Living Dead in Dallas Book Two

Living Dead in Dallas Plot summary

This book opens with Sookie Stackhouse finding the dead body of Lafayette in the backseat of Andy Bellefleur's car, which had been left at Merlotte's the night before. Sookie learns that her friend had recently attended a local sex party. She thinks the members of that group might know something about her friend's murder so she starts "listening" to people's thoughts by using her special mind reading talent while working at the local bar.

In the meantime, Bill Compton, Sookie's vampire boyfriend, informs her that they have been summoned by Eric Northman. On their way to Fangtasia, Bill commits a major faux pas. He explains to Sookie that he has bought the local strip mall and he owns among other things, Tara's Togs and a beauty salon and they proprietors know if she comes to these businesses they are to take care of her and anything she purchases are to be put on his account. This makes Sookie feel as though she is a "kept woman" and she gets out of the car and storms away. As a way to get Eric's attention, a maenad known as Callisto attacks Sookie. Sookie's wounds are poisoned, and she is healed by a combination of Dr. Ludwig's special treatment, and blood drainings by Eric, Pam, Chow, and Bill.

Sookie is later given a fresh transfusion of human blood. Eric informs Bill and Sookie that they need to go to Dallas to help the local vampire leader, Stan Davis, to find his missing "brother," Farrell, who has not returned to Davis' nest for five days.

Bill and Sookie fly to Dallas via Anubis Air and Sookie is nearly kidnapped by someone from the Fellowship of the Sun.

The Dallas vampires, Sookie, and Bill learn that The Fellowship of the Sun (FotS) as well as a "renouncer" vampire named Godfrey might be behind the disappearance. Sookie decides to go to the FotS church with Hugo, Stan's human lawyer, in an undercover mission. Sookie discovers that Hugo is a traitor, but her cover is quickly exposed when they meet Steve and Sarah Newlin, and she is badly hurt while trying to escape from the church. She is nearly raped by a FotS devotee named Gabe.

She does escape with the help of Luna, a shapeshifter, and Godfrey (who turns out to be a remorseful child molester and killer). After a run-in with more Supes, including an undercover doctor at a local hospital and some werewolves. She eventually makes it back to Eric and Bill and Eric treats her wounds and she tells him everything that has happened to her. The next morning, Sookie ends up back at the FotS to be with Godfrey as he "meets the sun."


That night at the welcome home party for Farrell, Stan's house is attacked by the FotS and many humans die. Sookie, unable to locate Bill, helps Eric remove a silver bullet that he took protecting her from the gunfire; he insists the only safe way to remove it is to suck the bullet out. In doing so, she ingests a few drops of his blood inadvertently. Bill returns soon after; he had chased down members of the FotS.

He reveals to Sookie that Eric's insistence on sucking out the bullets was just a ruse to get her to ingest some of his blood—now he will have a connection with her. Sookie is furious at Eric. She is also angry at Bill because he killed someone and did not check on her before beginning his pursuit of the FotS. Sookie leaves the house and immediately flies back to Bon Temps without Bill.

Back in Bon Temps, Sookie avoids Bill for several weeks during which Bill "dates" Portia Bellefleur, who is trying to find out more about the sex club in an effort to clear her brother Andy of any connection to the murder. After seeing Sookie at a football game with Tara, Benedict "Eggs" Talley (Tara's fiancé), and JB du Rone (another male friend), Bill follows Sookie home and they passionately reconcile.

The next day, Sookie is invited to a secret sex party organized by Mike Spencer. Afraid to go alone, Sookie asks Eric to accompany her as Bill is out of town. Sookie asks Eric to play gay and does so in spectacular way by dressing in a pink spandex all over suit. At the sex party, Sookie is surprised to see her friend Tara and Eggs and learns that Mike and Tom Hardaway murdered Lafayette. The party is interrupted when Bill, Andy Bellefleur, Sam (in collie form), and the maenad Callisto gather in front of the house. The maenad enjoys the drunkenness and lust of the party participants and eventually kills Mike, Tom and his wife, and another local named Jan. Bill and Eric help protect Sookie from the maenad’s madness by putting her between them in something like a human shield. Bill and Eric burn the house, and Eric glamours Tara and Eggs so that she will be unable to remember what happened at the sex party.

Bill comes to the realization the Bellefleurs are his great great grand children.

