Chapter SEVEN
Only a few hours after the sun had set Kate saw Godric coming through the main door of the house, followed by Stan, Isabel, Eric, and more vampires than she had ever seen before. Considering the number she wouldn't have been surprised if every single vampire in Dallas was there. It made her wonder if Stan had gotten the war he had seemed to want since his first accusation aimed her way. Had they really wiped out the fellowship? No, no one seemed hurt, if there had been a war surely there would have been at least some injuries… Lost in her musings she did not notice them all stop, not at first. She didn't even see Godric stopping to look at her, his small smile, or Eric's glare.
"Kate." Godric finally said, drawing her attention. Hesitantly she looked at him.
"Godric." She said, but it was without her now usual warmth and he looked at her with those inquisitive eyes that usually would make her answer any question he had.
"You are still here." He said when she did not explain her presence.
"Stan decided I sold you out." She offered, sounding surprisingly hostile.
"Has he harmed you?" He asked, and suddenly Kate got one of those unexplainable insights that told her with one word she could change everything about herself. If she said yes she somehow knew what had been done to Jack would look like child's play. She had the power to do that to another person, and it frightened her.
"No." She said, but her fear must have been apparent because instead of looking relieved Godric looked saddened.
"Come with me, please." She nodded, she needed to speak with him too. Ignoring all the other vampires, except Isabel who she gave a quick smile, she came to his side. She did however choose to stand further from Godric than she usually did, out of his immediate reach. Not that that would stop him if he wanted to touch her. But he tended to respect the barriers she put up, and she really did not want him touching her in that moment.
He didn't say anything when she come to his side, only looked, in fact he did not say anything to anyone until he was seated in what Kat thought of as the 'ball room', it was nearly completely empty and for as long as she had been in the house it had never been used. She guessed she knew what it was for now, as all the vampires disbursed, only Eric remaining by Godric's side, and moments later a handful of people with small donor badges entered the room. She had never seen them before. She wondered where they came from, and as usual Godric read her as book.
"Most have called their own humans, but Isabelle arranged this on our way here, just in case. They are all willing, registered, donors. They are handsomely awarded for their services."
"They get paid? This is a job?" She almost gasped in disbelief.
"Yes, though as I understand it, it is not in allowed in most parts of Europe and Asia. Blood must be donated willingly and without financial encouragement there."
"Right." Kate said, trying to hide her shock. She hoped they had good benefits and health insurance. She also wondered who and why anyone would apply for such a job. Was it like prostitution, a last resort?
"You do not approve." Godric noted.
"No, I just…" She didn't know what she felt. "It makes sense, I suppose it is safer than offering up your neck in a dark alley."
"Yes." Godric agreed. "They are all on a special diet and health regiment to ensure-"
"Stop." She told him, looking at him as if she had never seen him before. And maybe she hadn't. She always thought Godric respected humans. "You make them sound like animals you care fore until slaughter… like they are some kind of KOBE beef or something. Are they glamoured, is that why they agree to this?"
"You have learned more about our abilities in my absence." He noted, and he did not seem pleased by it, he seemed defeated. "And no, they are all willing."
"I have." She agreed coldly. "Guess I am special."
"You are." He agreed, looking at her with unidentifiable eyes. She didn't know how long they had just stared at each other after that when Eric spoke.
"You need to feed."
"I do not need much blood to sustain me anymore." Godric countered, though his eyes shifted briefly to Kate.
"Godric." He pleaded. "If you do not wish to drink from her then I have arranged-"
"Eric." He said sharply, making the tall blond bow his head submissively.
"It is not my place. Forgive me, master."
"You should you know." Kate interjected. "If you don't want me to see, then don't worry about it." She continued, suddenly remembering why she had sought Godric out. "You are back, Jack vouched for me. It is all over, I am leaving tonight."
"I had hoped you would stay a little longer." Godric told her mildly, though there was no hint of protest or anger in his face or tone. "At least stay one more night, I will arrange new transportation for you."
"There is a flight to Brazil leaving Dallas at 6 am tomorrow morning. I am already on standby."
"I thought you wanted to go to Cuba." Godric looked concerned.
"I ended spending too much time in Texas. Now I need catch up with my other flights or I will have to buy a new around the world ticket. I can't afford that." She said, she tried to go for dismissive, but it came out aggressive instead. Accusing and offensive at the same time.
"I have told you, you will be reimbursed. This will not cost you. I know you wish to see Havana. You should go."
"I don't have forever." She told him with a distant cool calm she had never used with him before. "I have 8 months left to do this trip, I already wasted a month in Dallas. After that I need to go back home and find a job. That or, as my grandmother would say, find a nice man, meaning filthy rich, and preferably a duke or something. She is old money. She has high hopes for me." She added sarcastically, thinking the idea sounded archaic and feeling embarrassed for even voicing it.
"You come from nobility?" Eric asked, looking as if he was trying to place her at a court he had attended in a previous life and couldn't.
