Chapter 26: The Maiden
They approached a classic large plantation-style home, one Raven had seen a couple of times on TV. It was the Louisiana's Governor's house. It had an impeccable garden surrounding it, an impressive set of stairs leading to the front wrap-around porch. Dotted around the property were at least three dozen guards scattered throughout, along with armoured cars parked in the U-shaped driveway- almost as if they were waiting for their arrival.
"Shit," Eric muttered, stopping midair, hovering about two hundred feet above the house.
"Shit? What shit?" Pam protested. "You take the front, I take the back, Raven can do… Whatever."
"No." Eric ordered. "This can't look like vampire retaliation. We will have to wait for a better time-"
Raven knew there wouldn't be a better time for her to help. This would be her only shot. "I can do it."
Eric faced her. "Do what?"
Raven asked Eric to circle the house quietly a couple of times quietly before landing. She relaxed one of her arms, letting it loose from Eric's embrace. Raven reached down towards the house and muttered a sleeping spell. She felt sleep dust roll down her palm and fall down her fingertips. Her magic rained all around the house, floating in the sky like fine shimmering sand. Seconds later, guards just dropped to the ground, one by one sound asleep.
Pam, Eric and Raven landed gently right on the front porch.
"And they call me Tinker Bell," Pam chuckled.
"No one has literally ever called you that," Eric joked.
The very next second they heard a commotion from inside the house and the front doors burst open. Multiple guards charged at them but Raven took a step in front of the vampires, extending her arms forward.
"Dea coerceat inimicos meos!"
Her words send all guards and staff flying backwards, back into the house and away from them. They each got pinned against the first surface they hit: walls, floors, stairs, furniture. The spell vibrated all throughout the first floor, affecting all humans inside. A couple of men managed to reach for the guns, but Eric swiftly ripped them off their hands.
"Well done," Eric praised her, entering the house at once. Eric had been invited into the house previously, as he disguised himself to confront the Governor before. Pam, who couldn't enter, agreed to stay outside to make sure no humans would come in.
"Good old southern hospitality is really dead these days," Eric smirked, disarming each guard he passed and tossing their guns away from them. Raven followed him as he quickly made his way to Burrell's office, just off from the main lobby - it was empty.
"Where's the Governor?" Raven asked a lady guard pinned against a bookshelf.
The guard quietly moaned and tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't say a word. Raven knew they couldn't call for help - the spell made it hard even to breathe. And Raven would know, as Marnie used it against her a lifetime ago.
Then, they heard voices coming from upstairs - a heated argument between Burrell and a woman. Eric found a carefully crafted wooden stake in Burrell's office and he gently picked it up with a smirk, eyeing it carefully, formulating his revenge plot. Raven and Eric followed the noise, her heart was beating fast with anticipation. She looked at the clock: 6:39 PM. The sun was going to set in an hour, breaking the eclipse. But now it was not the time to think about what was going to happen after.
They were here for one man, and one man only: Truman Burrell. The Governor who had launched a war against the vampire kind and Eric Northman was here to end it. Two men in suits were standing in the landing, and before they could even look up from their phones, Raven froze them in place. The vampire and witch walked right past them, following the voices behind a set of grand double doors. As soon as they entered the large master bedroom, Truman and his girlfriend froze in silence.
"Good evening Governor," Eric smiled.
The blonde woman tried to run towards the ensuite bathroom but Raven waved her hand, closing and locking all doors and windows in the room at once, locking everyone inside. The blonde cut it so close she almost ran into the door nose first. The woman was like a little mouse - trapped.
"And of course!" Eric exclaimed. "Sarah fucking Newlin. I knew that research facility was way too fucking elaborate for baldie over here to come up with by himself."
"Truman, do something!" The blonde turned around and shrieked, her voice breaking. She was shaking like a leaf, holding herself against a dresser. She a look in her face of pure fear. Raven's intuition told her it was deserving.
"How is this possible?" Burrell asked him, taking two steps back. "How can an eclipse last this long? They last minutes, not hours! We had the day! The day was supposed to be ours!" He said loudly, with fervour.
Eric nodded at Raven, with his classic smirk. "I told you she wasn't a vampire."
Raven really needed to know what the hell happened before she activated the circles.
