Thank you for the alerts/reviews. :) Hope you enjoy this one. I would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far, if it is still all right and if everyone is still in character despite the changes.


Chapter Two

After a showdown with the Fellowship, we were invited back to Godric's house and nest.

Even when people lined up, expressing their congratulations at having their sheriff back in the Area, he didn't seem completely all there. It was like his mind was elsewhere, somewhere that nobody else could reach him. Every time I looked his way, I found his gaze was locked on me. I wasn't sure why, but all he seemed to want to do was stare at me. When my brother went up to his chair, it was finally then that he bothered to lift his eyes away from me, with what appeared to be some reluctance, I noticed.

"I just want to say that I'm real sorry for what the Fellowship put you through," I heard Jason say, though quite awkwardly. I guess he wasn't too sure what he should say. It was the only reason I hadn't bothered approaching Godric myself; I mean, what could I possibly say that someone else hadn't already just said?

"You have helped save many lives today, Mr Stackhouse. For that, you should feel proud." I caught Godric look my way again; His soft voice quivering. "Please know that both of you and your sister have friends in this area if you feel the urge to visit again."

Jason snorted, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. He'd never been particularly good at this kind of thing; At having heart-to-hearts. "Ah, thanks, man, but you know... I don't think me or my sister will be wanting to come back anytime too soon. I'm thinking once was enough."

Godric's eyes bore into mine again as he smiled halfheartedly. "Then it is a shame," Godric simply said, dismissing him.

The intensity of his stare was getting too much for me, so I had to look away, feeling my face flush with heat. I didn't think I had ever been in the company of someone with such an arresting, penetrating stare before. I thought it was all the more sad because what went on behind those eyes, was what seemed to be a sad and long story.

I caught Bill when he came into view, standing at the opposite side of the room. He had been acting strangely distant all night; Or well, maybe that was just me being plain old paranoid? I could have sworn he was avoiding me; He could hardly look me directly in the eyes all night.

I had a deep feeling though, an intuition almost, that something had happened between the hours where I was stuck in trouble down at the Fellowship of the Sun headquarters. Something had kept Bill away, and while I wasn't entirely sure what that something was as yet, it had to have been due to something huge.

He caught my gaze, and I beckoned him over to me with a hand. His body tensed, and I could almost feel his reluctance as he made the walk towards me.

"What's with you?" I asked in confusion. "You've been avoiding me all night?"

Bill sighed loudly and shook his head, like I was being so childish. "Nonsense. With all the commotion that has been going on, there's just hardly been the time to talk."

"Where were you though?" I asked, the question I most desperately needed an answer to. I just had this terrible feeling. "I was stuck down in that basement for hours and usually, every time I've needed you, you've come running to me, even in broad daylight like that time? What was keeping you?"

He could hardly look me in the eyes. He stared past me at someone else in the crowd. "We'll talk about this later tonight," he said, frustration evident in his voice. "Now in a room full of people is hardly the appropriate time. Besides, it's complicated."

"Complicated?" I repeated, on the verge of laughing. "What could be so complicated that you can't just spit it out already? What kept you?"

"I was held," he admitted brusquely. "I could not come to you at the time."

"Held? Like... kidnapped?" I shook my head, still struggling to understand. "Held by who? By Eric?" He could be talking in tongues for all I knew, with what little I could make sense out of.

He wouldn't even dare look my way, and it was the most frustrating thing in the world that he wouldn't. Wasn't I worth that much? To share eye-contact with, at the very least? I'd read once that you could tell someone was either being untruthful or was fibbing if they refused to maintain a good level of eye-contact. Was that why? What was he keeping from me?

"I heard my name being spoken?" Eric's voice came from behind me, and when I turned, there he was. His eyes were dancing with humor. "I do hope you are speaking well of me?"

"What reason do I have to? We were sent into a trap. I nearly got raped."

