"Eric?!" Lou called again, sprinting through the forests after him. Her mind had taken a few minutes to catch up, but once she realised he was gone without a trace her own feet had taken off running after him. She'd not had time to take in whether or no the Guardsmen or Bill had noticed her fleeing from the house, because she was too quick to stop and check. "Eric?!" There was the slightest scent of him in the air still, which she found herself desperately trying to follow, because beyond that there were no signs of him anywhere.

For a split second when he'd ran she wanted to hit herself - she must have scared him, the intensity of their conversation being too much for a man who was confused at best as to what was happening around him. The second that thought crossed through her mind she managed to rationalise that down to her own insecure stupidity talking. If she had decided to finally stop doubting him, then she needed to actually do that. Besides, Eric had smiled. He was happy. Something, or someone else had made him run, and Lou had been afforded just seconds with him before he had.

Whoever was to blame, she'd gladly drive her hand through their heart for taking that from her.

She stopped and started several times, taking pause to gather her bearings and try to sense him, but there was nothing. Either he'd suddenly fallen off the face of the earth or something was stopping her from following the instincts that were always drawn to him, like an invisible wall built between them. Before she lost the scent entirely Lou had managed to follow him all the way back to town, the promenade of shops around the corner.

The Moonlight Emporium was amongst them.

Necromancy, she thought to herself, stomach contorting. Controlling the dead didn't always mean leading them out into the sunlight. Sometimes it meant wiping their memories and throwing them around like puppets, the latter Lou had felt first hand.

Logically she should have gone back to Bill's. She'd already found out the hard way that she was no match for the witch, so going there alone was a terrible idea. Then she thought of Eric sat smiling down at her, and how close to complete she'd felt for the first time in so long.

Lou wasn't going to let someone pull them apart. Not again.

She walked around the corner at human speed, assuming the witches would see her coming so knowing agility wouldn't help her in any way. The Emporium was in sight now, a dim glow coming from inside as well as a bustle of life. They were most certainly in there, and as Lou grew closer, she became more certain that Eric would be amongst them.

She was about twenty metres from the shop when the doors opened, and life moved outside from within. A group of ten or eleven moved towards her as Lou did them, and of course, it was Sadie who lead them.

"I wouldn't come any closer," She warned, coming a stop with her group falling not far behind. "We have a protective spell around this building. If any undead try to enter with an invitation, it'll turn you into a puddle before you can blink." Her voice was strong, domineering even. Lou could tell she wasn't bluffing, but still continued forward a few further paces before slowing to a stop. There was no fear in her now as the sisters locked eyes. She was aware she should probably be terrified, but the strength she thought she'd lost had returned with a hot, burning desire to be heard.

There was no way she would be the first to back down.

"Am I talking to Sadie or Antonia?" She calmly asked to assess the situation. In turn her sister sighed in almost exasperated way.

"It's me, Lou." She replied. The scared little girl who had held her hand a few nights before was nowhere to be found, and yet it was very clearly her. It was Sadie who spoke, and Sadie who seemed rather changed in her state of mind. "I assumed you'd followed him here." She continued.

"If by 'him' you mean Eric, then yes." Lou clarified. "Let him go, and I'll go with him. I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Sadie outwardly laughed at her response.

"You still think you can hurt us?" She mocked, and the group behind her chuckled in unison. There was something undeniably daunting about it, but Lou didn't waver. "You're a baby, Lou. You'd hurt yourself before you even get close." As Sadie spoke she had all her own mannerisms. The hands clasped in front of her, eyes soft, even her amused smile looked like her own. No one else looked to be in control, and yet she acted like a total stranger.

Lou's sister was becoming less and less of what she wanted to save, and it made her heart tie into knots.

"You were scared of her, Sades." Lou said, voice almost pleading. "You were scared of what she was going to do... What the fuck happened?"

"I realised she was right." Sadie sincerely stated. "About all of it. If we're going to thrive, this earth needs cleansing of it's evil first. They have had a millennia worth of chances to be better, and they've refused, proving themselves to be nothing but a danger to us all. So we'll do what the humans aren't strong enough to do, and get rid of them ourselves."