"What are you?" Truman cried while staring at Raven.
Raven paused for a second before deciding - to hell with it. "One of the witches you couldn't burn."
"Wi… What?"
"I knew it!" Sarah said with disgust. "I knew it the moment I saw the devil's mark! The pentagram on your stomach!" She shouted as if anyone cared.
"Yes," Raven agreed, smirking. "Praise Satan."
Raven had to hold back the laughter at the woman's reaction. Sarah's face contorted with pure repugnance. Ah, Christians… So easy to scare.
"What do you want Northman?" Truman pleaded, his voice tone changing entirely. "You must want something right? Your bar was shut down, I-I can fix that! Or I can but it from you, I'll give you a huge settlement, pay way more than what it's worth-"
"Men who only have money to give are actually quite poor," Eric stated.
Raven almost gasped. She had told him those words before.
"Please don't kill us!" Sarah begged, tears coming down her face.
"Oh I'm not going to kill you," he laughed. "That would be too easy. No, we are going to play one of your games, Governor." Eric tossed the wooden stake on the floor and it rolled towards the middle of the room. The two humans stopped breathing, fearing the words they knew they were about to hear next.
"Only one of you gets to live," Eric announced.
There was a moment of silence. Truman and Sarah looked at each other for a second, hesitant. Burrell shook his head and looked at Eric again. "We aren't like you, we aren't animals-"
Immediately, the woman launched herself off the dresser, grabbed the weapon from the floor and with one loud sharp scream she stabbed the Governor right in the chest. Red blood stained the blonde's white pantsuit from top to bottom, and dripped all over the Governor's body, pooling on expensive cream coloured carpet. Even Raven was a bit shocked at the woman's ferocity. Burrell dropped dead with a look of terror and disappointment on his face.
"Congratulations," Eric told her, his fangs dropping. "You are now almost worth the air you breathe,"
"No! Please! I did what you asked!" She cried. "I can help you!"
"Help me?! How?" Eric circled around her, lion watching prey. "You started all of this Sarah! You started the Fellowship of the Sun, you created terrorists, took away our rights, tortured hundreds of vampires in a fucked up science camp and poisoned the Tru Blood supply and now you want to help me? You and your gay husband are going to burn in hell and I'm going to make sure of that."
Eric was going to tear this woman's head off and Raven was 100% behind it. They had stopped the beginning of an entire genocide and caught the people responsible for it.
"I have the antidote!" Tears were running down her face. "I have the Hep V antidote! If you let me live I'll help you!"
Eric grabbed the woman and in a movement faster than her eyes could watch, he removed contact lenses off her eyes. Sarah screamed again. "Give me the antidote," Eric said a smoother, lower voice. He was glamouring her.
Sarah's body relaxed under his fingers. "In my purse," She said calmly.
Raven saw a Chanel bag sitting on the large king-sized bed, and she quickly went through it. She found a pharmaceutical vial with a green liquid in it. Raven examined the small bottle in her hand. It reminded her of Lilith's blood. Flashes of that night haunted her still. Raven held it up, showing it to Eric and the human.
"Is this it?" He questioned her.
"Yes," she nodded, so calm she could float.
"Good. Now you are going to leak all the footage you have from that freak circus, especially all the perverse shit you and Burrell did. You are going to confess to all the crimes against vampires you committed, including the money fraud to get it all done in the first place. Then you are going to confess to his murder. You had a fight, and you killed him. Can you do that?"
"Yes," she said softly.
"And know this Sarah," he pulled her closer. "If our paths ever cross again, I will keep you in my basement and feed off you every single day for the rest of your miserable human life, got it?"
"Yes," she repeated.
Without another word, Eric let the petite blonde go. She ran away crying, desperate to leave, tugging on the locked door.
"Ah, and Sarah?" Eric called. "One more thing. Invite the beautiful blonde vampire who's standing out front inside."
Sarah nodded, with black mascara running down her cheeks, and blood dripping off her clothes - she was a mess. Eric nodded to Raven to let her go, and she unlocked the door. Sarah opened the door and disappeared down the hallway, her cries faded into the distance. Raven was surprised by his decision.
"You're not going to kill her?"
"There are worse things than death."
