Swimming to the Light (Southern Vampire Mystery)

Chapter 2 - Deep Water

The burner phone was ringing. After this conversation, Pam would destroy it and scatter the components – untraceable, just as she had done three times before. Letting the ring tone continue, she had scanned her desk for the daily report on bug sweeps. The report confirmed her office was all clear as of only a few hours ago. The choice of ringtone – the harsh sounds of the Psycho theme – had been purposeful. It was hard to miss and somehow seemed appropriate to the little troll. Certainly Ludwig's personality fit the bill.

Pam had to purposely relax her grip. Although the need to breathe was long in Pam's past, she found herself doing it anyway. It had a calming effect.

"Ludwig?"

"Greetings deader. She's speaking."

Pam wasn't sure what she had expected to hear when she answered the phone. No. That was a lie. She expected to hear that Sookie was dead. And it was at this moment that Pam was absolutely sure that she hadn't been able to see the future any other way. She realized she had been anticipating the call; steeling herself for the conversation she would relay to Maude, Queen of Minnesota. From Maude the message would pass to Stan, King of Texas during one of their standing business discussions. Maude controlled an extensive silica sand mining operation. Stan had natural gas investments that required the sand. It was all very civilized. It also allowed messages to pass between clan areas with little interference or overt listening.

From Stan messages were passed through the thin network of spies to the ears of her maker in Oklahoma. She had prepared the message in her head so many times she could see the words in front of her eyes. "She is in the Summerlands." And Eric would know.

But this was unexpected.

"Tell me."

Pam could hear the doctor shift something on her side of the connection. "She responded to questions. She understood what I was asking. And she asked a question of her own. So no apparent brain injury. She's out of the woods. You need to move her. "

And Pam found herself at a loss. "I will make arrangements." She said the words but she really had no idea what arrangements she could make.

As if she could see the puzzled look on Pam's face, Ludwig called her out. "You better have a plan. I can see about getting her mobile, but you know she can't stay long. Your kind and others will come sniffing around here before long. I can't endanger the other patients for her. I don't care how much I like her."

"Listen troll. I said I'd make arrangements. I will." Pam touched her pearls again. Not for the first time she considered what an inconvenient person was Sookie Stackhouse.

Four weeks had passed since she had found Sookie. She had been shocked at the state of the house and even more shocked by Sookie's condition. The smell had struck her; sour food, unwashed human and soiled linen. Sookie's skin was sallow and she was so thin Pam could almost see the blood running through her veins. The guards had reported that the shifter had departed. Sightings of Sookie outside the house had been sporadic before Sam left. But after, there were no reports of seeing her outside or even moving around in the house. After a week, Pam had decided to see for herself.

She was surprised to find she could enter. She had assumed Sookie would have rescinded all invitations. The kitchen looked neglected. There was a plate in the dishrack. There were a couple condiments in the refrigerator and an open box of baking soda. But no food. Pam opened cabinet doors to see some cans. But there were no recent cooking smells.

There were signs of hasty packing. Things had been taken from shelves, but nothing had been adjusted to fill in the spaces. There was dust on all the furniture and even a fine coat of dust on the floor in the space behind the front door. Pam walked down the hall toward the bedroom she knew Sookie had started using. But the double bed was bare. The sheets had been removed and sat in a ball in the corner. There was a picture in a frame on the bedside table. It showed Sookie and her Grandmother smiling directly at the camera. They had their arms around each other. Pam saw another picture face down near the piled sheets. Broken glass lay around it. Pam carefully flipped over the frame to see Sookie and Eric. They were sitting together with their hands interlinked. They looked at each other and Eric was laughing – probably at something Sookie had said based on the look on her face.