Chapter Seven: By the Sun and the Moon.

I sat outside on the balcony that ran off of the hotel room, the moon hung large and bright in the sky, illuminating everything in it's path…including the white page of my sketch book which sat in my lap. The pencil in my hand dusted the page with grey and black and I sketched out the lines of an old tree with no leaves hanging over the water edge. The moon that seemed to have a small part in almost all of my pieces hid behind the peculiar branches, casting a glow over the potential mist and the start of a waterfall.

As a child the moon had always fascinated me, I loved how it could be so romantic in one minute then transform into something sinister and raise fearsome shadows that appeared to jump at you from every corner the next. To me, it was anything I wanted it to be, and every time things got out of control and nothing seemed normal anymore the moon would be right there when I needed reassurance, it was my anchor and my saviour. As long as the moon was there, every thing would be alright and nothing would change as long as it stayed.

I hadn't heard the knock at the door, or the voices afterwards. Once I had been given my body back I hadn't spoken to anyone, I didn't have the right words to say. What kind of conversation do you start when large white wings had just been protruding out of your back moments before, what's the score on the Baseball game?

No, there weren't many words you could say after something like that happens. Your best bet was to lay low, at least until the initial shock wears off.

The shadow that passed across the balcony didn't disturb me; I hadn't really noticed it until it blocked the light from my page. I looked up, ready to ask the person to move to the side a little but the breath I needed stopped short and I could only stare.

"You enjoy the moon as much as I do."

I stood quickly, the thick sketch book falling to the floor, "Sheriff, I didn't hear you."

I watched as he bent down and picked the book up off the ground and handed it to me, the faint smile forever present on his lips. I took the object from his hands and held it to my chest.

"Please, call me Godric."

When I didn't say anything he continued, "You probably wouldn't have heard me, Vampires are silent creatures. I apologize if I startled you, it wasn't my intention."

I shook my head, "No, no. Don't apologize, I should be used to it by now, Bill's always startling me." As an afterthought I added, "and Eric too…but I think he enjoys my reactions."

He continued to smile, his eyes still held that calculating look as he gazed down at me and I shifted awkwardly, placing the book on my vacant seat, "is…is there something that you needed…Godric?" I finished, trying out his name for the first time.

"I wished to speak with you about tonight."

"Oh." Was all I said, of course he wanted to speak to me about that, everyone would be curious so naturally the Sheriff would investigate.

"But you left so quickly after that I didn't get a chance."

He's a Vampire, and an Old one at that…I'm quite positive that he could have caught up to me if he really wanted to.

"You were probably surprised that all of this would happen, and that everyone would find out at once…I wanted to give you space, before I thanked you."

I looked up, this time I was surprised, well that was considerate, I thought and then spoke, "Thank me? For what?"

Godric elaborated for me, "For preventing one very large unnecessary mess. If you hadn't of stepped in, we would have suffered many losses, and much pain."

"Well, I," I began, "I didn't think it was right. I mean, it isn't really…fair to come and murder your friends in your own home, where they probably feel the safest. It's like…attacking your opponent from behind or staking a Vampire while he slept during the day. If you're going to kill someone, at least make the odds fair."

He watched me while I spoke and then chuckled, his head shaking from side to side, "You have amazed me for the second time tonight."

He paused to move another strand of hair behind my ear like he had earlier tonight, "Many humans do not think like you do. In fact, they believe the opposite, whereas we have amplified senses, and are built to hunt, Humans are much more fragile, therefore they would not stand a chance against us in a fair fight…so they must resort to attacking from behind."

I looked up at him and nodded in agreement, "it's true, but that doesn't make it right."

"If only the Human race was more like you, then we could coexist without problem."

"Believe it or not, there are more like me than you may think."

There was silence between us before he spoke again, "Come for a walk with me?"

I smiled, looking at his outstretched hand, "I'd love to." Then I took his hand in mine, and he led me out of the hotel.

We walked side by side in silence through the grounds of the Hotel. He kept pace with me easily, but I tried to accommodate a quicker speed for him. Out of the corner of my eye I watched him and found his face turned to me so I quickly looked away and moved my gaze to my feet, embarrassed that I had been caught watching him.

"So…I hear that you've been around for a while," I spoke after a few minutes. When he didn't say anything I looked up, wondering if he had heard me at all.

"I am over two thousand years old, so yes…I have been around for some time."

I went a little bug eyed, I mean…sure Eurithe was older than the oldest Vampire…but here I am looking at one that is a couple thousand years old…and he barely looks twenty.

"Are you serious?! You don't even look like it. You look like you're my age, give or take a few years…two thousand years old? Wow."

He smiled a little at my reaction, "I was turned when I was sixteen."

"Vampires don't care about ages…do they?'

