SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12. Sookie sneaks out of Russell’s house at dawn and finds a tortured and starved Bill in the garage, but as she is trying to remove his bonds, Lorena Ball appears. Lorena is Bill’s maker, and she taunts Sookie and then attacks. Unfortunately for Lorena, Sookie is carrying with her the stake taken from her side at Club Dead. She kills Lorena. Sookie then gets Bill into the trunk of a car and cautiously drives out of the compound.
Arriving at the garage of Alcide’s apartment building, Sookie opens the trunk to check on Bill but is pushed inside. The lid slams shut. The worst comes to pass as the starved and uncontrolled Bill wakens and rapes and almost drains her. Coming to his senses just in time, Bill is horrified by his actions. Eric arrives, and he and Bill take an unconscious Sookie to Alcide’s apartment, where the three men work to revive her. To Alcide’s dismay, Sookie reveals that it was Debbie Pelt who pushed her into the trunk. While going over the day’s events, they realize from a comment made by one of Russell’s guards while Sookie was leaving that Bubba has been captured. The Mississippi vamps, not knowing he is the real deal, are planning to execute him. Sookie calls Russell’s mansion and is able to convince them of Bubba’s true identity, and Russell’s vamps are excited by the possibility that Bubba might sing for them. Debbie soon arrives at the building, and Alcide hides Sookie, Eric, and Bill next door, where they overhear Alcide tell Debbie that he and Sookie had engaged in an affair. Questioned by Bill, an angry and hurt Sookie denies the accusation but confronts him with the fact of his own betrayal. Disgusted with his perfidy, Sookie asks Eric to take her home.
Thugs hired by Jerry Falcon’s gang attack Eric and Sookie as they stop for gas. They escape but fall into an argument about the financial hardship that Sookie is experiencing because of Eric’s demands on her time. As they arrive at her home, an angry Sookie storms away from Eric and straight into the waiting fists of more of Falcon’s gang. Sookie is severely beaten before Eric and Bill arrive and kill her attackers.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 13. When Sookie wakes the next afternoon, she finds she has a newly graveled driveway, a gift from Eric. Alcide stops by with her suitcase, and they consider the possibility that they might explore their relationship after both recover from their present heartbreak. Pam arrives soon after dark, instructed by Eric to assist Sookie. Bubba follows, still well-groomed and flashily dressed after his performance for the Mississippi vamps, and it dawns on Sookie that he is the one who killed Jerry and stuffed him in the closet. He leaves shortly after Bill and Eric arrive, and Pam slips out as they begin to argue. An exasperated Sookie rescinds their invitations to her home, and they are forced to leave. Alone, she is amused to realize that she still has Bill’s computer and the work that started all the trouble.
The Secret Dialogues of Bill, Eric, and Pam
Phone: Bill calling Eric.
BILL: “Eric.”
ERIC: “Bill.”
BILL: “Lorena has summoned me. I will be leaving the area for a short time to see what she wants.”
ERIC: “It’s been quite some time since you’ve seen her, hasn’t it?”
BILL: “Yes.”
ERIC: “Hmmm. Have you told Sookie?”
BILL: “I have told her that I am leaving on business.”
ERIC: “Tsk, tsk. Lying to her already?”
BILL: “What I tell Sookie is none of your concern, Eric. I am merely informing you that I am leaving your area. You would have known about Lorena soon enough.”
ERIC: “What of your work for Sophie-Anne?” BILL: “I’ll take care of it.”
Phone: Bill calling Fangtasia.
PAM: “Fangtasia.”
BILL: “Pam, it’s Bill.”
PAM: “Hi, Bill. Do you want to speak to Eric? He’s in his office.”
BILL: “No. I don’t need to speak to Eric. Pam, I am in Mississippi. Lorena has called me, and I . . . I am with her again. I need to make arrangements for Sookie.”
PAM: “Arrangements?”
BILL: “For her future.”
PAM: “One that does not include you?”
BILL: “Yes. I will be returning to set things up for her. It will have to be a short trip. I don’t want Lorena to know about Sookie. She’s not . . . She wouldn’t approve.”
PAM : “I see. Well, I don’t approve of this, Bill. I don’t usually care about keeping secrets from humans, but Sookie is valuable and keeping things from her will discourage her from working for us in the future. It would be much better to keep her cooperation.”
