After the healing of her wound, Eric and Sookie are surprised when Bubba appears. Eric gives Sookie his blood to heal her quickly and orders Bubba to look for Bill. Bubba returns with the news that he has found Bill on the property, and Eric and Sookie make plans for his rescue.
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.”
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.