"What pisses me off is the fact that that was our first kiss. Ruined by him almost being set on fire." I shake my head at the thought.
I took this time to light up the joint I bought from the kids, eager to distract Sookie from asking more questions. I inhaled deeply and held before finally exhaling. I offered the small, wrapped package to her. She eyed it cautiously before taking it from me. She mimicked my actions and immediately began coughing, eager to hand it back to me. When she finally regained her ability to breath, she asked another question.
"How did Godric get kidnapped? He's two thousand years old, it's hard to see him overpowered by humans." She looked to me for answers, shaking her head in confusion.
A deep sigh came to me. "He gave himself up willingly. I guess the fellowship got to him on an emotional level. " I took another deep hit. "There were times that he would really talk down on himself. He may act like a no heart, soulless, bastard, but deep down it really tore him up to be a vampire." I felt a little uncomfortable telling Sookie Godric's personal thoughts.
"I'm thinking he took up my advice and went to church. I'm sure you can imagine the things they told him. He thought he wasn't good enough for the world, or for me. We made plans to have the ballroom of Hotel Carmilla rented out. He insisted on making it a big formal event, just to introduce me to everyone. Jokes on him, though, I wasn't about to be left at the altar." I smiled, thinking of how excited he was at introducing me to his closest people.
I linked arms with Godric as we walked from the hotel.
"I'm excited, I can't wait to finally meet Eric! Pamela will be there too, right?" My eyes lit up at the thought.
"Unfortunately, she will-"
"DIE FANGER!" A man pointing a gun screamed, trigger already pulled. My first instinct was to pull Godric closer in an embrace, turning so I separate him from the shooter.
"NO-Ach-!"
There's a sharp pain in my right shoulder, and I find it hard to breath. I can't do anything but look up to Godric, his face frozen in horror. His head snaps up, now pure rage in his face. He is looking passed me, at the shooter. I hold him tighter to me, urging him to stay with me.
My legs give out, and I hang limp in his arms. I'm seeing spots, and there's a lot of shouting. My vision goes black, but I can feel something on my mouth, a strange metallic liquid from soft, cold skin.
My face dropped and my hand involuntarily went to my shoulder.
"I woke up alone in my apartment. It was daytime, so I thought nothing of Godric's disappearance and continued my day. I went back to the hotel to make some last minute changes to our reservation to find that he had cancelled everything. That's when I knew to find him at the fellowship." Hugo came to mind when I spoke of the fellowship. I brushed it off. If Godric trusted him enough to keep him around, then there was no reason to suspect him of foul play.
"We found out Godric was gone when we got to Dallas. We were supposed to meet his new mate, but when he never showed up at the nest, we knew something was wrong. We were able to save him, but then on the roof.…" She didn't finish her sentence.
"What happened on the roof?" I assumed an unimportant something or another must have happened.
"Nothing too dramatic. It's nothing now. Victoria was there to help him. We really owe her for taking care of him."
'When I couldn't.' I finished her sentence. 'I don't like her, but he loves her, and she was there when I couldn't be.' The thought caused a pang of guilt to pass through me.
"What happened to the church?" I asked as we came upon the parking lot of what should have been the church. In its place stood only a cement base with ash and glass scattered across it.
Of course I knew what happened, but I didn't want to share this side of me to her just yet.
"Some arsonist destroyed the place. Good riddance if you ask me." A smug look crossed her features.
"When Godric and I were first seeing each other, these memories were what brought us together. We would sit back and talk about how it made us feel, as if we were each other's therapists or something." I confessed, reflecting on our relationship, reminiscing our conversations. 'It's probably better that I don't involve myself with Godric anymore. My job was to either kill him or make his life worth living, and Victoria did that for me. She did what I couldn't do.' I argued to myself.
I continued my story as we made our way to the remains of the once beautiful church, speaking freely to Sookie about my thoughts.
"When we were in the basement together, I thought about why he would want to die. I thought he was happy with me, and that he could forget those times if he focused on the good he could do. That's when I started thinking about just dying with him. I regret the things that I've done, and maybe that was fate's way of telling me to repent. Before I could think long about it, though, this bitch came in and started doing heeby jeeby stuff. I think that was the witch that put a spell on Godric and I. She had a hood on, so we couldn't really see her face. She started whispering, and acting all creepy." I got chills thinking of that night.
