Chapter Ten:
Three days had passed. Three days had come and gone without her pestering ghost, and Henley should have been relieved.
Only she found that she wasn't.
The house was quiet. Too quiet. It felt strange after a week of having the annoying vampire pop up without warning, to suddenly have her life back. She was supposed to be happy that Godric had finally decided to give up, to leave her alone. But instead she felt decidedly even guiltier.
She even felt alone.
She had pushed away whatever friends she had ever had, either after their discovery of her odd gift, or in fear that they would find out what a freak she was. Her family was small, and despite their understanding, Henley had always been distant with them. The only constant she had in her life was her dog.
And the ghosts.
Henley found that a part of her actually missed the interaction, even if Godric did infuriate her. She even found herself gazing hopefully into the waiting room at the clinic, hoping the two patient ghosts would appear once more. They never did, however.
"I finally get rid of them and I'm miserable," Henley grumbled to herself as she leaned against the kitchen counter, nursing a steaming mug of hot chocolate. A small bark of acknowledgement from Moony only caused her to curse under her breath. She was supposed to be overjoyed. She was supposed to be celebrating. Seventeen years wishing the ghosts would just leave her the hell alone, and finally she was at peace. Even just for a moment.
Why wasn't she jumping for joy?
A small, tiny part of her wondered if perhaps she should agree to help Godric, only so she wouldn't have to be alone. But she quickly shook that thought away.
She wasn't that alone.
Or was she?
"Don't cave," she scolded herself. "I can't cave."
Even if she did cave, it wasn't like she could do much for Eric. He was depressed; she wasn't skilled in helping anyone who was contemplating suicide. She had barely survived those thoughts herself. The vampire wouldn't believe that she could see his maker. He would likely deem her insane and either toss her out or eat her. And she'd rather not be eaten.
"No caving," Henley repeated to herself.
But if she didn't cave, could she possibly be responsible for someone, even if they were a vampire, harming themselves? She remembered too well how troubled she had been as a teenager. She wouldn't wish those years on anyone. If she hadn't had the help that she did, she likely wouldn't be standing there. Even if Eric didn't believe her, maybe the mere thought of his maker watching over him would give him the hope he so desperately appeared to need.
"No no no no no," she quickly shook her head, placing the mug on the counter as she ran a hand down her face. She couldn't be thinking like that. She couldn't let anything stray her from this nice moment of peace she was able to indulge in. She was going to enjoy herself. She was going to relish in the moment.
Only she couldn't.
Because there was someone out there, someone who was in need of help, and no matter how tired she was, or exhausted of this curse, she couldn't just stand idly by. No matter how many times she insisted she didn't want to do this anymore, she wasn't able to just turn her back on someone who was hurting so much. It was hitting too close to home for her liking.
"Damn it," Henley cursed under her breath as she dumped the hot chocolate in the sink and stormed towards the front door. "I'm really going to regret this."
She was out of the door in minutes, her keys in hand, her coat not even buttoned as she rushed out of the house. Settled in her car, the desire to run back in the house began to grow stronger. She had to shove the key into the ignition and race out of the driveway just to ensure that she wouldn't. It was too late now; her mind had been made up.
Even if she was going to deeply regret it later.
She arrived outside of Fangtasia in record time, lucky she hadn't been caught by the police for her speeding. She hadn't even realized she was there until the loud squeals from the line of excited girls caught her attention. It took Henley another twenty minutes before she was able to pull herself out of the car and begin the short trek to the end of the line. It was much shorter than it had been it had been three days ago, and Henley felt relieved. If she had to stand there for too long, she would certainly talk herself out of doing this. And she couldn't let that happen. She had made it there with the intention of doing something. She didn't exactly know what she could do, if she would even have the guts to do anything at all. But she was there; it was enough to lessen some of the guilt that had been weighing on her.
It didn't take long for the line to move, and soon Henley was stepping into the vampire bar. She was feeling just as anxious as she had been the last time she had stepped through that door. She wasn't comfortable around vampires; she was barely comfortable around human ghosts. The only relief Henley had was knowing she would likely not find many ghosts in such a place.
"Unless it's their victims," she muttered to herself under her breath as she made a beeline for the bar. She was going to need a drink to ensure she didn't hightail it out of there before she even caught a glimpse of Godric's child.
At the thought of Eric, she shot a glance at the empty stage and frown. She knew it was still early, but knowing what she did now, she was almost worried. If he didn't appear at all tonight, would that mean the worst?
