Awakening

17

Lafayette and Tara looked at the dishes of food that had been brought and half-eaten by visitors.

"What the fuck is it with white people and Jell-O?" Lafayette asked "I don't understand"

"What the hell are we gonna do with all of this?" Tara asked, letting out a deep exhale

"Toss it" he muttered "Morgan and Sookie don't need no bad juju cookin'" gesturing to the food

"Bad juju?" looking at him

"Way to a man's heart is through his stomach" looking at her "that shit's true as gold. You put some love in your food and folk can taste it. Smell this" picking up a glass dish "you can smell the fear and nastiness comin' off that kern bread" handing it to her

Tara took the glass dish, taking a piece of the bread and eating it

"Tastes just fine to me" she commented

"See, bitch, you gonna wish you ain't did that" Lafayette replied "watch"

Footsteps walking down the stairs filled their ears, Lafayette walking toward them, seeing Morgan walking toward the front door,

"Whatcha doing, girl?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest

"I gotta get out of here, bub" she replied, not looking at him "too much bad juju in here"

He looked at her, his eyes narrowing slightly taking a step toward her and grasping her chin, and tilting her head upward, his eyes hardening at her bruised cheek and busted lip,

". . I couldn't let him hit Sook" she said softly "I'm just gonna go on a walk"

Morgan walked out of the house without another word, a small sigh emitting from Lafayette as he smacked the wall, muttering to himself as he walked back in the kitchen to help Tara. The white haired woman walked around the house, looking up at the sky for a second before looking down at the watch that lay around her left wrist. A small huff of air emitted from her, stopping in her tracks when she saw her bike, needing to get away from the house. She couldn't take being in the house at that moment, the memory of finding Gran still fresh, everyone's thoughts still ringing in her mind, she needed silence, and she knew a place. Morgan grabbed the handles of her bike, walking it back around the house and swinging her leg over, putting one foot a pedal and standing, allowing herself to roll down the road. When she gained enough speed, she sat down on the seat, pedaling down the road, closing her eyes and feeling the wind brushing against her face, taking away her tears.

∆

The lights of Fangtasia turned on, the main entrance of the bar opening, Pam walking out of the building, turning her head to the right at the familiar scent, her eyebrows furrowing slightly when she saw Morgan sitting there, knees pulled to her chest, head resting against the wall with her eyes closed, her breathing evened, indicating that she was actually sleeping. Leaving the door unlocked, Pam walked back inside, making her way through the bar, toward another room where the coffins were kept, Eric buttoning his shirt.

"We have a stray sleeping outside" Pam informed

Eric's eyebrows furrowed slightly, walking out of the room with Pam following behind. He walked outside, turning his head to the right at the scent, his eyes softening at the sight of Morgan, a small sigh emitting from his nose. He said nothing, walking over to her and gently curling an arm around her shoulders, pulling her from the wall and curling his other arm under the crook of her knees, picking her up off the floor. It felt as if Morgan weighed nothing as he carried her inside, Pam seeing a mountain bike lying on the floor, a small sigh emitting from her nose as she walked over to it, picking it up and carrying it to the side if the building where she leaned it against the wall before walking inside as well. Eric laid her down on the couch in his office, her head falling in his direction, allowing his eyes to land on the bruise forming on her left cheek. He kneeled down next to the couch, raising his hand and moving a lock of hair away from her face, seeing the bruise more clearly, his eyes hardening at the sight.

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly when he lightly ran a finger down her cheek, a small groan emitted from her, Eric moving his hand away as she turned her body, facing the back of the couch. A small sigh emitted from him, standing straight and walking around his desk, sitting in his chair and leaning back.

|•|

Morgan's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she was waking up, slowly pushing herself up and removing the small crusties from the inner corners of her eyes. She looked around for a second, briefly confused with where she was. But she soon remembered that she had ridden her bike two hours to Fangtasia,

"I know you said you'd come back . ." She trailed off, pulling her knees to her chest "but I couldn't take the voices anymore. The people in the house, just . ." shrugging slightly

She looked over at Eric, who had already been looking at her, or more at her bruised cheek and busted lip, a small sigh emitting from her nose,

". . I couldn't let him hit Sook" she informed "Jason, he blamed her for Gran's death. Because she's with Bill"

"You're phone has been vibrating for the last two hours" Eric informed "one would safely assume you didn't tell anyone where you were going"

"To be honest, I don't even know why I came here" grabbing her bag that was on the floor

Opening her bag, she grabbed her phone and opened the case, the screen coming to life,

42 texts

30 missed calls

13 voicemails

Most of the texts and calls had been from Raven, a few from Lafayette and Tara, and a few from Sookie,

Raven - "Thank you for the note. It said you'd be back in an hour and it's been three. Call me back"

Lafayette - "Where the fuck you at, girl? Call me!"

Raven - "You don't need to be alone right now. Share your location and I'll go to you"

Sookie - "Morgan, I'm really worried. You need to call me back"

It kept going, a small sigh emitting from her nose, sharing her location with Raven, knowing she would be there soon.