Chapter 7 Round and Round

"I can't believe I'm actually going to go in there." I mumbled to myself as I stood outside the Moon Goddess Emporium building the next afternoon with my hands on my hips and a glare in my eye as I stared straight ahead at the closed door and wondered whether I would actually end up doing what I came here to do. I had been standing out here for the past 30 minutes, trying to summon up the courage to step through that door and find the bitch responsible for hurting my husband. I guess perhaps the reason I was also stalling was because of Bill's warning. He had specifically given our group orders to not interfere with any of the necromancers and at the time I had agreed. But when I woke up this morning, finding the bed next to me empty and I remembered what had happened, I had been nearly blinded by my rage. And after a few hours of trying to fight it back, I found myself standing here unable to turn back. And now, I didn't want to turn back. I straightened myself up and nodded. "Let's do this."

I slipped inside the dimly lit store, finding it crowded with shelves and hanging things with what seemed like a million candles sitting around the room. There was no one in sight, but I could hear footsteps shuffling around somewhere in the room behind the front desk. I peeked through the barely open doorway and sat pillowed positioned in a circle on the floor and it occurred to me that that was where the incident had occurred. I stood there for a minute just staring, trying to imagine how it had exactly played out and I found myself just getting angrier by the second. It was a miracle I wasn't lasing out and breaking something because I felt such a pull to do that. How could I not? This group, this coven had stolen every memory from Eric's head and left me with this empty shell that I had to take care of and somehow fix. I was angry and I was going to take it out on ….

"Can I help you?" A meek voice asked me, breaking my focus and drawing my eyes off to the left side of the desk where an older woman was standing where it had otherwise been empty. She was in a long dress that stopped at the tops of her brown shoes and her light brown hair was stringy and slightly unkempt. I could tell that this was Marnie, it was just a feeling I was tuned into. But she wasn't what I was expecting to see. After knowing she was the one responsible for erasing Eric's memories, I thought I would see a monster. But she looked so normal, like a woman my Grandmother would have been friends with. She approached me with a kind look, motioning to a small table next to us. "I assume you came in here for a reading..."

"Uh...um...yes I did." I somehow managed to agree to even though it was far from the reason why I was here. But I didn't want to give away that I knew what she had done because it could end up putting me in danger and with it being the middle of the day, no vampires could come to my rescue. So I had to act like a normal person or customer, or whatever you would call a person coming into a place like this. I tried to put a smile on my face. "I never had one done before and I was curious."

"Most people are. Take a seat." She told me, pointing to the chair that wasn't facing the door while she sat across from me and rubbed her hands together. Her eyes studied me for a second. "Do you have anything of a loved one on you? It helps bridge the gap between the living and the dead."

"Oh, yes I do." I nodded, removing the thin bracelet from around my left wrist, the last piece of jewelry my gran had given me before her death a few years earlier. I handed it with reluctance to Marnie, who cupped it in both hands just as a slight wind blew through the room, ruffling my loose hair and startling me, but not enough to flinch. I was use to odd things happening at this point. "Um, my Grandmother gave me that..."

"I know, she's here." Marnie shushed me with her statement, her eyes closing as she appeared to be concentrating on whatever it was that she was doing to converse with my Grandmother. "She wants you to know that she's ok."

"That's a relief." I couldn't help but let down my guard a little bit at this comment. I had always wondered if my Gran was at peace after she died and now I could put that notion to rest. But the only problem now was that, with my guard down, it let in something that I wasn't expecting to hear. Another voice.

"Allison, it's me Gran. I know you can hear me. I haven't forgotten your gift." Marnie flinched, her eyes going to me suspiciously and I know she had clearly heard my gran speaking to me. "Allison, I don't have much time to warn you..."

"Warn her? Warn her of what?" Marnie demanded, her face growing defensive immediately like she was deeply offended that my grandmother's spirit would suggest she was a danger to me. "I haven't done anything to her."

"She may not have done anything herself, but she is being possessed by a spirit named Antonia. That's the one responsible for what was done to your husband..."