"My mum's side of the family. Grandmother is a marchioness. To her horror her only child married a commoner." She noted Godric wasn't surprised and she guessed he had read those backgrounds checks Isabel mentioned as well. But then, why had he then asked her all those questions about her past? He already knew... was it to catch her in a lie? She guessed somehow on an unconscious level she had thought only Isabel and Stan had read them after she heard about them. Stupid her, he had never made a secret as to why she was there.
"Please." Godric said instead. "You should not suffer for a good deed."
"Tell that to the catholic saints." She said, her hurt giving way to anger. "Look, you don't owe me anything. I get the need for secrecy. Just… I won't tell. I just want to go back to my real life. I won't cause problems for you."
The final comment made Eric snort, which in turned earned him a glare.
"What now? You get your room back. Be happy. Besides I haven't done anything. I only called the police when someone tried to throw a vampire threw my window. I'd say that is common sense."
"How do you think they got Godric? He is two thous-" Eric said but before he could even finished Godric had him by the throat in much the same manner she had seen him hold Stan when he thought she was in danger. This time the only danger was the truth. He still he didn't trust her.
"I guess I finally know how old you are." She told him, sounding hollow even to her own ears. "Good bye Godric."
With those words said she left the room without a backward glance. He could keep her phone and Ipad. She just needed to get out. Technically she wouldn't have to leave for the airport for another few hours, but she wanted to leave as soon as possible.
With this in mind she turned to full attention to packing, she really should have done this when she woke up. Eric had been confident they would get Godric back, so why hadn't she? No matter. Despite her focus it somehow took her longer to back her belongings in this vampire nest than it had done in her own flat. An entire hour had passed before she had everything on her suitcase, and was pulling it down the corridor, passed Godric's room, passed Isabel's, and the library. But when she walked passed Godric's office movement caught her attention. There, behind his laptop, sat the vampire who didn't know how to turn on an Ipod. Funny.
When she looked in Godric caught her eyes, but there was no expression on his face. It was as if it was carved out of marble. It angered her, he had no reason to be angry with her. She had done nothing but wait, even let them hold her prisoner.
"Kate." Godric said, standing up. The next second he was next to her, she had never seen him move at vampire speed except to protect before. She had not expected it.
"Shouldn't you be with your guests?" She asked, it came out too silent, barely audible to a human. But Godric was not human.
"They can entertain themselves for a few moments." He dismissed her concerns. "Tell me, why are you angry with me." He asked instead, looking genuinely upset in a way he had not in front of the vampires.
"Godric. I am too tired for your games." She said almost pleadingly. "What do you want from me? You must know by now, I am nothing more than I say I am. I am no danger to you. What else are you hoping to get out of this?"
"I have not played games." He denied. "Not with you."
"That is all you have done. Your son is 1000-years-old, you let me think he was 500, that you were 600. All you have done is ask me questions you already knew the answer to. You let me walk around thinking…I don't know what I thought, but I thought you at least considered me a friend. When… If it was not a game, then it was a science project. In which case I must wonder what your premise was. That I would lie, lie, and then lie some more?"
"You treat me like I am human. You would not have done so if you knew my age." Godric admitted. "It was refreshing. You broadcast your thoughts and emotion on your face as surely as that the sun will set. Yet I never know what you will do next, or how you will react. But when you thought Eric was my age... You were not have been able to accept it. And if you knew I knew about your family when you first mentioned them, would you have been able to relax as you did? Would you not have worried for their safety?"
"So your solution was to pretend to know nothing while reading files about me and my life? How thorough are they? Do they list my first boyfriend? The name of my primary school teacher? Maybe how my grades were in third grade?"
"I have not read the files, only what Isabel found out the first night. It had only your name, your family members, your education background, what any internet search would tell you. What you have made available yourself." She wanted to deny it, claim that she had made no such information available, but she couldn't. None of it. She had facebook, linkedin, twitter, a monster profile, and the list went on. It was easy to find things out about her. But she would not forgive him so easily. Hanging on to her anger she continued.
"Did you know Stan tried to glamour me into having sex with him and to let him bite me the first time we met in the Motel? That was how he found out I couldn't be glamoured. What about you? What did you try to make me do?" She asked.
"Have I ever asked you to do something you found offensive? To tell me something unreasonable? You can not be glamoured, you remember everything I have asked of you." He told her calmly. And she tried to find something, she really did, a reason to hate him. She could not. It was difficult to stay angry with him and his cool logic. But she could not stay. And she told him so, earning herself a small, sad, smile.
"I know. I have procured a ticket for your flight. You are no longer on standby, though I had to upgrade your ticket to do so. I hope you will accept it."
"Thank you." She smiled, then as she was bout to leave the room she turned around to look at him again. "You remember how to check in on facebook, right?"
TBC..
This is far from the end, don't worry!
Oh yeah, as I guess you can imagine, Godric's house looks nothing like in the tv-series. It is actually old and pretty. I just saw a clip from 2x09, and wow. I did not like the 'real' house at all. = )
