I just wanted to thank msjackson for reviewing every chapter so far! You've been really helpful, and I hope you like this too.

Enjoy reading!

New Life

Hours, days, months were spent trying to find a way to live together again.
Though Ariana had not yet said she forgave him for all he had done, he knew she would one day. Six months after the night they had first kissed again, Ariana somehow seemed more like she finally conquered the final aftermath of her disease. She was no longer extremely skinny, but her own slim self. Her natural skin tone had regained its natural glow. She was healthier, happier. Her hair had grown at least ten inches in the last few months. Godric sometimes still had troubles realizing how much she needed him.
Almost as much as he needed her. That too, seemed impossible to him. But however he looked at it, whichever way he tried to turn it, he needed her in his life.
During the nights, Ariana preformed in the club while he hunted. He no longer killed his humans, but drank from them, glamoured them and told them to leave.
After hunting, he'd return to the club, watch Ariana do her final songs before taking her home, to the shabby apartment in the older neighborhoods of London.

That night, Godric returned to the club after drinking from a drunk rapist. He only drank from 'bad' people, feeling it was some sort of compensation for the deaths he had caused in the past. Ariana was just finishing a particularly fast and happy song. She noticed his entrance and waved at him, smiling coquette.
He grinned. The barkeeper – who knew him by now – smiled at him and gestured to an empty table in the corner. Godric steered his way between the packed tables and sat down at the table at last. Not even a minute later, the barkeeper dropped a cocktail on his table. A Bloody Mary.
He never drank it, but the barkeeper knew to bring it as soon as he walked in. Ariana finished the song and bowed to the crowd.
When she walked up to him, he couldn't help but feel a smile appear on his lips. She swooped down upon him and kissed him full on the lips. He felt her tense up as she tasted the blood that had remained on his lips, but she didn't pull back.

When the kiss lasted so long people started to whistle, he slowly pushed her in the chair next to his, only leaning back from her when she had sat down. She smiled at him at wiped her hair out of her face. 'So? AB negative tonight?' He nodded. 'You're getting better at tasting it.' She frowned. 'Like I want to.'
She leaned closer, her lips brushing past his cheek, before she leaned back, his cocktail in her hand. She sipped, made a face and returned it to the table. 'Yuk,' she said, 'I hate Bloody Mary.' He grinned, and then set himself on asking her what he had wanted to for days. 'Ariana,' he started, 'I wanted to ask you something.' She sipped from the cocktail again, making a face and smiling at him. 'Shoot. Anything you want.' She traced one of the veins on his hand, somehow making it harder for him to focus on what he wanted to say. 'I wanted to ask you if . . . If you'd consider returning to America with me.' Her face was expressionless, save the disgust when she sipped from his cocktail again.

'I just feel like . . . I'm done here. There's nothing left for me. Except for you. And if you don't want to go, I'll stay. But . . . But I want to go.' She sipped from the cocktail, put it on the table, lifted his hand and pressed a kiss on it. 'If you are . . . done here, I don't want to stop you. Leave, if you want to. But I'm not sure if I am. Done here, I mean.' He frowned. 'I don't want to go anywhere without you. If don't want to go, neither will I.' She sipped from the cocktail again, but didn't answer. When she sipped again and made a disgusted noise, he couldn't stand the silence anymore. He took the glass from her and put it back on the table. 'Why do you drink it when you hate it?' She shrugged and smiled. 'It tastes like more,' she said, leaning forward, 'as do your lips,' she smiled and kissed him again. He could not argue her point. Her lips did taste like more.

This time, she broke the kiss and leaned back into the chair. 'Maybe we should go home. I am quite tired. And, I did look forward to having you kiss me all night,' she added in Greek. He could not help but smile.
He got up and helped her up. As they left the club, into the dark, moonless night, she turned around. 'And Godric, all I need to do is, um, I want to see the village. I need to close that chapter of my life before I can move on properly. Before I can leave it behind forever.' He smiled at her.
'I get it. We'll go. You'll see them again, close it, and then we can start our new life together.' She stopped walking suddenly. 'Okay, but there' s one thing though. I will go alone. Last time they saw you, they swore to stake you, without questioning. This once, you will do as I say. Then, we will start our new life.'
She kissed him, short and soft, before they walked on to the apartment.

