Rattray family

"Criminal trash like the Rats roamed the highways and trailer parks of America, not smart enough or moral enough to settle down to productive living."

- Sookie Stackhouse

The Rattray family are two characters, Mack Rattray and Denise Rattray, who appear in the "Southern Vampire Mysteries" series of novels by Charlaine Harris. The characters also appeared in the first two episodes of the HBO television series True Blood, which adapts Harris' work.

Biography
The Rattray family consisted of husband and wife Mack and Denise Rattray, two low-rent drug dealers who lived out of a rented trailer at Four Tracks Corner in the town of Bon Temps in Northern Louisiana. The Rattrays plied their trade by stealing and selling "V-juice", which is a euphamism for blood that is illegally obtained from a vampire. Their primary tactic was to select a target, lure the vampire into a secluded area under the guise of friendship, then use items made of silver (such as a necklace chain), to subdue him so that they could drain his blood by force. Both of the Rattrays have served time in jail for dealing vampire blood, but this didn't deter them from their chosen vocation.

On a Saturday evening in 2008, Mack and Denise stopped at their favorite drinking establisment, Merlotte's Bar and Grill. Their server was a waitress named Sookie Stackhouse, who had known the displeasure of the Rattrays' patronage in the past. She remarked once about how they never tipped her. In addition to being a waitress, Sookie was also telepathic, and could perceive the thoughts swirling around inside the Rattrays' minds. Mack's thoughts consisted of lewd sexual desires for Sookie, while Denise simply thought that she was retarded.

That evening, Mack and Denise had a chance encounter with another patron of Merlotte's; one who just happened to be a vampire -- Bill Compton. Denise flirted with Compton at length, pretending to empathize with being a "minority" figure in the community. Her unwelcome solicitations consisted of pressing up close to Compton and seductively exposing her bare neck to him. Sookie caught a glimpse of Denise's thoughts and knew that the Rats intended on draining Bill Compton. She rushed back to the booth to warn him, but by the time she got there, Bill and the Rats had already left the premises.

What motivation made Bill leave with the Rattrays is unknown, but they managed to lure him down a path just outside the bar whereupon Denise used her silver chain to incapacitate him. While Mack stood guard, Denise plugged a Vacutainer to Bill's arm and drew two vials of blood. Sookie Stackhouse came out to rescue Bill, but Mack barred her path. He pulled a knife on her, but Sookie had a length of chain and slung it around his neck, choking him and forcing him to drop his knife. While Mack was on the ground coughing, Sookie scooped up the knife and used it to drive Denise off -- without the vials of blood she had already collected. Forced back into their car, Denise tried one last act of defiance and drove directly towards them, but Sookie managed to pull Bill out of the way in time.

The following evening, the Rattrays decided to avenge themselves against Sookie Stackhouse. They waited outside of Merlotte's until 1:00 a.m. when Sookie got off work. They ambushed her in the parking lot and knocked her to the ground. They began kicking her repeatedly and likely would have killed her if not for the timely arrival of Bill Compton. Using his vampire strength, he pushed Mack Rattray into a tree, breaking his neck, while tossing Denise several yards across the woods into another tree. The impact killed her instantly. Bill then drank from the Rattrays and took their bodies back to their trailers at Four Tracks Corner. He overturned the trailer and destroyed the surrounding area to make it look as if a tornado had dropped down and killed them.

Notes & Trivia

 * Two years prior to her death, Denise had a child and abandoned it. It is believed that the father was someone other than her husband.

Other families

 * Bellefleur family
 * Compton family
 * Crane family
 * Rattray family

Appearances

 * Dead Until Dark
 * True Blood: Strange Love
 * True Blood: The First Taste