"Godric, I-" before I could apologize, I was interrupted by the door opening.
We were expecting Steve to start singing his way down here, but instead stood a figure in black. The face is masked, and half covered by a hood. The figure walks down the stairs to the cage door.
"Who are you?" Godric's voice breaks the silence. The hooded figure does not answer him, but begins to whisper. It's some unintelligible latin, I only catch a word here and there. Godric steps in front of me, ready to block any attack.
At the end of the figures words, there is a screeching. Like nails on a chalkboard, so loud, in my ears, and I am unable to escape it.
I'm to my knees in an instant. Godric must be able to hear it too, because he's by my side a moment later. The screeching comes to a halt, and is replaced by a bright light filling my eyes.
I'm asleep just a moment later.
The memory flashed by in a split second. A shiver went down my spine.
"I think when I woke again, was when I was watching Godric get drained. Things make a lot more sense now…" I let my voice trail off in thought. "I left that church thinking I needed a place to crash and they were kicking me out. Later that night, I saw the whole thing. Eric breaking in, everyone screaming, a cowboy leading a frickin' vampire calvary through those doors. I watched from that tree." I pointed up to a tree about 20 feet from where the entrance used to be. "Then everyone left. I went back to sleep in the pews again, and that's when I found that bag of blood. It was under a jacket that was left behind. I thought nothing of it, at the time."
"That was also the day Hugo and I made it to the church! We must have barely missed you by an hour!" Sookie's voice followed me. "Maybe that jacket is still here somewhere?" By this time, we made it to the remaining stairs leading to the basement. I grabbed Sookie's hand, and what was left of the railing. At least if one of us fell, the other could catch them.
"Well, I'm glad my message made it to y'all." I replied nonchalantly, my thoughts going back to Hugo.
Sookie stopped. We made it to the end of the stairs, and I could see where the crates used to be. She gave a slight tug to me, a sudden terror in her voice.
"What message?" Her eyes told no lie. I stared, unable to fully comprehend.
"The one I gave Hugo… After finding out that Godric cancelled our reservation, I asked around the bar for someone that knew him. I had never met anyone he knew, so when this guy named Hugo said he knew Godric, I told him everything. I met Hugo last night at the nest, surely he's a good guy?" Even as the words passed my lips, I thought back to my suspicion of him. I didn't wait for her reply, the words rushed out of my mouth with the horrid realization.
"Wait, so Hugo never gave you that message? I thought that's why y'all were at the church in the first place?" Things weren't making as much sense anymore. "That was the night I was supposed to meet his nest mates. You said y'all were from Louisiana, so the trip wasn't just a coincidence, right?"
Sookie is slow to respond, letting everything sink in. Things weren't adding up, that was ironically clear now.
"Godric had said he wanted us to meet the woman he claimed, it was supposed to be a weekend event, but Godric went missing the night before. We just kind of assumed the fellowship had him because of all the politics going on… Victoria said she was his mate and was the first to find him. She helped him escape and brought him to Hugo and I when we were caught. We were in a cage in that corner." She pointed to a now empty corner of the disheveled basement.
"Wait, when did Victoria get mixed in all this?!" Suddenly, I didn't feel so bad for this Victoria girl.
"She must love him, she stopped him from committing suicide. You don't do that to someone you love… I mean according to Eric, Godric was very popular with the ladies for a good portion of their life together. Maybe he claimed her and was tagging you along." Sookie spoke as if she was in a gossip mill, a sudden look of sympathy in her eyes, looking at me as if I were an abandoned puppy.
"Well maybe he doesn't love her." I tried arguing, but even as I said those words, I felt sick to my stomach. 'The way he treats me. He doesn't love me. Maybe she's right.'
"Let's just get the left over blood and get out of here, Victoria is supposed to come over again tonight." Sookie's voice held authority.
I paced myself to where the hidden door in the floor was. There is a fine layer of debris over the metal. I tug on the rusted handle, and the door rebels with a loud creak. Sookie and I look to the small hole to find it empty.
Cut the Cord - Shine Down
Pacify Her - Melanie Martinez