Raven now knew this to be true. Death would be too easy. Sarah Newlin would end up taking all the responsibility for the illegal research facility, and the murder of the Governor. Sarah was about to spend a very long time in jail.
Eric and Raven found themselves alone. Eric kissed her gently on the forehead, his palm embracing the back of her neck, under her hair. She leaned into it, taking a deep breath. It's done. He's safe. She finally felt the wave of exhaustion hit her.
As if he read her mind, Eric said with a small smile. "I'll draw you a bath. You look terrible."
Raven caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She felt about as bad as she looked. Raven was filthy, with dried up blood covering half her body. Her hair was also matted into a rats nest. Her body ached everywhere, from sore muscles to stiff joints. And she was so freaking exhausted. He entered the bathroom behind her, and she could hear the water running. Raven unzipped her grey prison jumpsuit and entered the Governor's walk-in closet to look for something clean for both of them to wear. Raven found a black midi wrap dress for herself, but Burrell was only 5'8 max, so finding something that fit the Viking giant would be impossible. She had to use magic to extend the hem on a pair of black slacks and enlarge a charcoal V neck tee. But the material felt expensive, so hopefully, Eric would be okay with it.
When she stepped back in the bathroom, Eric was already in the tub, the lower half of his body sadly hidden by bubbles. He looked clean, his hair was wet and finger-combed back, making him look so dangerously hot. He stretched his arms over the edges of the tub, his defined pale defined chest looked so inviting. The lights in the bathroom were off, but moonlight shined brightly through the large window facing the garden. Raven stepped in carefully, and sat between his legs, her body instantly relaxed in the warm water. She rested her back on his torso and placed her head on his right shoulder. His hands ran all over her skin, gently washing the blood off her body with the lusciously bubbly bathwater. Now, this is a dream I could live forever in, she thought.
They sat in the tub together in silence for a while, watching the night be still through the window. The back garden had an array of carefully planted flowers and bushes surrounding gazebos. There were three mature apple trees with beautiful white blossoms that gently rained down its petals with the breeze, reminding her of snow. Raven knew apple trees didn't blossom in December. The time to dream was over. Raven had to know what happened.
"How long was I gone?" She asked him.
"Too long," he answered, avoiding the question.
"Eric," she pressed.
He took several moments to answer, and each second it passed she grew more and more scared of his answer. "Seven months, sixteen days, fourteen hours and twenty-one minutes. Give or take."
She felt a full-body chill. He counted?
Raven wished she felt relief - it was months, not years. But she couldn't rest just yet. "What happened? Why did my father…"
Eric's hands now washed the top of her left arm, making the blood dye the bath pink. His head lowered and he put a small kiss on her shoulder. She could tell he was carefully choosing his words before he said anything which made her even more scared to know the truth. Last time Eric stopped to measure his words, she had to go to war.
"Your father created you to be Lilith's vessel,"
She couldn't help but laugh. "What? You can't be serious."
"At cold Moon, the blood of her covenant will be spilled, an immortal shall take her vessel to the light and she will rise again."
Raven's mind stopped. Nothing about this made any sense. "Wait, why does that sound familiar?"
"It's in one of your books. It's a prophecy."
Pieces were falling into place, but not in places she expected. Out of all the wild theories Raven formulated while in the woods, this wasn't even close. Elijah had done WHAT?! Blood of the covenant, high moon, vessels, the ringing, the forest… Take her to the light.
Like a row of falling dominos, she was starting to connect the dots.
Holy fucking shit. How does someone even create a body strong enough to hold a God?! There was no fucking way it was allowed. The creation of new creatures was strictly forbidden. But her father was a Bishop - he could not be prosecuted. Did he become a Bishop just so he could do this?
It had all been meticulously orchestrated.
"After you died that night," he continued, pulling some of her hair back, wetting it carefully.
"I died?"
"Yes, you did," he confirmed. "A thousand years on this earth, and losing you was one of the worst things I've ever gone through…" Eric went quiet for a really long time. Raven remembered everything going dark while he held her close. She remembered he looked absolutely shattered. Her heart ached for him. "Right after you died, Lilith woke up in your body."
