Chapter 11 You found me
"Oh my god it's really you." I gasped, my hand slapping over my mouth the moment I had spoken. My eyes traveled down to the floor where they landed on his transparent feet and then came back up again just to make sure he was really there in front of me. He was in the very same white clothes he had been wearing when he appeared to me in my visions and he wore the same gentle expression that had been present when we last parted. It really was Godric. As much as it was hard to believe, the truth was right in front of my face and even Damon could see him. Godric was so close that I could have reached out and touched him, that is if he wasn't transparent. But I remembered his warning about passing through that part of the hallway and I held back. I lifted my head all the way and met his eyes and saw that he was staring right back at me. Holy shit, this was for real. That realization took all the strength out of my legs as everything hit me at once and I started falling to the floor. I would have hit the dirt ground had it not been for a pair of arms that caught me and held me up against a cold hard chest.
"Can you please not pass out right now?" Damon asked, setting me up on my feet and holding his hands on my shoulders to steady me as I tried to regain my balance. Once I felt like my body was able to handle itself again, I nodded up at him and he released me, stepping back to the wall and turned to face Godric the same time I did. Damon looked at me and there was enough light in the tomb for me to see the doubtful look on his face. "You know him?"
"That's Godric. He is, or he was, Eric's maker." I struggled to even make sense of what I was saying. I didn't even know what the heck was going on. I wasn't expecting the voice to belong to Godric. I shot my head back to the transparent image and blinked a few times in case there was any chance that it was just a dream. But he was there every time I opened my eyes and finally I had to ask straight out what was going on. "Godric, is this real or am I just imagining it?"
"Oh it is very real. I may be transparent, but your mind is not making this up." He answered back, his voice as kind and tender as it had been when he first spoke to me. I watched him as he raised his arms and tucked his hands under them and started pacing slowly back forth the width of the hall. "I called you here."
"How is that even possible? You're dead. You met the sun last year, Sookie saw it happen." I stumbled over my words as I tried to get them out coherently. This was totally turning my head to mush and I didn't if I could trust what I was seeing. I looked back at Damon and he too was looking at Godric and if Damon could also see the fallen vampire, then this had to be real. We couldn't both be that crazy to be seeing the exact same thing. "You can't possibly be real."
"But I am" Godric answered back, his pacing stopping for the time being and he turned to face Damon and I as we looked at each other. Godric sighed heavily from his side of the hallway and said. "I'm here aren't I?"
"But that morning on the roof...Sookie saw you burn. She saw you die." I sputtered, turning to look at Damon and grabbed his arm tightly. "My cousin watched him meet the sun. He's supposed to be dead. But you're seeing him too, right?"
"Uh, surprisingly yea." Damon frowned, tilting his head to the side to glance at Godric again. "And he's the maker of your ex boyfriend?"
"Yes." I replied, swallowing hard before letting him go and stepping back. I looked at the ghostly figure in front of us, my eyes never shrinking from their wide position as I just studied him. I had only ever seen his image when I had been unconscious and never when I was actually awake. So it was hard for me to gasp what I was looking at, but the longer I stood there and the more I just watched him, the more it was dawning at me that this wasn't a joke. Godric had been the voice that had been speaking to me since I arrived here. And I had to just accept that if I wanted answers. "You really are here."
"I am." Godric nodded, his young face looking more relaxed and he dropped his hands down to his side. Before he spoke again. "I called you here for a reason. And I'm so glad you finally found me."
"Why did you call me here in the first place if you are dead?" I asked, clutching my arms around myself to stay calm.
"Simple. I needed your help." He said, his face holding a solemn expression as we locked eyes together.
"Why?" I felt myself tighten up as I awaited his answer, not knowing what was in store but when he spoke, I was startled by what came out of his mouth.
"Because I'm not really dead."
10 minutes later
"What do you mean that you're not really dead?"
Godric watched the young girl as she stood there just two feet away from him and he almost wished he had never brought this down upon her. She looked torn between disbelief and utter shock and it was so apparent that this bit of news had shaken her up so much that she looked like she was going to collapse again. But she didn't, she remained on her feet and just looked at him like she was half expecting him to just disappear. And that wasn't going to happen. He couldn't disappear into thin air and he couldn't just walk out passed her. It was impossible, at least for now it was. He had a lot of explaining to do in order for this to all make sense and to get her to believe that this was no joke. He had spent enough time in this tomb and it was the moment to tell the truth about why he was here.