The guilt was eating away at her again. She could have avoided this all if she had only agreed to help sooner. But the pain from the past had hindered her; it still was. She was afraid, and she would be the first to admit that. This had never been a role she desired. She didn't want to be the one who told loves one's about those they have lost. She never asked for any of this.
But for some strange reason, she had been given this ability. She never called it fate before. It had always been a curse, bad luck on her part. But everything had a reason, didn't it? Maybe all along, there had been a reason for this.
Henley just wasn't sure she wanted to know what that reason was.
Trying to distract herself, Henley sipped at the fresh drink in her grasps. She found herself glancing over her shoulder every so often, however, disappointed every time she was met with an empty throne.
What if something had happened? Maybe that was why Godric hadn't popped back up since Saturday. Maybe his worst fears had come to pass.
"Don't think like that," Henley scolded herself, only to be rewarded with strange glances her way. She shot them a glare in response and returned to spying over her shoulder. She was startled, however, when her view was blocked.
Henley jumped at Godric's sudden appearance, jumping and nearly spilling the gin and tonic all over herself.
"Do you always have to sneak up on me?" she grumbled, ignoring the looks she was gaining from those around her. She shot Godric another look and frowned. He didn't look pleased at all that she was there, quite the opposite of the reaction she was expecting. She thought he would be overjoyed that she was there, that she might want to help him.
But instead, he looked murderous.
Shivering from the furious glare he was sending her, Henley downed the drink and moved off the stool. If they were going to talk, she wasn't going to risk doing it in such a public place again.
Henley didn't look back as she maneuvered her way through the bar and to the secluded bathroom. Slipping in, she quickly ensured she was alone before turning to the sinks and trying to busy herself. She could feel it the moment Godric appeared in the room, a chill running up her spine. She had to close her eyes and shake off the feeling before turning towards the vampire.
"Why are you here?" he demanded to know, his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes narrowed into slits. "Have you come to enjoy my child's pain?"
His words felt like a knife striking her. "Godric…"
"You've made yours intentions perfectly clear. There is no reason for you to be here," his expression was stony as the mirrors began to rattle behind her.
She ignored the parlour trick for the moment. She hadn't come here to let herself be intimidated. She was here for a reason.
"I…" she couldn't even get her thoughts straight as Godric suddenly appeared before her, a bit too close for her liking. She cautiously stepped backwards, only to knock into the sink. "Godric."
"Are you here to gloat? Are you here to watch the entertainment?" the dimmed lights began flickering, displaying his anger. It was just another one of his tricks, one that she was becoming too familiar with.
Henley's shoulders squared as she inhaled sharply. "Back off Godric. Your tricks aren't going to scare me, so you can stop trying."
He didn't, though. The stall doors began crashing open and shut repeatedly, the sink taps suddenly turning on. She jumped away from the mirrors just as the one behind her burst, glass falling everywhere. If she didn't know better, she would think Godric wasn't just trying to scare her, but also seriously maim her.
"Your tantrums are getting annoying," she turned to glare at the ghost, only to find herself alone. "You're acting like a child!" she called to the empty room. There was no response, however.
Sighing, Henley glanced at Godric's handiwork. Glass littered the floor and the sink counters. She shook her head as she moved to leave. It was obvious that she shouldn't have come. This had to of been a sign from the universe, telling her that she shouldn't have bothered to try and help the angry Ghost.
As she attempted to push through the bathroom door, however, she found it locked in place. Frowning, Henley shoved as hard as she possibly could to open the door, but it remained where it was.
"Fucking ghost!" she grumbled to herself. He was going to drive her insane, she just knew it. He didn't even realize that his childish antics were only pushing her further and further away from wanting to help him.
"Tell me why you are here," Godric growled, forcing her to twist on her heels to face the furious vampire. The murderous glare had returned, and she was thankful that he was no longer alive. She would surely fear for her life if he were still a ferocious, bloodthirsty vampire.
"Well if you'd let me talk for more than two seconds, maybe you'd find out," Henley snapped back. She was getting tired of his tantrums. "Stop acting like a five-year-old child."
Godric was not amused at being compared to a bratty child and made his displeasure known as the mirrors in the room began shattering, one by one. Henley jumped each time, the shards of glass falling to her feet. Her heart was pounding as she slowly risked a glance at the ghost and found that, once again, he was nowhere to be found.
"Would you just stop it?" Henley could feel her own anger bubbling inside. She was trying to do the right thing despite how hard this was for her. She wanted to help Eric before he made the mistake she nearly did. But she couldn't do that if the idiotic ghost wouldn't even let her explain. "Just stop it!"