He looked up to the sky for a moment, thinking about my question, "No, not when I was turned. But over the years our Kind have started taking it into consideration. I believe there is some sort of Law that states we cannot turn children."

I nodded, looking ahead of me, my eyes trained on the path.

"Your reaction amuses me. I believe your Angel said she was older than the oldest Vampire, did she not?"

I turned my head to him, "it's different though. I'm talking to you in the flesh, you appear to be sixteen yet you've been around for thousands of years. It's just strange for me… when I was sixteen I didn't talk like you do, and I still don't."

His lips curved into a small smile, "It's because I've had-."

"Thousands of years of experience…I know. You and Eurithe have that in common, you both talk in the same way. She's had hundreds of years of experience, millions of chances to teach and to be taught Life's lessons," I returned the smile.

He didn't speak right away and I grew nervous. I wasn't one for silence very often, I never had been. It always made me uneasy.

"What is it like?"

I could feel his curiosity and I gave him a puzzled look, "what's what like?"

"Having an Angel inside of you."

Again, I looked up at the sky, searching for the right answer as the moon blushed white light upon us. It was a while before I answered, "most of the time I don't feel her."

"I don't understand."

I squinted my eyes in thought, "it's not like being crammed inside of an elevator with twenty other people. No, I don't physically feel her, but I can sense her… if that means anything."

He waited for me to continue while I thought if that was the best way to put it, "Yeah…so it's not like I have a double personality or anything. She remains in my mind most of the time, sometimes I wonder if she's disappeared or something because she can go for weeks at a time without talking to me and it get's so bad that I actually start calling for her."

"I don't see anything peculiar about that, you're just so comfortable with her, she becomes second nature to you." It surprised me how well he understood my situation, it made me feel a whole lot more at ease with talking to him, and soon I forgot about being shy.

I smiled at him, "Yeah well, she didn't start talking to me until I was about…four maybe. I never realized that I could "talk" to her in my mind so I always spoke aloud. My Parents…hah, well they thought I was talking to my imaginary friend. They were okay with it…until I was eight. That was when I told them that she was an Angel; they immediately took me to a doctor. Soon it became a routine, I went from counsellor to counsellor and every one of them prescribed me medicine. None of them worked, I didn't need them."

"Eventually, Clara got sick of it and told them off about treating their daughter like she was a freak with some sort of mental disorder that hadn't been diagnosed yet, see, she had believed me from the start and when I was fourteen she pulled me out of my parents care and I moved in with her."

Godric smiled at what I assumed was the good deed that Clara had done, "Yes, Clara's a good person. When I first met her, I guessed immediately that she was leaving behind an extremely close family member, one that would be sorely missed," he smiled at me and I couldn't help but notice how the moons white light made his skin seem flawless.

If I hadn't known any better, I would have sworn that he was the mould for all Angels, hand crafted by God himself.

I watched his lips move as he spoke and I was tempted to touch them with my own. I mentally slapped myself, get a grip Shae, you're not an infatuated school girl anymore, you stopped chasing boys years ago.

"You're a good person too, Godric." I couldn't help myself, it just slipped and I almost clamped my hand over my mouth in surprise.

He gave me an "is that so" look and I couldn't help but laugh at myself, a giggle escaped my lips, "despite the obvious and what you may think. Clara told me what you did for her. You saved her life, taking her in like you did, if you hadn't…who knows what would have happened to her."

"She would have become a rogue Vampire, and if that had happened, and once she had been found, she would be killed and then her maker would have been hunted down and he would face the same fate."

I swallowed hard, realizing the way events could have happened, "Thank you," I spoke, my voice shaking slightly, "thank you for helping her. It means so much to me, knowing that someone took the time to actually care about a Vampire that was not their own."

The coolness of his hand shocked me as it pressed against the palm of my own, he squeezed it gently and looked at me intently, "I would never allow a stray Vampire with an unknown Maker to wander Earth for eternity with no knowledge of the Vampire ways, but you are most welcome."

He looked down at our hands and detached them, "I'm sorry. I don't usually…" he trailed off.

I quickly jumped in, "I don't mind," and then blushed deeply, looking away.

His fingers guided my face around to face him by my chin, his touch was ever so light that I could barely feel it and he was not forceful, "I've always marvelled over the colour Humans turn when they're embarrassed. What a pleasant change from the never altering paleness of Vampires."

My eyes were as wide as a Deer's would when it was caught in the headlights, I pulled away gently and smiled, "if you really wish to get to know me more you should know I blush…a lot and eventually you get used to it."

His eyes were absorbed in mine and neither of us was pulling away, "I have no desire to get used to it; I enjoy it all too much."

His fingers released my chin and his hand found its way to my back, "shall we head back to the Hotel?"