"Godric?" Allison's quiet little voice called out to him, breaking into his cloud of thoughts to bring him back to the present. He focused his eyes on her face and found it unchanged since the way he had last seen her in that church just weeks ago. Except now there was an extremely sadness lurking in the depths of her eyes that he understood the meaning behind very clearly. "Godric, what do you mean you're not dead?"
"Just that. I'm not dead. I'm alive." He told her, motioning down to his transparent body and said. "This image that you are seeing is my soul. My soul was ripped apart from my body the second it started burning that morning. My body died, but my soul did not. So I am still very much alive."
"Oh god." Allison's hand came up to cover her mouth and for a minute she didn't make the tiniest sound at all. In fact, the only sound that did fill the air came from the footsteps of the other vampire slipping away to give them the moment alone. The second he left, Allison met his eyes again and dropped her hand. "You really are alive aren't you?"
"Very much, just without a body." He responded with a sigh, watching her go over to the wall and lean against it only to slide down to the floor in a heap. He took a spot on the same end on his side and sat down with his legs folded underneath him as he looked at her. "I know this is a lot to take in and if you don't wish for me to continue..."
"No I want you to tell me what happened. I need to understand all of this. I've been trying to figure out why I am hearing weird voices and having all these strange pulls to a town I have never heard of. I assume that was all you?" She asked, turning her young face in his direction as her long hair tumbled over her shoulder and he briefly caught sight of the old fang marks on her skin, Eric's doing obviously.
"Yes, I knew that if I could appear to you in visions then I could probably do more then just send messages. I could send feelings as well. And that's what I did." He said, watching for her reaction and was pleased when he saw the look of understanding in her eyes. "When I realized that you were leaving home for a new place, I knew I had to do something to insure that you would come here. So when you were reading that map and your eyes landed on Mystic Falls, I was able to give you a sense that this was the place you needed to go to. And the moment you arrived, those feelings only got stronger because we were now in the same place."
"I knew it was odd that I felt such a pull to this place." She exclaimed, her face briefly lighting up. "But I never once thought it could be connected to something like this."
"If I frightened you with my actions then I apologize, it was never my intention to make you scared." Godric let her know, knowing that the way he went about things was probably not the best idea he ever had but there was no other way around it. "But I promise to explain everything fully if you wish to hear it."
"Please do. I want to know so badly." She assured him, nodding her head before drawing her legs up close to her body and setting her chin on her knees. "How did this happen to you?"
"I know you know enough about our world to know that vampire blood is very sacred and that it is highly sought after by humans and werewolves. But it was also craved by witches and that's how this whole saga began. With one witch who so desperately looked for the most intoxicating vampire blood she could find. It was a witch who did this to me."
"I fucking hate witches." She muttered quietly but he caught it and it made him chuckle.
"Not all witches are alike, just like not all vampire are alike. The same goes for humans and other supernaturals. You can't judge an entire group based on the actions of certain individuals." He pointed out to her calmly, and even though he struggled with his feelings about that statement, he still stood by it because it was true. "But that's not what I called you here to talk about. I want to tell you my story and it starts, not in Dallas when I tried to meet the sun, but a few years back before any of our lives ever encountered each other."
"Ok. Go ahead. Talk." She nodded for him to begin his story, sitting back against the wall with her big green eyes staring at him in wonder. He himself was still amazed at what had happened even now as he began to relive it out loud.
"As I said, a few years back, before any of our lives intersected, I came across a witch who was seeking vampire blood. And not just any vampire blood, it was my blood she was after. She had found out how old I was and the idea of having the blood of a 2,000 year old vampire was very appealing to her. So she sought me out and demanded I supply her and her coven with it. I refused of course, knowing the chaos that vampire blood can do to a witch. And she did not take too kindly to my refusal. In fact, she cursed me."
"Cursed you?" Allison asked, her mouth dropping open in surprise as he bobbed his head up and down.
"Yes, she put a curse on my soul but I did not know the extent of it until I tried to meet the sun in Dallas last year. When I tried to rid myself of this world, I thought I would be able to leave it without trouble. But somehow the witch knew of my desire to be no more, and she made sure that the curse she put on me would prevent me from what I wanted just as I denied her what she wanted. And it did. You see when I tried to kill myself, my soul ripped apart from my body and sent into hiding. So although it looks liked I was being destroyed by the sun, in actuality, a part of me was still alive. The most important part, the soul,was still intact and therefore I couldn't truly die. It was an act of revenge for my refusal to give her my valuable blood. She cursed me so I couldn't pass on peacefully since that was one thing I wanted above all else. My soul was doomed to be trapped in this tomb for all eternity until someone came to rescue me. And the witch didn't count on me being able to reach and contact those who I felt were closest to me."