Television adaptation

Living Dead in Dallas has been adapted by HBO into a television series called True Blood. Its storyline forms the basis of True Blood's second season. Its first episode aired on June 14, 2009. Although the main characters and story lines are the same, there are significant differences between the book and the series, most notably:

• In the series, Jason joins the Fellowship of the Sun, forming a major story arc that is very different from his minor role in the novel.
• Lafayette Reynolds is not killed, but rather Miss Jeanette (a character exclusive to the series) is found murdered. Instead, Eric takes Lafayette prisoner for dealing V and to question about Eddie's disappearance. Lafayette is held in the basement of Fangtasia.
• In the series, Eric's maker is Godric, to whom Eric maintains a deep bond of loyalty and devotion. Godric, while still like Godfrey (see above) a self-tortured renouncer who wishes to meet the sun, is not portrayed as an evil child killer but rather as a compassionate, enlightened sheriff of his area.
• Bill tries to teach his new progeny, Jessica, how to be a good vampire. Jessica and Hoyt (whose character is very different in the series) start a romantic relationship.
• Season 2 sees the introduction of Sophie-Anne Leclerq, Queen of Louisiana, whereas she does not appear in novel 2, instead appearing in a later book.
• Callisto, the maenad, is introduced as "Maryanne Forrester." Maryann is played by actress Michelle Forbes.
• Luna is not involved in rescuing Sookie from the Fellowship and no werewolves make an appearance in Dallas.
• A sub-plot involving Sam's romantic relationship with another shapeshifter is exclusive to the tv series.
• Jessica feeds on a trucker and drains him and tries to revive him but it is too late and he dies.
• Jason shoots Eggs Talley
• Portia does not seek out Bill
• Bill does not figure out he is related to the Bellefleurs
• Sookie reveals she has some sort of magikal power.
• Jason becomes beguiled by Sarah Newlin who feels neglected by her husband
• Eric dramatically changes his appearance
• Eric has a jail in the basement of his club
• Eric kills a red neck connected with the burning of the Monroe Nest
• Eric forces Lafayette to sell V on behalf of Queen Sophie Anne
• Sophie Anne demands Eric do something to control Bill.
• Bill proposes to Sookie
• Bill is kidnapped
• Lorena attempts to kill Sookie
• Sam goes on a hunt to find his real parents
• Bill and Eric (separately) go to see Sophie Anne
• We see Bill and Lorena as a vicious Vampire couple and Bill’s struggle to be free of her.
• Eric calls in Lorena to control Bill
• Sookie has two dreams about Eric that excites and troubles her
• Eric uses Lafayette as a bargaining chip to get Sookie to go to Dallas to help him with the search for Godric
• We see how Eric was made Vampire.

Sources: Wikipedia, The Sookie Stackhouse Novels and Raki

Pride, Prejudice and Vampires

The Sookie Books often deal with matters of Pride and Prejudice, the two parts of human struggle that leads to wars and marches and general social plagues on the earth because what is different is looked upon with suspicion. We know we all have piques of pride and if we are really honest, we have those disturbing piques of prejudice as well.

In Living Dead in Dallas, the notion of pride and prejudice is the centerpiece of all the adventures our characters face. Extending past race, gender, and social status, we may safely indulge ourselves in these two vices or virtues depending upon your frame of mind. All are victims or members of a downtrodden or elite minority group. All have their pride and prejudices.

Sookie, of course, being our heroine and the person through which all action and knowledge is filtered is both victim and offender. She struggles with these two conflicting parts of herself constantly. Her ability, or disability, depending on the situation, is the first thing that sets her apart from the rest. Some folks think she is crazy because of her ever widening smile and her slightly muddled expression when the burden of other people's thoughts come crashing in on her. And this is the most important facet of Sookie's life because it burdens her so, even more so than the fact that she is working class. Because she is a strange human her life is thought to be limited. That is if she had never met Vampires.

Because she has a gift which makes her valuable to Vampires, she is considered something a little more valuable to the Vampire world than the average human, whom Vampires largely disregard because they are all too human and because of the ages old relationships Vampires had with humans. We are tasty food they can have sex with and while they may be fond of us, we are often referred to as pets. Sookie, however, with her little quirk, has a slight advantage over us.