I looked up and found that the Moon was sinking lower and lower behind the horizon and I nodded, "I think so. Dawn will be approaching soon."

We were much closer to the hotel now, his hand had not left my back and I was very aware of his body next to mine. It was such a change as to not having to tilt my neck so far back to look up at his face, with most guys that I knew if I looked at their face too long, my neck grew stiff.

My thoughts were interrupted when he asked another question, "When did you learn that your Angel could occupy your body and use your voice to speak aloud?"

I was caught off guard by the sudden question, "I…well. I didn't learn how to, she just did once. I was younger…maybe in grade five or something and I was being bullied and she just…pushed through. Now she asks permission first, and I just have to retreat to the back of my mind- sort of like pushing a memory back- and let her take over. Basically, all we do is switch positions."

"Okay, and it was Eurithe that paused the bomb, and forced Stan to be immobile."

I smiled at the memory from earlier on tonight, "Yeah, she has an easier time using her abilities when she is dominating my body, but I can always feel her energy coursing through my veins. Now for example I can feel it, it's like an ever present humming sensation, never ceasing."

"Is she talking to you?"

I paused for a moment and the darkness of silence seeped into my mind, like a blank abyss, "no…I believe she is just listening to us speak."

He nodded, "I see."

Before I could realize where we were, he opened the door to what I could only imagine was his own. Actually there was no doubt that it was his because of the way the furniture was set up. The design just leaked intelligence and his furniture was made of gorgeous mahogany wood, deep blues and warm greys accentuated by scattered black pillows, sequins on the bed spread and lamp shades.

Casually, I looked out one of the open windows and could see streaks of light colouring the sky.

"Dawn is coming; I should probably go to sleep but if you-."

I interrupted him, "Would you like to see the sunrise?"

He looked appalled, "I'm sorry?"

I smiled widely, "would you like to see the sunrise, without being burned?"

"I do not see how that is possible."

I stepped closer to him my hand outstretched, "do you trust me?"

He didn't say anything but his actions were enough. With his hand in mine a pulled him out onto the balcony, I could see the faint white-ish yellow glow of the sun, and the colours the sky was turning because of it. Slowly, almost hesitantly I wrapped my hands around his wrists and slowly they glowed the same golden light as before, the humming increased as I could feel it exiting through my hands. I smiled to myself, my arms were beginning to feel tingly but I kept on going.

"Do you feel that?"

He was silent and then he nodded, "I feel warm."

"Good, now relax and just watch."

Slowly, he turned his head to the direction the sun was and his eyes squinted against the brightness that he wasn't completely used to. The sun turned the sky around it hazy pinks to dull yellows and where the suns rays hit the clouds they turned tinges of purple and more golden yellow and beyond the yellow border was light blue, intruding in on the dark inky depths of the night.

I was content just watching him and as the light show ended and pulled him back into the room, where the windows then closed off as soon as it "felt" our presence.

"Incredible, you can do that? You can prevent a Vampire from burning in the sun?"

"Only at it's weakest stages, and even then…for only so long."

His face shone in admiration, "Where did you come from?"

I smiled widely and chuckled, "I should go and let you rest. You'll see me tonight when you awake."

I turned towards the door and took only three steps before Godric was in front of me. Despite the feeling of fatigue that I knew he had, he was still remarkably fast.

"Stay with me?"

I stared at him, surprise quite evident on my face and I couldn't fight it in time, my mouth dropped open a little, "I..uh, what?" Oh real intelligent, you're talking to a two thousand year old Vampire. COME ON!

"I would really like it if you could stay with me, for the day. I do not think I could handle waking up and not seeing you immediately."

I approve…

I gave a startled intake of breath, "wait…what?"

"I would like you to-."

"No, no, no, I know but…she is…Eurithe is talking suddenly. Sorry." I gave him a sheepish look.

Where have you been?

Listening in…

You, were? Urgh, you know you should let me know before.

Little one…I always listen in on your conversations.

I did not respond to that, it figures that she would, she was quite nosy sometimes.

You seem to care deeply for Godric, Little one, and he seems to be kind enough to you. You have my approval.

I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud and he gave me an unsure look, "Did she say something?"

"She must like you," I grinned, "she's granted me the honour of having her approval."

He smiled back at me, "does this mean that you will be staying with me?"

"I guess it does." I spoke and then turned to find him already on the bed. I jumped noticeably, "I will never get used to Vampire speed."

I knew if I lay down there would still be a generous amount of room between us, Eurithe was right, he was a gentleman.

The bed sheets hung loosely around his torso, and already he looked half dead.

"Good morning, Shae."

I chuckled, "Good Morning, Godric."

With that he closed his eyes and I knew that he fell asleep at once. I had no idea what came over me at that second but my hand moved and covered his that rested by his face, my fingers laced between his and I sighed.

Is he the one?