"Say it, Sadie." Lou felt herself growl as her temper awoke. "Say who you're talking about. Vampires." As though to emphasise her point Lou let her fangs click into place as a hiss began to rise in the back of her throat, and despite their bravado the crowd behind her fell silent at the sight, some even being smart enough to take a few steps back. "You can try all you like to distance me from them. To refer to vampires as though they're an entity all of their own, but I am a vampire, Sadie, just the same as them. And you can try to tell yourself that I'm not, but when you killed who knows how many of us today, you tried to kill me too. I've spent days keeping them away from you, and for what? For you to try to drag me outside like a fucking lamb to the slaughter?!" Lou's anger was only fuelled when she watched her sisters smug expression drop, because they both knew she was right. "But I guess you were right on one part - we are dangerous, so I'm going to say this once, and I'm going to make it very simple. Give me Eric back, or I'll drain dry every weak-minded fuckwit that follows you... And I'll enjoy it."

Silence permeated through them, and Lou's stance grew lower as though she might pounce. Bluffing or not about the protective spell, she'd take her chances. She'd find a way to get through it even if it meant digging through the earth itself to get under.

Sadie's resolve trembled, eyes glistening with a hint of tears.

"I thought you were different." She almost whispered. "I thought you were still my sister."

A crack ruptured through Lou's heart.

"And I thought you were mine." Was all she could reply, her own steely exterior distorting out of place because it felt clear to the both of them now, that no matter how desperately they wanted for that to be true, it wasn't any more.

Of the two, Sadie was the one to pull it together first. She didn't turn back, but as she spoke it was clear she wasn't speaking to Lou.

"Come." She said firmly.

On cue, Eric appeared from the magic shop.

The moment she saw he was unharmed Lou felt her stance relax as her heart soared, but it fell plummeting to the ground only a second later when she really got a look at him. His dead eyes stared out ahead, void being the only way to describe them. The people parted for him, and a good job too as he made no attempt to alter his path once he was on it. His feet came to a stop when he reached Sadie's side.

"When I get to focus my energies on him, he's surprisingly easy to control. I think the clean slate really helped with that, made him a lot less resistant." Sadie tormented, but Lou didn't pay her a seconds notice. She closed the gap as much as she dared, standing less than a metre away from them now at best, and she positioned herself to stand square in front of him.

"Eric." She said in a hopeless bid to catch his attention. Something told her if she could meet his eyes she could snap him out of it, naïve though that may be. "Eric it's me, it's Louisa. Eric look at me. Please look at me." But he continued to stare blankly ahead into thin air, not so much as twitching at the sound of her voice.

"He can't hear you." Sadie said, sounding bored. "When we made that spell, you don't think you we weren't smart enough to put a fail-safe in there, were you? All it took was a flick of a switch to make him come running. It's worked out quite well really, him getting in the way. He'll be much more useful than you would've." Useful for what was the truly terrifying question.

"Except it wasn't we, was it?" Lou asked, still staring wistfully at Eric as she spoke, before that same glare sharpened and aimed back at her sister. "You said it yourself. Antonia's the one with the power, not you. You're just a girl, Sades. Without her, you're nothing." Her shoulders shrugged at the last part, and it looked as though like always, Lou had managed to push it that bit too far.

Sadie's lip pulled into a tight line, her scowl hardened, and two words left her lips.

"Kill her."

Lou had no chance to be confused, because before the command could settle in, a hand was around her throat. Eric's hand. Eyes still empty, he pushed her back with all the ease of walking, her feet stumbling a little before he lifted her off the ground by her neck. Lou's legs flailed as her hands came up to his, fingers clawing to try and loosen his grip, but he so much stronger. She didn't choke because her desire to breathe was for comfort, not necessity, but the grip with which he held her made it impossible to scream, as his slowly tightening fingers crushed her vocal chords. His eyes were on her now, but they were cold and vacant, as though they were honing in on his target, which terrifyingly was Lou herself.

This couldn't be it, she pleaded with whatever false god was still listening. This couldn't be how she met the final death, at the hands of the man who she'd only just realised she was able to love again. The universe couldn't possibly be that cruel.

"Eh... Eh..." She tried to choke out as tears sprang to her eyes. His grip kept tightening, and Lou could feel her nails ripping into his skin as she fought to break free from his hold. "Eric.." Her strangled voice managed to whisper, but there was nothing behind that ice like glower. Again his hand clenched tighter, and she knew a little more was all it'd take to snap her neck, maybe pull even pull her head clean from her shoulders.

Whatever little hope she had left seemed to be fading, but that remaining glimmer came in the form of a single hand belonging to somebody else coming down on Eric's arm, and with unparalleled force, it violently pulled him off of her. Lou didn't see much before she hit the ground, but she did manage to catch a glimpse of a white linen sleeve, waving in the cool air.