"The vampire was your husband?" Marnie questioned, confusion filling her face as she tried to follow along with my Gran's voice as well as speaking to me. "I didn't do anything to him..."

"She's lying, she helped Antonia erase Eric's memories. She knows exactly what she did." Gran was adamant and I knew enough that when she sounded like that, there was no fighting her on it. She would remain that way until she got her point across. "She knows who you were when you walked in here..."

"No I didn't." Marnie protested, looking at me as she shook her head vehemently. But she was a stranger and if my grandmother was warning me about her then I was taking my Gran's side. "I swear I didn't..."

"Don't listen to her, she is attempting to be innocent so she can get you to side with her. She knows the power you have stored deep inside of you and she wants it." Gran sounded scared for me and it was only when she talked like that did I feel the flicker of apprehension I should have felt when I first walked in here. "Allison, get up from that table and walk out of this building. Go now."

"I'm not finished yet." Marnie grumbled the moment I broke focus and removed the bracelet from her hand and jumped up before she could move or even flinch. "Wait don't go. Stay for a second and we can..."

"Look lady, when my Grandmother tells me to haul out ass out of a place. I don't stand around and ask questions. I just go." I retorted, knocking over the chair in my haste to scoot back from the table. I turned on my heels and as quickly as my feet would allow it, I ran out the front door without looking back.


That night

"Oh man, if Bill ever finds out I went to confront Marnie then he will be so pissed." I mumbled to myself as I pushed around the food I had set on the plate in front of me for dinner but couldn't bring myself to eat just yet. I was too busy contemplating what I had done today and whether or not I should say something. I sighed heavily, running my fingers through my loose hair before I turned to look at the darkening sky. "Yup, he'll be pissed."

Of course he would be pissed. He had strictly given orders, to the vampires and to Sookie and I to not interfere with the necromancers and that had just been last night. And what do I go and do? I go to the very place where they gathered to confront the leader. I was such a moron, it could have gone badly. But when I went there I just did not care. I was blinded by my fury about what they had done to my husband and nothing could have stopped me from going there. Bill may have power over the vampires but he wasn't my King. He couldn't order me to not do something. But he was my cousin in law, he was family and I should have the courtesy to at least attempt to follow his orders. But I hadn't and I was the only one who knew what I had done. And I could chose to keep this to myself until the opportunity presented itself for me to own up to it.

"Um...Hello..." A timid sounded voice spoke up from the doorway and I lifted my head to find my absent looking husband standing there with his hands hanging down by his sides and his hair all askew as he looked at me like he was expecting me to tell him what to do now. I stood up from my chair at the table just as he walked across the tiled floor towards me. His face had changed and I could just detect the movement of his nostrils flaring which meant only one thing. He had picked up my scent and I was already seeing a hunger lust starting to build up in his eyes. His head tilted to the side before he said without restraint. "You smell good."

"Oh God." I rolled my eyes, knowing he wasn't commenting on my perfume. I edged around the side of the counter, heading for the cupboard where all the True Blood was stored as I knew what he was getting at. I removed a bottle and after I uncapped it, I handed it to Eric who had gotten a lot closer to me. "Here. Drink this."

"No, I don't want it." He replied, putting the bottle down on the counter with force, his hunger seeming to grow as his eyes went down to my neck and he actually reached out to flick the hair off my shoulder. "I want to taste you."

"I don't think so." I frowned, trying to remain calm as I shot a look up at Eric before going to walk around him. But I didn't get more then a few steps away before he latched his hand to my arm and he yanked me back in front of him so hard that it made a pain shoot up my arm. I glared up at him, knowing I needed to be firm so he knew he couldn't walk all over me. "Eric, let me go. You're hurting me."

"Oh...Oh I'm sorry." Eric seemed to have a moment of clarity where he realized what he was doing and he immediately let go of me, stepping back with an apologetic expression on his face. "Forgive me, I was just so hungry. I only thought it was ok because you are my wife."

"Well it's not ok. And in fact, it's up to me to decide when it's ok." I told him as firmly as I could, reaching around him to the counter where my fingers grasped the bottled blood and I proceeded to force it into his hand. "Now drink this. It will take the edge off."

