But how did it happen?" "What exactly?" "I mean, it was just one of those things, you know?" "The first I knew about it, it's on the news." "And it's not a complete list." "I mean, we went to a hospital, and all we got was this blood test." "So I mean, you know, it could be nothing." "It could be absolutely nothing." "How about them Mets?" "How about them Mets?" "Hey." "Hey, Ray." "Good to see you." "Boy, it's been a long time, Ray." "Yeah." "Hey, I want you to meet a couple of friends of mine." "Ray, Terry, this is Mitch and Jake from Hoboken, too." "Terry Bellefleur, nice to meet you." "Ray, tell us your secret, man." "How do you keep that thing away from the sunlight?" "Yeah, Mitch." "We heard you keep her locked up in there for weeks at a time." "Oh, no, no." "She's" " It's not like that at all." "Uh-uh." "I just keep her in the house, keep her away from windows." "So she don't get too hot." "Yeah, she likes the sunlight." "Well, yeah, my kids are the same way." "Vampires have kids?" "I thought they were just" "Yep." "Sometimes more than once." "What the f" "How is that possible?" "Well, um, we're not really 100 percent sure of the details." "You know, but we think it's possible that the sunlight could kill them." "That's right." "Sunlight does kill them." "No, no, no." "Not if you keep them out of it." "Yeah, that's right." "Good tip." "So where you keep her?" "It's a daylight barricade." "I know." "It's a chain-link fence." "And you bolted it to the house with some big metal bolts." "About 20 of them." "It's pretty solid." "And you know, it keeps her in here." "And, you know, the shutters on the windows go right up." "It's tight." "A lot of times, if she's up at night, I have to go out and hose her off the fence." "Yeah." "Look, I appreciate you guys not saying anything to anybody." "Not a word." "Oh!" "What the hell's this?" "Well, how's it look?" "I'm not exactly a professional fence-crimper, Ray." "And that's about the nicest one I could find." "I just painted the shutters and the trim." "Oh, and you got any CA around?" "I'm gonna go inside." "You wanna come in?" "No, I'll wait out here." "I never thought I'd see this day." "Me neither." "You know, it was supposed to be me." "Supposed to be you?" "What do you mean?" "Ray had some vampire trouble back in '62 and early '63, and, uh..." "I don't know if I could handle it if I had to." "Are you saying he wouldn't want it to be you?" "Not saying he wouldn't." "Just" "Just saying he had some trouble back then with the blood, so" "Mitch, I gotta ask you a question, man to man." "And you gotta tell me the truth." "Okay." "Were you with Maryann when she turned you?" "Because if you were, you might have gotten some of hernez-- her blood in you." "I'm just looking out for my wife." "What's that supposed to mean?" "That I ain't looking out for her?" "No." "Look, I never had any problems until she started hanging around with Maryann." "She" " She met her down at Merlotte's." "Oh, it don't take much, man." "You wouldn't even know." "It's her damn sister." "We lost her a while back." "When Maryann found out that V had kids, she put a spell on her to find 'em." "And I can't be with my wife till she's dead." "Hey." "Hey." "Hey, now we" "We" "We got this, all right?" "Okay." "You need some help?" "Damn right." "I think I'm gonna like it here." "Hey, Tommy?" "What was that for?" "Just remember, stay out of my head." "Do not talk about my sister, my daughter, or anything having to do with my family, and do not talk about the book." "Okay?" "Why?" "Is there something in the book you don't want me to see?" "Theresa." "What is she doing with you?" "You're lucky I don't rip your balls off!" "Well, you talk about my sister again, and I will." "Oh, and one more thing" "Do you happen to have any extra sun block?" "I know you don't trust me." "Sure, I do." "That's why I put it there." "Where exactly are we going?" "It's not far." "Used to be a plantation house down by the swamp." "The old guy who owns it, he's a friend." "We shouldn't be gone long." "You mind if we stop by my house and pick up some food?" "You know you can't go back there." "Oh, I know that." "We're gonna be careful." "I'll bet a lot of good, honest people got caught and slaughtered because they went to that house, too." "Yeah." "Not like we're going to some MENSA meeting." "Right." "Look, you've got every right to be mad." "I mean, I was always honest with you from the start." "I know you were." "I was just worried." "I was." "So what's the first step?" "What do we do now?" "Well, you have to kill me, and then" "Then what?" "You know what." "I sure as hell don't." "What am I supposed to do, just wait here?" "You can see him again, and I'll see him again." "And we can talk." "I don't like what he has to say." "Hey, we can make you like it." "Just get in." "Get in the damn truck!" "You might wanna buckle up." "I'm still tasting a little bit of that silver." "Look, I was just trying to protect my family." "You shoulda left us alone." "My daughter was a monster, and you let her go." "She wasn't no monster." "Now, you sayin' that she was one of them?" "She killed my wife." "I know she did." "I'm so sorry." "I woulda done anything I could to protect you from her, but" "Lafayette, you're a good man." "You and Sookie are loved." "That's all that matters." "I've always been a good judge of character." "I got a confession to make." "Well, I'm not goin' anywhere, so you might as well spill it." "That's not what I came here to do." "So spill it." "The other day, when I saw you and that vampire girl" "Oh, for God's sake, we're not just a couple of dumb, old humans." "That's not what I'm saying." "I'm not dumb." "And you two are not just a couple of anything." "You can lecture all you want, but we don't have a human words for what we are." "Well, we might not have the right words for it, but we feel it just the same." "And we think you might be feeling it right now." "And you know what, I'm glad for it." "Glad for it?" "I'm right about that part." "I'm just not glad it's you." "You shouldn't have done that." "You really shouldn't have done that." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Is this your vampire friend talking?" "No, this is your conscience talking." "You should listen to it more often." "It's kind of a point of pride with me." "It works pretty good." "Now I'm not so sure about you." "You're sick." "No, seriously, you need to deal with that." "Just because we're both vamps doesn't mean we're alike." "You said it yourself-- we're not just a couple of dumb, old humans." "This isn't gonna work." "Couldn't sleep?" "Yeah." "Me, neither." "Can't stop wondering what's out there." "I don't think we should be doing this." "Doing what?" "We've been driving for a couple hours." "I don't think it's right to take the boat out when Jason and Lafayette aren't here to help." "They're probably out scavenging." "Scavenging?" "Yeah." "You know, hunting for survivors and" "And things like weapons and food, and they may not be back for a couple days, so I was thinking that, you know, if we want to, we could, you know, wait