A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you to all those who reviewed, it always puts a smile on my face. I'm so glad to hear how much you are enjoying my story! And just so you know, I don't plan on giving up on it anytime soon and I'm determined to finish it. So don't worry, I'm sure the muse is here to stay. Enjoy!
Chapter Six
Sookie
I tried to return to the house, but Godric wasn't going to let me go that easily. He had seen my powers, he knew what I was capable of, why wouldn't he just let me go? It was as if despite what he had seen he had no fear of me. Even though I had blasted him high into the air, it was all just a game to him.
He rushed ahead and stood in front of me, "What were you trying to do earlier?" he asked, blocking my path.
"I don't know," I was only half telling the truth. I had a general idea of what I was trying to accomplish but had no idea how to execute it properly. After all, relatively speaking it hadn't been that long ago that I'd even learned to use my light.
"You're lying," his eyes narrowed.
"Look even if I was, why would I tell you anything?"
"Because if you don't many lives may be in danger."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
He moved a little closer to me and spoke quietly. "Several humans have gone missing over the last couple of months, and all in this area. If it is related somehow, then I must find out why. If there is a way that you can use your powers…"
"Why should I help you? Vampires only ever want one thing and there's no way I'm going there with you."
His voice softened, and he looked away from me. "I would be in your debt."
I looked at him sternly, wondering. He was afraid of something but couldn't understand what. What did he have to be afraid of? "Fine, but you have to promise that you'll stop stalking me, and stop trying to bite me."
His eyes glazed over as he thought about it and he looked slightly disappointed. "Very well," he hesitantly agreed.
I turned around and walked back to the spot where Eric was taken. I closed my eyes and opened up my telepathic mind once more. I felt the light within me stir as I summoned it in the palms of my hands. I heard Godric walking around, but I tried not to pay attention and did my best to ignore him as I listened.
I felt something in front of me, a kind of energy. There was definitely something there. I followed the feeling until something very strange happened. I walked into what felt like a shield of energy. It repelled me back and made my skin tingle with energy. I opened my eyes. I couldn't see anything, but there was definitely something there. It had to be a portal, a closed off one. Maybe it was locked, if that was the case then perhaps there was a way to unlock it. All of a sudden, strong thoughts entered my mind from the other side.
"The halfling, she is here."
"We must take her."
"No, the vampire is with her."
"Then we must kill him first."
Oh shit.
"We have to go" I quickly turned around "run!"
I sprinted as fast as I could. But Godric was faster. He scooped me up off the ground and before I had time to think about it, we were back in the garden at the house.
"What happened?" he asked as he put me down.
"They were right there, on the other side…"
"The other side of what?" he asked confused.
"Like another dimension sitting next to ours, someplace that's close but separate. I could hear them, they were going to kill you."
"You heard who, the thing that took Eric? I heard nothing." he stared at me, a questioning look on his face as he studied me.
Oh crap, I may have just given away yet another thing about me that I wanted to keep a secret. He leaned in, his eyes wide and boring into mine. His chest so close it was inches away from pressing against me.
"You can hear thoughts?"
Though I didn't confirm it, I knew that he knew.
He then whispered, putting all the information together "You're a faery, aren't you?"
Fuck.
I did the only thing I could do, I ran away. I turned my back to him and marched for the back door to the house. I couldn't stay here, not anymore. If word got out every vampire in the area would come after me. I ran up to my room and began to pack my things. I had every intention of leaving, and this time I was determined to go. I didn't know where; I just knew I needed to get out before it was too late.
"I always thought your kind was extinct," I noticed Godric was yet again standing in the doorway. He just couldn't leave me be. Like I was a toy to be played with.
I tried to ignore him, but he wasn't going to let me. He walked into the room and shut the door behind him. What did he think he was going to accomplish? What was it going to take to get him to leave me alone?
"Vampires would do anything to have you," he leant against the bedpost "and I daresay, I don't blame them."