"Why are you here?" the power radiated off of the transparent figure as he formed behind her.
Henley sighed as she turned, only to yelp at how close he was. Distancing from him, she wrapped her arms around herself and eyed the vampire cautiously.
"Why are you here?" his fangs had extended this time, Henley's orbs staring at nothing but those razor sharp incisors. "Tell me!"
"I'm here to help, you idiot."
The rattling of the stall doors quickly stilled, the running taps suddenly shutting themselves off. Henley was almost impressed with herself for startling the raging ghost. He was speechless as he just stood there, his hands curled into tight fists.
"What do you mean?" he demanded to know. "What do you mean you're here to help?"
Her shoulders sagged, her arms dropping loosely to her sides. Behind the anger and the annoying tricks, there was just a worried ghost standing across from her. She had seen it countless of times, how hopeless and defeated they always appeared. It was always her breaking point, and she had a feeling it always would be. She may hate this curse, she may hate having to be the one forced to do this, but at the end of the day, she could never turn her back on someone who so desperately needed her.
"I mean exactly what I said, Godric. I'm here to help." Henley shrugged her shoulders.
"But you were insistent that you never would," he pointed out warily.
"I know what I said, but…" How was she supposed to explain this to him? "I just…felt guilty, I guess."
"That's it? You just felt guilty?" he didn't believe her, and she didn't blame him.
"Does it matter the reasoning behind it? I'm here."
Godric's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand. From the moment she had nearly walked right through him nearly two weeks ago, she had been adamant that she would never help him. Even with his promise of keeping the ghosts away, she hadn't budged. And now suddenly, after three days of his absence, she was suddenly agreeing. She understood perfectly why he was suspicious.
"I'm here, Godric. I want to help," she tried to reason with him. "If you don't want me to, then…"
"No," he suddenly cut her off, shaking his head as his form began to relax. "I…"
He was interrupted by the sound of the door before forced open, ripping the piece of wood right from its frame. Henley froze, her eyes growing wide as she stared at the brunette vampire, unsure of what to do. How the hell was she supposed to explain any of this? She glanced to Godric for an excuse, but the ghost had disappeared, leaving her utterly alone.
"Uh, the door locked on its own," Henley forced a smile, laughing nervously. As the vampire glanced behind her to the broken mirrors, her eyebrows rising, Henley cursed silently at Godric's tantrum. He was going to get her killed before she could even actually help him.
"What…" the vampire began.
"Glass was just everywhere when I came in here. So strange," Henley quickly shot around the surprised vampire. She sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to get eaten for being suspicious. "Well I'm just going to go."
Willa blinked as she slowly turned, only for the strange girl to already be shooting out of the bathroom. She could have sworn she had heard talking inside of the room, but as she forced the mysteriously locked door open, she had found no one but the odd girl Eric had dismissed just the other night.
"What the hell happened in here?" Pam stormed into the bathroom, her eyes narrowing at the mess. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything," Willa frowned, glancing at her vampire sibling. "It was that girl…"
"Not the girl again," Pam sighed, rolling her eyes.
"It was her!" Willa insisted. "And she was talking to herself. The door was locked, Pam. That door can't even lock. There's something strange about her. Maybe Eric will believe me now."
Pam quickly blocked the younger vampire's path. "Do not even think about telling him. He doesn't need to know."
"But…"
"Just get back to work. I'll have Ginger deal with this mess," Pam shooed her out of the room.
"Pam…"
Pam shot her a dark look, causing Willa to sigh and scurry away. The moment Willa was gone, Pam glanced at the damage with a frown. The younger girl was right, Pam knew that; there was most definitely something strange about this human. The security tapes from the other night had decided that for her. This only strengthened the evidence.
"I think we have a little witch on our hands," she mused to herself before calling for the brainless blonde.
It was time she dug a little deeper into who this girl was, and before things got carried away. She wasn't going to nearly lose her maker again at the hands of another witch.
"What a long night," Henley sighed as she locked the door behind her, slipping her coat off with the intent on heading straight to bed. She knew she wouldn't have any trouble at all sleeping after the adventure of a night she just had.
Running a hand down her tired face, Henley headed into the kitchen to let Moony out one last time before bed. She was stopped in her tracks, however, at the sight she was met with.
"I'm hurt you never ate my soup."
"Jackson?" her eyes grew wide.
"Hello Henley. Would you care to join me?" Jackson motioned to the container that sat on her kitchen counter; the exact same container holding the exact same contents Godric had flung out of her grasps. "It'd be rude of you to say no."