I told myself I wouldn't start a new story until I finished my other ones, but then I got hooked on True Blood—and more importantly, Godric—and I couldn't get this out of my head.

I haven't read the book series, although I'd really like to, so this will strictly follow the information we've gotten from the TV show. I may follow bits and pieces of the storyline from season 2, but this will probably be mostly AU.

This is my first story in first person…we'll see how it turns out.

Disclaimer: True Blood and The Southern Vampire Mysteries belong to Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris. I am merely borrowing their characters (and bringing some back to life…) to live out what I would have loved to see in the show.

To burn: to consume; to destroy; to shine.

I. Ignite

The sun hung high in the sky, despite the fact that it was only ten o'clock in the morning. Sweltering sun rays beat down and turned my car into a gigantic oven, or that's what it felt like, at least. Not even rolling all the windows down could help, as there wasn't the slightest trace of a breeze that morning.

I eased my dusty old Jetta into a parking space under a large tree. Hopefully the shade would do a little to protect my baby from the sun's smoldering heat. Checking my hair and makeup in my rearview mirror, I practiced an overly bright smile before reaching into my purse and retrieving my wallet.

While my driver's license read Spencer Hathaway, today I was using my "undercover" ID. And by "undercover", I mean "fake". But hey, I was only a student reporter for the UT-Dallas Mercury and we had budget cuts to worry about. We'd learned to take what we could get.

According to this new license, I was Rebecca Lawrence, ultra-conservative and vampire-hater. I couldn't help frowning at the fake smile on my face in my photo—I could never be like this girl.

Having been raised by two gay fathers, I was rather liberal myself. I wasn't necessarily what some people called a "fangbanger", but I could understand how they felt to be persecuted just because they were misunderstood. No vampire had ever wronged me, so I wasn't about to place judgment based on rumors and mythology.

I did, however, have a problem with the Fellowship of the Sun and their "God hates anyone who isn't straight, human and a God-fearing Christian" bullshit. Which was why I'd volunteered to work the undercover story to try to find some dirt against them in the first place. My editor was a little wary of me working the story at first, since I was only a sophomore, but when no one else stepped forward she had no other option.

Loud bells rang, snapping me out of my thoughts, and signaling that mass was about to begin. I tossed my legal license into my glove compartment and scrambled out of my car.

Families all over the parking lot made their way towards the large doors and I followed. The summer heat was overbearing and I quickly pulled my long blonde hair into a high ponytail as I followed a family into the church.

The Reverend Newlin and his pretty little wife smiled at me as I walked in, Sarah gave a little wave and I returned it. I'd been undercover for only about two weeks, so I hadn't had many opportunities with them, but we'd talked enough now that they recognized me in a crowd.

It was my goal to play lost and confused little Rebecca who Newlin's wife would decide to take under her wing and bring into their inner circle. So far, she was playing right into my hand, falling for my bright blue eyes, innocent smile, and hair that sparkled like sunshine.

A round-faced woman wearing a floppy peach hat handed me the daily pamphlet. I frowned at the words emblazoned on the cover: Embrace the light of the Lord.

Wasn't Jesus supposed to be all about loving everyone? If he knew about vampires back in his day, I was pretty sure he would have included them in that category.

The church was practically filled and I had somehow managed to be one of the last to file in. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the Newlins walking down a hallway, over to a door I'd never seen opened before in my past two weeks there.

Pretending to be getting a drink of water, I watched carefully as Sarah came out of the door a few minutes later, looking rather distraught. Steve followed a while after and the look on his face was not a happy one. I tossed the paper cup in my hand and glanced around before deciding to make my way over to the door.

Whatever was behind that door sure made the Newlins upset and I was determined to find out what it was.

Much to my disappointment, the door had locked automatically. With a frustrated groan, I banged on the door and swore under my breath.

"Need a hand, dear?" an old woman asked, waddling over to my side.

I blinked at her in surprise, "Uh…I was just—"

"Getting more hymnals, I know. Here, let me get that open for you."

It couldn't be that easy, right? There was no way this little old lady knew what those two were hiding. I silently watched as she pulled out a set of keys, unlocked the door with ease and stepped inside.

Sure enough, the room appeared to be a simple storage room. A large metal shelf full of hymnals sat at one end of the room. I bit my lip, if I was going to find whatever they were in hiding in here, I would need some time and privacy.

I turned to the woman and gave my best toothpaste ad smile, "It looks like there are more than I was expecting; could you do me a big favor and bring a cart in here, please?"

"Sure thing, dear," she said right away. "I know there's one upstairs in the janitor's closet, it'll just take me a minute."

"I don't mind waiting." I grinned at her again, clasping my hands behind my back and bouncing on my heels. She nodded at me and was gone before I knew it. I couldn't believe my luck—if I wanted it to last, however, I'd have to work quickly.

I checked all four corners of the room—nothing suspicious there. There weren't any trap doors in the carpeting, either.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I pursed my lips and slowly let my eyes scan over the contents in the room. It was bad enough that I didn't know where the Newlins were hiding something in here, I didn't even know what it was I was looking for.