Sookie, however sees herself in the Vampire world as something more than a human with a quirk. She sees herself as equal to her Vampire associates for the most part and feels her pride is being injured when the Vampires do not respect her. This extends even to the Vampire with whom she is closest. When Bill tells her he has bought several businesses and she is free to indulge herself at no cost, she feels like a kept woman. Her pride is so piqued that she argues with Bill. Bill is baffled. He doesn't see his gift as a matter of insult but what he considered perhaps a great gift, a sign of his affection.

Vampires are very proud creatures. From the moment we meet Bill in the first book to the last few sentences of the last installment of the series, we see Vampire pride above all things. To pique a Vampire’s pride is to take your life into your own hands. They do not like being embarrassed or having to be rescued. On the other hand, we see a growing pride in the acquisition of Sookie as a tool in the world of the Vampires. Among all other humans, Sookie’s gift makes her a stand out. What she sees as a disability, Vampires see as an asset.

I suppose with all situations of “mixed” couples, we see Bill’s pride in Sookie. Bill is not hooked up with just any human; he is hooked up with not only a physically attractive human but one with a marketable gift. Though he does not wish for her to be in danger, he does wish for her to be a compliment to him and his choice of pairing up with a human. He tells her he wants her to look especially attractive when they go to Fangtasia to find out their mission, he has a moment of pride when Stan Davis tells him “she comes in an agreeable package."

Stan is suffering from a little problem at the moment. Here he is, a Vampire sheriff and his nest mate is missing. Nests are like Vampire family units and it is a point of pride to have a nice little nest with all the members safely tucked away in the domicile. He is also a little miffed that he has to bring in a human to find his nest mate. You also get the sense that he does not the conditions set forth, namely that any humans not be dealt with by Vampire means. They must be turned over to human authorities to be dealt with. We also see a weakness that though they are very old many times, Vampires do not think well enough of humans to think they would be as wiley and bold as to do anything to compromise a Vampire home’s security.

But back to the humans for a moment. Humans have the same problems with pride and prejudice and Lafayette Reynold is a neat package to observe the effects of pride and prejudice. Lafayette is a black man in the deep south who also happens to be blatantly and flamboyantly gay. As Sookie said, he is a false eyelashes and fingernail polish gay. He bravely goes out into the world as himself and expects the respect and acceptance he feels and does deserve because of his humanity. Of course, this also makes him a target. As Sam says to Sookie: “Lafayette wanted to be accepted for what he was more than anything else.”

Then we have the Bellefleurs, Portia and Andy. If you stand up a mirror in front of Jason and Sookie, they would see Portia and Andy in the reflection. Portia and Andy were raised by their grandmother. They live in the big Bellefleur mansion. And Andy is a suspect in the death of Lafayette. Sookie and Jason were raised by their grandmother as well and lived in the ancestral home. The only differences are the socio-economic class they belong to. Sookie and Jason are working blue collar and Andy and Portia are both professionals. The fact there is that dividing line creates the tension needed for the action. Portia and Andy look down on Sookie and her brother and they consider them low, just a hair above white trash and Sookie is plainly a freak. But, as Jason did in the first book, Andy needs Sookie to employ that thing that makes her a freak in the eyes of the Bellefleurs to help Andy. They must tamp down both pride and prejudice to get what they need.

The Fellowship of the Sun is like any other organized hate group and the façade of religion is always useful when you want to rally people to hate others. Hitler did it, the Klan before him did it, and Christopher Columbus did it. It is enough to make you sick. We still see it today in the real world and I think above all, when we read the Sookie books we are challenged. Simply substitute Vampire for the minority of your choice. And really Steve Newlin is just a dressed version of every other psycho out there who dresses up hate in Sunday clothes…Satan in a Sunday hat if you will.

One of the terrible sick things about prejudice is the way generalities are used to besmirch minorities. When I taught To Kill a Mockingbird, I did a lecture about prejudice. I asked the class to take a look at the word Irish. I asked them to name as many things as they knew about Irish. Drunk, lazy, untrustworthy, dirty, uneducated/uneducatable, servant class, dishonest…The list went on. Then, I put up Hill Billy. Now we know what that means. They were amazed at the similarities, adding in big broods of kid you can’t feed, incestuous, dangerous. We did several cultural groups. Then we did blacks. And they were amazed to see that all minorities have the same basic characteristics as touted by hate groups. What this told the class was there really was no basis for hate, which we could see this characteristic in every group and no group was without bad things just as no group, was without good things. Hate is based on simple ignorance and stereotype and exaggeration of things that can be seen in all peoples and all cultures.