THE WOODS OF THE VILLAGE, GREECE - 1960

I looked around carefully, knowing I was surrounded by people. They did not do anything though.
They were told only to shadow me, make sure I didn't do anything I was not supposed to. I knew they were supposed to follow me in such a way that I wouldn't see them. Of course, being trained the same way as they were, I did see them.
I approached the gates of the village, realizing I first met Godric in this exact spot.

I felt the pain when the thing - vampire - behind me sank his teeth into my neck. I screamed, trying to struggle, but his iron grip did not falter. Suddenly, a young man moved into the clearing so fast I could hardly see it. The pressure of the vampire's grip disappeared, and I felt my knees give in.
The young vampire stood crouched beside me, growling at the other vampire, who stood in the same position a few feet away.

I strained to hear what they were saying. 'She is my human. You cannot feed on her.' The words seemed so treathening, I shivered. A few moments long, the other vampire remained in the same spot. His head was cocked to the right, and he examined the young vampire. After a few heartbeats, he straightened up and ran away.
The following seconds were the longest of my existence. My life. I looked at the young vampire, whose back was turned on me.

He slowly turned around, and somehow, the only thing I saw, was that he was handsome. Ridiculously handsome. Neither was he as young as I had first thought. His piercing blue eyes were stunning. I couldn't keep my eyes off his. I barely noticed the aching in my neck, where the vampire's fangs had pierced my skin. He kneeled beside me and softly stroked my hair from my neck.
For some reason, he bit his finger and lifted it, as if he were to wipe his blood on my skin. I wondered if he was trying to distract me. Handsome or not, he was a vampire. He would drink my blood. Kill me. Strangely though, I did not feel scared. 'What are you waiting for?' I asked, startling him.

He leaned back, examining my face. I wiped the blood that had dripped from my neck on my hand away. 'I heard what you said to him. I'm your human, so feed on me. Isn't that what you wanted?' He tilted his head to the side and examined my face. He opened his mouth, but did not speak. 'No . . .' He slowly said. 'No, that is not what I wanted. I just wanted you safe.' I raised an eyebrow in surprise. That was not what I had expected. 'Why?' The question bubbled up before I realized I wanted to know.
'I do not know. I merely know I wanted you safe.' I sat up. He bit his finger again and wiped it over the bite. The throbbing in my neck got less, until the pain disappeared in all.

I remembered the strange feeling of being followed. 'You were the one following me, weren't you? For days, weeks even?' He slowly, almost tenderly, wiped the blood from my neck, examining the skin. He nodded. 'You . . . Intrigued me. There is something about you. I cannot put my finger on it.' I smiled at him. He frowned. 'Do you not fear me?' I didn't have to think about it. I shook my head. 'If you wanted to harm me, you would've already.' I got up and brushed the sand of my legs and clothes. He followed my example quickly. He touched my arm. 'I shall accompany you to your village. Stay there, do not wander alone into these woods again. I cannot protect you a second time.' I hardly realized we had reached the edge of the woods until he stopped. 'I must go. Only a few hours until dawn.' He turned away when I realized I had not thanked him.

'Wait!' I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. He slowly turned. 'I wish to thank you,' I started, 'but I would not know to whom I should address it. What is your name, Vampire?' He answered very fast, almost like he thought he might stop himself. 'Godric.' The name fit him perfectly. There was something about him that . . . that was almost addictive. I smiled. He smiled too, and his smile was beautiful. As was he. 'Well then, Godric,' I whispered, 'I owe you my eternal gratitude. When I can do something to repay you, name it. Even if you deicde that repayment requires my blood.' Wile I said that, I knew that thought did not scare me. I leaned closer and kissed his cheek and turned to the village. He had frozen when I had kissed his cheek. But before I had taken more than a few steps, I heard his voice emerge from behind me. 'Wait,' He said. I turned and smiled at him. 'Ariana. My name is Ariana.'

Then I turned and walked through the gates, feeling like I had actually overcome something huge.

I stopped walking when I reached the gates. I breathed in deeply and prepared for anything that would lie behind the gate. Hatred, reproach, misunderstanding, anything. Instead of the imposed seven decades, I had been gone far longer. A thousand years was a very long time, even from my point of view. The world could change wholely and fully. People changed. I changed.
When I had left, I had somehow, despite my three thousand years, been no more than a child. I no longer felt like a child. The Illumination had altered my thinking and my mind. As had the suffering and pain. But if I got to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

I slowly approached the gates, and swung them open, exposing the village to my eyes. Nothing seemed to have changed. Nothing at all. I glanced to the right, surprised to see lights burn in what had one day been my house. It was very uncommon to let an immortal live in another's house. Only close relatives used to live in each other's houses. Perhaps some things had changed.
I proceeded to the village square, where I had reached the age of illumination. As I walked between the houses, doors and windows opened and people peeked around the corner, curious to see me.
Slowly but surely I created a large group of followers, who followed me to the square, none speaking.

