Chapter 8: Bad Reputation

Liv's heart was ringing in her ears, a sharp pain throbbed under her ribs from all the hard and uneven breathing. She was strong like a gymnast from pole dancing, but cardio was not her strong suit by any means. She had dinner with religious terrorists, talked business, gave them shady financial advice and bid them farewell. It was the least she could do for the Newlins before royally fucking them over. Not that she felt bad about it.

Olivia parked the rental car down the road from the Church lot. Its main building was about a half-mile away from the main road, secluded on a tree-filled lot in the middle of farmlands 40 minutes from the hotel. Doing her best not to be spotted by the security guards roaming the parking lot, she snuck back into the Church building through one of the fire exits. Earlier, before the service happened and Olivia was exploring the place, she stuck a paper business card in the latch of the door, just in case she had to make her way back in after hours. Which she did, to the shock of no one.

In the dark, she rummaged through the admin office looking for the basement key. After some poking around, Steven Newlin told her the Church's basement was originally a tornado shelter, one they have only used once or twice since this place was built. He didn't tell her about the recent vampire jail conversion, but his mind gave it away. Olivia wondered what would happen in spring if a big enough tornado hit Dallas and the Newlins had to explain to city officials the reason they couldn't take in citizens was because they turned their bunker into an illegal holding cell for vampires.

"I truly can't make this shit up," Olivia muttered to herself, as she frantically opened desk drawers. Paper, on papers, on papers, parking permits, hole punches, staplers and staple removers... Where are the KEYS DAMMIT?!

She moved over to a cabinet in the middle of the hallway. It was filled with cleaning supplies. But hanging on the inside of the door: a keychain with at least 2 dozen keys. Liv could finally breathe again without pain, but her heart was still beating a mile a minute. She was going to end up having a heart attack one of these days, just like her father. Olivia dashed to the dark foyer and started trying key after key into the wood-panelled door, excluded from the building's blueprints.

The first key didn't fit. The second key didn't turn. She glanced at the ceilings and corners: there were no cameras in this place? That was odd. Guess they don't want proof of illegal activity. The only surveillance system Olivia trusted was the old school analog: it only kept one copy of footage on a single VHS tape and it was continuously written over on a 4-hour cycle. Want to keep it? Switch tapes. Want it erased? Time will do it for you. It was perfect for when cops knocked on your door with warrants. No police force in the world was efficient enough to get a warrant signed within four hours of something happening.

Liv lost count of how many keys she had tried, but suddenly, the one in her hand turned. She quickly stepped through and closed the door behind her, engulfing herself in the pitch-black darkness. It was silent, and she wasn't sure where the landing ended and stairs began. Taking tiny steps, she blindly caressed the walls looking for a light switch. The thought of walking into a 2 thousand-year-old vampire who was being held prisoner down here, unknowing she was Team Vampire gave her a pit in her throat. She was even dressed like a Good Christian Girl, in designer jeans, short heels, a conservative white blouse and a dainty cross necklace, gifted by yours truly.

"Hello?" She called out in the dark, but with no answer.

Olivia's eyes adjusted to the dark using the little light that escaped through underneath the foyer door. She saw the outline of the light switch, and turned it on, illuminating the way down. Liv quickly made her way downstairs into the dusty basement. The place was massive and looked mostly like a storage unit for inflatable mattresses, Christmas decorations, creepy life-size Nativity scene statues, and Rubbermaid storage bins. As she walked through the maze of tornado shelter supplies, she encountered a row of empty storage rooms, but they were different. The chain-link walls were instead, thick metal bars, and if she were a betting woman she would guess they were made of silver.

Liv walked past the empty rooms, one by one making the heavy feeling in her stomach worse until she arrived at the very last cage. A pair of kind brown eyes looked up at her. They stared at each other for what seemed like ages. He was just... A boy. He was wearing linen pants and a tunic with a wide neckline that showed a tattoo across his collarbones, almost like a heavy necklace. He had a small but defined frame, and short vibrant brown hair to match his eyes. He looked to be 18, maybe 20. The vampire just studied her from where he was, sitting cross-legged on the dusty floor.

