Chapter 10 Have the truth, make a noise

He was still there when I woke up the next morning.

I had barely opened my eyes before they landed on the hunched over figure on the side of the bed next to me. It was Eric, still sitting in the chair he had been in when I had fallen asleep and he was leaning against the bed with his arms folded on top of the mattress and his head laying down with his eyes shut. I looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was just past dawn and this was right around the time when Eric usually took to his rest for the day. So it was no surprise when I woke up and he was the one sleeping. I could have smiled right then and there but I couldn't muster the strength to do it because it would have been fake. But the sight of Eric's peaceful face did comfort me and I turned over on my side and allowed my fingers to reach towards his head. I brushed the blonde hair back from his forehead, feeling the silky strands on my skin and I couldn't help but continue to stroke his blond locks while I lay there staring off into space.

"Well you two look quite comfortable." Godric's voice spoke quietly from the doorway and I lifted my head to find the older vampire standing there with his hands tucked into the pockets of his white linen pants as our eyes met. "I think you exhausted him."

"He exhausted himself." I replied back, looking down at Eric and see the redness rimming his eyes that had nothing to do with his emotions and asked. "He hasn't been resting well has he?"

"Not since your death." Godric nodded, pressing his lips together as he quietly walked into the room, eying his child with watchful eyes. "He's been...different. And it's been tough."

"Yea, I can see that." I sighed, touching Eric's hair lightly and I felt a tremble come over me as I looked down at him. I knew how tough this all was on me, but seeing it reflected on Eric's face was heartbreaking. So I didn't dwell on it too much and focused my eyes on the other vampire in the room. "Why are you still awake? Shouldn't you be resting since it's dawn?"

"I knew you were awake and I just wanted to come see you." He told me, coming over to the side of the bed opposite of Eric and said. "I would like some time with you if you are up for it."

"Ok. But let's go downstairs. I don't want to bother Eric." I said, pushing back the covers and moving over to the edge and placed my feet on the floor to stand up. I was barely straightened up before Godric scooped me up in his arms and flashed out of the room without making a sound. He held on to me tightly as he rushed down the stairs to the tiled front hallway and then walked with me over to the dark living room where the only light came from the fire he must have started. I raised my eyebrows up at him and said. "I've never seen you make a fire before."

"I did it more for your benefit, I knew you would be cold after being in that warm bed all night." Godric pointed out, setting me on the floor in front of the fire before snatching a blanket off the couch and wrapping it around my shoulders. He went to move away but I found myself reaching out for his arm to keep him next to me.

"Don't move." I said, tugging on his arm so he would be sitting on the floor next to me and he obliged, stretching his legs out in front of him towards the fire as he settled there with his arm looped through mine. I tightened my grip and told him. "I'm comforted with you near by."

"Well I'm glad to hear that." He replied with what I knew was a smile on his face as I leaned my head against his shoulder. "I want to do whatever I can to make you feel better."

"I...I don't feel better and I don't know if I will for a while." I said heavily clutching his arm close to me as I looked at the slowly dancing flames. I felt different then I expected, a lot different. It was a difference that filled me with a hollowness and the urge to divulge a confession. "I don't feel alive...I feel empty and lost."

"That's because you're still in shock But you are the living proof that this kind of resurrection is possible. And I can imagine that this is not easy at all even if you are alive again..." Godric spoke with slow and steady words, patting my hands with his cold palm. "But you are alive and while it will never be the same, things will get better."

"I hope you're right." I sighed, lifting my head off his shoulder so we were looking at each other. "I can barely stand feeling like this for a night, let alone forever."

"It won't be forever, it will just take longer then overnight." Godric shook his head and placed his hand on my cheek. "But you have all of us to lean on. We'll get you through this."

"I hope that happens."

A few hours later

Stay calm.

Just explain the situation to him and hope for the best. He's a logical man, he should understand better then anyone how the supernatural world works.

It will be fine. Just keep things steady.