BILL : “This is how it must be, Pam. Please let Eric know that I will be staying with Lorena and that I will contact Sophie-Anne myself. I’ll speak to you again when I get back.”
Phone: Bill calling Eric after their return to Louisiana.
BILL : “Eric, I’ve spoken with Sophie-Anne. You have nothing to worry about.”
ERIC : “Good. I believe I’ll visit Sookie this evening, see how she is.” BILL: “I’ll probably see you at her house, then.”
Dead to the World
Timeline
SHORTLY AFTER CHRISTMAS, 2004. Bill leaves a note on Sookie’s door asking to see her. When she agrees, he tries to explain about Lorena. He tells her he is going to Peru to collect more information for his vampire database.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2005. Sookie finishes working the Merlotte’s New Year’s Eve party at three a.m. and heads home. Stunned to see a nearly naked Eric running down the road to her house, she stops to ask what he is doing and realizes he doesn’t know her or his own identity. She gets Eric to come with her, calls Fangtasia when they get to her house, and finds that the vampires are under some kind of attack. Sookie reluctantly agrees to keep Eric until Pam can come for him. Jason comes to visit that evening and meets Eric. Afraid to leave Eric alone, Sookie asks Jason to buy clothes and synthetic blood for the vampire. Pam and Chow arrive and explain that the leader of a group of witches wants to take over Eric and his businesses. The witches had sent a representative to Fangtasia the night before with an offer: If Eric would spend seven nights with the coven leader, they would only demand one-fifth of his business. Eric refused, and Chow attacked the representative, causing a spell to activate that left Eric on Sookie’s road several hours later with amnesia. Jason returns from shopping with the news that the witches have posters all over town offering a fifty-thousand-dollar reward for information on Eric’s whereabouts. The vampires reason that the witches don’t know about Sookie, so Eric should be safe with her. Jason negotiates a deal, and a surprised Sookie finds herself responsible for Eric.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 2. Sookie is disturbed the next day when Jason’s boss, Catfish Hennessy, calls and tells her Jason didn’t show up for work. Sookie reports his disappearance to the police, but they discount it based on his reputation. Going to Jason’s home, she discovers Alcee Beck, a police detective, searching the area. A blood smear, later determined to be a panther print, is found on Jason’s deck. After leaving Jason’s house, Sookie pulls over on the side of the road to try to gather her thoughts. While she is sitting there, Tara Thornton pulls up behind her. Claudine Crane, who is helping Tara at her store, Tara’s Togs, is also in the car. Sookie tells Tara that Jason is missing and asks if there are any witches in the area. Sookie is surprised when Tara tells her that her fellow waitress at Merlotte’s, Holly Cleary, is Wiccan.
Sookie visits Holly at the Kingfisher Arms Apartments and learns that a group of Were witches, who use vampire blood, are trying to gain control of the witches in the area and that they have threatened Holly and her son.
Still seeking some clue about Jason, Sookie goes to Shreveport to speak to one of his old girlfriends, but the young woman hasn’t seen Jason. Hoping to get help from Pam, Sookie goes to Fangtasia to question the daytime employees and leave a message, but she is horrified to find that they have been attacked by the witches in a brutal attempt to find Eric. One woman is injured and another dead. Sookie decides to contact Alcide to learn if the Shreveport pack knows anything about the group
. As soon as Alcide hears the story, he contacts his packmaster, Colonel Flood. The packmaster immediately suspects that a missing member of his pack, Adabelle, may have been contacted, and Alcide and Sookie go to Adabelle’s business to question her. They find her dismembered body, and the Weres realize they have a serious problem.
Upset by all the terrible events of the day, Sookie returns home that evening to a kind and compassionate Eric. They begin an affair, and she realizes that she cares for this gentle stranger.
MONDAY, JANUARY 3. Still determined to find Jason, Sookie travels to Hotshot, the secretive community where Jason’s date from New Year’s Eve, shifter Crystal Norris, lives. Sookie meets Calvin Norris, Crystal’s uncle and the packmaster of the Hotshot shifters, who helps her question the girl. Sookie discovers that something happened to Jason in the yard at his home while Crystal was waiting for him in the house. As Sookie is leaving Hotshot, Calvin makes her an unusual offer.
