Chapter 1 Welcome

Sookie was both nervous and not nervous at the same time. She chastised herself for her nervousness. Through the many years she had been on this earth she had learned that feeling any other emotion other then things like thirst or anger or other ‘vampire like’ emotions was a mistake. At just under 1000 years old she was one of the more respectable vampires in the supernatural world in the way that she had survived and was a good fighter. Of course she wasn’t as powerful as some vampires out there. This included the one she was about to meet, The Gaul. She was passing through the Dallas area of Texas and needed permission to hunt in it for a while. The Gaul, or Godric, was a strict but fair sheriff, or so she heard. Sookie had also heard stories about his ruthless past. His nickname of Death was well earned even though he had been tamed recently. Sookie just hoped she could have a quick meeting and leave.

She entered the house of the sheriff. There was a lot of furniture but the room still seemed to be spacious. The furniture and walls were mostly white or beige which surprised Sookie since most of the vampires she had met liked darker colors. There were dark browns and blacks accenting things all around and there was wood furniture and the floor was tongue and groove wood. Slightly further ahead and still to Sookie’s left was a dining room with a large table and some tall backed chairs. To the right was the end of a an ornate spiral staircase that went up to the second floor of the house. Having finished her observations Sookie walked into the main living space. A Spanish looking vampire in an all-black outfit came towards her.

“Why are you here?” the woman got right to business.

“I am here to see the sheriff about hunting rights,” Sookie replied. The other vampire took in her appearance. Sookie looked the picture of innocence and sin with her tousled blonde hair, curvy figure and sweet blue eyes.

“One moment while I see if he is busy. Make yourself comfortable,” the woman said. Sookie went over to a chair and sat down. She had been made vampire in her early 20s which was slightly younger than the average vampire turning age.

The woman came back a few minutes later and said, “The sheriff will see you now.” Sookie rolled her eyes and followed the woman to the office door. When she opened the door Sookie saw two male vampires inside. The first one she thought would stand out anywhere. He was over 6 feet tall and his hair and eyes were similar in color to her own. He looked to have been in his late 20s or early 30s when he was turned. The man was leaning against the wall of the far corner with his arms crossed. He exuded this ‘I think I am better than everyone else’ air. Sookie could tell that he was around her age though slightly older. He was probably a Viking in his human life.

The other vampire was physically the opposite of the blonde one in every way. At the time of his turning he was very young. Sookie guessed he was no more than 16 years old. He was sitting at a desk so she couldn’t tell his full height but could tell that he was shorter than the other vampire in the room. His short brown hair gave his grayish blue eyes an almost creepy, hypnotic look. While the blonde vampire wore an all-black outfit the brown haired vampire wore all white and his tattoos peeked out a bit. The brown haired vampire gestured to the chair in front of the desk. Sookie confidently strode over and gracefully sat down in the chair.

“I am Godric, the Sheriff of Area 9. What brings you to my area, Ms. Stackhouse?” the brown haired vampire asked.

“I am simply here to get permission for hunting rights,” Sookie answered his question.

“Are you staying in my area permanently or just passing through?” the sheriff continued to question her.

Sookie paused before she answered this question, “I am not sure at the moment.” The sheriff looked down at a piece of paper. No doubt it was information he had gathered on her. Even though Sookie hadn’t made an appointment to meet the sheriff she was sure the other sheriffs talked about which direction she was headed.
The sheriff looked at the blonde vampire and told him, “You may leave now Eric.” The blonde stood up straight and nodded towards the sheriff. He closed the door after himself.

“I have had reports of you moving through several areas and many incidents in those areas,” the sheriff turned his attention back to her after looking through some papers on her. Evidently one of them was the one she had sent him.

“With all due respect sir, I have problems with authority figures,” Sookie told him. The sheriff gazed at her calculatingly. He stood up and came around to the front of the desk and leaned against it..

“Do you have anywhere to stay Ms. Stackhouse?” Godric inquired.

“Not at the moment,” she answered.

“Then I insist you stay with me and my nest,” he offered.

“Sheriff, I am honored by your offer but I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Sookie protested.

“You may call me Godric when we are alone or just with the other members of the nest,” Godric persisted. Sookie wondered why this man was taking a chance on her. As he had implied, she wasn’t the most well behaved vampire.

“Of course, Godric,” Sookie agreed. He stood up and she followed suit. With them both standing she could tell that he was about 5′ 8” tall. Without her usual conservative heels she was about 5′ 5” tall. They walked out of the office and found Eric and the other vampire woman talking in the main room. They turned to Godric and Sookie as they entered.

“Ms. Stackhouse has decided to stay with us while she is in the area,” Godric announced. The other two vampires nodded to her.

“Please, you all can call me Sookie,” she told them.

“I don’t believe you have officially met Isabel, one of my nest mates and my second,” Godric said, indicating the woman whom Sookie had met earlier.

Isabel smiled at Sookie and said, “I am sure we will get to know each other while you are here.”

Godric then gestured over to the blonde, Eric, “This is my child Eric. I sense that you are close in age. You are perhaps 60 or 70 years apart,”

Godric introduced them. Eric took Sookie’s hand and kissed it, looking at her with his searing blue eyes.

“Hello Sookie,” he purred.

“Don’t expect anything special since you’re the sheriff’s child,” Sookie replied, already sensing that he had used that advantage before.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Eric responded with a smirk as he pulled his hand away.

“Like you haven’t used it on other vampires before?” Sookie sassed back. Out of the corner of her eye Sookie could swear she saw Godric smile a bit at their butting of heads but it was gone in the next second.

“Eric is going to be sheriff of an area in Louisiana and is leaving tomorrow,” Isabel informed Sookie.

“Louisiana? I hate that spoiled bitch Sophie-Ann! She thought she could take me on. She was mistaken,” Sookie revealed.

Eric raised his eyebrows and looked like he was going to say something when Godric interrupted them, “I would introduce you to Stan, our other nest mate, but he is probably satisfying his thirst.”

“He is also probably making trouble,” Eric growled. Sookie sensed that he didn’t like this Stan vampire.

“I will go find him,” Isabel declared and sped away.

“Feel free to explore the house” Godric told her and walked away at human speed. Sookie watched him as he left and Eric followed him.

Intriguingly something about this sheriff made her want to impress him.

Author’s Note: Please review/comment. I now have a great beta tj6james6 so thanks to her my chapters will be even better now!!! I don’t own True Blood.

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