Sookie then becomes our everyman in the observation of how social groups interact with each other. She sees the intolerance around her in her own home town. She sees it in the way the communities of weres and shifters are at odds with the Vampires. We see it in the way Vampires are put upon by the Fellowship and we see the way Vampires see humans, as expendable food sources. But what else do we see…Ah yes, self prejudice.

Godfrey is a reprehensible character. He is the worst thing imaginable in a human much less a Vampire. And he knows it. He has decided his self loathing has gotten the best of him and he has to end it. And of all the situations Sookie has been in this is the most interesting and confusing. Sookie was a victim of molestation. We know this from the first book. Godfrey is a Vampire who molested and killed children. I had very little sympathy for his character in the book. I thought…good riddance and there is no reason for me to change my opinion for the character in the book. But Sookie, either because she has a soft spot in her heart for him or she is that open minded, she finds pity for him. She also feels beholden to him on some level because he saved her from being raped. Perhaps this is why she appreciates Godfrey a little more. Perhaps this redeemed him in her eyes to an extent. Whatever it is, any prejudice she might have had against Godfrey is tamped down and she feels real sympathy for a creature not so very different from her Uncle Bartlett.

But, Sookie is not immune to her own prejudices. She struggles with what she considers Vampire behavior that is at odds with human lines of control and acceptable means of justice. In the later part of her Dallas adventure, the lair is attacked by the Fellowship of the Sun and many humans and Vampires are killed. And Bill goes a-hunting, which is something she forgets about Bill. Bill is a lot of things but he is certainly Vampire. When the occasion presents itself for him to indulge in what Vampires do, Sookie is sickened. I think in a way, she is more sickened by the fact that Bill hunts during the attack than the attack itself. And as Sookie so often does, when the Vampirism gets too much for her, she runs away.

Now, there is something I have not mentioned and I have purposefully left for the end is the maenad.

Maenads, as we know, are the women who followed the god Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry. They stir up madness and abandonment of all the things that keep order over chaos. To lose one’s self in the vices of pride and to allow our passions to take over in the forms of violence and sex and drunkenness is the energy the maenad craves. She lives on it and by the time we come to our end, we are in the full throttle of her energy.

That is something interesting about the way people change with drink. As a college student, I found myself in bars and joints and other disreputable places, as most college kids do. The loud music, the flashing lights of the dance floor, the amounts of alcohol consumed make us far more primitive. We revert to certain savageries and lose all inhibitions. Women who would never otherwise consider having sex in a public place let alone with a stranger will pop off into the bathroom for a quickie with a dance partner met only seconds earlier. Two good friends might suddenly have a disagreement over the last football game and break down into an all out grudge match reminiscent of gladiators in the arena. Chaos is a palatable thing, it breathes, it eats and it reproduces and it fills the room and soon you have cops and drunks out on the pavement.

This is what happens when Sookie and Eric go to the “sex” party to see if they can discover who killed Lafayette. And Lafayette was murdered because of pride. “’You hit him during sex,’ the maenad said to Tom. ‘You hit him because you are proud and his subservience disgusted and excited you.’” (269) The dual emotions of pride and prejudice fueled the anger and hatred that killed Lafayette.

We also see something I think is extraordinary, something they left out of the show which really disappointed me to no end. The maenad is sending out her madness to overtake everyone. Dead or alive, the persons involved have tremendous potential for savagery and cruelty but the ones who would be the biggest candidates for the madness are the ones who keep the most control and that is the Vampires. Bill and Eric stay stoic and out of reach of the maenad’s influence and join forces though they don’t like each other particularly and protect Sookie from the biggest part of the enormous power of the maenad to give madness and feed from it. They create a shield around her, their bodies being dead for all intents and purposes, and they squeeze her between them, covering her. Of all of the things the two Vampires have done to show their interest, feelings or desire for her, I think this was the biggest. They laid down whatever prejudices they have, they swallowed their male posturing pride and they helped each other save Sookie. Pride and Prejudice, it is powerful stuff….