Sookie is appalled when the witch leader, Hallow, and her brother come into Merlotte’s seeking information about Eric. As the witches question Sookie and Sam, they learn that Bill Compton’s home is temporarily empty. Sookie realizes that they plan to search Bill’s home, so she rushes home to tell Eric to stay out of sight. To her horror, he wants to see what is going on, and they go over to the Compton home, finding the yard full of Weres: Alcide’s pack has arrived and is hoping a surprise attack will result in the witches’ defeat. The witches escape and seriously injure a Were woman, Maria-Star Cooper, whom Sookie rushes to the hospital. As an exhausted Sookie drives back toward Bon Temps, she falls asleep at the wheel but is startled awake when Claudine suddenly appears in her car. Sookie returns to Merlotte’s to find that the Weres and vampires have joined forces to fight Hallow and her followers. She is disturbed when Debbie Pelt arrives, obviously involved with Alcide again. Sookie and Eric return to her home after the meeting. He declares his feelings for her and tells her that when he is restored, she will share all he has. Sookie is touched but knows it is a fantasy.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 4. Jason’s friends organize a search around his house for clues to his disappearance. The fruitless search ends in disaster when a feral hog gores Crystal Norris. Sookie returns to her home to find a message from Pam, letting her know that the vampires and Weres will be attacking the coven that night and telling her to bring Eric for the battle. She falls asleep, exhausted by the events of the day, and awakens to find Eric in her bed. They share another intimate moment before leaving for Pam’s house.
When they arrive at the gathering at Pam’s, they are surprised when Bill appears, having returned from Peru. He questions why Debbie Pelt is present and reveals that she participated in his torture in Jackson. Finally confronted by irrefutable proof of Debbie’s true nature, Alcide shocks the gathering when he abjures her.
The coalition is able to defeat the witches, and Hallow is taken prisoner so that she can free Eric from the curse. Debbie attempts to kill Sookie during the confusion of the battle but is stopped by Eric and flees. Sookie is disappointed when Jason is not found with the witches.
Returning to her home, Sookie and Eric enter the kitchen and are surprised to find Debbie with a gun in her hand and murder in her eyes. Debbie fires to kill Sookie, but Eric steps between them and takes the bullet. Before a shocked Debbie can fire again, Sookie grabs her shotgun and kills the werefox. Sookie revives Eric with synthetic blood, and as she cleans the kitchen, Eric takes the body and Debbie’s car and hides them.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5–THE EARLY HOURS OF THURSDAY, JANUARY 6. When Eric rises the next evening, his memory is restored, and he has no recollection of the time he has spent with Sookie. She is relieved that he will not remember the killing of Debbie but is saddened that he doesn’t remember caring for her. Pam arrives to accompany him back to Fangtasia, and Sookie gets ready for work.
As Sookie tells Sam about the previous day’s unusual events, she learns for the first time that the shifters at Hotshot are not werewolves as she believed but werepanthers, and that Felton Norris is in love with Crystal. Sam and Sookie rush to Hotshot to confront Calvin with the evidence of the panther print, and he leads them to Felton’s home. Jason is found imprisoned and weak after being repeatedly bitten by his rival. As they leave with Sookie’s injured brother, Calvin assures them that Felton will be punished and that Calvin will help Jason during the next full moon, when Jason will find out if he’s been turned into a werepanther by Felton’s bites.
Sookie and Sam get Jason to her house, where she puts him in the shower, feeds him, and then sends him to bed. Sitting at the kitchen table to talk with Sam, she spots a check from Eric for fifty thousand dollars.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 6. After Sookie calls the police to let them know Jason has returned, Andy Bellefleur and Alcee Beck arrive to question him. She and Jason stick to the story that he was knocked out and taken from outside his home and then just dumped in Sookie’s yard with no memory of what had happened or where he had been. Sookie takes Jason to his own home to recuperate. Eric visits later that night and questions Sookie about their time together and why he found brain tissue on his sleeve. While he is still at her home, one of Alcide’s pack members, Amanda, arrives to question Sookie about the apparent disappearance of Debbie. While they talk, Eric explores the house. When Amanda leaves, he tells Sookie she should destroy her old coat and get another.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 7. Sookie is not surprised to receive a cranberry red coat from Eric.