Thrown by the same arm with which he'd choked her, Eric was hurled through the air, landing back by the Emporium in a painful heap on the floor. Lou struggled to keep up, head spinning while the muscles in her neck continued to scream in agony as they tried to knit back to their proper positions. She was alive though, which wasn't how she thought that was about to end. Revelling in that was bittersweet, because in the distance she saw Eric pulling himself to his feet, trapped again within their protective spell.

The voice of her saviour was what pulled her away from him.

"Hello, little one." Godric spoke.

Lou could've given herself whiplash with the speed her head snapped to look up at him, and briefly her thoughts questioned whether or not she was dead, because how else could he have been there at the final hour? But Godric reached down and with gentle hands took hold of Lou's arms, helping her back up onto her feet. His touch was most certainly real. He kept his forearms anchored beneath hers, holding her upright, which she was glad for as her knees felt like they might buckle. Looking back at his inexplicable beauty, Lou wanted to throw herself at him in an embrace, to thank him over and over again for finally coming, but that wasn't to be, as they were very rudely interrupted by the witch stood only a few meters away still. The rest of her coven had the good sense to retreat, but not Sadie.

"How dare you-" She began, but she was cut off by Godric's threatening glare.

"You do not know me, so I will not hold you to the same standard I expect of those who do. However. You have murdered my kind, injured those I love, and now taken my progeny hostage. I am stronger, and older, and wiser than the Witch you have chosen to entrust your soul into. I promise you, that was a mistake." His words carried a message that couldn't be missed, amplified by the quiet kind of rage that only Godric could harness to strike fear. He was threatening her, and doing a very good job at it. "In another life you and I would have been kin. I am sorry that in this one we are enemies... Now go, before I show you what I do to my enemies."

Sadie truly faltered for the first time, taken aback by the power he held with only his words. Godric tilted his head as though to question whether she was daring to ignore his warning. That was all it took for it to hit home. With no further prompting needed, Sadie turned and stalked back towards her shop, the rest of her coven moving along with her. Lou found Eric amongst the crowd, or rather the back of his head as he too followed them in. The smallest gasp escaped her as she tried to hobble forward, but Godric held her back.

"He will be okay," Godric tried to reassure her gently, his aura changing with ease back to that of his ever comforting self. "He is their only leverage. I promise, they will not harm him for tonight." Lou couldn't bare to look away, watching until the doors locked shut once more, and with them went any sign he'd even been there.

A very gentle hand came to her chin, and Godric turned her face so she would look back to him. The streetlight caught the dark blue of his eyes and illuminated them, and Lou wished it would've been a happier moment when she saw them again. Any hint of anger at his absence was gone, the overwhelming relief at his presence being too much to ignore. She tried to think of something to say, but words were lost on her - well, apart from two.

"Hello Godric."

"Do not worry, I assured Mr Compton I would bring you back safely." Godric said confidently as Lou grumbled about her maker having probably sent out his entire armed guard to find them by now. They walked at a human pace through the forest, Godric keeping his arm tucked through Lou's the entire time despite her insistence that she was absolutely fine, though her neck still throbbed painfully. Were she human she didn't doubt every bone would've been broken the second he'd taken hold.

A little more reassurance was needed for her to leave the street of the emporium, but after Godric reminded her of the protection spell and how they alone would not be able to penetrate it, so she reluctantly walked away, praying as she did that he was right about Eric being too valuable to come to any harm. Neither of them ran, no doubt because they knew this would be their only chance to talk away from prying ears.

And also, Lou was just glad to have him to herself for a little while, selfish though that was.

"You were at Bill's?" She queried.

"Yes, Pamela and I went there first on our return to town. Evidently you and Eric had been seen running from the grounds only a few minutes before... Some would call that perfect timing, I believe." He explained, earning a small smile from Lou. He certainly had a knack for showing up at the right moment, that much she had to give him.

"Pam's with you?" She asked, picking up on that part.

"Yes. She came to find me when you came back to town. Evidently she and Eric had rather the argument about your reappearance, and she was hoping that I may be able to, quote, 'talk some sense into him'. I persuaded her to stay with me to allow some time, but when we saw the news about what had happened here, I knew it was time for me to come. We left New York at sundown." Godric explained, and despite herself Lou couldn't help but smile a little at the notion of Pam running off to tell on Eric. That smile was pushed aside quite easily when another burning question came to mind.

"Why didn't you come back sooner?" Lou stopped walking now, knowing they weren't far off from the mansion and wanting to have this conversation first. "You knew something terrible was going to happen, you said it yourself on the phone... Why did you stay away for so long?" The words I needed you almost spilled out as well, but Lou swallowed them back for the sake of her pride. Godric deserved a chance to explain before she added to any feelings of guilt that might already be there.