"Thank you." He said, accepting it with no more resistance as I walked back to the table to sit down and finish my dinner. All was quiet for a few minutes as I picked up my fork and sat there in my own thoughts. It was too quiet. I took a second to glance over at Eric, only to find him still standing there watching me. But it was more then just watching, it was studying like he wanted to memorized every feature of my face. But when he realized I was watching him now too, he looked away almost shyly. "You really are beautiful."

"You say that a lot." I replied softly, setting down my utensils as we stared at each other. "Like a lot a lot.."

"It's the truth. You are stunningly beautiful. I am a very lucky vampire to have such a beautiful wife." He stated almost proudly even though he had no clue about anything as his blue eyes never left my face. "Did I not say it before?"

"Not like that..." I shrugged, not able to remember a time when the old Eric had paid me a compliment as sweetly as this one was. It was so off putting to hear it come out of his mouth and just further reminded me of how far gone he was. " And not this often."

"But you're my wife..." Eric tilted his head to the side, his hand still gripping the bottle. "I should be saying it all the time."

"You say that because you don't remember who you are." I told him, getting up from the table and walking over to the garbage can to dump my uneaten dinner in there before going to the sink and practically slamming the dish down before I looked at him again. "It's easy for you to say that because you don't know any better."

"Have I upset you?" He asked, picking up on my change of moods. "If I have then I apologize."

"It's not your fault. It's those witches." I said bitterly, furiously wiping at my eyes to avoid any fallen tears. I didn't want to cry in front of this version of Eric. And actually I didn't like crying in front of the old Eric. But at least then, I knew that version. I didn't know this one and it felt odd to break down in front of him. So I tried to push that back as I answered him. "We never get a break and this is one of the worse setbacks we've had."

"But it will get better..." Eric asked me, his face holding all the innocence of a child. "Won't it?"

"I don't know anymore..."


25 minutes later

"Ok, Godric we're all here tonight just like you asked us to be..." Helen said upon walking through the front door of Godric's house with Gabriel by her side and a smile on her face. But that smile quickly went away when she spotted Louie sitting on the other side of the room from him, and he too did not seem entirely happy to see her. She wished Godric had told her that Louie was going to be here when he called her earlier, but he hadn't. Not that she wouldn't have come even if she did now before hand, but at least then she would have been prepared. She paused in the doorway and it took a nudging from Gabriel before she was able to step into the room and take a seat with her progeny before going on. "What's the problem?"

"Eric is." Godric began right way, eying both her and Louie before deciding it wasn't worth saying about just yet and went on with his explanation. "You see, there is a group of necromancers here in Shreveport that Bill wanted to have investigated to see if they posed any threat to us..."

"Of course they pose a threat, they're witches after all." Helen couldn't hide the disgust in her voice when he mentioned this particular type of witch. She had no soft spot for witches based on her encounters with them over her thousand year old life. And necromancers she especially hated since they were the worse kind of witch. And if a group of them were here in Shreveport, then they had to be put out immediately. She turned to look at Godric. "But what does Eric have to do with this?"

"He was the one that went to check it out last night and something happened because they cursed him and erased his memories. He has no idea of anything. Not himself or me or Allie." Godric explained, closing his eyes as he remembered holding his friend last night as she fell apart over this new problem they ad to face. It was probably one of the worse situations because it was like a whole new person was inside Eric, he wasn't himself. And facing these witches with him not knowing who he is was just more then any of them were willing to handle. " Sookie was the one who found him on the side of the road. She brought him back to Bon Temps and then after Pam and I got there, Allie arrived and was told everything."

"And let me guess, she didn't take it well." Louie pointed out, his face darkening so quickly that Helen couldn't help but look at him for more then a few seconds. It was a look that was derived more then just because of a threat against one of their own. It was a protective look that came from hurting his friend and that was Allie. And seeing him get like that was almost sweet. Louie grit his teeth. "That poor girl. This isn't fair to her. Or him."

