AN: The story is coming to an end now. I seem to have lost my motivation completely so I apologise for the skimming style I seem to have taken on. I don't want to leave this tale without an end but cannot stand the thought of going into too much depth in certain areas. I think there will be about four more chapters, maybe.

Chapter 21

"Sookie?" Godric asked surprised and horrified to find himself inside Annabelle while his angel was breaking apart. What had they done?

He couldn't remember how he had come to be in this room. It was like his mind was filled with a thick fog. He was sure that the only reason it was clearing was because Sookie's despair was consuming the bond. Before he could move or attempt to comfort her she popped away. The look of betrayal and devastation on her face would haunt him for the rest of eternity.

Godric and Eric both pulled out of the witch and towered over her with livid expressions, their fangs bared.

"Oh pooh! She had to go and ruin the fun," the witch complained, seemingly oblivious to the danger she was in.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Godric snarled, stating each word separately for emphasis as Eric grabbed her by the throat and squeezed just enough to threaten but not harm. Not yet, they needed her to undo whatever she had done so they could get their princess back.

"You didn't want to give me a chance. I had to do something to show you how good we have it," she fluttered her eyelashes as she spoke but her feminine charms were lost on the angry vampires. All they could see was Sookie, crumbled and distraught. All they could feel was the loss of her…she had gone where they could not follow. The witch would pay!

"This is the last time, Annabelle, I won't ask again. What did you do?" The monster inside Godric smiled as he watched her expression change to fear. She was finally grasping the peril of the situation.

"I cast a love spell. I still had some of your belongings from before so I used them to make you remember how you used to feel about me. You wouldn't have known any different if the little bitch hadn't woken you from it early. How did she do that, anyway?" In a blur Godric slapped her across the face, sending her to the floor.

"Don't flatter yourself, witch. We never loved you. You were just a good feed and fuck for a while. Sookie is a million times better than you will ever be!" Eric snarled. As their anger grew the fog began to clear and they could remember once again. She had been in their room as the sun had set. The second they had laid eyes on her they had been mindless with devotion and lust for her. They had been her slaves and enthusiastically followed her orders to take to her own room and fuck her senseless.

Eric and Godric looked at each other, pain in their eyes, before glancing back at the witch and back at each other. They didn't need words. They both knew what was to happen. Sookie was hurting because of her. They were at risk of losing Sookie because of her. She had to die.

By the time they were done the hotel room looked more like a slaughter house. There was blood and bits of flesh everywhere. The walls were dyed red and the carpet squelched no matter where you stood. The bitch was dead.

It wasn't enough. The pain they had caused her as she died was nothing to what Sookie had been made to feel. All of their attempts to protect their girl had led only to hurting her more. They ached with the need to get her back, to explain.

"What shall we do?" Eric asked his maker dejectedly as they trudged to their own room. One advantage to being king was messes like this became someone else's problem.

"Well as we cannot go there in person we will have to make do with a phone call. We will get her back, Eric. It doesn't matter how long or how hard we have to fight. One way or another we will get her back." Eric flinched at the way his maker's eyes burned. He had seen that look only one before and it had led to a roof top at dawn. He knew that if they didn't find a way to bring Sookie home they would both meet the sun.

"What do you mean she doesn't wish to speak to us? We are her bonded. This has all been a terrible misunderstanding. You have to get her to talk to us!" Eric was now pleading. He didn't care that it was below him to beg. He just wanted to speak to her. Godric was too angry to even speak.

"Too right this has all been a misunderstanding! I understood that you loved her. I understood that you could be trusted! Clearly, I was mistaken. I just spent the last nine days holding her while she cried. NINE DAYS! She couldn't even breathe properly she was sobbing so hard. I should have known better than to trust something as precious as her to vampires. You are not permitted to come to my realm, EVER! You needn't bother trying as all of my subjects will refuse. So long as she wishes it, you will never see her again. Don't call, don't write, don't bother. Your bond is done." Albright slammed the phone down leaving Eric to fall to his knees. Godric was sat on the edge of their bed staring out into space.

"How are we going to get her back if we can't even talk to her?" The question wasn't directed at anyone. Eric pulled at his hair as he spoke.

"I don't know but we have to hurry," Godric's voice was emotionless, empty. Eric turned to look at his maker. There were blood streaks down his face. "Time moves differently there. Notice it has only been a few hours to us and yet days to them. If we leave it too long we might not be able to get her to want to come back."

"I'll call Nial."

Over the following weeks Eric and Godric tried everything they could think of. They spoke to every branch of the supernatural community they had ever heard of, and some they newly discovered. They were either laughed at, rejected or were asking the impossible. Even Nial had refused to help, stating it was too risky for him to go against Albright. With every failed attempt they became more desperate. It was starting to look like she would never come home.

Eric had been forced to let Godric do most of the chasing as he took on the new responsibilities as King. He only went along with what was expected of him because he knew if they got her back they would need a safe and prosperous kingdom to live in. If, they didn't even believe getting her back was certain anymore. It seemed she was completely unreachable.

They had even tried using the bond to call to her. It was a testament to her heritage that she didn't 'heel' at all. Any human would have been compelled to answer their master's call but then Sookie was neither human nor a pet. They couldn't even feel her anymore. She had managed to turn off the bond completely and yet they still sat together every night and focused on their girl, pushing all their love out into the void in a silent plea for her to come home.

After a month had passed both vampires were unstable as best. Eric had had to talk Godric down more than once as he went on about how he should never had tried to hide anything from her. That if she had known the truth then she might not have run from them. It had been made infinitely worse when the AP had called them and berated them on their conduct.

"I told you, honesty! Do you listen, oh no!" She had gone on to explain the visions Sookie had witnessed as she threatened them. "…And if she doesn't come back and finish her training those visions are going to get out of control. It could kill her! Idiots! Fix this!"

They had left and continued their mission with renewed purpose- not that they had needed it. Still, it had all come to nothing. Their only comfort had been the promise from Claudine that she was doing well but even that had not brought much. The dark look in her eyes as she promised them revealed the lie. The fairy was worried for her and they were helpless to ask why. No one would aid them and they had nothing else to try.

"I think we should cancel the meeting tomorrow and stay here," Godric had said into the dark room. They were still sleeping in the same room even though the gap between them where Sookie once rested felt as wide as the Grand Canyon.

"So we can wallow?" Eric asked not really caring about anything at all.

"So we can try to map out our options. There has to be something we are missing. I think a good rest and 1 night getting our heads together is sure to bring us something." Neither vampire made any attempt to point out that this was a lie. They both knew they had thought of everything and even then they had found no new alternatives. The idea of a night away from the masses where they could just share in their pain was enough of a reason to pretend.

"OK. I'll call Pam. She can deal with things for one night." Once the call was made they just lay and waited for the sun to claim them. It had become their favourite part of day. It was the only reprieve from the agony.