"Enough." I rolled my eyes at him and stopped what I was doing. Vampires had done all sorts of things to try to get me to be theirs, and I was sick of it. "You want to know why I hate vampires so much? Fine, I'll tell you. The first vampire I ever met, tricked me into falling in love with him, so he could use me. He purposely let two thugs beat me almost to death, just so he could give me his blood. And that was just the beginning. Ever since then, my friends and family have been kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered by vampires. The place where I come from… vampires and humans are at war."
"Is that why you came here? Is that why you are with Eric, to escape war?"
"I didn't come here by choice."
Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Cassia.
She opened the door. "There you are," she looked to Godric and hesitated. Something was off, she was always so confident and outspoken. Now she was quiet and fidgety. "You're needed downstairs." She quickly stated before disappearing. That was odd.
As Godric left the room, I had a bad feeling in my gut. I picked up my things and followed behind him. Hoping that I could slip out. However, when we reached the bottom of the stairs and I went to turn towards the door, Godric took my hand and refused to let me go. He dragged me to the main lounging area with him. It had been cleaned up and you couldn't tell that a party had gone on recently.
A man, whose back was facing us, was standing next to the fireplace. It cracked with heat and red flames as he stirred the hot embers.
"You're back early?" Godric spoke to him.
"The weather forced us to return." He put down the metal rod he was using and leaned it against the wall before he turned around to face us.
He was quite a handsome man, tall with a broad stature. His sandy blond hair fell just past his shoulders and had a slight wave to it. His pale grey eyes were deep and sharp and his jawline was strong and masculine. His white skin was perfect and youthful; he looked around my age. But I could tell that even though he appeared like a Greek god on the outside, he was no heavenly figure. He was evil, I could feel it radiating off him.
"Ah and who is this?" he inquired, noticing me standing quietly in the background.
Godric pulled me to come forward and wrapped his arm around mine. "Her name is Sookie and she is mine," he stated firmly.
The man laughed "of course my child," he walked over to us and eyed me up and down "I wouldn't want to come between you and your plaything." He spoke a little softer, reaching up with his hand and stroking the side of my face.
A flash of memory hit me and in an instant, I saw what he was, what he'd done to Godric and the cruelty he was capable of.
He was Godric's maker, Tiberius. I saw how he treated Godric when he was still human, and after he'd turned him. I saw him holding him down as a small boy, violating him, branding him. I saw the abuse, the humiliation, the pain, the terror. He wasn't just evil, he was a monster. His soul was a black void filled with nothing but darkness and an unending hunger for death.
I felt nauseous.
He smiled and looked at me with lust in his eyes, a sick lust. He wanted to not just possess me, but violate me and drain me dry. He wanted to take me and feed off my pain. That was what he was. He was empty inside, and all that remained was a pitiful shell of merciless barbarity. It was no wonder Godric turned out the way he did. He became a mirror of this man; if a man is what you would call him.
Only Godric had evolved beyond the emptiness. He realised the immorality and the tragedy in what he'd done. The fact that he was wrong and the deep sorrow and guilt he felt were so strong that he went so far as to end his own life to make up for those wrongs. This vampire, however, didn't care. He was beyond any redemption. He had no respect for life, and he relished in suffering and death.
I now understood why Eric was so hesitant in telling me about him, and I feared a future that included this horrible vampire. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to get away from him.
"Did you need me for something?" Godric asked.
"I just wanted to see you" he grinned.
"You've seen me. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to return to what I was doing."
Tiberius laughed. "Go, go. Play with your pet." He waved us away.
I didn't care for the reason, I was out of there in a heartbeat. I ran back up to the room and shut the door behind me. My heart was racing, and I struggled to breathe. I felt like I was going to burst into tears with the amount of emotion that was trapped in me. The realization of what Godric had gone though hit me hard and I thought back to that night we spent together, and especially what happened afterwards on the rooftop. I knew what had happened was very serious and that it greatly affected him, but I had no idea it was that bad. I felt terrible and sick to my stomach.
"Sookie," Godric knocked on the door before entering.
