on the coffeepot, telling her he will see her that evening. Claude joins Sookie and Hunter as they are preparing pancakes and bacon, and Sookie is surprised that he seems to genuinely enjoy being with the child.

  Their pleasant morning is disturbed by Agent Tom Lattesta, who is in town for a hearing on the shootings in January. He informs Sookie that the FBI is no longer investigating her. Lattesta is resentful that someone pulled strings for Sookie, and he vows to restart the investigation if he gets any new information on her.

  Sookie, Hunter, and Claude decide to go to Magnolia Creek Park. When Tara stops by, Sookie introduces Hunter and Claude and is dismayed when Claude asks Tara if she would like to know the sex of her child. Tara agrees that she would like to know, so Claude informs her that she is carrying twins and will have a boy and a girl. Tara tells him her doctor has reported only one heartbeat, and Claude cheerfully insists she is carrying two healthy babies. As Hunter and Claude wander off to play ball, Sookie tells her stunned friend that Hunter is Hadley’s son and that Claude is a cousin from the wrong side of the blanket. They enjoy a visit until Tara has to leave for work, and Sookie goes in search of Claude and her charge. Claude also has to leave to open his club in Monroe, so Sookie and Hunter go to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. When Hunter reads the mind of a playmate’s weary mother at the restaurant, Sookie tries to use the unfortunate incident as a teaching moment, then she takes the tired and overexcited child home for a nap.

  Remy arrives shortly after Hunter wakes, and father and son greet each other ecstatically. Hunter tells his attentive dad all about his visit, and as the child leaves to gather his possessions, Sookie tells Remy that all has gone well. As they leave, Sookie is pleased when Hunter unexpectedly gives her a hug. Eric rises as the sun sets, and before she can tell him about the second body Heidi scented on her land, he begins to explain the vampire hierarchy to her. Not pleased by her initial lack of interest, he insists that there are things she needs to know to ensure her safety. Afterward, they make love, but Sookie suddenly begins to feel strange and chatters randomly while braiding Eric’s hair, finally sinking to the floor, certain that someone with Eric’s blood is near.

  Eric turns to the window and sees his maker, Appius Livius Ocella. Struggling to maintain cordiality, Eric asks his sire what is wrong with Sookie, and Appius informs him that he has another of his children with him and that the proximity of so many with his blood is confusing Sookie’s thoughts and feelings. Sookie regains her senses and invites the two vampires to enter her home, even though she guesses correctly that her invitation is not necessary since Eric has permission and they are of the same blood. She is disturbed that Appius’s other child is barely a teenager and then appalled when he is introduced as Alexei Romanov, a member of the Russian royal family.

  Jason meets Appius and Alexei when he drops by to pick up an unused end table he wants. After some conversation about the past, Sookie asks if th
e newcomers are responsible for the fresh body on her land. She explains Heidi’s discovery to Eric, who immediately blames the Weres who had been hunting and calls Alcide for a meeting. Fortunately, Alcide is nearby and soon arrives with Annabelle and Jannalynn. When Alcide denies any wrongdoing, the decision is made to identify the body. They all troop through the woods to the spot, and Alcide and Jason start digging. To the horror of the Weres, the body is that of Alcide’s second, Basim. As they are trying to determine what could have befallen the werewolf, Annabelle admits to being with him the day after the hunt and reveals that he received a call from someone who was paying him, a call he didn’t want her to hear. When Basim made an excuse to get her out of his apartment and then left, she followed him but lost him before she could find out where he was going. Jannalynn strikes Annabelle for her betrayal of Alcide and the pack, knocking her to the ground. Alcide names Jannalynn his new second and states that the pack will call a meeting to deal with the situation. As the Weres turn to leave, Sookie questions why the body was left on her land and demands that it be moved, fearing that the murderer is trying to get her involved. Eric says that he and Sookie should attend the meeting. Alcide tells Eric that vampires are not allowed but that Sookie can bring Jason. Jannalynn assures her that someone will come for the body that night as Alcide, his now former lover, and new second take their leave. Sookie wants the corpse off her land now, so Eric flies the wrapped body of Basim to the woods across the road. She, Jason, and Alexei then fill in the grave, disguising it to blend into the surrounding area.

  As soon as the vampires depart for Eric’s house in Shreveport, Sookie calls Pam, who is stunned at the arrival of her grand-sire. She then reluctantly notifies Bobby Burnham, warning him to be extra careful when he goes for his nightly briefing with Eric.