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2004. Sookie calls Portia Bellefleur to come to
Merlotte’s and get her brother, Andy, who has gotten drunk after a particularly bad
day at work. Leaving his car in the parking lot, Portia drives Andy home.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22. When she gets to work in the morning, Sookie
notices that Andy’s car door is open. She discovers the body of the bar’s short-order
cook, Lafayette Reynold, in the backseat. She blows her own car horn to get Sam’s
attention, and he calls 911. The police arrive and question Sookie, who tells them
that Lafayette bragged about attending a sex party a few days earlier. She and Sam
privately discuss whether someone from the orgy could be responsible for
Lafayette’s death. Terry Bellefleur, Andy’s cousin, comes in as a fill-in cook and
informs them that Lafayette’s neck was broken and that there is evidence of sexual
assault.

Summoned to Fangtasia by Eric, Bill and Sookie begin to argue in the car on the
way to Shreveport. When the car suddenly dies, an angry Sookie gets out. Bill tells
her he is going to get a mechanic and leaves the car unlocked for her, but she
resolutely begins to trek back to Bon Temps. She hears movement in the woods
beside her and calls out, figuring she might as well know what she is dealing with.
Much to her surprise, a woman steps from the woods, a feral razorback hog by her
side. She identifies herself as a maenad and tells Sookie that she needs a message
taken to Eric Northman. Sookie is able to turn away just as the maenad slashes at
her, catching her on her back instead of her face and chest. Sookie is in agony as she
falls to the ground.

Bill returns and rushes a mortally wounded Sookie to Eric for help. Dr. Ludwig,
a supe herself, is called in, and after cleaning Sookie’s wounds with her tongue, the
doctor instructs the vampires to drain Sookie’s poisoned blood and replace it with
transfusions of real and synthetic blood. Sookie passes out and wakes to find Pam
watching over her. After cleaning up, Sookie waits in Eric’s office with Bill until
Eric, Pam, and the new bartender, Chow, finish closing the bar. Eric informs them
that he is sending Bill and Sookie to Dallas so that she can use her “gift” to help the
vampire leader of Area Six solve a problem. Sookie has no choice but to consent,
per her agreement with Eric. She brings the conversation to a stop when she asks
why a maenad is in the woods, and the vampires explain that maenads feed off the
violence associated with alcohol and, therefore, are very interested in bars. They
expect tribute from those who profit from drink.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. Sam agrees, albeit reluctantly, to give Sookie the
time off to go to Dallas. He initially reacts with laughter when she solemnly warns
that there is a maenad roaming the woods, but he quickly sobers when Sookie
shows him her scars. He gently kisses her back, and then he kisses her more deeply
on the lips. She briefly responds to his warmth but then pulls away, and they try to
resume their conversation. Portia comes into the bar with a request from Andy for
Sookie to “listen” for information because he is a suspect in the death. Sookie
agrees, but for the sake of her friend Lafayette, not for the Bellefleurs.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24. Arriving at the airport in Dallas, Sookie heads to the
cargo plane Bill traveled on, waiting for his casket to be unloaded. She is accosted
by a man dressed as a Catholic priest who attempts to pull her away with him;
however, just then Bill’s coffin appears, and the lid opens as Bill wakes. The
“priest” runs as Bill rushes to Sookie’s side, and they consider the meaning of the
incident as they make their way to the Silent Shore Hotel, where Sookie is startled
and delighted to realize that the hotel bellboy, Barry, is also a telepath, although
very unschooled. They are met at the hotel by Dallas vampire Isabel Beaumont,
who waits while they check in and freshen up before taking them to the home of
the sheriff of Area Six, Stan Davis. Stan tells them that one of his nest mates, Farrell,
is missing, and Stan wants him found. He brings in humans known to have been in
the vampire bar where Farrell was last seen. By reading their memories, Sookie is
able to tell that Farrell entered a bathroom with another vampire. She also realizes
that the “priest” from the airport was in the bar as well. Bill steps away to use a
computer and returns with the identity of the second vampire based on the
description Sookie elicited. Stan is appalled to realize that Farrell was probably
kidnapped by Godric, aka Godfrey, an ancient vampire who has become a
renouncer and plans to meet the sun in a ceremony arranged by the anti-vampire
Fellowship of the Sun.