The amusement vanished from his face at my words. "Yes, and I am sorry about that." Something caught his eye and when I followed his gaze, I saw he was looking at Godric. "It would seem someone has taken a liking to you," Eric said, hinting at Godric. "And he's not the only one."

"Eric, that is well and truly enough," Bill warned frostily.

Eric grinned at the consternation in Bill's tone before he left us to ourselves again. I was still trying to wrap my head around it, both Eric's casual comment and Bill's aloof behavior.

But my desperation at having to know what he meant would have to wait for a moment. Commotion broke through my staring and I turned to see Isabel had bought in Hugo.

Hugo was on his knees near to where Godric sat in the chair, while Isabel, poor thing, she was crying she was that heartbroken by him betraying all the vampires to the Fellowship. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Who knew what Godric would see a fitting punishment to Hugo for his betrayal? It was very much like a person kneeling before the executioner before they sliced their head off.

"This is the one who betrayed us," I heard Isabel cry, her voice a heartbroken wail. I felt like crying for her myself, I felt so bad. "Do with him as you find fitting."

Godric took one glance at Hugo, before lifting his gaze up to Isabel again. He blinked at her. "This human is yours, is he not?"

Isabel sniffled loudly, "Unfortunately yes, he is my human. I do not say this without regret."

Godric glanced down at Hugo again for a very long moment. It was impossible to know what he was going to do in the next minute. Would he take Hugo's life, like he had Gabe's down in the basement at the Fellowship? Or would he show mercy and spare him?

"And do you love him?" Godric asked curiously, his voice just above a whisper.

"I thought I did," Isabel muttered, her voice breaking. Even a fool could see that she did, and Godric evidently was far from a fool.

For the second time since being around him, I saw a glimpse of a faint smile coming across his mouth. He looked at Hugo once more before returning his gaze to Isabel's, a glistening warmth in his eyes. "And yet it appears your love for him still remains," he observed knowingly.

"It does," Isabel admitted, wringing her hands out at her sides, like she was trying to shake herself out of it. "I am sorry, I do." She straightened up, wiping her eyes quickly. "But you are my sheriff, and you must do what has to be done, what is right."

Godric nodded perceptively, before he said, full of authority, "And what is right to me is that he is free to go."

There was a loud uproar of shock from some of the vampires due to Godric's verdict; From Stan, especially. It was obvious Stan was the type that would prefer to wage a war than to raise the White Flag.

"What?" he questioned in outrage.

Godric's eyes slithered to him coldly from where he stood. "I said the human is free to go," he said, his voice clearer, louder. "And it would be wise if he did not return." He turned his eyes back to Hugo in warning, who had started crying and quivering in relief himself. "I fear it is not safe for you here any longer."

"This is a travesty," Stan kept up, growling, "He betrayed-"

"-And this is my verdict," Godric cut through Stan clearly. He didn't even need to so much as raise his voice for the words to have their intended affect. "I am sheriff of this area, underling, not you."

Just like that, Stan fell into a simpering, quiet mess.

"Eric, escort him out. Make sure he leaves unharmed and that he does not return here again."

"Thank you," Hugo choked out, and when he reached out to touch Godric's shoe in gratitude, Godric quickly moved, swinging his legs away as he stared down at Hugo dispassionately.

"I advise you to go now before I change my mind."

"Thank you, sheriff," Isabel said, and she started crying again as she followed Eric while he dragged Hugo out by the scruff of his neck.

I sagged against Bill. Then I remembered we weren't on very good terms right now, and I moved away.

Just bearing witness to the scene made me feel overwhelmed with various emotions; Relief for Isabel that Godric had spared the life of the man she loved, new found gratitude at Godric for his compassion, and most of all like a ton of bricks had been lifted off my chest at there having been no bloodshed, violence or fighting.

"Gosh, poor Isabel," I said to Bill, wrapping my arms around myself. "She was so devastated."

