Hola!! Here's the highly-anticipated Bill story. Chapter One!! I'm excited.

Enjoy!!!

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Chapter One: The Great Escape

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I scrunched up my face, my coffee was cold. Then again, that made sense. It was about six-thirty; I'd been busy all day sifting through auditions and characters and lesson plans – I was exhausted.

Thankfully, spring break was only a week away. I choose the cast – they study their lines while vacationing, and we come back and put on a spectacular production of Romeo & Juliet. It was going to be much easier than the Beauty and the Beast of a few months ago. That was pure chaos.

Sean was constantly saying that I spent too much time on these things. That it isn't as important as I think, which is just a big fat lie. I mean, when we put on a good show, not only does it benefit the community, the school, and my paycheck – but the students in the play. Doing a good job is easier to remember than something that totally blows.

I sighed, and stood up, walking out of my classroom for the day. The door was locked, the cold coffee in the trash, and my things in my bag. I took a second to stop and see if I actually looked as tired as I felt, and, surprisingly, I did not. I liked how I could still stay awake for hours, and still look fine, like back in college. It came in handy. I was pretty cute, if I do say so myself, and it doesn't take a lot of up-keep. I had dark, dark brown hair, short and curly, bangs parted to the side, everything shiny and neat. My eyes were pretty big, and a bright blue that usually attracted some small amount of attention. I had a light tan – living in Louisiana did that to you, but it was hard to me to really get that golden brown look that was customary, I burned so very easily.

Once I made it outside I moved over to where the construction crew was working, saying my usual goodbye – they worked here just like I did, might as well make a good impression.

"Why are you boys still around?" I asked, hand on the chain-link fence surrounding the area.

The closest one shuffled over to me, pulling the little cart they used to house the TV (which was only to be used on breaks, they assured me) along with him.

"Hey, Mrs. T," he said, "Why are you still here, if you don't mind my askin'?"

"Late night. Audtions," I held up a file folder, "I'm glad to be finished."

He nodded, "Don't blame ya," he smiled.

"Yeah, well, I think I should be heading to my car now. Good night… um…"

"Hoyt," he supplied happily, nodding as I turned to leave.

"Miss Tyler!!" I heard, making me whirl around then frown a bit. Jason. Again. I stuck my left hand in the air.

"Do we have to go over what this means again?" I said, "Seriously, Jason. I'm married."

"And I don't care," he smiled, leaning against the fence, "Can't we just have a drink or something? As friends, even. If that's more your style."

"Sorry," I said, smiling a little – I was flattered, really, "But, cheating ain't really my style. I have more work to do for tomorrow, and I think you do as well." I laughed a little, he was so relentless. We'd been going over this routine for about a month now.

He sighed in a very over exaggerated fashion and turned back to the workers – now all staring at him in this moment of rejection, "All right! You heard the lady! Get busy, boys!"

I chuckled a little and made it to my car, unlocking the door, sliding into the front seat, and starting it.

Then I started it again.

And again.

And- shit. It wasn't working.

I tried again.

One more time… nothing. Shit.

I got back out of the car, then got back in and tried it one more time, "Please, please, please don't do this to me…"

Today, my Saturn obviously was not feeling very merciful.

Shit. I got out of the car again, and stood there like some kind of idiot. I realized, about half way through that I was really standing there like an idiot, but I kept standing there. Finally, I took a breath, before walking back over to where the guys were working, "Um…"

"Yeah?" Jason had magically appeared in front of me again, "Rethink that drink?"

"No. I, actually, wanted to talk to Hoyt, if that's okay with you?"

He rolled his eyes, but stepped out of the way, muttering something I couldn't understand. Hoyt walked over, "Something I can do?"

"Actually, my car… just… it's messed up. I was wondering if I could bum a ride off of anyone who isn't Jason," I laughed a little at my lame joke, smiling at him.

"Well, I actually get off in just a few minutes, and I don't have to be home for another hour or so – I could swing by your place and drop ya' off if you'd like."

I nodded, "Perfect."

"Okay, Just give me a second, then," he smiled and went back to what he was working on, and I leaned against the fence, waiting.

It wasn't long until I was in Hoyt's truck, local radio playing in the background, on the way home. Finally.

"So, Hoyt, you got yourself a girl friend or something?" I asked, trying to make a conversation.

"Yep," he said, "Jess and I have been together almost to two years," he nodded as he spoke, looking over at me, "And you're married."

"Yep. Three years this November." I nodded as well.

"What's your husband like?" he asked, "Must be a really great guy to get someone like you," he laughed a little. I smiled. The construction workers only liked me because I gave them the leftover donuts that we don't eat in my first period advanced drama class.

