Blaring country music and loud yelling preceded a black towns car as it pulled up to a large white farm house in what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The rear door opened and a long, exposed leg extended into the night. The leg was followed by long blonde hair and finally the girl belonging to the hair and leg was standing. Hands reached from the car and their owners beckoned her to return to the vehicle and resume what was clearly a party. But she shook her head and smiled her glossy lips, it was almost four and she had much to do tomorrow before her trip. Where she was going trumped spending more time drinking and smoking. She smiled at the thought of her upcoming trip and waved goodbye as the car pulled away.

The tall girl ran a hand through her silky blonde strands and straightened the bottom of her silver dress. She shivered in the cool air, although her chest was adequately covered, her back was almost completely exposed in a deep V and the hem fell well above her knees. She slipped her black stilettos off and carried them in her free hand as she strutted up the walkway to the home, keys in hand. She really did hate saying goodbye to everyone so early but she didn't think that she could stand it anymore. She had to get packing and get her house in order for her evening departure. She knew that she should sleep soon though she wasn't sure that she would be able to. She was creating a mental checklist as she pushed the key into the lock and eventually pushed open the large red door. A movement caused her to drop her shoes and look around. She stepped into the doorway quickly and opened her mouth to speak when someone stepped out of the shadows.

"Eric! Could you act any creepier?" The blonde's face had paled considerably although she recovered quickly. "What are you doing out here?"
The ancient vampire stood in front of the young girl sizing her up. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered, though it had been some time since he had seen her last. The past few years had clearly done her well as before she had been a pretty youth, but now she was a beautiful woman. If he hadn't seen so many other women in his very long life then he would be taken with her, but he had and he wasn't. To him she was simply another human and very soon would be a thorn in his side.

"Oh, you know, come to chat, hang around outside. The usual." He replied nastily.

She rolled her pale blue eyes and moved deeper into the foyer, slinging her coat and clutch across a bench. "Cute. Haven't lost your sense of humor, I see." She took a few more steps before turning around. Of course he wasn't following her, she hadn't invited him in and as a result he looked irritated already. "Please, won't you come in. It would be an honor." She rolled her eyes again as he shot her a glare and made his way into the house.

The two blondes entered the kitchen and the girl filled a glass from an open bottle of merlot and stumbled as she took a seat at the wooden block island in the middle of a very modern kitchen. The stumble was the only hint that she had given as to how drunk she was. Eric paid closer attention and the smell of alcohol infiltrated his senses. He noticed how her eyes were slightly glazed and her hair was just a little on the messy side. He almost hated to do this while she was in this condition, but he had no choice.

"I would offer you a Tru-Blood, but I know how you feel about them. So let's just get down to business and you tell me what brings you to the great state of Georgia." She took a large gulp of the dark red liquid and leaned on her elbows, staring at him intently. "Let me guess, Godric wants me to have an escort this time. I swear, he's getting more and more paranoid."

Eric just shook his head. She wasn't going to take this well. "Then what? Does he want me to drive?" She could tell from the look on his face that this wasn't good. "Eric... What's going on?"

"He saw the sunrise this morning, Ellie."

"What are you talking about? I talked to him three nights ago. I have a plane taking me to go see him tomorrow night. He's waiting for me." She picked up her phone from the counter and started to dial Godric before Eric took it from her hands.

"He's gone, Ellie. He said it was time."
The blonde pushed herself away from island abruptly causing the stool to fall to the ground. She snatched her phone back and glared at him. "Stop it! Why the fuck are you here? And stop fucking lying to me! I'm going to call him right now and he's going to be pissed that you're treating me like this."

He glared at her. "You think I'm fucking lying about this? You think I want to be here in your house on a Saturday night? I have a business to run and things to do and for some reason I have to come here and babysit a fucking human."

Ellie ignored him and called Godric but it went straight to voice mail. She tried three more times before he took the phone from her. "Believe me now?"

"Shut up! What the fuck did you do to him? Where is he?" She pushed the much taller man hard. "Where's Godric?" She kept pushing him until he grabbed her roughly by the wrists. "What did you do?!"

"He's gone, Ellie." Eric felt a momentary pain of sympathy for this girl. Tears began streaming down her face and she struggled futilely against his grip. He never was sure what sort of hold she had on his maker and how she kept him so enamored of her, but for the last twenty odd years he had heard more about Ellis Jacobs then he cared to. She was just a human and Godric was over two thousand years old. How could one simple girl keep an immortal interested for so long? He felt her struggling lessen until it completely stopped and he dropped her captured wrists. "It happened this morning. He asked me to come here immediately and bring you back to Louisiana with me."