Raven suddenly felt nauseous. Lilith walked around in her body. Somebody else was in her body. Breathing with it. Speaking with her mouth, touching with her fingers. Crawling inside her skin. Raven felt violated. She suddenly felt 10 times dirtier than before. And it was the kind of dirty that water wasn't going to wash off.
All her life, Elijah insisted Raven was destined for greatness, that she was going to lead the witch kind someday, preaching Raven was Lilith's light… He made her for this - this was her purpose. He never really wanted Raven to study witchcraft among the greatest witches and wizards. He never actually cared for Raven to enter politics, never bothered if she was going to be Bishop. It was all a setup to put Lilith in power. If Raven held a high enough rank when she became God, then Lilith could somehow lead them. But only as Lilith, not as herself. Raven was in fact, just not good enough. It was beyond high parental expectations. This was the end goal all her life. Raven was never created to be his daughter.
"I don't know everything she's done, but I do know she created thousands of witches and warlocks by killing human babies. She killed one, to transform another," Raven felt a shiver down her spine. Oh God- "And then she was going to create a new species of vampire to wipe us out, but Nora stopped her. She found a way to put Lilith in that prison where they chained you with iron. Eventually, Burrell got all of us. Nora, Pam, Tara-"
"A new kind of vampire?"
"Turns out, Lilith is not very fond of vampires," he told her. "Ironic, isn't it?"
Raven had so many more questions she didn't even know where to start. She wondered what it was like for Eric to have to deal with Lilith while looking at her. The mere minutes she had to witness Eric being under necromancy control was a nightmare she couldn't bear. "If I woke up as Lilith in the Authority, why didn't you kill me?"
"I tried. I stabbed you right in the heart. You didn't even bleed-"
Raven looked down at her own chest - no scar. "And she didn't kill you?"
"No. Because of this," his fingers traced just below her left collarbone.
She looked over and saw the ever so faint X mark she scratched herself. The vow. Raven's declaration of love for Eric forbade Lilith from harming him. Raven couldn't help but smile. Book of Shadows, rule four: all acts of love are sacred. All acts of love are protected - as love itself is magic. She always thought rule four was more of a kumbaya fluff piece, she never thought magic could behave like that. But then again, she learned a hell lot about magic in the past couple hours.
"I'm glad Nora stopped her. I'd like to thank her."
"Me too," he agreed. "But she's dead."
Raven gasped and turned around in the tub, facing Eric. His gaze went out of the window, avoiding hers instantly. She held his face gently, making him face her. She saw the hurt in his eyes and her heart broke into a million pieces. She knew the pain of losing a sister all too well. Her mouth opened for a second, but no words came out. There was nothing she could ever say to make it better.
"I know," he whispered, pressing his forehead against her. "But I got you back," his arms held her shoulders, pulling her closer. Raven laid down again, her sides cuddling his torso, her cheek resting right on his silent heart. "After I lost you… I couldn't forgive myself for killing you. I-" words could no longer leave him. Raven had never seen him vulnerable like this.
"Eric, you didn't kill me." Raven insisted. "Elijah did. He made me to die-"
"He told me the same thing," Eric said, looking down to her.
Raven's heart skipped a beat. She quietly sat up again, to face him. Their eyes locked. Without him even saying anything, she knew her father was dead. Eric had killed him. All the fights and arguments Raven was ready to have with him, she would never get a chance to. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe she could finally rest. Raven was free of him. She could finally just be herself. No expectations, no prophecies, no politics. Eric Northman was the key to yet another prison Elijah built for her.
Raven shifted around, this time lying her back on the opposite side of the tub, facing his whole body. She watched his pale skin reflect the moonlight. It was the true night again. The eclipse had broken. The moon went back to where it was supposed to be - high in the sky, peeking behind the garden trees. After a long time, Raven broke the silence. "After I drank the blood, I woke up in the woods like I usually do. The first thing I did was to wait for you. I wanted to come back so much I tried to wake up, to escape, I even tried burning down the whole fucking thing down. And I only found my way out because I seeked you. I tried to fly," she couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of what she was saying. "I wanted to pretend I was flying with you. That's how I discovered the path in the woods was a secret magic key. I only found my way back, because I love you."
"What if you don't?" He asked in a cold voice.
"Excuse me?"
