Tova/Sheila is but my own to use and abuse………. All the others are Charlaine Harris's and Allan Ball's wonderful creations!
Thank you so much for all the reviews! They warm the heart at this time of year… May a lot of snow come your way soon!
Godric lost track of time cradling Tova. Suddenly he felt Isabelle by his side. "Godric, I have made your room ready, take her there" Godric nodded a thank you to Isabelle and lifted up Tova. She felt even lighter than last time. Fast and soundless he made his way to his room, Tova still not noticing that they were moving. Carefully he placed her on the bed and lay down next to her. She was still crying. Her eyes were as red as blood from the tears and she was shaking. "Are you cold" Godric whispered. Tova shook her head. Then she turned around, her back facing Godric. He did not know what do to. Was it appropriate to put his arm around her? Would she get scared again? Suddenly Tova sat up on the bed. Without looking at him she spoke "I need to take a shower… please" Her voice small and frail. "Sure" Godric said and jumped up from the bed showing her the en suite he had. Godric never really used it and he very rarely had visitors that used it so everything looked new and untouched. Tova turned towards him "Will you please let me be by myself for a while?" Godric did not want to but how could he possibly say no to her at this time. "Ok, I will wait in the library for you". Tova did not know why but she blushed. "And can you please have Pam send me some new clothes. I fear I have ruined this dress. Tell her I will repay as soon as I am back to work, I promise" Godric nodded, a spark of hope in his chest. "Sure, I will have them laid out on the bed for you" Tova smiled at him. That was the first smile he had seen her give him that was genuine. He saw her enter the en suite and lock the door. Godric sat there for a while just listening to her move around in there. He heard Tova unzip her dress and he immediately thought of her beautiful milk white skin with the angry red marks.
The sound of water woke him up. He had promised to get Tova some clothes. Quickly he exited his room, closing the door behind him. He knocked on Pam's door before entering. You never knew what or who might be in there. She smiled when she saw Godric. "Look, I am sorry for her clothes. I will replace them" Pam began" "Pam, that's not why I am here." "She needs more clothes." "I am afraid the white dress you borrowed her is ruined." "How much was it?" "I will pay you for it." Godric interrupted Pam. "Oh, that little one. No worries it was un-wearable for me anyway" "So you are here for more clothes for her" Pam smirked. "Does that mean she will be staying for sometime?" She inquired. "She needs to heal, Pam." "We can't let her go like that" "Too much is at stake" Pam did not answer, instead she went over to her closet. "Well, what did you have in mind?" "Something like this?" she asked and pulled out a small pastel dress that showed more than it covered. "How about something less revealing?" Godric suggested. "Like this?" Pam pulled out a black number. "Um, Pam I am quite sure you are aware that that dress leaves nothing to the imagination." Pam sneered "Boring…" Godric took out a purple dress with long sleeves. It was knitted and looked comfortable. "You think she is a modest one?" Pam raised an eyebrow. "That's not the impression I got when helping her but have the dress by all means, it is too boring for me anyway" "Thank you Pam, will you let Eric know I expect him later on tonight" Pam nodded. Godric left and went back to his room. He was happy with his choice. It would go well with her red hair he thought to himself and smiled. He hadn't felt this content for quite some time. He was going to help this little girl.
Tova let the water wash over her. Everything in the bathroom looked new and shiny. She guessed that vampires didn't really need to shower. She looked at her body covered in bruises. What had she been thinking? Agile as a cat? She had always been clumsy and she had really shown them that. Godric wasn't going to let her go. She knew that by now, but she was not so sure that he would kill her either. Something was odd about that Godric. Pam and Eric fit the form for a vampire perfectly – cocky, beautiful and no compassion at all. Tova thought she saw something else in Godric. He almost seemed to care. She didn't like the path this episode of her life was taking. She had sworn never to be dependant or trust anyone but herself again. Yet here she found herself in a vampire nest, taking a bath without a care in the world. She even considered staying. All these feelings left her even more confused. Tova buried her head under the water flow from the shower. It washed all the memories away.
Godric had had a fire made in the old library fireplace. It had not been used for a while. He liked looking into it. He liked the ever changing shape and behaviour. A fire could almost be likened to a human he thought. They were so unpredictable, irrational and their lives were so short. Yet they were so warm and intriguing. "Godric, you wanted me" Godric turned his head around to find Eric there. "Yes, my child." He continued to stare at the fire. "I need you to clean out Tova's apartment, drive her car away." "Make it look like she has moved?" Eric asked "And tell her work she won't be coming back". Godric added "Yes, Godric." "Is there anything else?" Eric added. "No that will be all, I will take care of the rest myself" Godric answered. Eric quickly left the room and left Godric on his own. He continued watching the fire, feeling the heat and trying to predict its' next movement. It was impossible.