Sookie kept these thoughts repeating inside of her head as she stood in the back hallway of Merlotte's and stared through the open doorway of Sam's office to where her boss was sitting at his desk, completely oblivious to the fact that he was being stared at. She was suppose to be starting her shift in an hour but instead she had come here early, not to work but to tell Sam she was not going to be in at all. She had a more important matter that needed her attention and it was going to probably take up a good amount of time since she had no idea how to go about it. After the shock of the previous night had worn off, she had returned home with Bill and she had confided in him that in the morning she was going to put in motion the process to get Allie back on her feet and that was by doing whatever official paperwork needed to be done to reestablish that she was no longer dead. She wasn't sure how she was going to get the police or whoever dealt with this to believe her but she was going to find out. And therefore she couldn't be at work today. But it was going to present her own set of problem since she would need to let him know what was going on. She couldn't lie because he was pretty good at weeding out her lies, just like he had when the war was going on. He knew something was up but she hadn't told him and now she would have to explain everything and just hoped that he would take it well.

"Hey Sam?" She knocked on his door, the sound making him swirled around in his chair with a guarded look on his face like he already knew what she was going to ask him. "We need to talk."

"You need the day off again, don't you?" He asked, setting down the stack of files he was holding and sat back in the chair with his arms folded over his chest. "What's the excuse this time?"

"The same as it was the last time, it has to do with Allie. But not for the reason you may think." She felt her heart thud wildly in her chest as she looked at him, having no idea how he would react to what she was about to say. "I have to file some paperwork with the police."

"Why? What the hell is going on?" Sam asked, getting up from his chair the minute she said this and he started looking concerned. "I thought that was all settled."

"It was but something happened last night that I have to report." Sookie made sure to keep her voice steady because Sam was already going to be freak ed out enough and it wouldn't do any good if she didn't remain calm. "Um, this is going to be hard to believe but just remember that this world is full of things we can't explain or understand and this is one of them."

"Ok...well tell me what it is because I have a feeling its not minor." Sam frowned hard like he already knew that what she had to tell him was something bigger then any of them thought. "Sookie, what's going on?"

"Ok, when I tell you this, keep in mind that I realize how crazy it sounds. But I saw it for myself and I know it's real. It's just a matter of convincing you." She explained with a deep breath. She did know how insane it sounded because up until last night, she believed what the rest of the world believed. That when you died, you were dead. That was it and there was no coming back. It was different with Godric because he was a vampire and the same rules didn't apply to humans, or near humans like her and Allie. So she too had been skeptical, but seeing Allie lying in that bed looking the same as she did the night she died, changed her entire way of thinking. She just hoped Sam was open to it. "Somehow, some way...Allie was resurrected. She's alive."

Sam stared at her for the first minute and judging by the look on his face she was certain that she had gotten through to him. But then his face twisted and the room was filled with the sounds of his laughter. She wasn't surprised, she knew it wasn't just going to be easy to get anyone to believe this crazy notion so she was ok with standing there with Sam basically laughing in her face.

"You have got to be kidding me." He exclaimed, slapping himself on the leg as he tried to compose himself. "You're actually going to get me to believe that she is alive?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do." She nodded, knowing he would have to have physical proof of what she was saying and the first round of that proof was only a few minutes away. She motioned behind her to the door and said. "Come with me. There's something you need to see."

10 minutes later

"Holy shit. You weren't kidding." Sam's disbelief came out of every part of his voice as they stood side by side and stared down Allie's grave where a rather large hole was situated right in the middle of the plot. A hole big enough for a human body to crawl out of.

This was the first time she was seeing Allie's grave since she had been resurrected and it sent a jolt through her heart to see the where her cousin had been forced to crawl out of. But it wasn't nearly as tough on her as it was on Sam who had been doubtful since they left the bar. And the minute their eyes landed on the burial plot, Sam had frozen in the grass next to it, the realization dawning on him and he had no words for what he was seeing. She too had a hard time filling the silence after seeing the grave. She saw the dirt and disturbed grass where Allie's hands had grabbed at once they broke the surface and Sookie could only imagine what must have been going through Allie's mind when she took that first breath of night air. It must have been so filled with desperation and elation.

"She dug herself out. She's alive just like you said she was." Sam's words almost jumbled together as he was the one who spoke first and she watched as he crossed his arms in complete shock before looking up at her. "Where is she now?"

"She's in Shreveport with Eric. She went back to the last place she called home and that was with him." Sookie explained, tucking her hands in her jacket pockets. "She chose to go back there instead of to Bill's house and..."

