The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

“listen” to see if she can find out if anyone who comes into the bar is the murderer.
    Arlene asks Sookie if she can babysit for her the next night but angers Sookie when she decides that she cannot leave her children in the company of a vampire. To release her frustration, Sookie digs a hole in her backyard, telling a watchful Bill that she will plant a tree. After she calms down and they make love, he informs her that Eric has ordered him to bring her to Fangtasia. Sookie doesn’t want to go but realizes that she must obey for both her sake and Bill’s. Bill has her take his blood to strengthen her for the encounter.
    SUNDAY, JULY 25. When Bill and Sookie arrive at Fangtasia, Eric reveals that someone has embezzled from the bar. He wants Sookie to use her gift to identify the thief. She promises to willingly help him now and in the future if he promises to go to the proper authorities rather than taking justice into his own hands. He agrees, and she interviews the human employees, discovering through one of them that the embezzler is the bartender, Long Shadow. Before she can inform Eric, Long Shadow attacks to keep her from speaking and is staked by Eric. As Long Shadow dies, his blood gushes out all over Sookie. Bloodlust begins to infect the vampires, so Sookie grabs Bill and flees for home. She has Bill drop her off at her house to spend the rest of the night alone.
    MONDAY, JULY 26. Deciding to stay away from vampires for a while to remind herself that she is human, Sookie cannot help but notice that having Bill’s blood again has changed her, enhanced her. Her hair, eyes, and complexion are brighter; she is stronger and faster. When she gets to work, her fellow employees notice the difference in her as well. As the lunch crowd rolls in, she does as Jason asked and listens to the thoughts floating in the bar. She doesn’t pick up anything about the murders of Dawn and Maudette but does hear a group of men thinking about their involvement in the Monroe fire. Thinking that she might pick up more from the night crowd, she heads back to Merlotte’s in her casual clothes and sits at the bar next to an unusually alone Jason.
    Bill enters Merlotte’s with a young woman in tow and informs Sookie that Eric sent her over as a reward and that Bill needs to send her back. Jason volunteers to drive her back to Monroe so that Sookie and Bill can talk, and Sookie takes Bill to the pond on Jason’s property, not wanting to go to either of their houses. She confesses her fear of Eric and the other vampires who could use her love for him and her family to control them. Bill ponders their situation and tells her that he may have a way to get around Eric’s dominion.
    Bill goes to his own home to make phone calls, and a nervous Sookie cautiously scans her yard before hurrying into her house. Suddenly something hits her front door, and she immediately calls Bill, who rushes over to find Sookie’s cat Tina dead, strangled, on the front porch. Sookie bursts into tears but finally calms enough to bury her pet in the hole she previously dug in the backyard. Bill spends the night with a mourning Sookie.
    TUESDAY, JULY 27. Sookie notifies Bud Dearborn about the death of her cat, and he tells her they may have to dig the pet up to check if the method of strangulation matches Dawn and Maudette. Arlene once again asks Sookie to babysit, this time not mentioning Bill, and Rene brings Arlene’s children, Lisa and Coby, over after work before getting ready for his date with Arlene. The children meet Bill, accepting him without many questions, although Lisa does suggest that he bring Sookie flowers occasionally, and the unusual foursome enjoy their evening. Another vampire arrives just as Arlene and Rene are packing up the kids, and Sookie is stunned to meet the Man from Memphis. Bill introduces him as Bubba and tells Sookie that Bubba will be watching over her while he goes to New Orleans for a few days. He warns her to never call Bubba by his real name, explaining that something went wrong with the turning and that Bubba is a few bricks shy of a load. He also likes pets, especially cats, and not in a healthy way. He is, however, loyal and obedient. Bubba strolls off into the woods as Bill says good-bye to Sookie.
    WEDNESDAY, JULY 28. Arlene and fellow waitress Charlsie Tooten are impressed that Bill got Sookie a bodyguard while he is out of town, and Arlene comments on Bubba’s resemblance to a certain musical icon. Sookie