"No it's not and we're going to fix it somehow. We just need to be careful about how we go about it. We need the head witch alive so she can reverse the curse. And if we don't have a fool proof plan then they could curse us or we can never recover Eric's memories if we kill them prematurely." Godric finished the explanation by leaning forward and hanging his arms over his knees. He was quiet for a moment, giving Helen another chance to look at Louie who was now looking at her like he was trying to communicate something to her. But Godric lifted his head again to speak. "This is a touch situation."

"Is there something else you're not telling us Godric?" Helen saw the look in his eyes that she recognized when he had left something out and she didn't hesitate to call him on it. "You look like there is something more."

"There is. The King doesn't think this is just a random case of a crime against a vampire. He thinks it was planned." Godric replied, sitting back up in his chair with his eyes flaming in a way none of them had seen before. It was the look only a maker could have when their child was threatened. Helen had had that look plenty of times with Gabriel. "The assassination of the Queen and the curse on Eric comes too close together and he is sure that someone is behind it."

"Who would send a bunch of witches after vampires?" Gabriel wondered out loud as they all were thinking the same thing. "The only person that comes to mind is that Fellowship of the Sun asshole.."

"Steve Newlin is not a threat to us right now. We have spies trailing him at all time so we would know right away if he had planned something. So it has to be someone else. We just don't know who." Godric frowned, obviously not use to not having the answer about something being that he and Louie were some of the oldest vampires around. "But until the crisis is over, we need to stand united. All of us."

"I agree." Helen nodded, tearing her eyes from Louie and patted Gabriel's arm. "We will do what we can to help Allie and Eric."

"I will too." Louie spoke up, his eyes trailed straight ahead. "Whatever is needed, I'll do."

"And just so we're clear..." Godric began to say, suddenly looking at her and then at Louie with warning eyes before waving his hands at them. "Whatever issues you two have with each other and whatever is going on, you are going to put on the back burner right now. We need to have all our focus on the crisis now, not the tension between you two."

"Absolutely." Louie was the first of them to agree, before getting to his feet and walking over to grab her arm before she could protest. "And just to make sure that's possible, Helen and I are going to have a little chat."

"I don't think..." Helen began to say but Louie had already yanked her out the front door and was pulling her into the dark night.


10 minutes later

"Why are you avoiding me?" Louie demanded when he had dragged Helen far enough out into the woods where they wouldn't be overheard and he finally let her go, watching the way she crossed her arms and stepped back from him as if he were contagious. "And why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" She asked, staring straight at him with her eyebrows raised far up like she had no idea what he was referring to. But despite the passage of time, he still knew her all too well. Even when she was trying her hardest to bullshit him. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Helen, come on. You know exactly why I dragged you out here." Louie pushed, not willing to take her crap right now when there was so much other stuff going on. Stuff that was way more important then their hang ups. He had agreed to put this aside for Godric so they all could be in this together. But in order to do that, he needed to find some common ground with Helen and that meant that they had to talk about their encounter. "Why are you refusing to talk about what happened?"

"What happened?" She threw back, tossing her shimmering blonde hair behind her shoulder in a particularly cold way that he had never seen her do. There was something very distant in her eyes, like she was purposely trying to push him away by pretending not to know what he was talking about. "You're not being very specific."

"Fine, you want specific?" He snapped, losing patience and reaching out to grab her again before she could even think of pulling away. "Let's talk about the other night when we were fucking in the dirt for the first time in a thousand years like animals. Is that specific enough for you?"

"Why are you so damn angry?" She asked, her face falling like his crude words had struck a chord with her and she managed to pull herself away from him furiously. "I thought you would be happy that I don't want to talk about it."

"Why would I be happy about that?" Louie hissed, her dancing around the subject matter was really angering him. "Why would you say that?"

"Because like I said that night at the bar, I know it didn't change anything and you don't have to make yourself feel better by talking it out with me." She shot back, her green eyes flashing like she was more trying to convince herself then him of what she was saying. "I'm not naïve about how things work. Maybe I was when we first met but not anymore. I'm giving you an out here. You got to fuck me and I'm not after you to talk about it. That's all you."