"Sean's great," I smiled, "Very smart. He just got out of law school, has his first real job since college," I nodded some more. I tried to keep what I was saying more clipped, because I had this tendency to just keep talking.

The radio was filling the silent pauses in our conversation. Now some lady was saying, "The family is still granting a reward to anyone who has information on their daughter's capture. It's been two years since the disappearance of seventeen – now nineteen-year-old Jessica Hamby from Shreveport."

"Hey, can I turn this up?" I asked, my hand on the dial.

"Sure, go ahead," he said, not really paying attention to the story.

"Hamby was last seen in her home on March 17, two years ago. Police had seen no evidence that suggest any foul play, and yet still, two years after their daughter's disappearance, the Hamby family still reaches out for help to locate their daughter," the woman continued.

"Damn," I muttered, "That's crazy."

"Yeah," Hoyt said quietly, "It is."

"Would you believe me if I said I knew her?" I almost whispered, than my voice grew a little louder, "We lived next door to each other for as long as I could remember. I left for college, and then my mom called me and told me she disappeared," I shook my head, "It's insane, you know? We used to be so close – her father was a total jerk, and I sometimes think that she probably just ran away, and that if I had still been there, maybe she wouldn't have. I'm talking too much," I turned the volume on the radio back down as Jessica's story came to a close. I'd talked through most of it anyway.

"Wow," Hoyt said, "That's really something. You must have really cared about her."

"Oh course I did, she was like a little sister to me," I said, "She had a sister too, but I don't think she liked me much. I was a lot more… tame in my imagination than Jessica was, then again, I guess that was because I wasn't limited in the things I did like they were. I- I am still talking a lot – Oh! There's the street. It's this house up here, the yellow one."

"Okay," he said, pulling into the driveway and turning to look at me, "If it's any consolation, Mrs. Taylor-"

"Oh, call me Abby, really. That whole Mrs. Taylor thing gets old," I grinned, "Unless it's Jason talking." I laughed a little again.

"Abby, then," he said, "I'm sure wherever Jessica is, she's fine."

I smiled, "Thank you, Hoyt. That's a very kind thing to say."

He grinned and nodded, "See ya' tomorrow Mrs. T."

"Okay," I said, rolling my eyes and shutting the door.

"Sean?" I said, opening the door and walking back to the kitchen, "You here?"

"Yep," he came up behind me, wrapping his hands around my waist, "How was your day?"

"Okay. I needed to get one of the construction workers to give me a lift home because my car broke down again," I sighed, "I'll take care of it though. How was your day Mr. Defense Attorney?"

"Amazing," he said, light brown hair falling into his eyes, "You'd find it boring, but it was spectacular."

I grinned, "You're probably right, babe," I leaned in and kissed him quickly.

The rest of the night, what Hoyt had said gnawed at the back of my mind. I kept thinking about her. It was just too weird, knowing that someone you used to be so close to was never going to speak to you again. She was gone.

--

The next day I didn't walk directly into the building as usual. I walked over to Jason, who was staring at me, as usual.

"Hey, do you know how to fix a car?" I said, pointing over to my piece of junk in the parking space I left it last night, "Because I would really appreciate a little help."

He agreed, after some careful heckling and bargaining, which basically ended up with him fixing my car, and me having to do nothing in return. It was a good start to today.

"Hey, Mrs. T," Hoyt called me over, why he was still unable to call me Abby, I didn't know.

"Yes Hoyt?" I asked, pulling my bag up on my shoulder.

"Are you going to be staying late again tonight?"

"Of course," I said, "Call backs are tonight. I'll be here until eight, probably. Aren't you all supposed to be home by then?"

"Well, I got a little surprise for ya," he said, "To cheer you up a bit. After everything you said last night-"

"Oh, that's really not necessary," I said, shaking my head, "I mean, you don't have to-"

"It's nothing. I just think you'll really like what you see tonight." He smiled.

I turned to leave, Jason telling me my car would be fixed by the time I'm leaving.

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Call backs were much less torturous than regular auditions. The parts of Romeo and Juliet I had down, as well as Benvolio, it was Mercutio I was the problem with.

It got to the point where I just stopped caring, I figured I'd stop thinking about it now, and force myself to make a last minute decision tomorrow morning before posting the list.

Ah, tomorrow. It's the last day before Spring Break. I was almost too excited. An entire week to just forget about all this work I have coming.

