I'd followed the few signs I had managed to gleam a look at when we had been in the car to get the right direction but it was after one by the time I had finally made it to our hotel. I didnt need to go inside to determine that they weren't there. Overhearing a few of the people staying at the hotel talking about them being out again, searching for me had me spinning on my heel. Sadly I wasn't far enough away to not pick up on the few stray thoughts about how I had most likely been buried in some of the surrounding woodland after having suffered some gruesome end. If only they knew. Wandering on I did my best to keep my senses open but my head down should anyone actually recognise me.

It wasnt as difficult to find them as I had imagined. They were casing every street leading to the warehouse club we had been to. With my hat in place I trailed them for a while, watched them from shadows as they spoke to the people passing them on the street. They were all dressed up and looking like they were heading to the club themselves. It was good to know my death hadn't affected the club's trade. If the swarm of people that were heading that way was any indication business was definitely booming because of it.

Everyone must have seen my face on the television by now. Each person they spoke to moved on after a few words or a shake of their head. None of it seemed to deter them and for that I felt a little better and a little worse. How long would they do this for? Their lives were on hold while they looked for me, their heads so full of guilt. None of this was their fault. It was mine and mine alone. I lost my head and needed to escape. I went to help that girl without even thinking of trying to get help first, without even checking to see if her attacker was lurking around.

They moved on again and after a few steps I followed keeping my head down as much as I could. When Lafayette suddenly stopped and began to turn I pulled the hat down further and passed them by. I could maybe step into a doorway or look at window or something until they passed me by again. I circled around them trying to keep my pace even. It hopefully said 'hey I'm heading somewhere, don't stop me' but not quite 'I'm running from the cops'

I was maybe ten paces or so away when they started moving again. Seeing a small boutique like store up ahead I headed for it pausing at the window so that they could pass me but they didn't. Instead they headed down the alleyway beside it. Peering around the edge of the building I watched them move down the long passage ,moving under the security lights here and there as they moved further down checking around and in every bin, bag and box. Shifting around the corner I kept myself hidden behind a large stack of cardboard boxes.

Lafayette moved back from the boxes he was tossing aside, the space they had once stood now empty save for a few scraps of food. Tara was still at the edge of a dumpster tossing out every bag and box she could reach. My vampire enhanced eyes could make out every worn line in Lafayette's face even in the relative darkness. It was the pain in his eyes that broke my heart. He was carrying so much pain, not just his own but Tara's too. I could see it in the way he looked at her while she wasn't looking. Those broad shoulders of his looked weighed down.

"Why ain't you lookin'?"

"Tara,"

"No. No we don't stop. There has to be something."

"What are we gonna find that the cops didn't see?"

"I don't know but we have to try." Her voice trembled as she spoke, a sign of weakness that she wouldn't share with anyone outside of our little circle. Even then it was rare when she did. Without saying a word Lafayette stepped forward wrapping his muscled arms around her. Tara was stiff at first as she always was. Whenever we hugged Tara there was always this small moment where she would resist before wrapping her arms around us. This time she didnt just relax. Her body seemed to fall into Lafayette, her arms wrapping around him, her head propped on his shoulder. Seeing them on the TV screen, wishing for them to go home, was nothing compared to seeing them in person. This was destroying them one piece at a time.

Stepping back from his arms Tara headed towards the end of the alley. The whole thing was blocked by a chain linked fence something she didn't see with her human eyes until she was almost upon it. Gripping it with her fingers she gave it a little rattle, the chink of the padlocked chain echoing down the quiet alley. As she leaned forward trying to look further into the darkness to see something, what I didn't know I heard her curse. Barely a second went by when the smell of her blood reached me. It was sweet and tangy and something inside of me growled at it. I wanted it. It smelled delicious, the beat of her heart almost in tandem with her cousin's intoxicating me.

Stepping forward ever so slightly I breathed in deep, letting the smell of blood wrap itself around me. Just a sip. That was all I'd need. A tiny sip from her and a tiny sip from him. It would be enough. I wouldn't need more than that. Just a taste. The click of my fangs seemed louder than their heart beat. Clapping my hand over my mouth I turned away heading back to the pavement, back the way I came. I would walk away make my way back to Godric.

I caught the image of myself on Laf's head, the words he was thinking over how to say to Tara stumbling slightly as he put together what he thought he saw. I must have moved whilst in my blood filled haze, enough that he saw me. He noted how I walked just like me. He looked at the picture and then thought of when I had quickly walked away from him in the car lot at the hotel. He replayed over in his head the two images blurring and contorting as he thought hard.

"Sookie?" He said in his head as well as out loud. Tara's mind shifted quickly and I could see myself clearly in her mind walking away. Their foot steps were as loud as thunder as they began to follow me. I had no clue what to do. I couldn't let them reach me. I had no idea if I would hurt them or not. I still couldn't get my fangs to click back, this inhuman part of me wanting to bite, to drink deep, to savour each drop as if it were to be my last.

"Sookie!" Tara called and I ducked into an alleyway. I could hear their poundng feet on the pavement and I knew I had seconds to hide, seconds to get away. I could see no way out. The alley was a dead end with sheer walls on almost all sides. Seeing a ledge I wondered if I could leap high enough to grasp it when the scent of fresh blood reached my nose again.