"I don't want an out." Louie practically shouted, wanting to rip something out of the ground in frustration. "I just want to talk."

"About what?" She snapped, tightly crossing her arms. "What's there to talk about? We had sex and we're still at the same place we were when I first revealed myself. So why torture us both by rehashing the moment over and over again?"

"Because it wasn't just about the fucking for me!" Louie roared, losing all control over his emotions as it all came pouring out. It was true that the sex with Helen wasn't just about the physical. It had meant more to him even though he really did just enjoy the intimacy. But it was with Helen so of course it meant more to him then if it had been with anyone else. He just needed to figure it out. "I don't know what it means for us and I don't know where it's suppose to go from here. But I do know it was more then just about the physical aspect of it. And I need to talk it out with you to understand it."

"Well I don't really want to talk about it." She shook her head so her hair partially hid her face. "Talking will get us no where because we both know what the end result will be. We will just be back to where we were, talking every night..."

"Is that not enough for you? Do you want more?" He asked, seeing something in her face that made him change direction from where he was going. He wanted to yell some more but he knew her face all too well and he was able to pick up on a pause in her features, suggesting that he had gotten to her. And he was going to hold on to that. "Were you hoping that it would evolve into something more then a friendship?"

"I guess we'll never know." She shrugged, staring at him for a second like she was going to add something else to it but then decided not to and instead flashed away into the woods before he could protest. Louie watched her go, disappearing further into the darkness and could only think of one thing.

Why was she so afraid to talk about what happened?


Back at the house

"Alright Godric, I'll see you in a little bit. Bye." I said into the phone, listening to my newly reinstated best friend say the same thing before the call ended and I finally set the phone down on the table in front of me. I had the smallest of smiles on my face for the first time today and it was thanks to Godric. After coming back to the house last night, something had happened between us to send up back to the place we use to be in when we were best friends. He had done what he said he would do, do whatever I needed him to do. So when I had asked him to leave last night so I could be alone, he had done it. When I left him a message to come over so I wouldn't be alone with this new Eric, he called back to not just say he would be there, but that he would also have Helen, Gabriel and Louie come as well. Godric was trying to do everything in his power to make this easy on me and I was grateful for his efforts. Because Sookie and Bill couldn't be there with me every single night even though they would try. But they had their own lives to lead and it wasn't like Eric was giving me trouble that I couldn't physically handle on my own. So that left Godric to help me and I was glad it worked out that way because it would give us a chance to fix what was wrong with our friendship and really get it back to how it use to be before the attack.

I left the kitchen and walked through the house and came to a stop in the doorway of the living room. I had heard Eric come down from the second floor but he hadn't sought me out. Instead he had taken a seat here in this room and from what I gathered, he had been staring at the fire since then. It was quite a change from the way he had been when I first saw him this evening and I wasn't sure what to make of it. I mean, I was glad that he wasn't following me around and reminding me just how much he wasn't like his old self. But him just sitting there looking the way he did was not offering me any comfort either. I left my post by the door and walked across the carpet towards the couch and as I sat down next to him, I saw that his face was full of frustration.

"Eric?" I began, watching as his head slowly turned to face me, his expression never changing as his eyes landed on my face. "Are you ok?"

"I'm..." He stopped speaking as if he was trying to figure out how to describe how he was feeling right now. He may have looked angry and frustrated but there was such a hint of innocence in that face that he still looked nothing like his old self. He looked at me again and shrugged. "I am very frustrated."

"Why?" I asked with a frown, fighting the urge to reach out and touch even though he was still my husband. But he felt like such a different person now that I felt like it would be trying to comfort a stranger. So I kept my hands to myself. "Why are you frustrated?"

"Because I hate not knowing who I am. Ever since last night, everyone around here has been telling me who I am and who I know. And I just don't feel connected to it. And it's extremely frustrating." Eric balled up his hands on top of his legs, his honesty coming clear through in a way it never had before he lost his memories. "It makes me feel out of control and I do not like that feeling."