Though I tried to hide it, he saw how frantic I was and sat next to me on the side of the bed. "What's wrong?" he asked.
I cracked, my eyes welling with tears that fell down my cheeks. I dared to look up at him, he studied my face, seeing the raw and intense emotion that filled my eyes. When I looked at him, all I saw was the man I'd shared myself with that night. The tenderness, the love, the pain. The man who had protected me again, and again. The man I'd fallen in love with.
The things he'd done to me in this time, the way he'd behaved, faded away and all that was left was the raw and honest love I felt for the future him. I knew he could feel it through the bond, he knew how I felt and he longed to know how and why I felt such things for him. Through the bond, he knew that what I was feeling was genuine and undeniable.
"I saw it all Godric… I saw what he did to you."
His face lit up in shock and he stood up.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
But he didn't say anything, he just left.
I tried to calm myself down, but I couldn't. Not after what I'd seen. So I accepted it, laid down on the bed and allowed myself to feel it.
I must have briefly fallen asleep because the next thing I knew he was trying to wake me up.
"Sookie" he shook my arm.
I opened my eyes and saw him standing above me, looking down at me.
"What is it?" I asked.
I went to sit up, but Godric was quickly on top of me. A knee on each side of my hips and a hand was by my shoulder. His body was pressed up against mine and I could feel his tight muscles through the thin fabric of our clothing. He ran his nose down my neck, taking in my scent. His other hand ran down the side of my arm, tracing my soft skin with his fingers. My stomach fluttered, and my arm tingled under the touch.
"Tell me how this is possible, how is it that I feel what you are feeling?" he put the palm of his hand to my chest and looked down at me, "how are we connected?"
He seemed different somehow, more open and exposed. As if seeing all that had broken down a barrier between us. I figured most of my secrets were out in the open now, I didn't know what else to do and I had no one to turn to. So why not tell him the truth.
"Do you really want to know?" I asked, making sure but also not knowing whether he'd believe it or not.
He nodded. "Try me."
"Eric and I, we're from the future."
"What?" he looked at me in shock. "You're making that up."
"I wish I were. 2000 years from now, you and I were friends. More than friends actually," I smiled at the thought. "We shared blood, amongst other things. That's why we're connected."
"You're lying," he didn't believe me. He took his hand back and got off me. The strange but pleasant feeling of the mutual connection between us was gone.
"I'm not lying." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the necklace he gave me, showing it to him from the palm of my hand.
His eyes widened, "where did you get that?"
"You gave this to me. You said it was your mothers and asked me to keep it safe for you."
"No," he began to back away from me "you're lying." He turned away and left the room.
I put the necklace back in my pocket and followed him. "Godric wait!" I begged as I followed him down the stairs.
"You're a liar and a thief!" he yelled at me.
"I'm not! Please believe me." I pleaded.
"I will not!" He scorned.
"What's going on here?" Tiberius appeared. Great, that was all I needed.
"She has stolen from me, she's full of nothing but lies."
Tiberius walked over to me and took my wrists. "Then she deserves punishment," he dragged me across the room.
"Let me go!" I yelled, trying to pull away from him, but he was too strong.
One of Tiberius's slaves handed him an axe.
"No, no, no!" I screamed "Godric, please! Check wherever your one is. If I were lying, you would not have it! Please stop him, do something!"
But Godric turned away and left.
Tiberius lead me over to a table and forced my hand down flat on its surface. He raised the axe high in the air. I struggled, but it was no use. The axe came crashing down. I screamed and closed my eyes, waiting for the pain. But it never came. I opened my eyes and saw Godric standing next to me, his left hand in my place. He yelled in agony as the axe severed three of his fingers and a spray of blood splattered across my face.
"Why did you do that? You stupid, stupid boy!" Tiberius grumbled.
Godric clutched his bleeding hand to his chest. "You are the stupid one," he hissed under the intense pain riveting up his arm. "She's my human, you had no right!"
"She's living under my roof and is a part of our nest. I have every right!"