"Yes, it appeared so. It was kind of Godric to-"

I could see he foolishly believed he was getting out of my questioning, only I wouldn't let him have that. Not tonight. I wanted my answers, and I wanted them now, no matter how many times he tried to distract me. "So you were held?" I gave him a pointed look when Bill sighed heavily in annoyance. "Held by whom? And why? Whatever reason for?"

Bill gave me a desperate look. "Please, can we do this later?"

Though I was talking to Bill and determined to get straight to the bottom of our latest niggling issue, I heard them behind me.

"Hugo's been dispatched," Eric was informing Godric dutifully. "I told him not to stop driving until he reached the Mexican boarder."

"Very good."

"And, I have also arranged for an AB-Negative human for you." When I glanced behind my shoulder quickly, I saw that Eric was smiling in that sly way of his, clearly attempting to brighten up his maker's mood. I could see Godric wasn't buying it, though. "As no doubt you are aware, AB is extremely rare."

"Thank you." Godric smiled a tight-lipped smile. "However, it is as I said. I am not hungry, and I no longer have the taste nor appetite for blood."

"Well, you have to feed eventually? I doubt the Fellowship had anything decent to offer?"

Godric's eyes flitted to me again, and he nodded his head towards me meaningfully. When Eric made the move to look in mine and Bill's direction, I turned my head back quickly. "Perhaps I can make an exception?" I heard Godric say, his voice so quiet it was barely audible. I couldn't be certain, but was he referring to me? To feeding from me?

I fought against the impulse to smile nervously as I focused my attention back onto Bill.

"No, not later," I said stubbornly. "We can do this right now. So help me, Bill Compton, if you don't start talking then I-"

"-It wasn't Eric," he admitted reluctantly. "Eric was not the one that kept me unable to attend to you."

"Then who?" I braced myself, because I knew something bad was approaching around the corner. Something I most definitely wouldn't like to have to hear. "You've been acting strange around me all night. So please, if you care about me in anyway at all, you'll be straightforward and honest with me and tell me the truth!"

"Hello, there." A woman's sickly sweet voice came from behind us, and when I turned, I saw that it was a vampire, though one I'd never met before. She was looking between me and Bill with her dark eyes; I could tell she was very much enjoying herself. "I'm Lorena and you..." She paused for a moment to rake her eyes down me, sizing me up in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. It was a contemptuous look, like she thought I was nothing more than a dirty flea. "You must be Sookie, the one all that fuss is about."

"I beg your pardon?" I spluttered in confusion. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've ever met?" When I shot Bill a look, I could see he was on the verge of losing it. His cheeks were trembling, he was that enraged.

The woman laughed, "Well, now. Aren't you just a morsel?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Oh, no," she laughed again, eyeing Bill with a look that was strangely adoring. "Hasn't Bill mentioned me? How funny, seeing as... I practically made him into what he is today."

"Your Bill's maker?" I asked in shock. Bill had never so much as mentioned who his maker had been.

"Oh, I'm practically more than just his maker, aren't I, darling?" Making my head reel, she reached over, caressing Bill on the cheek with a pair of glistening red fingernails. "We're practically lovers, aren't we, darling? Especially after tonight?"

My stomach dropped at her words and the betrayal stung me so brutally, I almost hit the floor. Bill wasn't just held up for the night while I had been in trouble, evidently. No, he had been busy making rounds in the sack with his maker obviously.

"Bill, is this true?" I demanded weakly, though I hardly wanted to know the truth. "You were with her the whole time I was stuck in the Fellowship's basement... screwing each other?"

"Of course not," Bill protested loudly. "I have not seen Lorena in years. Besides, she no longer has any hold on me. She released me."

"But were you in the hotel room with her?"

Bill hesitated, his mouth falling open then closed. I thought I got my answer then.

"We had a marvelous night together in the bed you two shared," Lorena went on viciously, tearing me into two. "Didn't we, darling?" she laughed. "We had a good time talking about you, about how you're nothing more than Bill's plaything."