She shoved him hard to make her way towards the stairs and he quickly lost any warm feelings he held towards her. "Humans," he muttered.

She fumbled towards the stairs, tripping over the rug. Ellie fell to the ground, her wine glass breaking in her hands. She began to sob, her body heaving silently. Godric was gone and she didn't know what to do. Eric watched her quietly, the smell of her blood hung in the air and his fangs distended. It smelled sweeter than most but the scent of his maker, no matter how faint, was painfully sharp to the viking. He controlled himself and watched the back of the girl rise and fall violently, waiting for them to slow. He fought the urge to share in her mourning, for he remembered that she was crying for his maker. Instead, he took this time to look around her house. It was an old farmhouse with the typical thick walls and exposed beams and all of her furnishings could be from another era. Only his sharp eyes could pick out the modern touches such as the large flat screen above the massive hearth and the speakers hidden in corners.

He turned back to the prostrate girl as she began to rise from floor, pulling glass from her palms. Blood streaked down her hands and she looked disheveled. Eric was reminded of her humanity and felt slightly disgusted. "What would you even know? What I don't understand is why he would make me come and personally attend to you." He snarled at her.

Ellie took a step towards him and slapped him, leaving a bloody trail across his cheek. "You know nothing. You have no idea what he was to me, how dare you assume that I was just another human to him. I don't care who the fuck you are, but you have no idea. He was everything to me." She ran up the stairs, stumbling only slightly once she reached the top.

Eric stepped into the bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He wetted a black hand cloth and wiped his face off. He understood that she was upset. Humans could get very attached. He supposed he would have to get used to it. When the vampire was satisfied with his appearance he exited the large bathroom and made his way up to the top of the stairs. All of the doors were open except the one at the end of the hall and of course he could smell her there. He hadn't smelled a human that was so mouthwatering in hundreds of years. Maybe that was why Godric was so enamored with her. He could only imagine how she tasted.

He knocked slowly on the door and pushed it open. Eric was tiring of the dramatics and hope she wasn't still overcome with grief, but she wasn't. The drunk girl was sitting on a window seat at a large bay window overlooking blackness as it was still night time in the country. She still wore her party dress and he saw just how revealing it was with her legs pulled up to her chest and entirely exposed. She was clutching another cloth to her still bleeding hands, but she seemed in control of her emotions. Once again, Eric felt sadness for her. There was something about her, but he wasn't sure what.

"What do you want? To laugh at me and my stupid normal tears and my stupid bleeding and my miserable existence?" She whispered quietly, not even bothering to turn her head to look at him.

"The sun is coming up and I was wondering where I could sleep," he replied simply.

Ellie turned and looked at him. He was so imposing, standing there and filling the doorway. She couldn't help but compare him to Godric, who was slight and young in comparison. It was almost laughable that the younger looking vampire had this immense control over the man in front of her. The girl stretched out her legs and looked back at the previously pitch black landscape out the window. The sky was indeed graying at the horizon and so it was time to retire. Where before she had immense energy and wanted to ready herself for leaving, now she only had extreme tiredness and fatigue. She felt emotionally drained and just wanted to sleep.

Ellie closed her eyes and for a brief second, Eric wondered if she had even heard him. Then she raised as gracefully as she cold manage and strode across the room to him. She flicked the switch on the wall and long, black panels rolled down the windows blocking out any possible sunlight. Eric realized that this meant that she was prepared for vampires and one in particular might actually come here a lot. She had the Tru-blood in the kitchen, dark sheets, and light-proof rooms. The scent of Godric was faint in the room, but it was more here than anywhere else in the house.

"You can stay in here. I'll be in the room next door. I'll come and get you at sunset." She said softly. She walked through a large door in the corner. Eric moved around the bed partly out of curiosity and stripped himself of his black t-shirt. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her slip off her dress and underwear and then markings on her side. He assumed it was a tattoo but didn't have time to catch what it was as she pulled the shirt over her head, covering her nakedness. He busied himself with pulling out his cell phone and throwing it on the bedside table as he pulled his own pants off, revealing boxers.

"It's not a free show, you know," she hissed as she exited the closet. She strode across the room to the main door and slammed the door shut behind her.

Eric rolled his eyes as the girl had done earlier and switched off the light, almost immediately falling into the sleep of the dead.