A/N: Thanks for the reviews... :) Enjoy, even if I couldn't fit enough Godric into this :( :D

Chapter Thirteen – Prisoner

"You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

Godric and I had split up, each searching different parts of the church. Humans were dead, that much was obvious by the stench of blood in the air. William's body was a bubbling mess at the edge of the altar, which I was glad to turn away from. It smelled worse than the humans right now. Blood normally had a sweeter scent than this. True to his need to protect humans after years of harming them, Godric wanted to save everyone. The guilt in his eyes killed me, and I would do anything to help ease his pain.

"Search the basements. If anyone is alive, save them Emilie."

Save them? I doubted he meant turn them, since I was new to this life myself. So far it had been a real blast, with vampire-killers and silver galore. Godric took the opposite wing of the church. This place was far bigger than I had realized. I found a terrified, well-dressed family hiding behind a desk in an office. I hadn't realized my fangs were still out until the female screamed. I winced at how loud that was, desperately trying to make my fangs go away.

It wasn't as easy as the others made it look. I even banged off the door as I tried to hide them, do anything to make her calm down. Smooth Emilie, real smooth. I'm really showing the humans that the vampires are truly terrifying, banging against doors as I tried to retract my fangs.

"The Lord will guide us, the Lord will guide us," the father babbled, blessing his children and wife.

I rolled my eyes. Eric must secretly be a Saint, if he's able to put up with this sort of psychotic behaviour for the last thousand years. And Godric must be up there with the Gods to handle it for two thousand years. The father looked at me with frightened eyes.

"Uh…I'm not here to hurt you," I said lamely. "I want to do the opposite actually. Please, you have to go now. There's a fire upstairs and -…"

"How do we trust your kind?" the wife cried dramatically. I swear Steve Newlin really knew how to find the crazies.

I frowned. "My kind isn't the ones burning vampires in the sunlight, claiming it's to save the human race. Your kind, however, is upstairs preaching while leaving you down here to burn, not caring at all about your safety. Out of the two of us, who sounds like the nicest group right now?"

After some brief hesitation, they scuttled away. They took forever running up the stairs – ever since I was turned, I can't help but get annoyed at how slow humans are. Was I really that irritating?

I winced again at the loud buzzing noise. I don't know what it meant, and the little blonde child turned to face me. She was around four or five, her hair in pigtails. I was still walking behind this family, trying to get them outside like Godric ordered, when she slowed her pace.

"Thank you ma'am, for savin' us," she smiled.

My maternal instincts that made me want to squeal and coo at how cute she was – not a very strong vampire-like thing to do - were about to take over when a man with a gun appeared. It's insane how easily that can ruin things. The family froze, but the man motioned them forward quickly.

"Go Lou!" the man said. Lou and his family ran through the corridors. Well, that was my good deed done for the day. This man holding a gun smiled at me, and he looked like someone I knew. He was very handsome and good-looking for sure, with brown eyes and messy dark blonde hair. "…Uh…hi."

"Hi?" I said, dumbfounded. He wasn't pointing that gun at me. Was he on my side? He followed my gaze to the gun, and then laughed.

"Oh no, don't worry, it's just a paintball gun. I just needed somethin' to fight with."

"Of course, how silly of me," I laughed drily. "Do I know you?"

"Jason Stackhouse ma'am," he smiled politely, even outstretching a hand. Not a vampire-hater, I hoped. It couldn't be a trick, could it? I was trying to think one step ahead. Ambushes weren't exactly rare. Stan bragged about the many antics he had gotten up to when he was ambushed, how he'd taken down almost fifty humans in seconds with silver on. He made sure to emphasize that he had silver on. I didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, but I doubted it.

"Stackhouse? Like Sookie?"

"You know my sister?"

"She's an...acquaintance. I'm Emilie, just ask and she'll know. Look Jason, I need to go like right now," I said urgently. "Will you be okay?"

He seemed touched by the friendly concern. Vampires might frighten Jason a little, judging by the smell of his fear and sweat, and by how hard his heart was pounding right now, but he seemed to want to help us. Therefore I was going to help him, too. He nodded, giving me a quick salute as he jogged past me.

"Sure Emilie!"

I went into the room Sarah called the Sanctuary. There were sleeping-bags and blankets all over the pews, with a few board games like Monopoly and Scrabble on the ground. This was like one big sacrificial sleepover. Had the entire community gone mad?

I spotted Eric and Sookie, her heels tapping against the polished floors. She saw me and gave that strained smile. I was wondering if she did it only when she was nervous. Eric glanced at me, summoning me over with a flick of the wrist. Oh he's such a jerk, thinking he can tell me what to do just because he's one thousand years old. But now was not the time to squabble with him. In a flash, I was at Sookie's side, noticing she was shaking a little.

"Emilie, where is Godric?" Eric asked as we walked, looking down at me.

"We split up. Like always, he wants to save the humans first," I smiled.

Eric gave a grunt of disgust. Perhaps he didn't care about the humans. I would rather they were saved though.

"Where's the exit?" Eric asked.

"Back that way," Sookie answered, pointing behind her. I knew no other way out either, so I shrugged when Eric looked at me.

"There are several exits actually," a new voice said. I focused on the stage in front of us, seeing the cowardly Steve Newlin emerge. "For you, the easiest one is straight to Hell."

Original. He had a tacky white suit on, probably trying to symbolise peace and purity like he always preached about. He eyed me up and down, smiling placidly. I watched his every move, narrowing my eyes with anger.