"Are you Godric?"

A small smile formed on his lips. "Who asks?"

"Eric Northman."

In a blink of an eye, the boy was standing right in front of her from across the silver bars. He was just a couple of inches taller than her. Olivia had no expectations for the creator of Eric Northman, but somehow, Godric looked nothing like she expected.

His smile had vanished. Judging by his reaction, this was Godric after all. "He's here?"

"Outside somewhere," Olivia told him, as she went through the keychain again, looking for a robust key to fit the lock, but it was unlikely any of these would match the wide keyhole.

"Turn around and walk away."

His command made Olivia stop looking through the keys and stared dead-eyed at the vampire. "Come again?"

"I am fine. Just please, leave before you get hurt."

Olivia was so baffled she was borderline… Offended? She had to abandon a perfect pint of ice cream on a Friday night, hop into a jet with Eric Northman in the middle of the night, witness yet another murder, jump out of it without a parachute putting her life in the hands of a murderous vampire psychopath, getting whiplash, then being forced-fed his blood, kept prisoner in a hotel, taken to a vampire nest, then literally dragged out of it; had to watch Eric bite-fuck some random lady in the hotel bar, study boring-ass Church tax exemptions, had intense sex dreams which may deeply fuck her up mentally forever, had to go to fucking Church and then have dinner with religious fanatics, all in order to sneak back into this goddamn place and find this self-centred asshole WHO DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE?!

And now what? She was supposed to just walk back out there and tell Eric 'no sorry, your Maker just didn't want to come so I left'? Yeah, that would go super fucking smoothly.

"I don't fucking think so, Eric will mount my head on a wall if I let the Newlins use you to roast breakfast s'mores."

"The Light ceremony."

"You know about that?"

"Yes. It's why I came," Godric said calmly.

The lunacy - there were no words. She just shook her head and started trying keys on the chain for the sake of trying something. Olivia came too far to only come this far.

"Please, stop." He spoke softly, almost in a whisper. It was very different from the authoritarian commanding tone Eric had.

None of the keys she had worked on this stupid door. She bet the keys were somewhere in Steve and Sarah's house. How the fuck would she sneak back in there? Godric had a plain but peaceful look on his face, watching her try key after key but knowing damn well it was useless. "I need you to leave."

"Godric, I can't! Eric will kill me if…" She remembered the dark cold feeling she got when she asked Eric what would happen if she were to fail. "I don't have a choice!"

"You always have a choice."

Olivia was confused, angry, defeated and honestly? Exhausted. Olivia pulled out her Blackberry and started typing. "No, you know what? You two figure this out. I'm done-"

"What are you doing?"

"Calling Eric. He wanted my help finding you? Well, I did it. Now if he wants you, he can come down here and get you out himself. I'm a goddamn accountant! I did not go to Princeton for this-"

A loud blow interrupted her and she took a step back, startled. Godric had torn the thick cell doors right off its hinges and carefully put it down three feet to the side. Steam came off his palms as the silver cell door burned his flesh, but he didn't even flinch nor showed any signs of pain. He could have escaped this entire time?!

"Alright human, I'll go," Godric said as he simply stepped out of his cell. "Are you armed?"

"...No. Should I be?" She asked, putting her phone back in her pocket.

"That won't be necessary. Lead the way, my kind lady."

Olivia didn't know if he was being sarcastic or not, but she started walking back through the maze she came in, and the vampire quietly followed her 3 feet back at all times. Every time Olivia glanced over her shoulder, Godric's eyes were right on her. She knew where Eric got his intense stare from.

She peeked through the Foyer door. It was still quiet and dark out there. The moonlight shone brightly in through the windows, making pretty patterns on the stone floors. Liv crossed the entrance hall on her tippy toes and spied outside from the Foyer window. She could see the silhouette of the security guards wandering outside. Sneaking out shouldn't be as difficult as sneaking in was, but she wasn't still quite sure she could trust Go-

Where the fuck did he go?

