Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Chapter 3
Written by Amanda
Edited by Rose / Krystal

Sookie is awakened by the phone ringing; it was Sam how informs that Dawn had not shown up for work and wanted to know if Sookie could stop by and see her. Sam, of course, was unable to do it himself due to a delivery truck showing up and so Sookie reluctantly agrees. Dawn and Sookie had never really got along since Jason dumped Dawn and she assumed it was Sookie’s doing, but she was still a co-worker and Sam had asked her this favor. Sookie showered and tracked down Gran to tell her where she was going. Gran had been taking care of Sookie and Jason since her parents died; Sookie’s family had a history of dying young and it was amazing that Gran was so sound despite all this.

Memorable Quotes:

Sookie: I’d never felt anything like it. It was like an iron door slamming. In my face. (Page 81)

Sookie: “You may not think my job amounts to much, but it’s one I’m good at, and I like it. I am as worthy of respect as your sister, the lawyer, Andy Bellefleur, and don’t you forget it. I am not stupid, and I am not a slut.” (Page 87)

Sam: “Honey, Bill is a good guy, for a vampire, but he’s not human.”
Sookie: “Honey, neither are you.” (Page 90)

Bill: “I am a vampire, Sookie. I don’t think like you. I don’t care about people automatically.” (Page 92)

Bill: “This is where I want to stay. I want a home.” (Page 93)

Sookie: “Bill, you can’t glamour me, or whatever you do. You can’t enchant me into pulling my T-shirt down for you to bite me, you can’t convince me you weren’t ever here, you can’t do any of your usual stuff. You have to be regular with me, or just force me.”
Bill: “No,” he said, his mouth almost on mine. “I won’t force you.” (Page 94)

Bill: “That means that if they try to feed on you, I’ll kill them,” he said. “It means you are my human.” (Page 95)

Questions for discussion:

Do you think that there is any significance to Sam being able to keep Sookie out of his head? What do you think Sookie meant when she said he wasn’t human?

Do you agree with Bill’s assessment that the killer isn’t a vampire because a vampire would not have wasted all of that blood by strangling and not draining the victims?

Why do you think Bill reacted to the Bellefleur name the way he did? What kind of history could he have with them?

Did something or someone in this chapter catch you by surprise?

Read and discuss more here.