"Eric and me." She nodded, her face showing the pain of saying his child's name and he made a mental note to bring that up to his progeny, should he ever be released from this tomb. Allison sighed heavily, her small hands running through her long hair as she looked at him, "And there was no way for you to escape even if you are just the soul part of yourself?"
"If it were that easy then I would have done it but I know enough about witches and dark curses to understand why I can't just walk out of here on my own It's more complicated then that." He told her, clasping his transparent hands together. "The curse on my soul keeps me trapped here in this part of the tomb because I cannot yet take physical form. And until my body is rebuilt and I am whole again, I am stuck here."
"I am so sorry I didn't find you sooner." She apologized, her head dropping down to look at the ground in shame and he wished he could reach out and touch her but he knew he couldn't. He watched her shrug her delicate shoulders and say "To think, you were trapped in here for so long by yourself..."
"I wasn't always by myself. I was able to appear to you if you recall." He reminded her, amused when her head shot up and her eyes had grown wide as saucers again. "And Eric of course, as he told you."
"He did tell me." She confirmed and he saw that she had clenched her hands into fists at the mention of his child's name before she relaxed and asked. "Why couldn't you ask Eric to help you? He would have jumped at the chance if he knew that you were still alive."
"Eric, although loyal to the very end, would not be able to keep his temper in check long enough to get the job done. Even for me. And I know that. Which is why I sought you out. You were the one leaving the area and I saw how much you need to be away for a certain amount of time. And besides, Eric would not have been able to see me or hear me. The witch made sure to cut off any ability to know I was here to my progeny should he have come across this tomb by chance. But you, my dear were the next best thing. And I had to reach out to you. So I sent you that pull to Mystic Falls and I sent my voice out hoping both would reach you and they did. And that in turn leads up to this moment in time."
"Yea I guess it does."
15 minutes later
"You'll have to give me a second here. This is a lot to take in." I told Godric a while later as I sat there on the cold dirt floor and just stared at my feet stretched out in front of me. "I'm just a little shaken up."
"I understand. Take all the time you need." Godric informed me, sitting back in his spot on the other side of the space that separated us and he fell silent as I thought back to everything I had just learned and struggled to process it all.
The idea that Godric was still technically alive even after Sookie had described his death was just way too impossible to believe. Nothing like this could happen. No one could cheat death like this. There was no way, just no way. When you died, you died and that was it. You were gone, you were no more. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be a matter of your soul being separated from your body and therefore you could still be kept alive. No one could rise from the dead. Not even vampires. Godric was supposed to be dead. He should have been dead. He had gone out on that rooftop that morning before the sun rose to do just that, to die. But he hadn't. At least not like everyone thought. But that's what they saw, or that's what Sookie saw. I never wanted to remember her describing his suicide because it was too painful and I didn't want Eric to pick up on my pain. But it was the truth that told us all that Godric was no longer there. Eric's grief was proof of that. He had lost his maker and his best friend and he had never been able to even think about overcoming the grief. Even though we never talked about Godric, I knew how much anguish he still carried around that he would never talk about with me or anymore. And as much as Eric had hurt me with his conflicting feelings about who he loved, I never wanted to see him in pain. Even now with...
"You asshole!" The words came flying out of my mouth without me even realizing I had been thinking about them. I jumped to my feet in a fury, watching as Godric peered up at with confusion written in his features. "How could you do that?"
"Do what?" He questioned, standing up on his side and staring me straight in the eye.
"How could you do that to Eric?" I snapped at him, wishing I could stomp right on through that moon light and slap my hand across his face. But I actually took a step back so I wouldn't do that. "How could you let him think you were dead?"
"I had my reasons..."
"No. There is no reason for keeping this hidden from him. No reason at all. If you could appear in a vision to me or you could appear to Eric, then why didn't you tell us you were alive?" I demanded, my voice rising higher then I intended it too and I could hear the murmur of voices on the grounds above and I knew that Damon was still up there, most likely with Stefan and they were probably listening to every word and relaying it back to Bonnie and Elena but I didn't care. I was so furious that I was practically seeing red. "You could have explained all this to one of us when you appeared but you didn't. You kept it to yourself. How could you?"
"It wasn't my intention to..."Godric tried to cut in but I wouldn't allow him to do so.
"I don't care what your intentions were. They don't matter because what you did was selfish and mean and just plain cruel." I shouted at his calm, pale face just as my eyes started filling with tears and I blinked a few times but they still fell anyway. I wiped them away but they just kept coming. "How could you do that to him? I mean, it's Eric. He's your child. You were together for 1,000 years and you just let him think you were dead and gone for the past year. Who does that?"
