Chapter 7

A/N: Many thanks to Otakugirl1996 and anonymous guest for your encouraging words. Below is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy :)


There he was again, the attentive nice guy. But he kept himself so upright and locked up tight that Enid didn't know how to get past his vampire shell which he carried like a shield. She waited for him to say something, but he only looked at her with an intense expression in his eyes. After a few minutes of silence, Enid sighed and looked down as she massaged her temples.

"Thank you, Godric, for your help with this guy." She looked up and sought out his eyes. "But you don't have to feel obliged to sit here with me now."

"Enid-"

"Actually, I wanted to dance a bit more and then go home. You don't have to take care of me, I can do it myself," she assured him. "I don't want to give you more work than you already have." In keeping with their mood, a rather melancholy song just started playing. She laughed inwardly. 'What a suitable accompaniment...'

"I know what your position means to you, so please don't bother yourself with me," she said as he remained silent. Enid sighed again and gave him a sad smile.

She expected him to leave now, but she only saw him frown. "What do you mean? Enlighten me please, Enid."

Enid chewed on her bottom lip and then took a deep breath. 'Okay, Enid, you can do it. What could happen, worst case? That he wants nothing more to do with you? If there's the slightest chance he will be himself again, I can live with it.'

Nervously, she looked around for Isabel. "Is it possible that Isabel could take over your duties completely for a while? Here and now I mean?"

Godric raised his eyebrows and wondered what she was getting at. "That is possible. When I am not present, my second will automatically be in command."

"Okay." Enid got up. "Then come with me."

Without turning back, she headed for the exit and stepped out into the pleasantly warm night air. She had already moved away from the club a bit when she felt a breeze and Godric suddenly walked beside her.

"I thought you liked the music. Why did you want to leave now?" he asked Enid with a curious undertone in his voice.

Enid walked on and headed for the park, which wasn't too far away. She still didn't look at him when she answered his question.

"I wanted to get away from the other vampires."

When he suddenly stood in front of her and held her by her upper arms, Enid was startled. "Little one, you have nothing to fear from them. I would not let anything happen to you. I told you that."

Now it was her turn to frown. Then she laughed softly. "Oh silly, I didn't want to leave because I was scared, but because of you."

That had apparently dumbfounded him because he cocked his head and asked in disbelief, "Excuse me?"

She laughed again and put her hands on his arms. Breathing in the pleasant night air, she drew him on. "Can you promise me something?"

"What do you have in mind, little one?"

She half turned to him while walking and looked at him seriously. "Promise me I can talk to you the rest of the night and not you as a sheriff."

"I am afraid I do not understand you properly, little one. I am the sheriff."

"Yes, you are. But, Godric, you're so much more. First and foremost, you're an independent person like everyone else."

Meanwhile, they had reached the park and Enid headed for the small lake which was hidden behind trees. There she gestured Godric to sit and he settled down cross-legged. She herself knelt behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Enid-"

"Sssh, Godric. Relax. Just relax…" she breathed in his ear and began to knead his upper arms and shoulders.

"You know… I feel comfortable in your presence and would like to be your friend. I think you don't have many friends in your position and that's why you've forgotten how to differentiate between yourself and you as a sheriff."

With steady movements, she stroked from his shoulders to his neck and back.

"When we danced earlier... that was you. You were totally laid back and had fun, right? But after that you fell back into your role as sheriff. I'm sorry, Godric. I... I didn't know at that time how to react and, frankly, was a bit hurt too. I know that you're a vampire and I know what that means. I see you for what you are. Since I came here and started living with my uncle, I've known Isabel. She taught me well about your kind without revealing your secrets. I understand now that it's hard for you to open yourself up. That's why I wanted to come here with you. Here are no other vampires around. You know, no spying ears, and you don't need to be a sheriff now."

When she felt that he was relaxing a bit, she extended her massage to his upper back. She felt his pleasant rumbling more than hearing it.

"I think you're overworked. Isabel has often complained to me that Stan often takes a break from his duties, and besides our irregular girls' nights, she is very attentive to herself too. But I've never heard her say that you have freed yourself from your duties. That's what you confirmed yourself earlier too..."

With circular movements, she took care of his neck now. He suddenly put his right hand on her left and turned his head to look at her from the corner of his eye.

"I am over two thousand years old, little one, and have been a sheriff for a very long time now. It is not easy for me to mess up my previous life just to... have fun."

"I understand that, Godric. I really do. But do you know what I think? You long for it. You long for a change, no matter how small it is. Your eyes sparked while dancing, and your aura literally shone with joy." She stopped moving and rested her forehead against his head. "After that... you were like dead."

Godric laughed humorlessly. "Technically, we are dead."

"Oh yeah?" She got up, sat down in front of him and looked him straight in the eye. "When you're all dead, why are you moving? Why are you drinking? Why are you thinking and having sex and living the way you live? No, you're not dead, Godric! Some... magic might freeze you during the day, but do you know what? There are also flowers that only bloom at night!"

Now that she was sitting in front of him, she could see that she had apparently amused him. His liveliness had returned to his eyes and he gave her a smug smile.

"So you say I am a night flower?"

"Well, why not?" she teased him. As they sat next to a cluster of flowers, she quickly picked a few and tied a wreath. Godric watched her with interest and when she was done, she put the wreath on his head. He looked at her with raised eyebrows and she couldn't help it – she laughed out loud.