Tova took care when exiting the bath. She had enough bruises already and she didn't want to fall, legs akimbo and have him there to help here yet again. She had embarrassed herself too much already. Tova wrapped herself in the blue towels. They felt so soft. Even the one wrapped around her head felt soft. She went out into the room. She hadn't taken time to look at it before but now she did. It was amazing. Everything went in dark brown colours and there were paintings and artefacts everywhere. Godric seemed to be some sort of collector. Tova slowly made her way to the bed and found the purple dress perfectly laid out for her. It looked gorgeous. Tova loved the fact that it actually covered her. Quickly she slipped into it and snuggled. She proceeded to wrap her foot with the old bandages. She really hoped the doctor would come soon so that she could get them changed. As long as the tiny doctor woman would not charge her, she was already too much in debt to these bloody vampires. Then again, the doctor was tiny and Tova must be able to win a wrestling match against that woman. Then again, maybe not. She heard a faint knock on the door and then Pam entered. "He does know what suits you already" Pam said eying Tova up and down. "You will need these to go with the dress" She said and tossed two purple high heels on the bed "Um, have you noticed the brace on my foot?" Tova asked dangling it in front of the vampire. "Oh, don't worry. These are size 11, even Paris Hilton could fit in these" Pam left the room as fast as she had entered. Tova looked at the shoes. She barely knew how to do high heels without a broken foot and now with one? This was going to be disastrous. She braided her hair. Had she had some hair pins she would have put it up but she didn't want to open any of Godric's drawers. Slowly she tried on the shoes. Pam had been right. The shoes fit perfectly with brace and all. How the fuck do I walk in these, Tova thought. She aimed for the door. On her way she passed a mirror. She smiled when she saw herself. If it hadn't been for her bruised forehead – thank you stupid stairs and her broken ankle – thank you stupid Eric, she would look kind of ok. She opened the door and found herself in another hallway. This one was lit up but no other doors existed. At the end of the hallway she found herself in front of another flight of stairs. You got to be joking with me, Tova said to herself. She removed the high heels and slowly walked down the stairs. There was no point in not trying to make any sound. She had already tried that once and failed miserably. At the end of the stairs she somehow found herself in the library. She had never realised that there was a flight of stairs leading right in there. Tova saw Godric sit with his back against her. He must have heard her coming. She put on the high heels and proceeded to walk towards Godric. He did not move when she sat down next to him. They sat there for a while. Tova felt confused but also relaxed. There were no pressures of talking or explaining the past. They were simply sitting there. Tova loved the fire, the unpredictable fire. In her dreams she had a big house somewhere rural and every night she would lit a fire to keep herself and her loved ones warm. She smiled at the thought.
Godric had heard her coming but he did not want to scare or pressure her so he had simply waited for her. Tova had sat down right next to him. An improvement he thought. She smelled of lavender and her hair was braided. The dress fit her perfectly he noticed. He saw the big bruised bump in her forehead. Poor girl was as clumsy as… Well, just bloody clumsy he thought. The peace was disturbed by Isabelle arriving with Dr Ludwig. "Chair" the little woman almost yelled. She proceeded to look at Tova's foot while Godric watched Tova's face out of the corner of his eye. She was hiding the pain of having it handled very well. "Dr Ludwig, do we need to go to the hospital with this young woman?" Godric inquired. "Look, I told you four days ago you needed to but you vampires refused…" The doctor answered with an angry voice. Tova felt her heart jump, Had she been there for four days? That meant it was Tuesday already. Crap! She had not resigned. Frannie must be all over the national news by now looking for her and her landlord would not be happy she hadn't paid the weekly rent. Her thought was interrupted by Dr Ludwig "It is healing quite well but it is going to take time. Keep it high" "Here are some more painkillers and sleeping pills to take if you need" "You could give her some blood and she would be all fine you know, ancient one" Dr Ludwig said and looked at Godric. "What?" Tova exclaimed. Dr Ludwig corrected her glasses "Vampire's blood heals; you do know that don't you?" She continued: "And as you two are an item I thought… " Dr Ludwig was interrupted by a unison "NO!" from both Godric and Tova. "We are not a couple" Godric corrected her. Dr Ludwig sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever you say ancient one" Why is she calling him ancient, Tova thought to herself. "I will be back in 4 days" "Who will escort me out?" Isabelle appeared. "I will Dr Ludwig" Isabelle proceeded to the door with the doctor right behind her. "Those two are an item you know, sooner or later" "Can't stop love" Dr Ludwig said when she walked out the door. "Not even death can nowadays" Isabelle closed the door behind her. She hoped that the doctor would be right.