Nothing seemed out of place or returned to its position improperly. Maybe I had just imagined it. Or maybe they had just needed a moment to get away.

I frowned; so much for my great investigating skills.

That woman would be returning soon. I moved over to the book shelf to start piling up hymnals to at least look like I had been actually doing what I'd told her I was here for. It wasn't until I'd cleared the entire middle shelf away that I noticed it.

Behind the shelves of hymnals was a door.

Heart pounding, I glanced back at the door the woman had brought me through before I turned back to the shelf and pulled it away at an angle until I could get to the door. Surprisingly enough, it was unlocked. I sucked in a deep breath for courage and turned the knob.

Inside there was a dark staircase that I assumed led to some kind of creepy basement that held all of the Fellowship secrets. Sure that whatever it was I needed to crack the Fellowship was down there, I forced my feet to step forward until the next thing I knew, I was making my way down the stairs.

The basement was a collection of unfinished rooms. One looked like it was used for storage and had a strange cage in it. I passed another set of stairs before I found a room that had no source of lighting in it at all. A chain link door was closed with a padlock; thin, silver-colored metal rope was weaved through the links. Was it pure silver?

I was about to pass on to the next room when something caught my eye and I was forced to do a double take and step closer.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The Newlins, the Fellowship of the Sun had kidnapped…a boy?

The room was so dark I could barely see him, but his white clothing and pale skin made it easier. Tentatively I made my way towards the room, wanting to make sure I didn't startle him.

He was sitting in an old, dusty armchair with his face tilted upwards, although his eyes were closed. Was he sleeping? Unsure of how to wake him, I opened my mouth to call out to him.

Before I could even make a sound, his eyes snapped open and I found myself frozen, trapped in the glowing blue-gray of his gaze. Eventually I came to my senses and closed my mouth, straightening my shirt nervously as I tried to avoid eye contact.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. His voice was quiet, yet I could make out every word perfectly. And was it just me or was his accent strange? It was obvious he wasn't American, but for the life of me I couldn't place his accent.

"You're…you're a vampire," I found myself saying dumbly. It was as if I was working on autopilot. I'd never actually encountered a vampire before and I guess this was more overwhelming than I'd expected.

He smiled at me tiredly, not necessarily answering, but he didn't correct me, either. I stepped closer to the gate, grabbing at the links of the door. He seemed so sad, so…defeated.

I shook the gate angrily, "What happened? Did they kidnap you? Are they holding you hostage here?"

The boy opened his mouth to answer when he suddenly tensed and looked at something behind me.

"What the—what are you doing down here?" a gruff-looking man barked at me. I'd seen him around the church grounds before. Everyone called him Gabe, I think.

I stood there, my mouth unable to close as my brain seemed to shut down. He glared at me and lunged for me and suddenly a voice in the back of my mind yelled, "Run!"

Or maybe it wasn't in my head. Maybe it came from behind me.

Either way, all I knew was that adrenaline was pumping through my veins and every last instinct in me was screaming for me to get away from this man. I tried to slip past him as he came at me but he was faster than I had been expecting. He grabbed the collar of my shirt and the next thing I knew, there was a sharp pain at the back of my neck and everything went black.

"We've got a Code Red, I repeat, Code Red!" Gabe's voice sounded muffled and distant as I felt myself fading.

The last thing I registered was what sounded like faint growling and the scent of burning flesh.

When I came to, I could hear voices near me. I was laying down somewhere, my forehead pressed into the cold concrete of the ground. My head and neck were throbbing and I couldn't seem to focus my eyes yet.

"You gave me your word that no one else would be harmed if I complied," an angry voice hissed.

"Yes well, obviously we didn't plan for our little reporter here," another voice snapped. "Are you saying you want to go back on our bargain?"

The first man sighed, obviously weighing out his choices. "No," he said eventually. "Everything will go according to plan, I will remain in your charge."

My eyes snapped open and I sucked in a loud breath as I finally realized who the first voice was. It was that same accent I'd heard just moments before I'd been attacked.

Apparently my reaction got the attention of the others, I looked up to see Steve Newlin standing on the outside of the chain link door that I was now trapped behind. That realization caused my heart to skip a beat—I was trapped in a room with a vampire.

"Ah, Miss Hathaway," Steve sneered, shifting his irritated gaze to me, "I see you're awake."

I tried to speak but I found my throat was too raspy and dry. I had to cough before any sound could come out, "H-How do you know my name?"

"Your license wasn't too hard to find in that dirty car of yours, which we've had towed, by the way. And your other belongings have been destroyed."

I was on my feet before I knew it, stomping over to him, paying no mind to the vampire who was calmly watching our exchange. "You can't do this—this is kidnapping, theft, blackmail…something! I will sue your ass before I—"

"Oh really?" Steve laughed condescendingly and I gritted my teeth. "And what do you exactly plan on doing from behind a locked door? Call those disgraceful fathers of yours?"

That was the last straw. Letting out a low sound that I'm embarrassed to say sounded vaguely like a growl, I tore at the links of the gate, desperate to get to Newlin and claw his eyes out. "You leave my dads out of this! They're twice the men you'll ever be!"