"I want to see her." Sam cut her off quickly, his forehead in a deep frown as he stepped back. "Right away, I want to go and see her. I have to be looking at her in person for this all to sink in or else I will never believe its real."

"Alright, come with me and I will drive and explain everything." She promised, motioning them back towards the exit where her car was parked right outside. Sam followed with no hesitation and together they left Allie's grave to head out to Shreveport to show just how much of a miracle still existed in this world.

Later that morning

"You really should be resting. I don't want you to get the bleeds." I told Godric a few hours later as we sat next to each other on the couch in the living room just staring off into space like I had been doing since we had last spoken. I didn't even realize how much time had gone by until my eyes landed on the clock on the table across the room and I saw that it was already past eleven. I turned to look at Godric and saw that he was still sitting as calmly as he ever was. "You should go down to Eric's resting area, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"I don't want to leave you alone for the rest of the day." He shook off any further suggestion of letting me be by myself and just reached over to place his hand over mine, gaining my attention in the process. "I don't need as much rest as I use to. That's a plus of being a 2000 year old vampire."

"You say that all the time to everything." I pointed out, remembering his tendency to refer to his age a lot even before I had died and it almost comforted me to hold on to something before all this had happened with my death and resurrection. "But I would be fine by myself."

"You just came back to life last night, after being dead for almost 2 months. I think its too soon to be leaving you alone." Godric explained, squeezing my hand with that familiar gentle smile on his lips. "I don't mind staying with you, even if you don't feel like speaking."

"Yea, but you..." I wasn't able to finish my statement because at that moment we both heard the roar of a car engine come charging down the driveway as if on some kind of desperate mission and both Godric and I looked at each other, knowing it had to have been Sookie since she was the only other human who knew where Eric lived. So when the car stopped, we both relaxed and waited for her to walk in. But then I saw a frown appear on Godric's face and I didn't understand why until the front door open and in walked my cousin, only she wasn't alone. There was someone standing behind her and when she moved aside after meeting my eyes, I found myself shrinking back in shock. "Sam?"

Sam, upon seeing me froze in place much like everyone else did when they first saw me alive again. Sookie shut the door behind them and then stood off to the side, looking between him and me like she had to mediate things. I could tell from her thoughts that she had told Sam everything, so he wasn't in the dark about any of it. But he was staring at me with these big eyes as if he was expecting to see me as this sort of transparent figure and it was a shock to him to see me sitting there as solid as before I had died. I didn't know how to react so I just sat there in silence as Sookie left his side and came into the living to sit by me to explain this and even as she spoke, I still found myself staring at Sam. He was the only other person besides those who had been in the war, to know I was alive again and having that visitor from my old world kind of threw me for a loop.

"Allie, it's ok. I just brought him here so he could see for himself that I wasn't lying." She explained, taking my hand as she spoke as if I needed the reassurance. "I told him what happened and he just wanted to see it was real."

"This may have been the wrong time to spring it on her." Godric spoke up, eying Sam cautiously like he was the enemy but I knew it was nothing against my old friend, Godric was just looking out for me. "This all just happened last night, give her a second to get use to this new life before you bring other people into it."

"Sam was her friend at one point and he deserved to know what was going on." Sookie frowned, her hand still on mine but her eyes were directed at the vampire on the other side of me. "He was affected just as much when she died as the rest of us were. He should be allowed to see her too."

"I'm not saying he shouldn't. Of course he should, she needs as many people supporting her as possible. It's going to be toughest on her." Godric said, running his fingers through his hair absentmindedly. "But doing it the morning after she was resurrected is not the best idea."

"I think you're wrong."

"I think you're the one who is wrong."

"Well I think you both need to stop talking like I'm not here and leave us alone." I spoke up, having all three faces shoot towards me in shock that I had spoken. I nodded to the doorway an waved them away. "Go. Sam and I need to talk."

"Allison..."Godric began but I cut him off when I leveled him with a stare.

"I mean it, leave us alone." I ordered with as much strength and conviction in my voice as I could managed. Godric looked at Sookie and together the two of them stood up in unison and left the room, walking passed Sam who moved toward me and they shut the door together. There was silence descending on the room as we listened to Godric and Sookie walk away and we both turned and looked at each other at the same time, a heaviness settling in my chest as I sad the only thing that came to mind. "Hey Sam."

"Hey Allison."

15 minutes later

"So you're …."