After all they've been through, how the hell can he ask her that?
"What if what you feel for me is just part of the prophecy? I'm the immortal who was always meant to hurt you." His whole body stiffened up.
"Eric, never say that to me again." Raven warned him. "The path only appeared in my dreams after I gave your memories back. I think Agatha knew about this prophecy, and she hid the key in a way it would only reveal itself when I was meant to find it. You may have been the immortal in the prophecy, but you were also the reason why I came back."
Eric sunk lower in the tub, slightly relaxing. Something told her she released a burden he had been holding onto for a very long time.
"I just don't understand why Agatha couldn't just tell me all of this-"
"Lilith had your memories," Eric told her simply.
Raven thought about asking how he knew that, but she feared the topic brought the vampire more pain than he led on. If Lilith knew how Raven felt about him, she certainly would have used it against him. If Lilith had access to the fourteenth magic circle - the one Agatha hid - maybe Lilith could have used it and it would amplify her destruction tenfold.
A realization hit her like a punch to the gut. The key. Her sisters - their silence at the pyre, eyes closed, hand in hand forming a circle. A circle. The prophecy didn't work then because they didn't let themselves be sacrificed for it. The blood of the covenant wasn't spilled for Lilith. They chose to die for Raven. That is how Agatha hid the key in her dreams. Agatha must have known Lilith would have access to Raven's memories. If Lilith knew Raven's soul was still alive and could somehow to get out, Lilith could have also easily banished Raven forever.
Agatha, Catherine, Harriet, Violet and Mabel died to hide Raven in her own dreams with the key to get out. No blood of the covenant was spilled that night. It took Jesus dying for it to count.
"I just can't believe my father would go this far… How many people have died for this? And for what?"
"For more witches." Eric reminded her. "Human babies have been mysteriously dying by the thousands and no one knew why. Elijah wanted the end of the Vampire Era. And perhaps the beginning of the Wizard one."
Another cold shiver down Raven's spine. She couldn't help but feel responsible for it. It may have been Lilith's doing, but it was her hands who made the dark sacrifice. And there was nothing she could do to justify the loss of the innocent lives. All she could do was try to make sure they weren't in vain.
After their bath, they got dressed. They found Pam downstairs, sitting in Burrell's office going through his computer. Apparently someone had 1.2 million dollars in offshore accounts.
"And by had, I do mean had. I rerouted the money to my Cayman Islands account. They'll never find it." She told Eric.
"Your Cayman Islands account?" Eric asked with a small smile, not being able to hide how pleased he was with his progeny's doing.
"I'm calling it a settlement for my emotional distress."
The duo spent the next little while glamouring all guards to forget what really happened, and planted new memories instead. Sarah and Burrell had a fight, and she ran away crying. By the time they went to check on him, he was dead, stabbed in the heart. Pam also deleted all security footage using Sarah Newlin's code. Pam put on some of Sarah's clothes too: black skinny jeans, Christian Louboutin pumps and a Fendi black blouse - by far the most conservative Raven had ever seen her. They then burned their prison suits in the fireplace. No one would ever know that they were here.
"Where to next? It better be Paris. I'm done with this place for good." Pam complained as they walked down the steps out of the Governor's house. The moon sat lonely up, higher in the sky - Witching hour was fast approaching.
"I need to speak with my coven," Raven declared. "So I have to go home."
"No, you don't-" Pam declared, eyeing her sourly.
"I wasn't asking," Raven told her. Who the fuck did she think she was? Raven had been through enough. She just wanted to go home.
"No bitch, your home is gone."
Raven stopped dead in her tracks and her heart went ice cold. Eric told her Raven had died. If she did… So did her house. And so did Lucifer. Raven's chest felt tighten, she had to steady herself on the railing as she looked away, hiding the tears welling up in her eyes. Losing her house and her familiar hurt just as much as losing a coven member. It was her childhood family home. It was all she had left of her sisters. It was her life's work. It was her home.
"I'll take you to Lafayette's," Eric told her. "Pam, go get our stuff from Ginger's. Then head to Fangtasia with some dinner."
With just a nod, Pam flew away. Eric expected Raven to yell at him for not telling her about her home. But time was running out, and Raven knew she had no time to grieve anymore. She had to see her coven.