He lightly unweaved his arm from hers, and sat himself down against a mossy rock on the ground, gesturing as he did to the open spot in front of him. Evidently this wasn't a conversation that would be over in a few moments, so like Godric, Lou sat down and settled in.

"Because, I knew you would have used me to keep Eric at arms length. Had I come, you would have used my presence as justification to wash your hands of him, because you knew I would have kept him safe... And you needed time to see it for yourself." The last part confused her.

"See what?" She queried with a small scowl, making Godric sigh.

"That he loves you." He stated so surely. Her scowl relaxed in an instant, with hazel eyes turning wide, because of course Godric was right. She'd seen just that only a few hours before. "When you left," He elaborated. "It was not because of the lies, or the deception. Those things hurt you, I don't doubt, but you know Eric. He is flawed at best, and you knew he was easily capable of such things to strangers, which is what you were in those first weeks... To many those things would have been unforgiveable, but not to you, because of how you love him. I know it would take time, but I believed for all that you would forgive him. What you couldn't forgive however, was the thought that his love was a part of his lie."

Lou could do nothing but sit there and listen, as Godric somehow managed to put into words her reasons for running better than she ever could. He was right, of course. He always was.

"Except it wasn't. It never was. Eric was a fool who did something awful, but he loves you with every part of himself, just as you love him. The moment that love grew he all but forgot about what had drawn him to you in the first place... And I hoped, that if I gave you time, you might remember that again, and somehow it would be enough."

Lou had to look away, the overwhelming sense of guilt flowing over her in constant waves, because how could she have been so blind for so long, and put the both of them through such acute misery simply because of her own bitter resentment?

"What if I didn't realise it soon enough?" She asked, eyes remaining locked on something and nothing in the distance. "What if I was angry for too long, and now I've lost him?" Much as he had outside the Emporium, Godric reached forward and with soft fingers, and took hold of her chin to turn her head back to face him. She found his earnest eyes looking back at her, not a hint of fear within them.

"He is still in there. If he wasn't, he would have gone for your heart when Sadie gave the command. On some level he knew enough not to inflict any real damage." Godric said, sounding extremely sure of himself. "So we will get him back, all of him. Even if I have to kill every last one of them myself."

That much sent a chill down her spine, because she knew to him violence was never the answer these days. For him to so boldly threaten the lives of those he didn't know in order to get Eric home safe, she realised he in fact had a limit with such a mentality. As ludicrous as it was, it made her smile - if anyone was strong enough to do it after all, it was Godric.

"I'm sorry," She said quite suddenly, remembering how she'd been dying to say that to him for weeks now. "For how I spoke to you that night on the phone... I was scared, I guess. And I've hated myself for it since." Godric gently shushed her, letting his hand cup her cheek for a moment as he shook his head.

"There is nothing to apologise for." He assured her. The fullness of her chest flared again, as Lou realised having Godric here was another missing piece that helped keep her healed. She made a quiet promise to herself in that moment that whatever happened, she wouldn't turn her back on him again. No matter what.

"You said that night, that you'd been having visions..." Lou curiously brought up, having been dying to pick his brain about this for some time. Now the air was lighter again Godric dropped her cheek and leant back.

"Nightmares, I suppose the humans call them." He replied. "But they are much rarer for our kind, and more often than not they mean something - these ones certainly did."

"I started having them too," She admitted. "Of people burning... Eric. I saw Eric burning. That was why I came home because I just- I couldn't stay away when..." He words faded because as she spoke of it the images flashed through her mind, and Lou didn't want to think about it any more than she had to. "But why? Why would we both start seeing things at the same time?"

"I told you Lou, blood works very differently for our kind." Godric explained. "Sadie is your sister. I have the same ties in my lineage to her as I do to you. We are all three of us connected. So I believe is a chance she was projecting her fear onto us, or perhaps we sensed it on our own. Where magic and blood bonds are concerned, premonitions are nothing out of the ordinary." Even now Lou didn't have a full understanding of their kind and the inner workings of their world, but what he said made sense.

Beyond Godric, Sadie was the only family she had left. Of course she would know if she was in trouble, particularly as their trouble concerned others she loved as well.

"They're going to kill her." Lou said, not sure whether Godric was aware of the plan Bill had underway yet. "They think it's too late and there's not enough time to separate her from the witch Antonia... Bill's sending out a team tonight."

"And what do you think?" Godric gently nudged. "Do you think we are out of time?"