This wasn't just a small drop of blood. Tara had cut her hand deeply, blood still running from the open wound. Their hearts were racing as their panting breaths filling the air.

I could hear the drip of blood from her hand hitting the ground. Something in me clawed at my insides. It wanted her. My fingers curled wanting to tear into their skin, to rip them apart piece by piece and roll itself around in their blood.

"Sookie I know that's you." Laf's voice was filled with so much confusion, so much pain. I took a breath ready to explain instead I filled my chest with the scent of that sweet ambrosia. In one sweet moment I lost the tenuous hold I had on that primal part of me. Practically air born I was barely five feet away from them when a hand gripped my throat stopping me.

"Sookie." He said nothing more than Tara had yet I felt myself coming back. I blinked several times, the red haze that filled my mind leaving me. With one more blink my eyes focussed on Godric's face. He didn't look angry, didn't look anything really. Even his eyes were blank. His grip on my throat slowly loosened as he lowered me to the ground. I hadn't even realised I wasn't touching the ground.

Sparing a glance to my friends I took a step back, putting more distance between us. I couldn't trust myself, even with Godric stood right there. I wouldn't take any chances. The two of them were stood perfectly still, a blank look in their eyes and faces that made me dip into their heads. There was nothing there just a blank space.

"They are under my glamour." Turning his attention to them, though I could tell he was keeping track of me, he began speaking, his voice more melodic than I had ever heard. "You scoured every alley way looking for anything that would tell you of the where abouts of your friend but came up empty. Exhausted you returned to your hotel room. You saw no one in these alleys and saw no one that looked like Sookie."

Send them home.

"When you rise in the morning you will alert the local authorities of your need to leave. You will return to Bon Temps, return to your jobs and homes. You will take care of Sookie's Grandmother like you know she would want you to. You will not blame yourselves for what happened here. You were not to blame." I watched as they blinked once, then twice before turning away heading back out of the alley. Watching them leave, knowing that by the time I rose the next night they would be home, was painful but a relief.

**GODRIC**

I had felt her in the nest. The bond was a swirling vortex of complicated emotions. It wasn't much of a distraction but it had made me curious. It was the small spike of fear that made me take notice further. Thankfully I was alone in my office at the time. Focussing on the bond I felt her move around the building before pausing. She had opted for the far wall obviously trying to put space between us. When she paused I tried to keep my mind busy so she would not be alarmed should she try to read me.

I left my office through a secret exit allowing her some distance before I began to follow. It took only a short while for me to figure out where she was headed. Remaining at a short distance I kept a close watch on the bond should a need arise for me to step in. I should truly have stepped in already, moving her back to our home, keeping her there until she could be trusted around humans but she was so full of determination that I had to see.

She had barely even reached the hotel where her friends were staying when she turned away. I could only assume she had used her ability to detect whether they were there. I took to the air keeping to the roof tops as she walked the streets looking for them. I knew the moment she found them. The bond pulsed with life for just a fraction of a second. It was enough. Remaining out of sight I kept watch over her as she followed them.

When the scent of blood filled the air I prepared to pull her out of there but was surprised to find her walking away. I had not thought her friends had seen her but they followed, not too closely but close enough. They practically had her cornered and I could feel the blood lust in her spiking. Slipping from the roof I slipped them under my glamour stopping them from advancing on her before I reached the ground. Turning I had just a moment before I felt her control snap and the blood lust take over. Though I had witnessed her supernatural speed and her strength to a degree, witnessing the moment her true nature took over was something to behold. She had propelled herself forward whilst holding herself several feet from the ground.

It took little no effort to slip my hand around her throat and halt her. My hold was firm but gentle. Saying her name I pushed my control through the bond and watched as she came back into control. Slowly lowering her back to the ground I visibly watched her own control come back though I did not remove my own. Newborns were notoriously unpredictable.

She was searching my face, her eyes dancing around before reaching my eyes. I gave nothing away. I was not truly disappointed in her nor was I upset that she had left. I had anticipated a situation such as this arising soon.

Noting her confusion as she looked at her friends I supplied her with the answer. I suspected she was aware of what had happened to them having witnessed the men at the house but I wished to be clear so she would understand fully what was happening with her friends.

"They are under my glamour." I could see the understanding in her eyes. She knew what I would do, had likely known what would need to be done somewhere in her mind from the moment she had left the nest. Putting my attention back to them I put them deeper under my hold still keeping watch over Sookie in case she lost control.

"You scoured every alley way looking for anything that would tell you of the where abouts of your friend but came up empty. Exhausted you returned to your hotel room. You saw no one in these alleys and saw no one that looked like Sookie."

Send them home.

"When you rise in the morning you will alert the local authorities of your need to leave. You will return to Bon Temps, return to your jobs and homes. You will take care of Sookie's Grandmother like you know she would want you to. You will not blame yourselves for what happened here. You were not to blame." Her two friends blinked before they turned on their heels doing as I ordered them to.

Putting my attention back on her I could feel in the bond the pain she felt as she watched her friends walk away.

"That's all that, I needed them to, I almost. Oh God, Godric I'm so sorry."