"That's so weird, because what you just described is a trait of your old personality. The old Eric would have said the exact same thing." I pointed out, feeling a small twitch of my lips as I saw this very small glimmer into Eric's stolen self. They may have taken his memories away but he still had a connection to himself and I was seeing it. "Your real self is still in there somewhere."

"I wish I had it back. I feel lost." He stated in such a forlorn voice that it made my heart shudder and I felt that urge to touch him again. He faced me straight on so I couldn't look away from those wounded blue eyes. "You've been very kind to me..."

"I would hope so, I'm still you wife even if you can't remember that." I said, feeling my chest squeeze painfully. That brief moment where I almost forgot that Eric wasn't cursed, that moment was over. It all came rushing back to me. "I know it's hard on you too, but I will take care of you until this is over."

"You are very sweet to a vampire, we must have been great lovers." Eric actually smirked as he said this and just like that I was back to seeing his old self shining through again. But it was short lived as he stared at his fists with that same lost and frustrated look. "I just wish I could remember you, remember us."

"Yea, I wish you could too." I sighed and then the room went silent as we both turned to stare at the fire, neither of us saying a word for a very long time.


40 minutes later

"Now you two are going to behave right?" Godric asked Helen later that night as she stood together with Gabriel and Louie inside the front door of Allie and Eric's house and listened to Godric issue them both a warning as if he honestly thought they would cause a scene in someone's home. Helen looked off to the side where Louie was standing, finding him not looking at her. After their conversation earlier in the woods that ended with her running off, she wasn't expecting to have to see him again tonight. But when Godric called and asked her and Gabriel to join him and Louie at Allie's house to keep her company, she couldn't just say no. And now that they were all here, she was just hoping they could all get through it in one piece. Godric narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what is going on and I don't care. Right now, the only thing that matters is that girl. Anything is not welcome. Are we clear?"

"Yes father." Louie said sarcastically, his face guarded like it had been earlier and she wasn't entirely use to seeing him like that. He was usually so carefree and sweet and now he was looking like everything annoyed him, especially her. And she worried whether anything could make him stop looking like that. Louie stood up straight and nodded towards her progeny. "Are you going to give Gabriel a talking to as well?"

"No. Why would I? He doesn't give me problems like you two do." Godric shot back, no longer acting like the calm, collected pushover they all thought he would forever be. But the people who truly knew him the best, knew he could be fiercely protective in the most unexpected of ways. And he wasn't the doormat that everyone saw. "Just do me this one favor and don't cause trouble..."

"Whose causing trouble?" Allie's voice joined the fray in the front hallway and they all turned to see her standing there with a confused looking Eric standing behind her, completely out of place. Allie's face seemed to flood with relief when she saw them all standing there and she left her place by Eric to move towards them. "I'm glad you guys are here. I needed a distraction."

"Well prepare to be distracted." Louie said good naturally, his tone completely different from the voice he had been using since they met up and he moved forward towards Allie, sending Helen a look before he walked over and embraced the tiny brunette tightly. And for a second, the air was still as Helen watched Louie and Allison interact. He seemed like a different person with her, more open and more protective. She could see his face from the side and saw the concern and worry written there for his friend. That expression said he would have done anything in his power to make this right for her and despite Helen's problems with him, she couldn't help but be touched by his sweetness towards the girl. Louie pulled back slightly to look at her with a sympathetic half smile. "I'm sorry about what..."

"Oh my god." She exclaimed, all traces of stress and sadness gone from her young pretty face as she moved away from Louie like she had been shocked with electricity with her mouth hanging open. "You and Helen slept together?"

"What?" Louie looked equally shocked, quickly looking around to see if they all heard and with them being vampire of course they all heard the comment. "You read my mind?"

"You were just thinking about it?" Helen knew that if she had still been human, her face would be fire engine red right now. She was completely mortified at her secret being uncovered by accident. She had no intention of telling anyone else and she had forgotten that Allison could read their minds. So she must have heard it when Louie and her were touching and knowing that their night together had been revealed when they were all standing so close together was even more uncomfortable. Helen hid her face behind her hands, no longer able to look anyone in the eye. "Oh dear God, I am so embarrassed."