"Alive? Yea, I am."

"I don't know..."

"How it's possible? Join the club."

"You were...were..."

"The word is resurrected."

"I can't believe you're back."

"You're not alone."

This had been the nature of his conversation with Allison after he had been left alone with her. It had taken a while before he was able to move forward and sit next to her and it had taken even more time before he could actually start saying something. And when he had, it all just came blubbering out and she would pick up the last half of what he was saying. He would begin to speak and just like that she would finish it for him like she use to back when they were at their closest. He was still finding it hard to believe that the girl they all thought was dead was sitting here next to him but there she was, looking just the same as the last time he had seen her. It was like nothing had ever happened, like it could have all been a bad dream this whole time. But the look in her eyes and the timid way she moved around said it was far too real to even consider it was a dream or more accurately a nightmare. She was real and what was happening was real. It was a lot to take in and he wouldn't lie when he said he thought it was bullshit. But something in him had said that this wasn't a trick and that was why he had made Sookie take him here to Shreveport to see for himself. And now here he was and it was still blowing his mind.

"This is so surreal." He said when he had regained his composure and turned his eyes on her just to insure she hadn't evaporated while he was lost in thought. She was still there next to him with her legs pulled up to her chest and her long hair hanging down her back watching him with a distracted look on her face. "I just can't believe this was possible. Things like this aren't suppose to be real."

"That's what I thought and I wish I could understand it but I don't know what happened." She shrugged, reaching up to play with the long strands of hair. "All I know is that I woke up and I had to dig myself out."

"I know, Sookie told me about everything on the way here." Sam shuddered, remembering the details Sookie had relayed to him on the drive and it made him cringe to think of what Allison had to go through just to come back to this world. He didn't know how she was keeping it together. "I wonder who did it."

"I want to know because I want to say thank you for bringing me back. But then again I want to also punch them in the face for leaving me down there." She said, her voice sounding dark for the first time since she started speaking and there was the slightest hint of a glare on her face. "I mean, if you're doing something like bringing a person back to life, you have to assume they will be brought back in the last place they were at. And in my case it was my coffin."

"I don't even want to think about it." Sam tried not to think about what it must have been like to have opened your eyes and realized that you were stuck 6 feet underground. That was terrifying just to even imagine let alone experience. "I'm so sorry this all happened to you."

"I never thought things would end up this way." She replied with a sigh, her fingers twirling her hair slowly. "I didn't think I would end up dying that night."

"Speaking of that night, I now have the opportunity to ask you something that I've been obsessing about for a while." Sam piped up as the thought hit him that had been bouncing around his head for weeks. "Why didn't you or Sookie tell me about this war? Why didn't you tell me that you were in trouble?"

"Because there were already too many people I loved involved in this war and I couldn't have any more risk their lives for me." She answered honestly, swallowing nervously as she spoke before looking at him. "Sam, despite everything that has happened between us, you were still my friend and I loved you. I couldn't have you putting yourself at risk for me."

"That should have been my decision, don't you think?" He asked, watching her intently like he had not done for a while. Even before she died, they hadn't been around each other much because he was too busy being an idiot to try and fix their friendship and if it hadn't been for her resurrection, he never would have been given a second chance to make things right. "Look, I think since we got this other shot at being friends, we should make the most of it and try and work through our issues."

"We will, but not right now. Right now, I just need to readjust and then I will start taking on obstacles but until then, let's just leave it in the past." She stated with a quietness in her voice that he couldn't defy. He could only imagine the toll this had taken on her and he didn't want to make it more difficult so he just nodded in agreement.

"Ok, we'll talk about it another time." He assured her, sending a smile her way that she did not return but he understood why. He just propped his elbow up on the back of the couch and asked. "So how do you think you're going to deal what comes after being resurrected?"

"To be honest, I don't really know." She shrugged her delicate shoulders at him as she set her chin back on her knees. "I didn't expect any of this to happen. I didn't expect to die and I certainly didn't expect to be resurrected. So I'm not sure how to go from here."

"Well, you have plenty of people who love you, including me." He reached out and touched her hand for the first time and she turned her head around to look at him as he nodded. "I'm here for you if you need me to be."