I drummed my fingers on the table. It was about eight, like I said. Outside, everything was dark, and I had to take a deep breath before I stood to leave. Tomorrow was going to be crazy, I knew it, but I was a little excited. The other teachers keep telling me that this excitement I'm feeling will leave with age, I am only 24. My two years of teaching hasn't been enough experience to really regret going into the field. Their sarcasm is a little annoying; it's so strange to see such a pessimistic edge nowadays.

I grabbed my things and walked outside.

"Abs?" was the first thing I heard.

"Oh shit!"I practically screamed, almost dropping the file folder I was holding, "This isn't-"

"Shut up and hug me, bitch!" Jessica yelled coming up and grabbing me quickly.

"You're freezing!" I said, "Jesus, Jess, what the hell- Oh… my," I stopped, "You… could have called me to tell me you were-"

"Dead?" she supplied, a little sarcastically, "Abby, I didn't think you'd-"

"Understand? How about a little credit my way, Jess… I don't have a problem with," I took a breath, "Jesus, you're actually a vampire."

"I knew this was a bad idea. Why did I let you talk me into this?" she said loudly, turning back to look at Hoyt.

"No, Jess," I walked back over to her, "It's a great idea, I'm so happy to see you again- I thought you were actually dead. I mean, I never thought, oh man, Jess." I felt like I was going to cry or something, but I swallowed. I was such a little wimp, but it wasn't like I could help it or anything.

"Oh, Abs," she said, "It's been so crazy. I missed you so much."

"We need to get together. Not at my place, of course, Sean has this thing about vampires, doesn't trust them, around me at least."

"Sean?"

"I'm married, now, sweetie," I said quietly.

"Shit, Abs! You got married? Where the hell was I?"

"Missing, genius."

"Oh," she said, "I guess you could come by my house, we could leave now-"

"No," I said, "I've got to get home, what about this weekend? After tomorrow, I'm totally free for a few weeks," I said, a little quiet. I don't care what she is, I realized. She was still Jessica.

Our conversation was much too rushed, but I had to go. I was exhausted, and a little sleep would help me a ton.

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Jessica's house was big, and old. And far away.

Luckily, everything I say Sean just believes. Jessica said it had to be because I was so innocent, it was as though I could never lie.

I disagreed. I was a fine liar, I mean, I taught drama, so I was a pretty good actress (that whole 'if you can't do, teach' thing is a load of bull. I can do. I choose to teach).

We were still talking about it when we reached the house; she opened the door, Hoyt scuttling in behind her, looking around for something. "It's those big, light blue eyes of yours," Jess said, rolling her own eyes, "Everyone just has to trust you."

"I disagree," I said, "I've done my fair share of the ill-mannered-"

"Ill-mannered? What are you, eighty?"

"Ha ha," I said, dropping my bag next to the door, "Right, Jessica. But seriously, I don't think someone just trusts someone completely because of their eyes. It's because he just trusts me. We're partners, or whatever. It's all about trust."

"Bullshit."

"I know," I giggled a little, "But still, it's all about the love, girl."

She laughed, and I fixed the dress I was wearing – a nice little brown number I found at a thrift store not too far from the school, Shreveport was full of deals – over my dark jeans, the turned to look at Jessica.

"What's Hoyt doing?" I asked, looking over at Jessica's boyfriend, who looked utterly confused.

"Looking for Bill," Jessica muttered.

"Who?" I asked, looking around curiously. She hadn't mentioned anyone else the entire ride down here, and I lived a good couple hours away, about forty five minutes from Shreveport if left at the worst time possible.

"Vampire Bill," Hoyt tried to clarify, looking at me as if I should know who this person was.

"Um," I said, "A little more help, please?" I said, turning to Jessica.

"My… maker," she said, "I guess. He owns this place. He doesn't like it when I let humans in, doesn't think I'm capable of controlling my own actions – I'm not going to eat you, Abby."

"Thank you for that," I said, looking around. Is he going to eat me? I couldn't help but think it, I mean; I'd never really been around vampires. I didn't know how they operated.

"I don't think he's here," Hoyt said finally, turning back to face us, "You think he's in Shreveport?"

Ironic, really.

"Don't know why he'd wanna be," she muttered, "After everything that happened with Sookie. Shit. He's going to be so pissed that I brought you around," she stopped, "He'll have to deal though. I missed you so much, he's gotta understand that. I mean, just because he happened to have some girlfriend trouble shouldn't totally eliminate my human interaction, right?" she looked at me hopefully, as if I knew the answer to her question.

"Right?" I tried, a little sheepish.

"Oh, what do you know?" she said, "Here, take your stuff, go upstairs, get ready for bed. It's already pretty late. You're going to have to mess up your sleeping schedule to keep up with me," she winked.