"I can't believe that's why you guys were acting weird the past few nights. And I can't believe it even more that I didn't know about it." Godric looked so caught off guard and Helen couldn't even blame him for it. She never wanted him to find out like this, if ever. And now it was in the worse way possible. He looked between them both and scratched the back of his head. "We were suppose to come here to keep Allison company and I find out this instead? Well this makes things uncomfortable..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that." Allison chimed in, looking ashamed for causing a rippled effect through the group for her observation. "My head just isn't working correctly right now and I didn't stop to think..."

"Don't apologize, I think it's great. I never liked the idea of her hiding it in the first place." Gabriel was laughing at the situation, finding humor in it that the rest of them couldn't see. But at least he was honest about what he said. He had spoken about how he didn't think it was right that she wasn't admitting to it but he couldn't say anything about it because Helen had forbidden him from it. But he never failed to remind her of it whenever they were together. And now there was no reason to hide it any more. Gabriel rolled his eyes before saying. "I'll never understand why vampires hide the dumbest things."

"Speaking of hiding things..." Allie frowned, her eyes going from Louie and her to Gabriel and if possible, her face was filled with even more surprise. But this surprise was on a different level. "You met him too?"

"Who are you talking about?" Helen asked, wondering what the hell Allison and Gabriel could have in common to make her look at him the way she was. Clearly the two of them met the same person judging by her comment. But who? "What's going on now?"

"You were just thinking about the vampire you met. You saw him a few nights ago at Fangtasia. I just met him the other night, the night Eric was cursed..." Allie explained, eying Gabriel so oddly that Helen felt detached from them. She kept staring at him like she expected him to speak but when he didn't, she went on. "Why did you have him on your mind? You know, the vampire named Alec."

"Well, for some reason I haven't been able to push him out of my mind." Gabriel explained, glancing at her like she knew he would when that particular name was mentioned. "something was off about him and he seemed very interested in Helen that night. He kept on making it seem like he knew her."

"He did the same thing when I met him in the store." Allie exclaimed excitedly like she was happy that someone else had just confirmed her suspicions. "He said he knew her from years ago..."

"But I don't know a vampire named Alec. But that was my younger brother's name." Helen found herself saying in a much quieter voice then she wanted. It wasn't often when she spoke about her brother, mostly because it was too painful to remember the loss of him from that time. He was the only relative of hers that she missed so desperately and the only one that made her wish she had gone back to see before he was gone forever. Gabriel knew all this and that was probably the reason for this strange vampire sticking to him the way it had. "It was probably just the name that struck a chord."

"But when I met him, I didn't know you had a younger brother named Alec. And I clearly heard your name in his head, as well as seeing your face. He knew you." Allison protested, completely ignoring the rest of them and Eric as her attention was now on the only other female in the house. "He said he knew years ago."

"I remember the vampires I have met over the years. And I have never met or seen in passing, an Alec who was a vampire." Helen felt her face tighten uncomfortably, she didn't like talking about her little brother and she really didn't like doing it around so many people. It just felt awkward, especially when Louie was now even looking at her almost sympathetically like he knew what was going on in her head. "This vampire had to have been lying."

"I know what you look like and I saw your face in his mind, so he wasn't lying." Allison shook her head stubbornly, looking like she was completely certain that she was right and if anything, that just annoyed Helen to the 12th degree. Allison moved ahead. "How does he know you?"

"That's what I would like to know." Godric commented, tapping his fingers on his chin like he was trying to be tactful about something. And then he just looked at her with his lips tightly pressed together. "Helen, is there any possibility that your brother is a..."

"Godric, I know where you're going with this and you better stop it right there. Alec has not turned into a vampire, there's just no way. And even if he did, don't you think I would know?" She snapped, feeling furious that her hidden pain was being brought out for discussing as well as this ridiculous idea that this stranger was her brother simply because he had the same name. The vampire had probably just seen her at the bar and was playing some sick joke. She glared at the rest of them. "Alec died hundreds of years ago with the rest of my family. End of story."

She didn't even stop to talk herself out of it before she turned on her heel and flashed out of the house before anyone could respond.