The foyer was empty. Shit. "Godric?!" She whispered into the dark. Olivia slipped into the main Church Hall, just to find the boy in the very middle of the empty grand room, approaching the altar. "What are you doing?!"

"Is this it?" He asked, walking up the altar's steps. Even he looked small at the bottom of the monumental 20 foot stained glass window right in front of him. "Where they perform the Light ceremony?"

Olivia approached, confused by his curiosity. On the altar was a long stone table, with nothing on it. This was probably where they laid the vampires and watched the sunrise through the windows. It was the image she got from Sarah Newlin's mind.

"Yes," she told them. She imagined this place full with the people she sat with earlier. Everyone - women, men, elderly and even children, gathered to watch vampires die. She understood many humans had been deeply hurt by vampires, many have been killed. But to torture them to death? To make a spectacle of it? For what? To find comfort and peace in evil?

"At first I came because I wanted to show Reverend Newlin and his congregation we were not the monsters he believed us to be," Godric explained, resting his hands on the stone table. Olivia still watched him from the bottom of the steps. Maybe it was his linen tunic and trousers, maybe it was the religious setting, but Godric seemed more angelical than vampirical. "However in my time here, the Reverend brought down humans to tell me their stories, stories of how their lives were torn apart by my kind… And I think I was the one who was convinced otherwise. We are monsters… Even as I stand here alone with you, my savior, my body aches not to drain you every little bit of blood in you."

Olivia stopped breathing for a moment. So much for looking like an angel. Something told her Godric would not care about an edict of protection, but yet she stood here unharmed. He was twice the vampire Eric was, and insane enough to try to reason with Steven Newlin, but she did not threaten as she did with Eric.

"They've starved you," Olivia argued. "Wanting food doesn't make you a monster."

"I wish I could believe you, human. I've been roaming Earth for over two-thousand years… And for that entire time, I watched vampires get more brutal and evil… More cruel, predatory, sadistic-"

"So have humans. Slavery, colonialism, erasure of entire native tribes… We had two world wars in the past century alone. The holocaust, multiple genocides, we inflicted famine in whole countries, dropped nuclear bombs, terrorism, oppression, coups, corruption - hell, the U.S. even legalized torture… Vampires don't become monsters at turning. We have always been monsters."

Godric paused for a second, surprised by her answer. "That's a very… Cynical point of view. Have you no faith in humankind?"

Oh, if he only knew humankind as she did. "None whatsoever."

"What is your name, human?"

"Olivia Carson."

"Olivia, do you believe in God?"

She thought a lot about God in her life. She wondered if God was the one who made her like this if he had cursed her family with telepathy. Sure, it brought her some good, but also so much pain, heartbreak and disappointment. If God existed, why did he make her like this? If God existed, why did he make people so awful? So egotistical, selfish, insecure, greedy, petty, small...

Olivia looked around the empty Church, painted indigo blue and emerald green by the shining moonlight on the window. This was supposed to be a house of worship, a place for soul cleansing and safety, and community. A place to turn evil, dirty and sinful hearts into good. But instead, it was all just theatre. The Newlins were sound asleep in their luxury pillows, safe and comforter in their mansion, making a fucking fortune by planting fear and hate in people and harvesting their money. They glorify torture and murder in the name of God. If God existed, and this was the way to worship Him, then He made some serious errors.

Olivia felt angry the Newlins could get away with this. Technically, killing or torturing vampires wasn't even a crime they could be charged with - not until the Vampire Rights Amendment passed anyway, and these things take decades. Something within her snapped. This madness had to be stopped.

With determination she walked around the stone table, and grabbed the handcrafted Bishop's chair with both hands and lifted - it was heavier than it looked, so she had to hobble a couple of steps before getting a good grip on it. She turned it to her right awkwardly, but once she got a good grasp, she started to twirl. Olivia spun and spun, letting the chair pick up momentum in the air, and with a swift motion and perfect timing, she threw the chair away from her body by letting her hands go.