The Secret Dialogues of Bill and Eric
TO: WILLIAM COMPTON,
AREA FIVE INVESTIGATOR
BILL,
PER SOPHIE-ANNE’S ORDERS I HAVE CONTACTED SEVERAL VAMPIRES I KNOW IN PERU AND ARRANGED YOUR SAFE PASSAGE. YOU WILL BE MET AT THE AIRPORT IN LIMA. AFTER THAT, I BELIEVE YOU HAVE MADE YOUR OWN ARRANGEMENTS.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. I MUST SAY THAT I AM SURPRISED THAT YOU ARE NOT SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS WITH SOOKIE. HUMANS HOLD THIS TIME IN SUCH REGARD.
ERIC NORTHMAN,
SHERIFF OF AREA FIVE
To: Eric Northman,
Sheriff of Area Five
Thank you for your prompt attention. I’m certain our queen appreciates it. You’ve often said you enjoy having people in your debt, so perhaps you can use this to your advantage.
Since I imagine you’ve never celebrated Christian holidays, I’m surprised by your well wishes.
William Compton
TO: WILLIAM COMPTON
ONLY A FOOL WOULD USE AN ASSIGNMENT FROM THE QUEEN AS LEVERAGE, AND AS YOU KNOW, I AM NO FOOL. SHE SEEMS CONVINCED THAT YOUR DATABASE WILL BE NOT ONLY A VALUABLE TOOL IN HER BUSINESS DEALINGS BUT ALSO A PROFITABLE ENTERPRISE IN GENERAL. CONGRATULATIONS, BILL, YOU’RE NOW A BONA FIDE COMPUTER WHATEVER-YOU-ARE. GOOD TO SEE THOSE NIGHT CLASSES PAID OFF.
AS FOR MY HOLIDAY WISHES, NEVER LET IT BE SAID THAT I CANNOT ADAPT TO MY ENVIRONMENT. CHRISTIAN HOLIDAYS ARE IMPORTANT TO HUMANS—SUCH AS SOOKIE. I WONDER HOW SHE’LL BE CELEBRATING? RUMOR HAS IT YOU TWO ARE NO LONGER INVOLVED, SO PERHAPS I’LL DROP BY TO MAKE CERTAIN SHE’S NOT ALONE FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
ALL MY BEST,
ERIC
To: Eric Northman,
Dear Eric, Sheriff of Area Five
Dear Eric,
Fuck off.
Bill
Dead as a Doornail
Timeline
TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2005. Sookie drives her brother, Jason, who may be a werepanther as a result of being attacked by Felton Norris, out to Hotshot, leaving him with Calvin Norris, who will guide him through his first change. Sookie can tell his eyes are different before she leaves.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26. Jason returns to Sookie’s house the next morning, almost exhilarated by his new experience. Although at first he becomes ill at the sight of food, she is ultimately relieved that he seems able to handle the changes in his life. Working the late shift at Merlotte’s, Sookie is surprised to see her friend Tara sitting with an unfamiliar vampire named Mickey. Since Sam is out enjoying the moon, Ter
ry is left in charge of the bar, and he and Sookie work together to relieve a Drainer of her cache of vampire blood and send her from the bar.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 27. Claudine arrives at Merlotte’s with the upsetting news that Calvin Norris has been shot and seriously wounded, and that apparently a shooter is targeting shifters. As Sookie and Sam leave the bar after closing up, Sam is shot in the leg.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 28. Laid low by his broken leg and fearing to expose any other shifters, Sam asks Sookie to visit Fangtasia to bargain with Eric for the loan of a bartender. Eric sends vampire Charles Twining back to Bon Temps with Sookie. Hearing that Mickey came into Merlotte’s, Eric warns her that Mickey is a rogue and to stay away from him.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 29. The next day at Merlotte’s, Sookie is visited by private investigators Jack Leeds and Lily Bard Leeds, who want to question her about the disappearance of Debbie Pelt. Sookie agrees to talk with them at her home the next day.
Jason and Sookie go to the hospital in Grainger to visit the wounded Calvin. The werepanthers keeping guard over their packmaster keep Jason out but allow Sookie in the room. She is upset at the seriousness of his injuries but is horrified when Calvin tells her the Hotshot shifters suspect that Jason is the sniper. He reassures her that he has ordered that nothing be done to Jason, but Sookie realizes that to save her brother, she must find the shooter before the next full moon.
Alcide comes by Sookie’s house with the news of the death of Colonel Flood and invites her to attend his funeral the next day. She tells Alcide of the visit of the detectives, warning him that the Pelt family is looking into Debbie’s disappearance.