Sookie asks how the “priest” could have known that she would be at the
airport and suggests, in writing, that Stan’s house is bugged. She locates the bug
under the table, and the vampires drop it into a bowl of water after acting out a
little scenario for the listener’s benefit. Isabel’s human companion, Hugo Ayres,
offers to escort Sookie to the Fellowship to gather information.
Stan, angry about the bug, asks if there are any strangers visiting the house,
and Isabel brings in Leif, actually Eric, who came to Dallas to watch over Bill and
Sookie. Leif/Eric denies planting the bug, and Sookie points out that the bug had to
have been there for a few days in order for the listener to know when she and Bill
would be flying in. Isabel takes Sookie and Bill back to their hotel, where they
attempt a little romance but are interrupted by Eric.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. Sookie is watching the news while waiting for
the front desk to procure her clothing that will serve as an appropriate disguise
during her visit to the Fellowship. She is dismayed to see a segment on the
execution-style death of Bethany Rogers, whose mind Sookie read the evening
before and whose body was later found in a Dumpster behind the Silent Shore.

Pushing aside her tears, she gets ready for her assignment by donning a wig and
frumpy clothes and meets Hugo in the lobby. They come up with a cover story as
they drive to the Fellowship, where they meet the director, Steve Newlin; his wife,
Sarah; and Polly Blythe, the ceremonies officer. The Newlins and Polly take Sookie
and Hugo on a tour, leading them down to the basement. Sookie hesitantly follows
Hugo, trying to be reassured by his casual acceptance of what is going on, but
finally she tries to escape and is pulled back down the stairs by Gabe, another
Fellowship member who is guarding the area. The couple is then locked into a
small room. Injured and in pain, Sookie concentrates on reading Hugo’s thoughts
and discovers that he is the traitor. She confronts him. He tells her that he betrayed
the human race when he became enthralled with Isabel. Sookie pushes him to tell
Gabe that the gig is up, that she knows of his betrayal of the vampires, to test
whether they will let him go. As she already suspected, the Fellowship has no
intention of allowing Hugo to live, and Gabe takes Hugo to the room where Farrell
is chained. Gabe returns to torment Sookie, trying to rape her, but is stopped by
Godfrey. Sookie begs Godfrey to let her out, challenging him when he tells her that
Steve Newlin’s plan is to tie Sookie to Farrell and put them out for the dawn.
Godfrey is reluctant to force others to do what he has willingly chosen, and he
helps Sookie escape. Unable to use the phone, Sookie reaches out with her mind to
the telepath Barry the Bellboy, frightening him with the contact. She pleads with
him to let Bill know that she is in danger. A shapeshifter working undercover in the
church, Luna Garza, manages to get Sookie out of the church and informs her that
the shifters of Dallas have been monitoring the Fellowship. Sookie lets her know
that the vampires will probably attack as soon as the sun sets to retrieve Farrell.
Luna debates whether or not to leave but hops in her car when they hear an alarm
raised in the building. Sookie jumps in, and they take off. Sarah and Polly follow by
car, ramming them and causing Luna’s car to overturn. Sarah and Polly attempt to
get to Sookie and Luna, but there are too many witnesses to the accident. The police
and an ambulance are called. Once at the hospital, Luna has a shifter doctor
examine Sookie, delete her records, and then spirit them both out to a waiting ride.
Sookie is blindfolded, driven to the hotel by two Weres, and delivered to the front
door. Eric, standing outside, is startled by her sudden appearance and calls Bill,
then takes her up to their room to start cleaning her up.

Bill returns quickly and confirms that the vampires attacked the Fellowship and
freed Farrell, but tells them that Godfrey managed to escape. Bill gently bathes
Sookie and puts her to bed.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26. Sookie wakes just before dawn with the feeling that
there is something that she needs to do. She dresses and takes a taxi to the now deserted
Fellowship grounds, where she waits for Godfrey. The vampire emerges
from the shadow, and her tears begin to fall as she looks at his young face. He is
touched that someone is there to cry for him as he meets the sun, hoping to see the
face of God. Sookie returns to the hotel and falls deeply asleep until Bill rises.