Cassia must have heard the noise and entered the room "Godric?" her eyes widened. "What happened?" she was quick to his side and began inspecting the wound. Blood was pouring down his chest and reddening his clothes.
"Your brother is pathetic, he values humans more than he values himself." Tiberius eyed him up and down, "you disgust me." He then threw the bloodied axe away and left, finally.
Godric hissed in pain as Cassia made him show her. His entire hand was red and raw.
"Why aren't you healing?" She asked.
"It's a severe wound, I need blood." He struggled.
"Sookie," she looked to me. "Come here."
"No, I cannot." I protested. How could I? It would mean his death.
"He just lost three fingers for you. If you do not help him I will make you." She sped to my side and grabbed me by my hair, forcing me to expose my neck. She lead me over Godric, her grip tight. He dropped fang and prepared to feed from me, but I couldn't let that happen.
"I'm diseased!" I admitted, though it greatly pained me to do so. "If he feeds from me he'll die."
They both froze for a moment, thinking about what I'd just said. She let me go and pushed me away, not saying anything as she left the room. Presumably to go find another, more suitable human.
"The truth finally comes out…" Godric struggled as he hobbled around the table and sat down on a wooden chair "It's no wonder Eric looked so dreadful, being unable to feed from you."
I wanted to say more but a human boy of around 15 years of age came in. He offered Godric his wrist and he gladly took it. I watched as his hand slowly healed and the gaping wound sealed over. Another slave came in after he was done; he offered Godric a bowl of water and a clean shirt which he gladly accepted. The slave also handed me a small piece of cloth which I took and used to wipe my face. As I was doing so, I watched as Godric washed the blood away, revealing three clean stumps.
"They will grow back in time," he started, noticing me watching him. "It's not the first time it's happened."
"Why Godric? Why did you do that for me?"
"I did as you suggested and checked the evidence. Mine was still there."
I let out a deep, pent-up breath, releasing all the anxiety I was feeling.
"So it's true, you really are from the future."
"I'm afraid so,"
"And this disease you're afflicted with? Does it have anything to do with the war you spoke of."
I nodded, confirming his suspicions. "It was created by humans. They wanted to wipe out vampires for good, but things went horribly wrong."
"What happened?"
"In the future, vampires will come out of hiding. These scientists created a fake blood that allows vampires to live in human society. But we could never co-exist. We tried, but people were just… so cruel to each other. After so much killing on both sides, all-out war began. That was when the camps happened."
"Camps?" Godric perked an eyebrow.
"They rounded up vampires off the street and locked them up. They… experimented on them, and invented that nasty virus. They put it in the Tru Blood and shipped it out to the world. Last I heard one-third of the world vampire population has been infected, and who knows how many humans. At this rate, vampires could be extinct by the end of the century."
"And Eric?"
"He got sick too, for a while we feared he'd meet the true death." My eyes lowered, thinking back. "But he found a cure and he's no longer sick."
"And this cure… it doesn't work for you."
"I don't think it works like that. Humans don't get sick, they're carriers."
The conversation turned silent and I didn't know what else to say about it. What could I say? So much had happened. Too many deaths, too little kindness. The evil both humans and vampires were capable of was only growing.
I walked over to him and he stood up. I took his damaged hand in mine and looked at what was left.
"Godric... you once told me to not let the world get to me." I traced his hand "I tried so hard, but I can't do it. There's been so much killing." I felt the tears returning.
"Eric said you had seen more than you'd cared to, now I know what he meant by that." He lifted my chin with his other hand, my eyes connecting with his as he wiped a tear from my cheek. "Tell me about us."
"I can't," I pulled away.
"Why not?" he insisted.
"You don't want to know."
"Of course I do," he said as I began to walk away.
I needed some time alone.
"It doesn't have a happy ending." I stopped as I reached the bottom of the stairs.
He sped to my side, taking my wrist, "tell me what happened."
I hesitated, tempted to do so, but it wasn't the right time. "No." I took my wrist back and retreated to my room.
