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?”