She and Bill go to Stan’s mansion to tell him about Godfrey and discover what
punishment Isabel and Hugo have earned. Sookie is relieved to find Hugo alive
and forces herself to accept the punishment the vampires have devised for him.
Invited to stay and celebrate Farrell’s return, Leif/ Eric and Sookie are talking when
she “hears” the Fellowship followers preparing to attack the house. Sookie yells a
warning and is protected from a bullet by Eric. Bill leaves to hunt the attackers
without even checking to see if she survived the attack. Hurt, she walks out and
takes the next plane back to Bon Temps.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27–WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20. Sookie keeps her
distance from Bill.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21. Jason stops by the house for lunch and tells Sookie
that Bill has been seen over in Monroe with Portia Bellefleur, and Sookie later sees
them drive by in Bill’s car.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22. Sookie decides to attend a high school football game
and meets up with her friend Tara Thornton, Tara’s date Benedict “Eggs” Tallie,
and JB du Rone. Sookie encourages JB to pursue a woman he had been seeing,
believing that the woman will be good for him. He kisses her cheek in thanks, and
just as she gives him a quick peck on the lips in return, she spots Bill staring back at
her from where he is sitting with Portia. When she gets home, Bill is waiting, and
they engage in passionate make-up sex. Afterward, she questions him about Portia,
and he tells Sookie that he thinks Portia is seeing him in hopes of being invited to
the sex club to get information that will help Andy.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23. Bill and Sookie decide to keep their reunion quiet,
and Sookie receives an invitation from parish coroner and funeral director Mike
Spencer to Jan Fowler’s lake house to “get a little wild,” since he thinks she is a
single woman now. Hoping to discover who killed Lafayette, Sookie accepts. She
leaves a guarded message for Bill, who has been called back to Dallas, and she’s
forced to ask Eric to go along to provide protection.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24. Eric arrives to take Sookie to the orgy up at Mimosa
Lake, and she asks him to make certain nothing happens to her. Eric is surprised
that she trusts him but tells her that she will be safe. They enter the cabin to find
several Bon Temps residents in various states of undress. Jan Fowler, Mike Spencer,
Tom and Cleo Hardaway, and Tara and Eggs are all in attendance, apparently
regulars. Eggs is attempting to undo Sookie’s shorts, all the while thinking lewdly
about Eric, when Eric comes up behind her, and Sookie turns into his kiss, letting
her mind roam while he keeps her safe. She finds the memory of Lafayette’s
murder in Mike’s mind and sees that Tom was also directly involved. Sickened, she
whispers to Eric to get her out, and he slings her over his shoulder, telling the
others that he is taking her outside to get her warmed up. He lays her on the hood
of his Corvette, intent on his own desires, and tries to seduce her, but she reminds
him that Bill is her boyfriend. Bill emerges from the woods, followed by a drunken
Andy, who holds them all at gunpoint, demanding to know who was responsible
for Lafayette’s murder. Sam, in collie form, joins the group, with the maenad not far
behind. She introduces herself as Callisto, telling them she was called to the cabin
by the lust and drunkenness of the orgy participants. She reminds them of her first
visit. She claims that Lafayette was a fitting offering to her and thanks them for
leaving his body at Merlotte’s. She names Mike and Tom as the killers, indicating
Cleo as well. Tara hides under a table on the deck, and Eggs stands entranced in the
yard. Sookie feels the madness of the maenad overwhelm the group on the deck,
and she is almost caught up in it herself, but Bill and Eric hold her between them.

When Sookie is able to look at Callisto again, the maenad is smiling and covered in
blood. She bids a fond farewell to Sam and drifts off into the woods.
Sam shifts back to his human form as Eric and Bill examine the carnage on the
deck. They find Tara alive, and after Eric erases her memory of the evening, Sam
drives her and a still almost-catatonic Eggs home. The vampires then set fire to the
cabin to burn the evidence of the slaughter. Portia Bellefleur pulls up, frantic about
her brother, and Bill wakes him from his trance. Sookie tells him that Mike and the
Hardaways killed Lafayette, but Andy bemoans the lack of proof. Eric searches the
cars and finds blood, Lafayette’s wallet, and his clothing in the trunk of Mike
Spencer’s Lincoln. Andy tells them to leave everything as it is so that the police can
find it and clear his name.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 25. Sookie sleeps through the day, and Bill wakes her
when he rises. He finds a foil-wrapped chocolate cake on her front porch, a gift
from Andy and Portia’s grandmother, who has left a message thanking Sookie for
helping Andy. When Bill hears that she is named Caroline Holliday Bellefleur, he
asks Sookie to get his family Bible from his house, and they look over his family
tree together, realizing that Caroline is Bill’s great-granddaughter. After more than
a century of hating the Bellefleurs for their ancestor’s responsibility for the death of
one of his friends during the Civil War, Bill decides to secretly assist his struggling
descendants financially and shares a warm moment with Sookie.