"Emilie, my dear! What are you doing up here? You're going to miss the big event tomorrow," he grinned. He said it as if we were going to some kids birthday party, and I was throwing a tantrum or something. "You want to atone for your sins, don't you?"

"Go to Hell," Sookie hissed angrily. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye with surprise, and saw Eric looking at me. He shook his head, turning back to Steve. Godric and Eric were always protective of those they love. Even if Eric had trouble admitting he felt that emotion sometimes. To him, it was showing weakness, and Lord knows he'd never do that.

Sookie had a vampire boyfriend, and I understood she felt anger for the way Steve spoke. She had morals, thankfully. Angry humans spilled into the room carrying all sorts of weapons. Some wooden, some silver. All very dangerous for us. We were outnumbered. Could I even kill a human? I didn't want to, but if it were to protect those I love, I would be able. Eric would take out a good few, but that wouldn't be enough.

"Let us leave!" Sookie cried. "Save yourselves! No one has to die!"

Eric was putting on a more aggressive form. Any second now his fangs would be out. Godric said not to harm any humans. I would never go against his wishes, and neither would Eric. Would he? I chewed my lip at the scent of new blood. A man in the crowd was bleeding on his head. It smelled good.

Steve was talking again, babbling on about wars with vampires and humans. "The war has begun, you evil whore of Satan."

"Whoa, harsh," I frowned. 'Whore of Satan'? Steve is certainly the world's greatest drama queen.

"You vampires cast the first stone by killing my family," Steve continued. I hadn't known that. "The lines have been drawn. You're either with us, or against us. We are prepared for Armageddon."

"The vampire you're holding prisoner got away!" Sookie replied straight away. Steve's eyes shifted to meet mine, thinking he had a whole other prisoner to spare. "He's a sheriff, someone sent for help!"

"I'm not concerned for Godric. Any vampire will do for our grand celebration, right Em?" Steve shrugged. Eric growled a little. So, the Almighty Eric did sometimes lose his cool. I stared right into Steve's eyes. I would give my own life for Godric, no question. "And we got another right here!"

With shameless cheer, he pointed right at Eric. My turn to growl and get angry. This was totally insane. These humans surrounding us were all nuts. I wanted to protect Godric most of all. He put himself down so much, that when these humans told him 'Yes, you are bad, the only way you can repent is to burn', he believed them totally. Eric looked from Sookie, to me, and back at Steve.

I knew that look. He couldn't do this. I stepped forward, but he was quicker. "I'll be fine."

Steve smiled expectantly at Eric. Steve was talking, but I couldn't even hear what he was saying. Eric wouldn't give up his life like this, would he? Where was Godric? I was panicking. Eric was much older than me. He could handle silver a lot longer than I ever could, but what else could I do? We had no back-up right now.

Willingly, Eric lay down on the table, and they put silver on him. I gasped, seeing the smoke rise. As if to be sure, Steve motioned for a silver handcuff to be put on my wrist, which would only be a precaution. He was convinced vampires like me would hurt him.

"No wait," Sookie gasped, about to stop the man putting the cuff on me.

"Sookie, it's fine," I murmured as best I could. It burned, but Eric was going through much worse. It wouldn't stop me from biting and killing a human, but after a few minutes it would slow me down considerably. The human had the keys held tightly in his hands, afraid to even touch me. He refused to look me in the eye.

I wasn't going to harm him – I understood he was just following orders. Steve only wanted to make sure I was going to stay put. I wouldn't run if that's what he feared. In fact, Steve looked filled with joy as he looked down at Eric. The smell of his burning skin made me feel so sick. Some tears stung at my eyes. Not for me, but for Eric and Godric. Bloody tears were impossible to stop. Eric's fangs were out from the pain.

Steve was talking about Jesus, but I noticed the look of fear in the crowd's eyes. They didn't look so sure about Newlin anymore. One woman was frowning, her fear more evident than the others. She wanted to look away from the horrific sight in front of her, but she couldn't.

Sookie was struggling against the men holding her. I didn't, but I groaned inwardly as the silver cuff burned into me. The men surrounding me all had stakes and guns.

"I…I offer myself in exchange for Godric's freedom," Eric whispered. He looked towards me. "And the girls'…as well." His eyes were dark. He was being stupid and brave, more reckless.

"That's noble. But the human is a traitor to her race. The human race. She hardly deserves mercy. Don't even get me started on Emilie. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her that she was the worst kind of sinner, one who is in denial. Maybe we should tie her to you so you can meet the sun together."

I wouldn't let them do that. They might just stake me before I even try to move, who knows, but I had to do something if they did try to harm Sookie. Steve claimed she was human. Her scent didn't smell like a humans. Steve began walking down the steps, and slowly I let my fangs come out. He smiled. "She's fry like a marshmallow…"

The noise from outside the doors shut him up. I hoped it was Godric, my eyes widening a little. The man – whose grip was quite weak – tried to hold me tighter. I couldn't even feel it, but the silver was really starting to make me feel tired. Eric was lucky he was so old.

"Sookie!"

In ran a dark-haired vampire, making as dramatic an entrance as he possibly could. Eric seemed to roll his eyes from the table, even in his pain, which made me smile. He ran forward, making Steve put a gun to Sookie's head. This was all so far-fetched. Only weeks ago, I was a normal human buying chocolate at Marilyn's shop.

"If you shoot her, everyone here will die!"

Is this Bill Compton, the man Sookie had mentioned? Eric only spoke of him once when we were on the phone. He called him a pompous drama queen. Sookie's heart always pounded more when she looked at Bill. He had his fangs out, his eyes gleaming in the light.

It could only get worse from here.