After the doctors comments Tova felt uncomfortable. She certainly had no interest in being a vampire's girlfriend and she was not going to drink any blood from anyone. Bloody cheeky doctor Tova thought to herself. How could she possibly think they were a couple. Maybe she was drunk. Yes, she was probably a drunk doctor. Someone should stuff her in a bag and drop her from something high, Tova thought. Godric wondered if the doctors comments had made Tova feel uncomfortable. She sure looked like it. The blood idea was not a bad one but he was sure Tova would never agree when she was clear in her head so he was not even going to suggest it. "I think it is time for bed" Tova said and broke the deadly silence. "Um, where can I sleep?" Godric deep in thought had missed the first part. "Sorry, you can take my room." "Up the stairs and to the left – the same way you came from" "Are you sure?" Tova asked. "Yes, I am very sure that that is where my room is" Godric said and smiled. Tova rolled her eyes at him "No, I mean don't you need to sleep?" Godric looked sad and said "No little girl, I am very old and require very little sleep anymore" "There are other places for me to rest in" Tova rose to go to the room. Her feet were killing her – these shoes were probably made by Satan himself and that was why Pam had given them to her. Before she left she turned around and looked over her shoulder. He was still sitting there looking at the fire. "Godric" He heard her say his name so he spun around. "How old are you?" "Much older than you little girl, much older" and with that he turned back towards the fire. Tova realised he would not give her a better answer tonight. She took of the shoes when reaching the stairs. The label read "Jimmy Choo" – so Jimmy Choo was shoe Satan. Tova hated him!
The walk to the room was uneventful. Tova opened the door to the room. It looked exactly like she had left it except that someone had prepared the bed for her. She felt grateful. Tova felt knackered and wanted to lie down instantly. She undressed and tossed her clothes over a chair close to the bed. She had been commando but she did not have the courage to ask Pam for knickers only to get two little threads to wear or something like it… Did vampires even wear underwear? Tova loosened her hair and let her bruised body rest in the big bed. The cool sheets cuddled her naked body. Tomorrow she must remember asking for a t-shirt to sleep in so that she would not risk another naked incident. Then again, he had seen more of here than anyone had in a long time so what was the point. Tova wondered about his age. How old could Godric be? Maybe he was more than 500 years old but he looked so young. His age intrigued Tova. She promised herself to find out. She felt strangely comfortable, not only in the bed but here in this house. She felt sheltered.
Godric sat in front of the fire until it burnt out, only some small orange traces left. The past few days had been full of drama. He had a lot on his mind and a lot to do. Not only did he have Tova but he also had to worry about pastor Steve Newlin and his followers. There had been talks about an imminent attack and certain vampires were on edge and wanted to kill. Godric did not want any more blood shed. He just wanted to live in peace but as Sheriff he needed to protect his nest as well. He needed to call a meeting and he needed to do it soon.
Eric entered Wal-Mart like it was his own store. He found a round little dark haired lady looking at him. To be fair – anything or anyone looked small to Eric. He took a good look at her name tag. It said "Frannie" " Frannie dear, do you know a Sheila?" Eric asked the little woman. He could have sworn she had jumped two meter at the sight of him and she looked big eyed on him, clearly realizing that he was a vampire. "Yessss, sir I do" She was scared, typical human, Eric thought. "Well she is quitting this job now" Eric said and started to walk out of the store. "Sir, with all due respect we would need that in writing… I think!" The little woman yelled. Eric stopped. "Where do you keep your paper?" Eric asked. "Over there" the woman pointed. Eric walked to the shelf she had pointed out. He could hear her following him. He opened a book took a red pen from another shelf and started writing "I Sheila, hereby quit my job at Wal-Mart with immediate effect. I have decided to become a stripper at a vampire club called Fangtasia" Eric signed with Sheila's name and a star. Women did that sort of weird stuff to one another and they all seemed to like it. "Here we go, is that enough?" He asked handing the woman the book and pen. "I think so" Frannie stuttered. She was deathly scared of vampires and wondered how Sheila had become associated with them. She had been such a nice girl, a bit weird, but nice. Now she was to become a stripper and at a vampire club of all places! Frannie sighed and shook her head as she saw the tall blond vampire leave the store. Today's youth was wasting their lives away on nudity and the un-dead. She would say a prayer for Sheila tonight.