By Barrister

One of the things I really felt find fascinating about the vampires is their duality as both highly sexual creatures but indifferent to sexualities. Bill and Sookie of course being our central characters in the relationship deparment are our sexual focus, though this is about to change. SInce we are all sexual creatures, this is one component to vampires that make them really no different to us.

What I find so interesting is Sookie's reactions to the various sexualities she is facing. Lafayette is of course gay (Lipstick and Eyelashes gay) and she speaks of peeking into Andy's brain and finding he has had to arrest a man for taking his 10 year old neighbor away and raping her. Sookie reminds us this is something she knows something about as she was molested by her Uncle, a thing which is a part of her past.

What is a part of her present in the intensely sexual relationship she is having with Bill. Bill is her first lover and he is romatic and oddly playful, which is in real contraast to the way he usually is which is stoic. Bill is not an easy going guy, he is very self possessed but in his sexuality, he is far more humourous and emotional.

Eric too is intensely sexual. It comes off him in waves of energy. Eric is a far more appealing and animated character in the book. This second book is where we really get to settle down and get to know him. But I have to digress for a moment.

I know this is a bit of a bookie faux pas, but I like Eric's character in the books better than Eric's character in the show. And this has nothing to do with Alex Skarsgard. Alex is perfect as Eric and he plays the part as it was written for him superbly, so don't come after me with the knives sharpened. Eric is a very playful character and has far more personality and sex appeal in the books than the show.

On the other hand, I like the show version of Bill better than in the books. Stephen's interpretation of Bill is far more emotional and though I think it is meant to come off more accidental, Bill is very funny. He reminds me of the story my mother read to me about the country mouse going to live in the big city. He tries to fit in but what happens is he is often wrong footed. It is like hearing your parents use kid language...it is simply wrong but they think they are relating.

Back to the books. Eric is 1000 years old but he is not bored with his existence. In fact for a dead guy, he is exuberant, highly sexual and playful and fully confident in his masculinity. (I would never be caught dead in the same room with pink spandex much less wear such garb) But he also, I think, understands about sexual morality. He acknowledges Sookie is a good girl. I think he appreciates that about her. It intrigues him and I think makes her more attractive to him than the women he has always known. (and we see that more in the later books) Eric also acknowledges that he finds the humans in this sex club as pitiful and poor excuses for humans and sexual beings. LIkely he would not bare his wedding tackle to any of the women or men in the sex club, so in that way, he may be just as disgusted as Sookie by their poor excuses for sex.

Eric would love to explore Sookie's innocent sexuality. He loves to do things to her that turn her on, replacing her worry she would be molested at the party with the desire of forbidden love, forbidden that is in the fact she is loyal to Bill as a lover and bed mate. One of the things I really appreciate about Eric is though he thinks Sookie is a little crazy for trusting him, he also knows he would never have allowed any of those people to touch her.

Having mentioned her past experience with childhood molestation, Sookie has an interesting relationship with Godfrey. Godfrey does things other vampires would find abhorent. He murders and rapes children. But knowing this fact does not change her ability to have empathy for Godfrey.

I think she has this empathy for Godfrey because of his intense remorse. He knows waht he does is bad. Not just by human standards, but by vampire standards. His decision to renounce his existence and greet the sun and the fact he saves Sookie being from being raped are the big reasons Sookie has pity for the vampire. Had he been human, she would never have had the same level of empathy. His successful suicide is regarded by Stan as an honorable thing. Godfrey did as he said he would and did not whimper. I wonder, had he not greeted the sun, would the vampires have given him the true death for being a child killer and a traitor by luring Farrell into the trap which almost killed him.

Another interesting relationship is the relationship between Isabel and Hugo. He is addicted to vampire sex and she is so emotionally blinded she cannot see him for the traitor he is.

Sex is a powerful thing. It can be loving and intimate a gift between lovers, or it can be playful and fun, like sex between very good friends, or it could be an addiction. Sex can be a weapon. Sex can be dirty and evil and painful. However it exists, sex is the true universal language.