Annika Northman: Part One

Epilogue

A few days after Eric's return, I find myself in a situation I am not comfortable with.

Now, please remember - in Dallas, I slept in a hotel filled with vampires. I attended a business meeting with vampires, then a social gathering with way, way more vampires. Not to mention that I live in a nightclub that is run by vampires (who, incidentally, raised me) and which probably brings in at least a dozen vampires every night. And, having lived the life I have, none of that frightened or frightens me. I know vampires. I'm comfortable around them.

But put me in a room with two other human children, and I'm at a loss.

The room is mine. His name is Coby and hers is Lisa. They both seem to be close to my age - maybe a little younger. He is blonde, she is redheaded. He's fascinated by this place, and she's a little curious, but mostly just anxious. And they're both worried about . . . something. Someone. (They're also both barefoot. And their feet are far from clean. But I am trying very, very hard not to worry about that.)

This is all I have gathered – from a little talking, but mostly from reading them – in the two minutes since Eric knocked on my door and told me to be a good hostess to these two while he spoke with someone he called Mr. Merlotte. The Mr. Merlotte in question, a man with grey-brown shaggy hair, looked over Eric's shoulder as Coby pulled his sister into my room, and he opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Eric left my door open, but I heard his office door close a minute ago. Now Coby walks around the edges of my little room, looking at the pictures on the wall, while his sister stands by the door, holding her elbows.

"You really live here?" Coby has a drawl so thick it almost sounds like he's faking.

"Yes." I'm sitting on the edge of the bed. Sitting. Right. "You can sit down if you would like," I tell Lisa, waving to the table in the corner. She gives the tiniest of smiles and sidesteps over to sit in one of the chairs, half-hiding her face behind its back as she watches her braver brother continue to explore the one patch of personal space I have in the world.

"You don't got no windows," he says.

"Vampires live here. Windows aren't good for vampires."

He points to a print of a winged woman sweeping over a battlefield, sword in hand. "Is that Wonder Woman?"

"That's a valkyrie. They serve the gods. And choose who lives and dies in battle."

"My preacher says there's just one god."

And my guardian says there are none. "Is Mr. Merlotte your dad?" As soon as I ask, a switch is flicked inside of me, and I'm sure he isn't.

"You mean Sam? Our mama works for him." Lisa tilts her head against the chair's back as she speaks to me. "But somethin's gone wrong in her."

"Her eyes went black as raisins." Cody stands on his tiptoes to examine a music box I keep on my dresser.

"Sam's helpin' to fix her," says Lisa, and then, after a pause, "Is Vampire Eric your dad?"

"No. Vampires can't have children – please don't touch that." Coby's hand found its way up to my music box, which I brought with me from Sweden, is inlaid with gold, and may cost more than anything Coby's ever touched before. Plus, it was a birthday gift from Pam. I wait until Coby's hand is safely at his side again, with him sucking his lips in like they might touch something, too, before I continue. "Eric . . . got me when I was a baby."

"You mean like he adopted you?" Lisa asks.

"There's a kid in my class who's adopted," Coby says. "His skin's dark but his mama and daddy are real white. Almost like vampires. Whoa! Is that from a movie?" He moves in close to a picture of a stone castle on a green hill – but he keeps his hands off, so I answer him politely.