dead until dark | Page 8

last night?" My brother threw himself into the aluminum
yard chair by my chaise. "Where's Gran?" he asked belatedly.
"Hanging out the laundry," I said. Gran used the dryer in a pinch, but she really liked hanging the wet
clothes out in the sun. Of course the clothesline was in the backyard, where clotheslines should be. "She's
fixing country-fried steak and sweet potatoes and green beans she put up last year, for lunch," I added,
knowing that would distract Jason a little bit. I hoped Gran stayed out back. I didn't want her to hear this

conversation. "Keep your voice low," I reminded him.
"Rene Lenier couldn't wait till I got to work this morning to tell me all about it. He was over to the
Rattrays' trailer last night to buy him some weed, and Denise drove up like she wanted to kill someone.
Rene said he liked to have gotten killed, she was so mad. It took both Rene and Denise to get Mack into
the trailer, and then they took him to the hospital in Monroe." Jason glared at me accusingly.
"Did Rene tell you that Mack came after me with a knife?" I asked, deciding attacking was the best way
of handling this. I could tell Jason's pique was due in large part to the fact that he had heard about this
from someone else.
"If Denise told Rene, he didn't mention it to me," Jason said slowly, and I saw his handsome face darken
with rage. "He came after you with a knife?"
"So I had to defend myself," I said, as if it were matter-of-fact. "And he took your chain." This was all
true, if a little skewed.
"I came in to tell you," I continued, "but by the time I got back in the bar, you were gone with DeeAnne,
and since I was fine, it just didn't seem worth tracking you down. I knew you'd feel obliged to go after
him if I told you about the knife," I added diplomatically. There was a lot more truth in that, since Jason
dearly loves a fight.
"What the hell were you doing out there anyway?" he asked, but he had relaxed, and I knew he was
accepting this.
"Did you know that, in addition to selling drugs, the Rats are vampire drainers?"
Now he was fascinated. "No... so?"
"Well, one of my customers last night was a vampire, and they were draining him out in Merlotte's
parking lot! I couldn't have that."
"There's a vampire here in Bon Temps?"
"Yep. Even if you don't want a vampire for your best friend, you can't let trash like the Rats drain them.
It's not like siphoning gas out of a car. And they would have left him out in the woods to die." Though the
Rats hadn't told me their intentions, that was my bet. Even if they'd put him under cover so he could
survive the day, a drained vampire took at least twenty years to recover, at least that's what onehad said
onOprah. And that's if another vampire took care of him.
"The vampire was in the bar when I was there?" Jason asked, dazzled.
"Uh-huh. The dark-haired guy sitting with the Rats."
Jason grinned at my epithet for the Rattrays. But he hadn't let go of the night before, yet. "How'd you
know he was a vampire?" he asked, but when he looked at me, I could tell he was wishing he had bitten
his tongue.
"I just knew," I said in my flattest voice.
"Right." And we shared a whole unspoken conversation.

"Homulka doesn't have a vampire," Jason said thought­fully. He tilted his face back to catch the sun, and
I knew we were off dangerous ground.
"True," I agreed. Homulka was the town Bon Temps loved to hate. We'd been rivals in football,
basketball, and histor­ical significance for generations.
"Neither does Roedale," Gran said from behind us, and Jason and I both jumped. I give Jason credit, he
jumps up and gives Gran a hug everytime he sees her.
"Gran, you got enough food in the oven for me?"
"You and two others," Gran said. Our grandmother smiled up at Jason. She was not blind to his faults
(or mine), but she loved him. "I just got a phone call from Everlee Mason. She was telling me you
hooked up with DeeAnne last night."
"Boy oh boy, can't do anything in this town without get­ting caught," Jason said, but he wasn't really
angry.
'That DeeAnne," Gran said warningly as we all started into the house, "she's been pregnant one time I
know of. You just take care she doesn't have one of yours, you'll be paying the rest of your life. Course,
that may be the only way I get great-grandchildren!"
Gran had the food ready on the table, so after Jason hung up his hat we sat down and said grace. Then
Gran and Jason began gossiping with each other (though they