He also chuckled for a while but soon became serious again. "There are plenty of humans who think we are freaks of nature."

"And do you feel like a freak?" she asked him in return. "I tell you what. You are a freak. And that is a good thing. Because there's beauty in you. There's always beauty in being a freak because uniformity is boring and not very desirable in my eyes."

She smiled warmly at him, but something dark distorted his features.

"I am afraid that I am much worse than just a freak."

That got her attention. "Why?"

Godric did not say anything for a while, but then he raised his hand and stroked her cheek. But he did not linger there. He let his hand slide further down until it covered her throat, while he looked at Enid with an absent look.

"You have no idea of the abominations I have committed in my life, young Enid. I slaughtered countless people, men and women. And I enjoyed it."

Enid felt that they had just gotten to the real problem of the whole affair.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Godric looked at her incredulously.

Enid took his second hand and put it around her throat as well. "I'm sitting here, Godric. I see you and I trust you. I'm sure you committed those acts in your young vampire years, right? Today you're different." She had an idea and grinned at him mischievously. "You know, changing your behavior is also a trait of the living, not the dead." Enid took his hands then and kissed both. He smiled and also took her hands in return to press his lips against her palms.

"So let me clarify that. You killed a lot of people and you certainly were not the only vampire that acted that way." After his nod, she continued.

"Let me tell you that the current world population is heading for seven billion. That is no excuse for wiping out many lives on your own; but mankind survived it, Godric. It was certainly not good and catastrophic for every one of your victims. After all, dying is never nice, but... if you look at the bigger picture, the natural balance, then it makes sense. I believe that everything that happens in nature has its purpose."

Enid looked at him thoughtfully and, if she was honest with herself, a little anxious. "Did you... kill children too?"

"No!" he exclaimed at once. Godric held her hands with his left and cupped her head with his right one so he could stroke her forehead with his thumb. "With my hands I have eradicated countless lives, but no blood of children sticks to them."

With a faint smile she gave in to a deep feeling and leaned into his hand. "You see? Even then you had a moral concept." She closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the feeling of him stroking her forehead.

"Every life ends sometimes. But when children are taken out of life, that's pointless and... unfair." The last word she had whispered, but then she laughed quietly and humorlessly. "Unfair. That's a bit cynical, isn't it? This is a typical human feeling, and the natural balance doesn't care about what we consider unfair. But children haven't really lived just yet, and when they die, it's just…" Enid's voice failed and she looked sadly at Godric as her thoughts wandered to all the sick children, like young Kayla for instance.

"Unfair," Godric finished her sentence.

"Yes." She looked him in his eyes and felt suddenly ashamed.

"Man, I wanted to cheer you up. Instead, I'm moping."

He seemed to ponder something. Then Godric suddenly leaned forward and kissed first her forehead and then her cheeks in slow motion. At first, Enid was startled by the sudden movement, but when his soft lips touched her skin, she closed her eyes with a sigh. When he sat back, she almost followed him because his touch had felt so good.

"I enjoy our conversation a lot, little one. And of course you can be sad around me too. As I understand the concept of friendship, we are to support each other when having negative feelings."

She immediately gasped in anticipation. "So we are friends, yes?"


Godric's undead heart leaped joyfully when seeing her reaction and he nodded. "It is an honor to have you as a friend, Enid." He wrapped all his hopes and desires in that one sentence. And his feelings seemed to have reached her, because she held her hand over her mouth, touched. She blinked a couple of times in rapid succession and then got up.

"I have an idea of how we can come up with more positive thoughts." She looked at him with a mischievous grin. "You can swim, yes?"

Of course, Godric was able to swim, but for a moment, he just sat there, obtuse, and wondered whether her quick change of feelings. With quick movements she stripped off her skirt and top and Godric suddenly faced her seductive body. She wore a black and white spotted bra and panties. Without shyness she stood in front of him, showing her feminine curves. He let his gaze glide over her body, and what he saw ignited a fire deep inside him that he had not felt for many years. He watched as she walked the short distance to the shore with careful steps and put one foot into the water. Laughing, she turned to Godric and waved him over.

This woman confused him more and more. She awakened a side in him that had been dormant for a very long time, hidden under all the layers of blood and violence and restrictions of his vampire life. Rather than cowed, she was outspoken and open about his aura, the natural balance and his brutal past as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Who are you?"

She looked around and raised her eyebrows. Then a vile glint came into her eyes. "Someone who will be most dissatisfied if you don't come here right now, my friend!"

"I do not know a human woman who is so unreserved with standing in her underwear..." And she looked good. His Enid had no idea how much he had to fight to keep his fangs hidden. When he heard her beautiful laugh again, a tingling sensation ran over Godric's skin and he let out a low possessive rumble.

"Oh, Godric, whether I'm wearing a bikini or my underwear, where's the difference? I don't see any." Then she looked at him pouting and with a mumbled "I'm off," she let herself slip into the water.

Godric really did not know what to do. He had just won her as a friend and now he was already feeling aroused by the thought of them both swimming in the lake. Should he risk getting closer and maybe destroy the blossoming friendship? If he did not touch her, nothing untoward might happen. He really wanted to have fun and she promised it.

Before he could make a decision, his hands had already betrayed him by unbuttoning his shirt and stripping it off. Enid seemed to like that, because she applauded and cheered him on.

"Come in, come in. It's wonderful."

Within seconds, he was on the shore, only wearing his underpants and jumping after her, feeling freer than he had for a long time.