"Allison please let me..."
"I always heard all these great things about you from Sookie and Pam but never Eric. And you want to know why it was never from Eric? Do you?" I screamed, my voice scratched my throat from the force of how hard I was pushing these words out. "Because it was too painful for him to talk about it. Thinking you were dead destroyed him and you let him suffer through all that pain."
"You don't understand..."
"You saw him Godric. You saw him mourning you and you did nothing to fix that. Why?" I asked, tears streaming down my face as I looked at the vampire who had caused Eric so much pain and grief over the past year. Even if Eric never talked about it, I saw it in his eyes and I was furious and saddened to know this could have been prevented. "Why would you keep the fact that you were alive to yourself? Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I was punishing myself for what I had done." Godric replied when I finally gave him enough time to speak and his answer startled me. He glanced at me, his eyes meeting mine with such shame that my anger started disappearing when he talked. "I wanted to suffer alone here as a form of punishment for the involvement I had with the Fellowship of the Sun a year ago. My role was meant to set an example out of me. But it ended up putting everyone's life in danger, including Eric's."
"And you felt guilty." I finished for him and he nodded. "Even when you thought you were dying, you still carried it with you."
"I will never truly forgive myself for putting my child's life in danger. There is no excuse for that." Godric sighed, his transparent eyes glazing over in thought briefly before focusing on me again. "But these last few months have given me more then enough time to think about what I had done and it has made me wish I could have gone back and changed my actions but I can't. And even with that regret, it has made me realize that my death wasn't going to change a thing. The only way for me to change how the world looks at vampires is to actually be a part of it. So that's why I started reaching out to you and dropping hints in the hopes that you would come here."
"Oh Godric." I whispered, feeling myself overcome with tears again.
"I'm sorry for all the pain my decisions have cost everyone. And if I ever get out of here,I will return to Shreveport and seek Eric's forgiveness. But right now, my focus is on you and if you would be willing to help me?"
"With what?" I asked, looking at him and saw his calm expression replaced with a more serious one.
"I need you to help resurrect me."
45 minutes later
"You're quiet." Damon pointed out to the girl walking beside him down the hallway of her apartment building and he watched as she simply shrugged and looked at him.
"Just thinking about Godric and everything he told me tonight." Allison answered, running her hands through her hair. "I don't know what to even think."
"It was a lot to find out." Damon agreed, putting aside his temper and pride for a moment to actually behave himself and if there was ever a moment for him to do that then this was it.
Damon himself couldn't believe half the stuff he and Stefan had listened in on from the grounds above the tomb. He could have stayed down there with Allie while she talked to Godric but he chose to give her privacy since she knew this ghostly figure and joined his brother and the other two girls at the top to hear everything. And man that was a lot to digest. He couldn't believe he had heard what he had heard and neither could Stefan or the girls when they told them what was being said down below, but it made sense in it's own bizarre way. The witch, the cursed soul, the voice, the feelings. It all fit. And Allison had come out of the tomb barely able to form a single sentence. So it was him who said that Stefan remain with Elena and Bonnie while he took Allison home. And that's what lead him to be walking her to her apartment this late at night.
"Do you think it's crazy that I agreed to help him?" She asked, stopping him outside her door by putting her hand on his arm.
"Crazy, yes. Wrong? Not at all." He told her honestly. And that was the truth. It was just the type of thing he would agree to. Something that was considered impossible but that was going to try and be accomplished anyway was definitely up his alley and he would have said yes as well. "I think it is kind of kick ass."
"You would say that." She laughed, crossing her arms and leaned against the wall looking at him. "And I have to say I am surprised you are even talking to me. Considering the last time we were here, you were punching a hole in the wall and storming off."
"Yea, sorry about that." He begrudgingly apologized,knowing that he was in the wrong and he should cop up to it even if it killed him. "I shouldn't have gotten so pissed."
"It's fine. Don't even worry about it. There are bigger things occupying my mind now rather then your temper tantrums." She teased, sending a smile his way before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her keys and slipping one into the lock and opening the door. She paused to look back at him and then before he could move, she stepped up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders and stood up on her toes and pressed her warm lips against his cheek. This action was so surprising to him that he didn't react and just watched as she pulled back and walked into the apartment. "Good night night Damon."
Damon couldn't even say one word as she left him alone in that hallway.
A/n: yes, i am bringing godric back to life...i hope you like the idea and if you don't well then tough...this was the point of this second fic and now i will take the time to announce that there will be a 3rd...but that wont happen for a while...so enjoy this ride and please review
