Glamoured: Chapter 1

Charlaine Harris owns almost everything. I own the rest.

Thank you to Whew Hot Blooded for inspiring me, and thank you to SeriousCrush for loving me enough to edit. Thank you to all of you for wanting to read my stories. I’m a lucky girl indeed! I hope you enjoy!

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The crowd surged again, pushing Sookie toward the stage. How long had they been waiting and why had she let Marcy talk her into coming here after work? Sure, she wanted to see a vampire, and like most of the folks in small towns like Bon Temps, she was going to great lengths to make it happen. Twenty bucks was an hour of tips. This better be worth it!

She looked over at Marcy. Her eyes were wild and sweat glistened across her forehead. She was chanting with everyone else: Vam-pire! Vam-pire! Vam-pire!

Sookie shook her head. It was like a carnival sideshow. They paid the entrance fee, lined up, and were waiting to be shocked. It wasn’t her idea of a fun night out, but she agreed to go anyway.

The good thing about the noisy crowd was that it made it easy for her to think. Everyone around her had one thing on their minds: vampires. So while she waited, she thought.

Gran had told her to find a job she liked, but she didn’t know how to do that with her disability. She wanted to go to college. Get a degree. Get OUT of Bon Temps. But high school had been hard enough. Facing classrooms twice the size was terrifying. So she took a job at Merlotte’s, the name embroidered on her breast. Not because she wanted to stand on her feet for hours on end or deal with drunk and grabby men, but because it helped pay the bills. Gran’s fixed income wasn’t enough most months and she couldn’t stand to see her sell another heirloom to pay the utilities.

Someone stepped on her foot. She frowned and shouted, “Hey! Watch it!” The woman smiled and shrugged. She looked just like Marcy; all hot and bothered and waiting for something wonderful to happen.

Microphone feedback squealed through the room, stopping the frenzy of movement and noise.

The curtains behind the stage ruffled. The room was so quiet Sookie could hear her heart beating. It was racing. She wasn’t so different than the rest of these people.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a silky voice purred through the surround sound. “Prepare to be GLAMOURED!” A woman in a black leather corset pushed through the curtain. Her face was sweet…except for the fangs.

Marcy squeezed Sookie’s arm. “This is it Sookie, a real vampire!”

Sookie smiled and nodded, turning her attention back to the stage.

“My name is Pam.” The blonde woman tilted her head to the side and dropped a shoulder, like an upper body curtsy. “And this is Eric.”

Sookie gasped. The most beautiful man she had ever seen stepped out onto the stage, towering over the woman. He was wearing a leather vest and a pair of skintight jeans. He walked silently, which seemed impossible with the thick boots jutting out below the cuff of his jeans. Eric. She swallowed hard.

“I love you Eric!” A woman screamed out from the crowd. He seemed to barely notice. He was scanning the faces below him.

Sookie’s pulse quickened when their eyes met, and then he was gone, moving onto the next adoring fan.

Pam cleared her throat, silencing the screams from the audience. “Are you ready?”

“YES!”

“Everyone direct your eyes to the stage.”

As if we’re looking anywhere else! Sookie rolled her eyes.

Pam and Eric stared intently at the crowd. The sea of faces around Sookie went silent. Their mouths hung open and their eyes glazed over. Sookie frowned. They were like zombies. She waved her hand in front of Marcy’s face. Nothing. She pinched her arm. Nothing. The room was eerily quiet. Sookie shifted from one foot to the other. She fought the temptation to run. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. What was going on?

She searched the faces of the two vampires on the stage. They were focused on the crowd, and then Eric’s eyes met hers. His intense gaze gave way to confusion and about half the crowd began to wake up from whatever trance they had been in. They started pulling money out of their pockets and purses and turned to leave at once, as if by command. Pam frowned at Eric and the rest of the crowd snapped out of it. One by one, the people surrounding her filed out of the club. Marcy didn’t look at Sookie, she just followed the lead of the person next to her, holding a folded bill in her hand. Sookie gripped her arm and didn’t let go. As Marcy dragged her out of the room, Sookie saw Pam and Eric whispering and watching her.

Sookie opened her mind and recoiled at the singular thought running through the minds of everyone in the room. Come back tomorrow. Give the man at the door your money. It was on a constant loop, in stereo. She swallowed and glanced at the stage one more time. What came from the vampires was even more alarming.

Nothing.

The cool spring air outside the club seemed to wake Marcy the rest of the way.

“What just happened in there?” Sookie’s mouth was dry and she couldn’t get her heart to stop racing.

“It was beautiful. I felt a connection I’ve never experienced before. Eric wants me to come back tomorrow night. He asked me. Personally!”

“He didn’t say anything.” Had she missed something?

“Yes he did!”

“No, he didn’t. You were all staring at the stage and then you turned to leave.”

Marcy shook her head. “Well I’m sorry if he didn’t talk to you. I think he likes me.” Pink crept over her cheeks. “I don’t care what you say. I’m coming back tomorrow night.” She turned her body away and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m not trying to stop you.” Sookie’s voice was barely a whisper. She had said the wrong thing. Again. Making friends was difficult. Keeping them was even harder.

“You there.” Pam’s voice cut through the night like a knife.

“Pam! I’m so—” Marcy’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as she leaned toward Pam.

Where was Marcy’s good sense? Everything in Sookie’s body told her to run.

“Not you. I’m talking to you, blondie.” Pam’s eyes swept up Sookie’s body, lingering a little too long on her breasts.

“Me?” Sookie pressed her fingertips into her chest.

“Yes you. Eric would like a word with you.” Pam smiled sweetly. No fangs this time. She was staring into Sookie’s eyes, and pushed against her brain.

It was an odd sensation. Whatever it was, Pam’s face fell when Sookie spoke.

“It’ll have to be another time. I’ve got to get home. Long drive.”

“Oh?” Pam leaned against the bricks, posing like a model for a BSDM magazine. Dangerous and seductive.

“We live in Bon Temps!” Marcy blurted out.

“Shh!” Sookie scolded. Although she couldn’t put her finger on it, she didn’t want Pam or Eric to know where she lived. “Anyway, we should be going.”

Pam’s presence started to draw a crowd. People closed in on her, showering her with praise and affection. As she retreated back to the club, she said, “Come back tomorrow night.”

Tomorrow night.

On the way home, Marcy only said one thing. “Eric wants to see you. You have to come back with me tomorrow night!”

What did Eric want with her? Why did he want to have a word with her? What word? What happened in that crowded room, and why was she the only one who wasn’t affected? Was it her telepathy? She rolled her window down and let the breeze whisk the questions out of her head. No good would come from her going back. Her curiosity wasn’t worth the fear.

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On to Glamoured: Chapter 2