I could see him out of the corner of my eye. You’d think they would put something in the True Blood crap that would give them some skin color. He looked incredibly pale, with blue-grey shadows darkening the crevices of his face. Even with the death-pale face, he was still very good-looking. Scraggly dark hair, sideburns, and sharp features all came together to form a handsome face.

From what I could tell from his interaction with a few people, he seemed very polite, with impressive manners that were charming to behold.

So, that’s Bill Compton.

I was sitting across from him in Merlotte’s bar.

As always, Sam Merlotte went flying out of the place as soon as I came in. Every time I’ve come by the bar, and this was my fifth appearance, the poor man would become instantly flustered because of a do-or-die errand that just came up in that very instant or he forgot that he was supposed to be at some important meeting at that very same time. He had to leave immediately - and I mean immediately! It was becoming comical. I was in a mellow mood this evening and decided to just sit back and enjoy the show, which I had now mentally titled, ‘Sam’s great escapes.’

Sookie Stackhouse was my waitress tonight. She brought me my iced tea and let me know that my dinner might be a tad late because Terry was backed up in the kitchen tonight. I had met Sookie earlier in the week when I came in for coffee. I honestly liked the young woman. She was sweet, shy, very bouncy, and full of life. Her case file said she was a mind reader, dated or was dating the vampire Bill Compton, and worked for the Viking vampire, Eric Northman. Apparently, the Viking vampire ‘rented’ her for her special ability.

I watched her interaction, or should I say, lack of interaction with Mr. Compton. I guess they were ‘off again,’ in the dating department.

How did such a nice girl like her get mixed up with them? I wondered if they had glamored her or if she was being manipulated in another way and against her will. There were a lot of questions that came to mind regarding Sookie, but this wasn’t the time or the place.

While I waited for my ‘best friend catfish dinner anywhere’ as Sookie put it, I sorted through a stack of personal mail that I had brought with me. A letter from my house’s rental management company caught my eye. Shit, they better not try to raise my rent! They weren’t. They were informing me that my house had a new owner, not a person but a company. The company’s name was Krigaren Incorporated, I had never heard of them. It was a form letter and it didn’t seem like I needed to do anything, which was good.

My mind wandered back to my nightmare last night, the same one that I’ve been having on and off for the last several months. I see Avis, my friend that died in the helicopter crash back in Iraq and she’s yelling, trying to tell me something but I can’t hear her. All of a sudden, a bright, blinding light flashes into the body of the helicopter and then I wake up.

The dream was so upsetting that I couldn’t get back to sleep. I loved Avis like a cherished sister and when she died so did a piece of my heart. It had been a little over a year since she died, but it was still hard for me to think about her.

I was jostled out of my thoughts by a throng of laughing women, apparently coming in to celebrate a bowling victory.

Arlene had been acting like my social secretary this evening, and she introduced everyone who walked into the bar to me and vice versa. I felt like a cross between a celebrity and museum exhibit and received every uncomfortable greeting imaginable. I was told that I ‘cleaned up real good and look just like a real lady,’ to being asked if I had shot anyone in Iraq. I realized that no one meant any harm, this was a small town and the concept of boundaries pertained only maps.

I had pretty much met everyone in that bar except for the vampire, Bill Compton. He sat over by himself, with a True Blood in front of him, deep in thought. The bar was packed with people coming and going, so finding the opportunity to meet him was proving difficult.

After most of the lady bowlers had finished meeting me and were walking away to their table, Mr. Bill Compton got up and came over to me. I didn’t actually see him come over because I was still distracted by two bowlers who were inviting me to come out and play sometime.

He waited patiently for them to leave and then spoke, “Sheriff Lautner, I am Bill Compton, and I am very pleased to meet you. I apologize for not coming over sooner; it just never seemed to be an appropriate time.”

“Well, Mr. Compton, it is my pleasure as well.”

Though his manners were formal, his attitude polite, and the combination of the two extremely charming, I could tell he wanted to talk about something. I felt a sense of urgency from him that told me that this wasn’t just a simple meet-and-greet.

“Sheriff, I realize that you are waiting for your dinner, so I won’t take up too much of your time.”

“Mr. Compton, don’t worry about that. Why don’t you join me for a moment? At the very least get out of the middle of the road! Oh my!” Several heavy set men had just walked by and bumped Mr. Compton, nearly sending him flying across the table. I realized that I really wanted him to join me. His presence and the opportunity that it presented seemed to revive me.

Besides the fact that Mr. Compton was on my investigation list, I really wanted to talk to another vampire to get a better perspective on the species. Were they all as manipulative and arrogant as Mr. Northman?

“I couldn’t, that would be too rude, your dinner is coming-“

“Please, I insist.” I interrupted him, giving him one of my sincere, fake beauty contestant-type smiles. He smiled politely back at me and sat down. He seemed pleased to sit down, as if he was accomplishing something from his own personal agenda. His triumph turned quickly to uneasiness. He fidgeted in his seat and I don’t think it was because the seat was uncomfortable.