"Thank you Sam"

A few hours later

It was nightfall and yet I was still sitting curled up on the sofa like I had been for the rest of the afternoon since Sam had left. I didn't feel much like talking after our conversation and so I had taken to just sitting here and staring into the fire without really saying much. Godric had stayed with me for the rest of the day because he had no other choice, the sun was still beaming down on the outside world and obviously he couldn't go out in it. So he stayed with me until just a few moments ago when I said I wanted to be alone and he could leave. He reluctantly did it only because he knew Eric would be showing up as soon as night had fallen, so I wouldn't be alone for long. So he kissed my forehead and left in a flash, giving me only a few minutes of alone time before I heard footsteps coming across the hall and towards the doorway and when I looked up, there was Eric's tall frame leaning against the wood with his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Why weren't you in the room when I awoke?" He asked, a slight frown on his face as he spoke like he was annoyed. "I fell asleep at dawn and you were still in a deep slumber when I fell under. But yet you weren't there now. I would have assumed you would be."

"Godric wanted time with me since he didn't have it last night, so he brought me down here this morning. He stayed with me during the day." I told Eric, tucking my hair behind my ears while I looked at him. "But he's gone now. I sent him away because he had been here since last night and he should have break."

"You've been sitting here all day?" Eric asked, coming off the door frame and flashing over to the couch where he took the empty spot beside me. His hand going to my hands where they rested on top of my knees after I pulled my legs up to my chest. "I would have stayed up with you if you had wanted me too."

"You needed rest and it wouldn't have been right to make you waste your resting time just to sit with me while I barely said a few words." I told him with a shrug, feeling the coldness from his hand seep into my skin. "Besides, I already made you suffer enough."

"You didn't make me suffer, your death did." His hand left mine as quick as it had appeared and went to his own lap. "And I don't care if I got the bleeds, if you needed me I would have been there."

"Well it matters to me. And I don't want to see you hurt more then you already have been." I muttered, setting my chin on top of my knees as I looked at him. It felt like we were miles apart even though I could still feel the intensity of the love I had for him. That hadn't changed in the slightest. But having to watch me die and then come back put a wedge between us and it would take a while before things would ever get back to where they were. "I care if you have the bleeds. That may sound stupid to you, but I care about that."

"Well you know what I care about?" He asked with a rough tinge to his voice that made me look up into his brilliant blue eyes only to see a flicker of the old Eric Northman there. "I care about seeing you smile again. That's what I want more then anything. Because when you smile, you look more alive then at any other point. And I want you to look alive."

"That...is really sweet." I felt touched by his simple confession and I saw my hand unfolding itself away from my other one and reaching out for his, lacing my fingers through his long ones when our skin touched. Eric tilted his head to look at me and I could see the desire in his eyes to have me make that simple action a reality, but I just couldn't because it would have been a lie. "It's too big a leap for me right now."

"What can I do to make it easier for you?" He asked seriously, his eyes and face filling up with determination even though we both knew this was not something he could fix. "Just tell me what to do and I will do it."

"There's nothing you or anyone can do. This just has to run its course." I said quietly, putting my feet down to the floor and moving over so I could lay my head against his shoulder. Feeling him against me always made me feel safe and I needed that now. I wrapped both hands around his upper arm and sighed. "Just be here...that makes it less difficult."

"I will be here always." He said, pulling my legs up into his lap so he had a part of me to hold on to as well before he spoke again. "I will be the man that you want me to be and I will change myself if I have to."

"I don't want you to change because if you did then you wouldn't be the man I fell in love with." I told him honestly, knowing that if I looked up there would be a gleam in his eyes and that comforted my poor heart that had been ravaged by so much devastation. I tightened my grip on him. "Stay this way forever, you're already the man I want you to be."

"Now that sounds like the old Allison." He replied with what I knew had to have been a smirk on his lips. His fingers encased my knees and rubbed circles in my skin as he spoke. "I'm glad you haven't lost all parts of yourself."

"I'm glad too." I whispered, hugging his arm to my chest as I tucked my cheek even more tightly against his shoulder. "You know I love you right?"

"Of course I know...I've always known that."

Later that night

"Molly! Where are you?" Aaron's panicked voice came through the front door of her apartment, sounding so frantic and out of breath that she came running from the back room to find him just entering the hallway looking like a complete mess with his hair disheveled and his clothes hanging half off him. He looked like he had run all the way here, dressed in the first clothes that his hands had touched. As soon as his eyes spotted her, he began to shout. "Why the fuck did you not pick up your damn phone?"