With a loud hit, the wooden chair went perfectly through the stained glass window, landing outside in the garden, and shattering into pieces. The hole it created on the glass grew cracks like veins, all throughout. Then, slowly, pieces of blue and green glass started falling like rain. Olivia took several steps back, as she knew what was going to happen next like Deja Vu. It all came rushing down at once, leaving a huge gap on the back of the Church, now it was wide open to the garden, facing the trees and the moon. The indigo and emerald light was now just dull shards of glass spread across the floor.

There would be no more Light Ceremonies. No more finding comfort in watching people being burned alive for shit they probably didn't even do. No more fake holier-than-thou moral superiority from these hypocrites. If God existed, this is not what he would have wanted from humanity.

"No, I don't." Olivia finally answered, turning around and facing Godric. The boy then smiled at her, as if he found what she said funny, but Olivia ignored him. "It's just easier to cope with life when you have someone to blame your shit on. For these people, it's vampires."

"And for you?"

Before she had the time to answer, sirens burst out in the place. The loudest alarm bell she had ever heard rang in her ears so loud she couldn't even think. In the distance, the Church's front doors opened and men came rushing in yelling and pointing their crossbow towards the two invaders at the altar. Everything went quiet once she felt Godric's cold hand touch hers. His kind brown eyes were endless.

Without any more words or philosophical questions, Godric took her in his arms and flew through the window opening out of the Church and into the night sky. Her stomach was full of butterflies, half scared of being in this stranger's arms, half feeling the echo of the terror she felt when she had to jump out of that airplane in Eric's arms. Suddenly, this whole thing felt wrong. She needed out. She wanted down. Her eyes tried to make out the shapes of roads and fields down below, until she spotted the silver SUV parked on the shoulder of the road, right beside the entrance of the Church compound.

"There!" She shouted, pointing down. Without questioning, Godric descended to the ground, landing 10 feet away from the car parked on the shoulder of the road. Olivia reached into her purse for the car keys. "Sorry, I don't care much for flying. We will drive the rest of the way."

The car's headlights flashed as she unlocked it. "You've flown before?" Godric asked, standing still in the middle of the road.

"Once too many-" and speaking of the devil, Eric Northman appeared out of the sky, landing himself between Olivia and Godric.

Eric sent Isabel to distract the humans away so they wouldn't go after the blur that shot into the sky out of the back of the Church. If everything went according to plan, they would all meet at Godric's house later. Eric chased what he hoped for dear life that it was Godric and Olivia. Not a lot of vampires knew how to fly, so the odds were on his side.

But Eric also knew that if anything could go wrong, it usually did. What if Olivia rescued the wrong vampire? What if Godric killed Olivia for whatever reason? She was mouthy and he had seen Godric kill for a whole lot less. He glanced back at the Church, trying to find the source of the loud crash when he saw an enormous and very destroyed stained glass window on the East side of the building It looked as if a meteor had shot into the building, blowing a large hole in the back of it.

He couldn't see signs of anyone anywhere, other than shouts of men chasing Isabel out West. Then, he saw the flash of car headlights out the corner of his eye, past the trees and near the road. Eric hurried, and his body gave out once he saw him.

Godric was alive and standing in the middle of the dark road. It's like Eric could fully breathe again, after part of him spent 300 years suffocating. If his heart could beat, it would. He gently landed and kneeled before his Maker.

"My childe," Godric spoke.

The relief of being together again was almost more than Eric could bear. Suddenly nothing else mattered. Not the men hunting Isabel, not the high pitched echoes of the Church's alarm, not Olivia standing by the car watching them, nothing. Godric was okay. Godric was fine. Godric was here.

"My father," Eric spoke in old Norse. It had been centuries since Eric didn't speak it, but he never once forgot it. It was a part of him, just like his Maker.

"You were a fool for sending a human after me." Godric quickly reprimanded him.

"I had no other choice!"