"What she has failed to mention is that she was practically holding me a prisoner against my will," Bill tried to excuse. "I had no choice in the matter, not when-"

"-Yet you said she released you years ago?" I spat at him, hating the unsteadiness of my voice. Last thing I wanted to do was make a scene in public and break down crying, but it was hard not to. "She released you, and she no longer has any power over you as your maker. So then what was stopping you from leaving the room? Do tell me that, Bill Compton!" When he simply stared at me wordless, I grew fed-up.

How stupid I had been. I had loved Bill, wholly and completely. Yet he cheats on me the instance his maker comes to town? How dare he! Tears were threatening to spill up in my eyes, and I realized I needed to get away. And quickly.

Just as I went to move, a hand closed over my arm tightly, and when I looked back, that hand belonged to Lorena. "Now, where do you think you're going, little girly?" she asked, her voice a taunt. Her fangs were out, sharp and gleaming at me.

"Let me go," I warned her as the stabs of hurt in my heart intensified. Her hand clenched down even tighter to the point of pain. She was crushing me, hurting me. "Let me go, you've made your point well enough," I spat out at her furiously, tugging furiously. It was impossible to get free; She was far too strong. "You two deserve each other."

Just as I was getting too afraid, it happened. In a way too quick for me to comprehend, my arm had been released, a hand was wrapped around Lorena's throat, and it belonged to none other than Godric himself. Tears streamed down my face as I glanced down at my arm, at the redness there from Lorena's fingers digging in. I was definitely going to bruise later, and the aching told me it was going to be painful.

Lorena did not try to struggle out of Godric's grasp; Clearly she knew it was dumb to try to, especially with a vampire like Godric, who was no doubt older than Lorena. I was just relieved that at least someone had made her let go of me; What hurt the most, was how Bill just stood there, letting her harm me.

"I do not know nor care who you are," Godric said in a deadly low voice, his fingers tightening around her throat, so much so that Lorena made a retching noise. "But what I will not stand for, is someone like you coming into my nest and disrupting the peace and pleasantness of the evening."

Lorena made another pitiful noise, helpless to do nothing else but stare at Godric.

"This human here has shown nothing but loyalty to our kind and courage and yet, you dare to touch her in such a way?" His hand didn't loosen from around her throat as he looked at me, somewhat ruefully. "I pity not only her but you for your savage ways. You appear to be a fairly old vampire, old enough to know better, yet you still choose to act this way? And you." Still not releasing her, he turned sideways to address Bill, "You seem to know her?"

"Unfortunately yes, sheriff."

"Yet you let her treat your human in this way?" Godric sounded nothing else but disgusted by him. "You have shown yourself to be every bit as savage as she. I no longer welcome neither of you into my home and urge you to leave at once."

Finally, Godric released Lorena, and she brought her hands up to her throat, breathing heavily. I felt no sympathy for her, terrible as that was. I also felt nothing but relieved that Godric was kicking both Bill and her out. I'd had enough of Bill for one night.

"Both of you leave, now. And do not return."

I met Bill's gaze, and he extended a hand out to me. I didn't move to take it. What was done, was done. "Sookie," he muttered pleadingly. Then he turned to Godric, "Sookie is my human, and I feel it is only right that I-"

"-You will not." Godric stood closer to Bill, getting face to face, and I worried then that something bad was going to happen. Not so much that Bill could cause any harm to Godric, but because I knew Godric was far more powerful than Bill and more of a danger to him. Godric had been pushed enough and, evidently, the way I had been treated pushed him over that edge for good. His tone was deceptively quiet and frankly, terrifying, when he addressed Bill: "I will take care of her from hereon. She is welcome here, and a valued guest. No harm will come to her in my home tonight, I will see to that."

I turned the other cheek, hugging myself tight when Bill tried to get through to me again. But it was too late for that now; I didn't think I could ever forgive him, not ever. He'd hurt me enough both emotionally and physically for one night.

Hope this wasn't crappy? Don't worry, it'll stray far away from the series very soon plot wise, etc. :) Thank you for your kind reviews, they've made my day. And thank you for reading.