I laughed, "Okay, then." I yawned despite myself, I was pretty tired. I got the whole weekend here in Bon Temps, though Sean doesn't actually know where I am, I knew that this whole situation would just drive him insane.

Hoyt said bye, and left, and Jessica showed me around upstairs, pointing me in the direction of the shower and the bedroom, the house only had one, but, obviously, neither of the current occupants had any need for it.

Jessica turned and looked at me, "I would love to stay up and chat, but you look exhausted. It's about an hour 'till sunrise, so think I'll just go on and sleep. You can take a shower, get dressed, go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow night."

I nodded, "Okay Jess. I'm glad you found me," I said, "I missed you."

"Oh, shit," she muttered, running over and hugging me, "I missed you too. I can't believe we haven't seen each other in six years. It's – shit! I'm crying."

I laughed, "Ew," I took a small step back, "That is really freaky."

"I know," she wiped the blood from her face, "You aren't crying. Bitch."

I smiled, "Sorry."

Jessica smiled, "You better get cleaned up. There's blood on your neck."

"Ew," I muttered, "I'll see you tomorrow."

I let the water run over my face, and sighed. I loved showers. They were so warm, comfortable. They gave you the opportunity to actually think.

I was thinking about how the little girl next door can now kill me.

It's not like that's an easy thing to really get a grip on.

I turned off the shower, stepping out and grabbing a dark red towel. I shivered a little, that shower wasn't long enough to heat up the bathroom for me. Wrapping the towel around me, I stepped outside and grabbed my dirty clothes, darting across the hall into the bedroom.

"Night!!" I heard Jessica shout before I shut my door. I chuckled a little and put the old clothes into my bag, pulling out an old t-shirt to sleep in and tossing it onto the bed. I grabbed a pair of underwear and pulled them on under my towel, grabbing my brush and positioning myself in front of my mirror to brush my hair before I changed.

It was about four; the sun would be coming up pretty soon. It was so weird to think that I was going to sleep during the day, because that way I could stay up all night with my vampire friend.

Jesus, I am not going to get used to that any time soon.

I shook my head, my hair whipping around, some of it dry, some of it still wet. I turned around, reaching to undo my towel when I heard someone say, "Who are you?"

"Shit!" I shouted, trying fervently to keep a hold on the towel, which fell substantially but thankfully did not show anything too overly embarrassing. I blink, and spun to see a man standing in the doorway. He was just a little taller than me, but still made me a bit uneasy. He had dark hair, and was wearing a grey shirt, dark pants. I swallowed, and kept my hand firmly on the towel.

"Um…" I didn't know what to say. It's not every day I meet a vampire. Especially while practically naked.

"Who are you?" he repeated himself firmly, seeming slightly amused by my reaction.

"I'm… um," my mind was racing – I'd seemed to have forgotten my name, "Um… Ab- Abigail. Taylor. Abigail Taylor. Abby." I nodded, "You must be Bill." I walked forward and held out my hand, "I'm a friend of Jessica's. She told me she didn't tell you I was here, though I guess it was a bit presumptuous of me to actually expect that she'd have texted you or something by now." Do vampires text? Well, yeah, it's not like they can telecommunicate or anything. Can they? Shit, I don't know.

"Then again," I continued, as Bill finished shaking my hand – his skin was cold - and it returned to holding my towel, "I could have told her to, to avoid this exact… situation. I'm talking a lot, but it's very nice to meet you." I stopped and clamped my mouth shut.

He didn't say anything for a second, "Jessica doesn't usually have visitors," he walked in, looking around, and stopped in front of me, "So you see this is kind of a surprise."

"We've been friends since we were kids. I work up at Mayfield High School, in Shreveport, where Hoyt's working," I stopped talking again and swallowed, "Um," he was really close, I realized, and I took a step back and looked around, "So, we were re-introduced. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone what happened to her," I tried to clarify, "No one even knows why I'm here."

He nodded. I bit my lip, I couldn't help but think he was… attractive. I blushed a little at the thought, then turned and looked out the window. He had a pretty pair of eyes, they were really-

"Excuse me for interrupting," he said, "I'll let you get back to…"

"Dressing?" I supplied, laughing a little half-heartedly. I looked back down.

He didn't say anything, just smiled a little, "Well, good night," he finally said, nodding in my direction, then he turned and left.

"Bye," I muttered.

I stepped up a little to shut the door, and watched him head downstairs. He glanced up once before disappearing downstairs, and I felt my breath catch in my throat, and I turned quickly and shut the door.

I could have sworn I saw him smirk.

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There we go! I hope you guys like it!!

Reviews are fantastic. So very fantastic.

Looking forward to chapter two?? I know I am.