"There is always a choice-"

"These fanatics - they seek to destroy you, destroy all of us."

"I'm well aware, Eric."

Anger rose within Eric. Was Godric resentful for being rescued? "Was I supposed to just let them kill you, then? I made a vow to you-"

"I know you did! And I know you to be honorable to a fault, my child, it's what I love the most about you. But at what cost?"

"Cost?" Eric repeated, incredulous. "There is no cost."

"Lives have a cost."

"Human lives?" Eric asked, confused at what exactly his Maker was insinuating. Godric then looked at Olivia, who watched the two argue quietly by the car. Eric stood up, resenting her presence. Not once Olivia felt fear, all day and all evening. It's like she felt nothing at all. "Human lives cost nothing."

"You're wrong."

Eric was at a loss for words. What the hell did those Church lunatics do to him? This was not the Godric Eric knew. This was not the man who taught him there were only two things that mattered: survival and death. What in the world was he talking about? Human lives are worth something since when?

"Is she yours?" Godric asked, still eyeing Olivia. She looked pristine, in her jeans and white satin blouse with conservative low heels. Golden cross peeking from behind the collar. She took it all in, doe-eyed. He wondered for a second if she could understand their conversation. Although unlikely, he wouldn't put it past her.

"No."

"Do you not want her to be yours?"

Olivia realized the two were talking about her by the way she shifted her feet and looked away half blushing.

"I'm not sure she's worth the trouble."

Godric replied with a half-smile. "So she is worth something."

Eric stared at his Maker, annoyed he could twist his words like that. That was Eric's specialty. A silence fell between them. They were surrounded by midnight blue sky, farmland and green crops, the only building he could vaguely see in the distance was a barn and some silos. What an odd place for Olivia to have parked the car. He noticed she had rented a silver Dodge Durango - her taste in cars was awful.

"We should go, it won't take long until the Fellowship comes looking for us," Olivia warned them, finally breaking the silence and entering the car. Godric passed him, walking towards the passenger side of the car.

Olivia proceeded to turn the car engine on, in her fucking dreams Eric would ler her drive. He opened her door and stood just outside, his hand resting firmly on the door frame. "Out," he ordered.

"I can drive-"

"Well my first car was a Ford model T, now get out." Eric insisted.

Olivia scoffed, looking up at Eric. He stood there with a serious look in his eyes, impatient to be alone with his Maker. From behind the treeline on the road, they could see headlights peeking through, as pick-up trucks drove down the long Church driveway. Eric stood his ground. Olivia should know by now what would happen to the humans if they reached them. They would all be dead in minutes.

Lips pressed and eyebrows frowning, Olivia stepped out of the car and basically scrapped her body against Eric on her way out, as he refused to move or give her any space at all to actually leave the car. He could tell she disliked how he used her small size against her, and she may even think this was his way to establish dominance over her - it would be pretty on-brand for him. But Eric imposed himself because he secretly adored how she smelled.

Eric entered the car and closed the door. Godric sat on the passenger seat and Olivia sulked in the backseat right behind him. Another thing about this goddamn car offended him - it was a fucking automatic model. Eric threw the car in drive and his foot hit the gas all the way, almost making the tires squeal. He took the long way back to the city, to make double sure they were not being followed. Everyone in the car was quiet. 300 years apart, so much time yearning to speak to his maker, and now he could barely make small talk.

"Are you hungry?" Eric asked Godric.

"I need very little blood these days."

"That's not really what I asked." Eric protested. Why was Godric being so fucking difficult?

"I'm fine, Eric."

"No, I don't think you are-"

"Eric-"

"No, stop it! What the hell is going on with you? You grew a conscience after I left?"

"I grew a conscience because you left."

"What? You DO NOT get to make feel guilty for leaving, Godric. You released me! You wanted me gone!"

"I never meant to hurt you, my child-"

"You did the ONE thing that ever could! What exactly did you mean to accomplish by sending me away?"