The Elders stood in a line next to each other, looking serious as they always had. Long dark capes rounded their shoulders, washing down their backs onto the ground. All of them wore the hood. I didn't say anything. I noticed there were still only six of them, instead of seven. That meant they had not replaced Persephone, the oldest amongst immortals all over the world. I tried to understand why they hadn't, but there was no liable reason that sprung to mind. The feeling the village gave me was . . . Strange. Inexplicable. It no longer felt like the safe harbour it had been before I had been banished.
It felt like . . . Like the web of a spider, trying to lure you in its inescapable grip.

'So,' one of the Elders finally spoke, 'you return to us after many many years of absence. Of fear. Fear for what had become of you. We feared the vampire -' 'Godric,' I said irritably, 'his name is Godric.' The Elder inclined his head, '. . . That Godric had killed you. On purpose or not, we mourned for your loss. And now, you give us reason to rejoice. For you have returned to us, bearing a child!' The people cheered, but the sound seemed dimmed, like it came from a great distance. What had he said? Had I heard him right? Bearing a child? What was he talking about? My monthly bleeds still came. The only person I had ever slept with was a vampire, for crying out loud! I raised a hand, as if in a dream, to silence everyone.
'What do you mean?' I asked, my voice no more than a whisper.

The Elders exchanged confused glances. 'You carry a child. The next immortal. We can feel its presence.' 'But. . . That's impossible. It can't be. Vampires don't sire children!' The silence that followed was almost deafening. I stared at the Elders, who seemed just as dumbstruck as I was. Finally, a voice emerged from behind me. 'But we feel it too. There is something. You must've been with someone other than the vampire?' I shook my head, dazed. 'No. No, you must be mistaken. I'm not . . . I'm not with child. I still . . . I bleed. Like any other woman. Someone else. .' But the Elders stepped forward together, as if one, and shook their heads simultaniously. 'We cannot be mistaken. This is the same presence we felt when your mother was expecting you. A great one. Might vibrates in its limbs. We can feel it.' I shook my head and, without thinking, dropped my hand to my belly. Did I imagine it or did something move? It had to be my imagination. It must've been. Godric was . . . There was no way. . .

I stared at the ground, trying to comprehend, when I gasped for breath after a sharp move in my belly. I had not imagined that. Was it possible? Could it be? It was ridiculous, and yet, I found myself wondering if it could be. If Godric and I could have that what we had always missed in our lives.
I dropped my hand to my belly, cradling something that wasn't there.
My child. Godric's child.

Godric paced around the house, trying to ignore his worry for Ariana. She felt confused, but there was a hint of fear and delight to her confusion. It confused him. He knew she was safe. He hoped she was safe.
He had bought a house in Dallas, large enough for both them and others, if they ever desired to stay.
He had already moved the entire library on his own, the living room was being decorated and the bedroom was nearly finished. He had had a cubby built beneath the bedroom floor, artificial lights in the walls, and a simple bed with white sheets.
Now, all that was missing here was Ariana. He missed her laugh, her remarks and her . . . Her everything.

The King of Texas had already sent word that he was very pleased with a vampire like Godric in his state. He had hinted that they might have need of a word in private later. Godric couldn't imagine what the King would have to say to him, but he had nodded and accepted that if the King wanted to see im, he would budge. A boy knocked on the open door while he entered. 'Sir? We're finished in the main bedroom. Would you like us to take care of the one in the south wing of the house too?' Godric turned and smiled at the boy. 'Yes, why don't you?' The boy nodded and hurried outside.

He sat down at the desk and looked at his hands, the gold ring on his finger. He missed Ariana. He needed her. He closed his eyes and thought, 'Please hurry back, Ariana. Hurry back...'

Pfooh, this story keeps surprising even me. I had no intention whatsoever to make Ariana believe she was pregnant.
I hope this is a twist you can appreciate, for I really didn't mean to make it some kind of Twilight-ish thing; not at all. Maybe it won't be.

Anyway, I promise to update as soon as I can. . . In the mean time, I'd say, enjoy the chapter!

Please review!

Thanks for reading!

Xx Annaelle