He frowned, "I hardly think so. They're sinners in the eyes of the Lord, just like you are." As if he'd just had an epiphany, Steve looked from me to the vampire. "Looks like you two deserve each other."

It wasn't until he started walking away that the vampire finally said something, stepping closer to the door but noticeably avoiding the silver embedded in it. "Wait, what about the girl? What are you going to do with her?"

Steve stopped as he rounded the corner of the hall, peeking his head back into our view. "Think of her as a last meal, Godric."

My eyes widened at that thought and I found myself backing up until I was stopped by a wall. I watched as the vampire—Godric, his name was, apparently—turned to me with an almost forlorn look in his eyes.

"I am not going to hurt you," he assured me in that same quiet voice.

Despite the fact that I knew I should be terrified—hello, vampire—I found myself believing him. He returned to the armchair, pressing his face into his hand. I frowned and was strangely overcome with the desire to comfort this boy…man, I suppose. I had no idea how old he was but he didn't look a day over eighteen. His eyes told a different story, however. They held the knowledge and wisdom of someone hundreds of years old, at least.

"So," I found myself saying as I walked over to him, "your name is Godric? I'm Spencer."

Godric looked up at me and gave a tired smile, "Pleased to meet you, Spencer. It is unfortunate that we had to meet under these circumstances."

Glancing behind me and taking another breath to calm my nerves, I pulled a small crate over to his chair and sat down across from him. "What are you doing here anyway? I didn't really think vampires could be, you know, kidnapped."

"I was not kidnapped," Godric clarified. "The Fellowship had been planning on taking a vampire for quite some time and I did not wish to see one of my own put to such a fate, so I offered myself."

I couldn't help it. My jaw dropped. This caused him to laugh slightly, "Yes, I've been getting that reaction quite a bit."

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I think…I think it's really great of you to offer yourself up like that for the good of your kind. It just makes me sad that it's come to this."

He nodded, "I agree. I fear humans and vampires may never be able to coexist in peace. For centuries I've watched my kind hide in the shadows of the night, waiting for the day that we could make our presence known. And now that we have, I find myself wishing we'd waited longer, as it seems this has only made our situation worse."

Despite the fact that he was supposed to be a cold-blooded killer, my heart was breaking for him.

"It's not going to help, you know," I whispered, staring at my clasped hands. "Whatever it is you're planning to do. I don't think anything will stop the Fellowship, however admirable the effort."

"I fear you may be correct, Spencer. But I have to try."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is it you plan on doing?"

Godric's face set into a blank mask as he told me, "They want to tie me to a cross and bring me into the sunlight for all to watch."

"That's terrible!" I gasped. "You can't go through with this, Godric."

"Can you come up with any other way to appease the Fellowship? At least for now they are leaving vampires be." Godric's words held truth, but I just couldn't believe them—I wouldn't.

"That's why I'm here," I insisted. "I'm a reporter and I'm trying to find information to bring the Fellowship down. I'm sure if I could just get news out about what they want to do to you—and who knows how many other vampires—I'm sure the American Vampire League would have something to say about that!"

"I appreciate your concern," Godric said with a crooked smile, his eyes twinkling as he looked over at me. I felt my cheeks heating up as I realized I'd just gone off on a vampire rights rant in front of him. "But I have already resigned to my fate."

My shoulders sagged and I slumped forward to lean my elbows on my knees, resting my chin in my hands. "This just isn't fair. Someone has to take Steve Newlin down a few notches…."

Godric actually chuckled at that one, "That would certainly be a sight to see. I admit, I would like to be around long enough to see that happen."

Glad that I'd managed to improve his mood at least a little bit, I began to perk up myself. By now my eyes had adjusted to the darkness and I was able to take in his appearance better. His hair was short and dark, a contrast to his pale skin and glowing eyes. What surprised me the most about his appearance, however, were the dark tattoos peeking out of the collar and cuffed sleeves of his linen shirt. I resisted asking about them, not sure if that was out of place. They looked ancient, though, which made me wonder just how old this vampire was.

It wasn't until I glanced down at his scarred hands that I remembered the scent of burning flesh before I'd passed out.

"What happened to your hands?"

He glanced down at them sheepishly. "I'm afraid I lost my temper a bit when I saw Gabe manhandling you and grabbed at the silver gate."

Now there was a shocker. "Does it hurt?"

"Not so much anymore," he admitted. "By tomorrow they'll have healed completely."

"I thought vampires heal instantly?"

"Usually we do," he nodded, tracing his fingers along the scar tissue. "I haven't fed in quite some time, however, so it takes a bit longer for my body to recuperate."

Thinking about Godric feeding—and all that implied—made my stomach somersault. We were silent for a few minutes while I took some time to bounce back from that one.

"So, when is…it going to happen?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I do not know," he admitted. "They will not tell me, but I will not let it until I finish my final task."

"Which is?"

He turned to me, determination in his eyes, "Breaking you out of here."

What do you think? Worth continuing?