Eric's turns were getting a bit sharper, the engine vibrated all throughout the car. Eric must have been speeding because Olivia's heartbeat sounded strong and her eyes looked mildly panicked as she white-knuckled the roof handle with all her might.

"I wanted you to grow into your own person. Trace your own footsteps. I was holding you back-"

"That's a bunch of bullshit-"

"Am I wrong? Aren't you a powerful Sherriff now, with your own business and progeny-"

"Don't act and pretend we aren't fucking puppets. I never wanted to be Sheriff, I never wanted any of it. I run Fangtasia because I'm expected to generate profit for the fucking Authority. The only power I have is to enforce Magistry laws I don't even believe in. I could not give less of a fuck about any of it."

Godric looked away, expressionless. "Did you know I needed permission to come here looking for you? What kind of power is that, that I can't even cross imaginary without asking?"

"Then leave."

"You know fucking well this gig is for life. The only way out is the true death."

"Or you become King yourself."

Eric scoffed at the absurdity of the idea. "I rather have the true death than suck the Authority's dick any deeper."

"You were always destined to be King, Eric," Godric told him. His maker insisted on this stupid idea for centuries now. Eric was the heir to the throne in his birth land, over a thousand years ago back when he was human. He never wanted it then, and he sure as hell didn't want it now.

"I was always destined to be great, not a King." Eric corrected him. "And am I supposed to be great if the man who made who I am gives his life away like he is worthless?"

"That's enough!" Godric demanded, now in English. "We will speak of this at another time. We are being rude to our friend."

"She's not my friend," Eric muttered, avoiding her gaze through the rearview mirror. "She's my accountant-"

"Well my friend, then." Godric interrupted.

Olivia blushed slightly as his maker quickly smiled at her. Eric gives her a simple task and leaves them alone for five fucking minutes…

Eric finally pulled into the driveway, next to three other cars. A black impala which was Godric's, Isabel's Porsche and a ridiculously sized Hummer that belonged to none other than Stan Baker. Godric's house was similar to Isabel, but much bigger of course since he was the Sheriff. Modern house with large windows, a mix of concrete, wood and stone, with a very nice garden that surrounded the property, along with a nicely built privacy fence.

Godric exited the car and out of the house came Isabel and Stan and other vampires who were all smiling and cheering, all thankful for Godric's safe return. Reluctantly, Eric got out of the car too and Olivia followed. He watched Godric reunite with his nest, giving him a private moment to do so before heading towards the house. After all, he didn't belong here. He hadn't, for a very long time. Soon, more vampires would come to celebrate the Sheriff's safe return and Eric would not get his undivided attention again. Perhaps it was for the best.

He heard the car's door open again, and upon turning, he saw Olivia ready to re-enter. "I'm going to head back to the hotel now. I'll head back to Shreveport at first light tomorrow morning, and-"

"Why?" Eric asked her simply.

Olivia hesitated, standing quietly in the driveway. "My job here is done-"

"Stay," he asked. Eric's request caught her off guard. "We'll go home tomorrow."

"Well, you don't have to. I'm sure you two have plenty to catch up on," Eric wasn't so sure he wanted to catch up with Godric any longer. "And I'm certainly not needed for that, so I'll just…"

"Olivia," Eric insisted. "Stay."

The words thank you were not in his vocabulary by any means, but Olivia had saved his Maker's life. The least he could do was to give her one peaceful night without being a total dick to her. The welcome party had gone inside with Godric, leaving just the two of them and the moon outside. With a small smile, she nodded and closed the car door. She followed Eric towards the house and chuckled as she noticed one of the cars on the driveway was this huge white Hummer with extra-large rims.

"Let me guess, Stan's car?"

"Yeah," Eric nodded, pausing in the doorway while holding the door for her.

"Bet he has a tiny dick." She whispered to him as she entered the house, not noticing the first time Eric Northman genuinely smiled at her.

AN. hello my sweet little angels!

Such a drama-filled chapter, oh my! Hope you liked it, there's more coming soon I promise!

xoxoxo