They flew to Bon Temps. While the air hushed through her ears, Raven tried to numb her heart. Her home was destroyed. She felt so incredibly small. Every so often she looked up at Eric's face, watched his blue eyes glimmer while focusing on the horizon. She felt a bit better. Seconds after they landed, Raven noticed a brand new red corvette in the driveway. She remembered she had left Lafayette and Holly all the money in her vault in case she died in the Authority. I guess he put it to good use. Raven knocked on Lafayette's door, so anxious she could throw up. Something was turning around in her stomach, but she had to push away any questions of what Lilith may have eaten. She saw a pair of long eyelashes peak through the living room curtains and the loud pop music that played inside stopped.
Raven spent so much time blaming everything that had happened in the past on other people: her father, Eric, Marnie, Antonia, Damien, Lilith. So much time wishing things were different, so much time wondering what other lifetimes could look like if only those people didn't entirely fuck up her life. She now realized how naive it was for her to think that way. Raven was in charge of her life - prophecy or not. Raven was solely responsible for being here, for choosing this coven, for teaching them magic, for attacking the Authority, for killing people and for letting them live too. For breaking the rules. For falling in love.
It was time for the consequences.
The door opened and Lafayette stood by the doorway staring at her as if she were a ghost. Maybe at this point she was. There was a long pause. Neither knew what to say. Everything that came to her mind didn't sound like it was enough. Jesus was dead. Raven had a duty to protect her coven, and she failed. But no words were needed - Lafayette took a step and hugged Raven, tightly. She embraced him back, biting back tears.
"I am so-" she whispered.
"Baby girl, I know." He shushed. He pulled back, eyeing her with his beautiful brown eyes. "He don't blame you either."
"You've talked to him?"
"Yeah. I let him visit sometimes."
"Good." She smiled. Some of the heavyweight lifted off her shoulders. He was okay. They were okay. "How's Holly?"
"She's good. She can't do magic no more though, not like she used to."
"Yeah, I figured," Lafayette gave her a questioning look. "Holly isn't magical like you and Jesus. She's a full human. Holly could only do magic as long as she was bonded to me, and since I died…"
"You knew she didn't have magic this entire time? Why did you let her join?"
"Because the three of you were there for me, Lafayette. Without even knowing me, you three cared for me and it was all I could ask from a coven."
Lafayette gave her a sad smile which quickly faded once he noticed Eric Nortman standing in his front yard, fifteen feet away. "I take it he gots you back."
"Kind of," Raven said shily.
"Can he get you away before the witch police comes for your ass?" Raven felt a ripple of fear run through her body. Lafayette knew. Of course, he wasn't stupid.
"Witch police?" Eric repeated.
This part was going to be hard. Raven swallowed hard. Eric walked up to the porch in a flash. "When I made the eclipse I broke one the main Shadow Book rules. I interfered with the world's natural rhythm by moving the moon and freezing in an eclipse. Pretty sure humans have noticed it too, so I put our kind's entire existence at risk."
Eric stood an inch away from here, his body towering over her. His eyes never looked at her with such intensity before. He was angry at her. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything?! Why the fuck did you let us waste all that time killing the Governor?!"
"Yous killed the Governor?" Lafayette interrupted.
"No more running away," Raven reminded him.
Raven took a good look at Eric. If she had to live her life all over again, she would not have changed a damn thing. Eric held her face with both hands, he could feel her slip away already. She wasn't going to die because a mad King wanted revenge. She wasn't going to die to fulfill some prophecy. Raven Blackwood was going to die to save someone she loved. She was loved. She couldn't ask for anything else.
"Why?" Eric asked. "Why do it if it was forbidden?"
"I took a vow. And Eric, I'd take it a thousand times again if I had to."
A flash of red light burst on the front yard, near to where Eric was standing moments ago. Thirteen dark hooded and masked figures stood in a circle facing them. Her time was up.
The man standing the furthest from them spoke after a moment in a deep raspy voice. "Raven Blackwood, you've been summoned by the Circle of Mages. Your trial is about to start."
A.N.:
What Spicehoney giveth, Spicehoney taketh away.
2 chapters to go folks!
See you next week xoxo