"My home phone broke and I forgot to buy a new one. And my cell phone was off since I had to work today." Molly explained, combing her fingers through her short dark hair and looked at her friend with interest. She had never seen him this freaked out before but she wasn't worried because knowing Aaron the way she did, it probably wasn't anything too serious. But still she had to make sure. "Why? What's wrong?"

"You should have turned your phone back on. Or at least turned on the news. But I came over as soon as I heard." He snapped, ripping his jacket off and throwing it over a near by chair before he walked over to her with his hands tucked under his arms. "It rained in Bon Temps and Shreveport last night."

"No it didn't, you had to have heard wrong. You've been working too hard lately so your focus had to be off." Molly waved her hands in the air, any concern slipping away the moment she said this. Because it was true, Aaron worked too much and when he forgot to schedule time off, he worked way many more days then he was suppose to and his attention wasn't always at the best. So he was most likely wrong about this. "That's not correct, the weather guy said there would be no rain there until tomorrow. I checked it after I did the last part of the resurrection and that's why I haven't checked it since then."

"Well it did rain and not only that, it stormed really badly. There was flooding everywhere. It was bad." Aaron shot back reaching out and taking her by the arms to shake her. And it seemed like this action was to reinforce his words that were coming next. "You understand what I'm saying don't you?"

Molly felt her entire body freeze as the impact of his statement sank into every pore of her skin and she found her heart skipping a beat as she realized what this meant. A rain storm in Bon Temps was what they had been waiting for, what they should have been keeping an eye out for more vigilantly then they had. This was the sign that was suppose to have completed the process, and they had missed it. It had occurred when she wasn't even paying attention and now it could have had dire consequences. Her hands began to shake as she looked up at Aaron.

"We have to get to that cemetery right now."

50 minutes later

"Oh..my..."

Molly couldn't even find it within herself to finish that sentence as she stood there with Aaron in the darkened cemetery and stared down at Allison grave with the shovel still clutched in her hand. When the full brunt of what was going on had hit her, she wasted no time in grabbing her keys and driving out to Bon Temps. Actually Aaron ended up driving since he was the slightly more calm one and it would have been dangerous for her to operate a vehicle when her mind was going a million miles an hour. And while it seemed like forever to get there, it really only took 45 minutes to reach the graveyard. And once the car came to a full stop, she jumped out and popped the trunk to grab the shovel she kept back there for this very moment. And it was urgency that drove her through the cemetery since this should have been taken care of last night and not a full 24 hours later. But when they arrived at the grave, they were both stunned to see that a shovel would no longer be needed because there was already a good sized hole in the ground. And it wasn't a hole dug by a man made object, it was a hole made by something coming out from underneath the ground. And realizing that it meant Allison had dug herself out, she felt her entire body shake in horror as the shovel fell from her hands.

"Molly? Calm down." Aaron's stunned voice reached through to her and she felt his hand encircle around her wrist as he turned her towards him. "It's going to be ok.."

"Oh my god. What have I done?" Molly felt her lower lip quiver as she looked down at the grass and her eyes fell on the hole that her daughter had emerged from and it nearly sent her over the edge. She could still see the faint spots in the ground where her fingers had probably grasped at to pull herself out of the grave and that was more disturbing then anything she had ever encountered in her life because this was her fault. She was responsible for this. And for whatever torment came after. She looked at Aaron in horror. "How could I leave her down there?"

"You didn't know and if you had you would have been here right as soon as the storm had started. It's not your fault." Aaron pulled her into his arms, trying to comfort her but she wasn't sure if that was possible, bit when something like this was happening that she was responsible for. "You had the best of intentions, you still do. You just hit a roadblock that's all."

"This is not a roadblock. This was a horrible lapse in judgment. I should have been watching for any sign of the smallest storm due to hit that town and I didn't. And now look what happened. She had to dig herself out of her own grave." Molly pulled away from him in utter disgust at her actions and looked around the empty graveyard, almost like she expected Allison to just be waiting by a tree in the distance, but of course she wasn't. Why would she spend any more time in a graveyard after what she had gone through? Molly shuddered as she looked at the tombstone. "What kind of mother am I?"