“Sheriff, I won’t be too long, I really meant to meet with you earlier, but things have been hectic. I really need to say…that…um, Sheriff… you’ve met Eric Northman?” I nodded yes. ”I work…I am an associate of …Mr. Eric Northman.”

I blinked, but intentionally gave no other kind of reaction.

He leaned slightly across the table so that he could whisper without being heard by anyone around us. “Eric told me about your meeting...” It had been about three weeks since the meeting, and the memory had been pushed to the back of my mind, more immediate things taking its place.

“Yes, Mr. Compton, we did meet.” Mr. Compton stopped fidgeting and became very intense.

“Um…Eric is a very powerful vampire. Very powerful. He’s not someone that I would recommend as an enemy, though he has many enemies.” He paused and looked around to see if anyone was listening.

“Might I suggest that you tread lightly when dealing with him?” I continued to look at Mr. Compton without any expression and it didn’t seem to bother him. He was on some kind of a mission to deliver a warning and I didn’t want to distract him.

“I have seen Eric challenged on several occasions and the…offenders…have all come to regret it.” He purposely looked at me for a reaction which I didn’t provide him. He scrunched up his brow; I guess he was getting a little frustrated with my lack of reaction.

I decided to confirm the warning. “Mr. Compton, do you think that Mr. Northman means to do me harm?”

“No, no! I can’t say that - I mean, I am not saying that-”

I interrupted him, “Did Mr. Northman ask you to talk to me?”

He looked pensive for a moment; you could see that he was carefully considering his next words. “Eric mentioned it to me, in passing. He did want me to talk with you and …perhaps…explain to you, his opinion on the situation.” He looked down at his hands which were folded on the table. He continued without looking up at me, “Eric is a business man in Bon Temps and he feels that he is being discriminated against because he is a vampire.”

“Discriminated against?” I actually chuckled out loud. Clever move, Viking.

The vampire Compton looked at me and whispered so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear him. “We know about the investigations.”

I leaned forward in my seat and whispered back to him, “Mr. Compton, there have been many, many strange things going on in the area. Do you know why?”

“Sheriff Lautner, vampires aren’t the only supernaturals in the area. There are other elements at play here.”

He and I stared at each other. “Mr. Compton, humans are disappearing. Is Mr. Northman responsible or involved with any of these disappearances?”

I instantly knew I had crossed his line of comfort; he closed down and withdrew behind an expressionless mask. “Sheriff, I do not know anything about such things.”

I nodded my defeat. Yep. Game over, the player Compton has just left the court.

“Sheriff, I am SO sorry.” Arlene seemed to explode out of thin air and had my dinner plate and side dishes lining her left arm. “I don’t know where Sookie went, but here’s your dinner. Terry’s filling in for Lafayette and we’re slammed and it’s just crazy back there. Let me get you some more tea.” She grabbed my tea and walked away, completely ignoring the vampire. I could tell that she was slighting him and he could tell it, too.

I actually felt embarrassed by her behavior. Maybe there was some truth to the Viking vampire’s discrimination allegation, at least from the locales.

The vampire Bill Compton got up from the table and excused himself for the evening. His manners really were lovely. The word ‘charming’ really summed it up perfectly.

He walked over to his table, dropped down some cash and then left the bar.

While I ate, I processed my meeting with Mr. Compton. But, instead of working through the conversation, I thought about him, the vampire Compton. So, vampires come in more than one flavor of arrogant asshole. Of course, he was being personable for a reason, I wasn’t naive.

An odd realization hit me – he didn’t smell like rotting flesh. Not that Northman did; actually, I don’t know if he did. I never got close to Northman and was too hyped up to notice such things when Roman and I met with him. That was a good thing – no rotting flesh smell. It helped lower the creep factor of vampires for me.

Another thing occurred to me: I hadn’t been terrified of being glamored by the vampire Bill. I can’t add more to that statement, but I was glad. It never occurred to me to worry about it when I was talking to him. Not having that fear allowed me to really engage in a conversation with him and form an opinion. And it was a good opinion, Mr. Bill Compton seemed like an okay guy…vampire, or whatever would be the proper pronoun.

Roman’s face flashed in my mind and his warning about Northman. The Viking vampire was a master manipulator and don’t be fooled. I had to admit that the Viking had picked a good mediator. I wonder if Compton does all of Northman’s smoothing and schmoozing?

Well, maybe I’ll change my tactics. Grandma used to say, ‘you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.’ But I have to admit, as soon as those thoughts came to mind, I immediately felt angry.

The Viking had been an asshole in our meeting – and he drew first blood. ‘Was I physically and MENTALLY able to do my job?’ What an asshole!

By the time I had gotten home later that evening, I had made the decision to make a meeting with the vampire and see if we can get on a better footing. Being nice may accomplish a lot more than operating with open hostility. Right?

Ah, the tangled web we weave, when we are about to deceive. Shakespeare – gotta love him, he knew his stuff. But with all of my planning, I knew Northman wouldn’t be fooled. But I was going to make the effort – it couldn’t hurt. Right?

I did end up meeting Eric Northman soon after that night, but the meeting didn’t play out exactly the way that I had planned it.

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