Lou had to think on that before she answered.

Truth be told, she didn't think they were out of time, she knew they were. Sadie had made it abundantly clear that she and Antonia were not two separate entities as Lou believed, but growing more powerful as one. There was no way of knowing whether that was due to Sadie truly being on board or the witches ever growing hold on her, but that much felt irrelevant now. Whatever the reason, the outcome was the same.

Yet Lou found herself hopelessly wishing that they weren't. That there was something they could do still, because Sadie may have been at peace with the idea of killing her, but that feelings wasn't mutual. Even now, Lou couldn't think of her as anyone other than her kid sister.

"I don't want us to be," She answered as honestly as she could. "I want to help her... But I also don't want anyone else to die, and I don't think I can have it both ways."

Godric listened, nodding his head gently.

"Then we better get back to Bill's before his men leave," He said, stood up in the blink of an eye. "I may be wrong, but I believe your friend Miss Stackhouse may be of more help to us than we initially thought."

The mansion was in disarray.

For every man lost, three more had arrived to take their place, some of them even looking a little more competent than their counterparts. They had the steely expression of real soldiers, rather than the indifference of glorified body guards. Thankfully though, none tried to stop them as Lou and Godric entered the mansion again.

It was hard to keep track of what was happening inside. Men seemed to be running in every direction, transporting ammunition to one another and loading up vans at the back of the house. Obviously they were gearing up for what they all knew would be a very bloody fight. Cutting into her distraction, Godric placed a hand on Lou's shoulder and guided her back to the study, where they were unsurprised to see Bill, Sookie, and now Pam sat waiting for them.

"Eric is under the Witches spell. She has taken him as a hostage." Godric informed them clearly.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Pam hissed, deathly eyes closing in on Lou. "So what, you made it into a family affair? You tell sissy who to kill and she asks fast or slow?" She goaded.

"Say that again." Lou dared her. With everything she was on the verge of losing, she was in no mood for Pam, of all people, to go throwing around ridiculous accusations.

"I think we can all agree now is not the time for arguments." Godric rather sternly interjected. Even Lou wasn't impervious to his ever authoritative nature, so forced herself to turn her glare away to the TV mounted above the fireplace, that was currently playing the 10pm news. "Has Ms Flannagan made her speech yet?"

"Not yet," Bill responded. "I don't know what the hold up is over - she was suppose to go live at sundown." Lou didn't care to watch the coverage on all those who had met the final death today, let alone the politics of the matter, so she kept her eyes on the ground.

"The Coven are, as suspected, at the Emporium. However, they have a protective spell around the perimeter," Godric explained, remaining stood. "Your men won't be able to penetrate it, I can assure you Mr Compton."

"Well they've got no choice but to try." Bill almost shrugged in response.

"I do not think you understand," Godric retorted, his demeanour irritable. "If you try, many will die. An attack simply will not work."

"Then what else do you suggest?" Bill bit, standing now to face the visibly younger, but in reality much older vampire. "We're all dead if we don't try to do something."

"I think you mean you're dead. When this goes south, which it will, I'm getting Eric and we're going to Scandinavia for a few millennia." Pam butted in, earning a disparaging look from the both of them. They carried on arguing amongst themselves about the proper course of action, and Lou found herself unable to contribute. How could she stand there and try to help come up that would inevitably finish with somebody she loved dying?

Feeling of little use to any of them, she quietly exited the room again. Luckily no one seemed to notice. Eyes still on the floor she weaved around the bustling guards and headed back outside, before sitting herself down on the front steps of the mansion. Looking out onto the lawn she saw the scorched marks where men had died that very same day, an unfortunate reminder of what had to be done to make sure more didn't follow suit. Justified as it all was, it didn't make it any easier.

She heard the footsteps coming before she saw who it was - luckily Lou had heard them so many times before she needn't look over her shoulder to see.

"Sook, I can't go back in there." Lou said, anticipating why she'd followed. Sookie in turn paused, before daintily sitting herself down beside her.

"I know," She almost sighed. "I don't think it's gonna do you any good for what it's worth, sitting and listening to all that... So I think if you wanna sit out here for a while, well, that's alright." She expanded, clearly trying to comfort her. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to sit with you."

Without looking over, Lou reached out and took Sookie's hand in her own, squeezing it softly.

"I don't mind." She murmured, eyes still cast out in front of them. For the first time her life she found herself longing for the days when Sookie could know what she was thinking without her having to say a word. She'd always been a little nervous when she was human, scared that she'd think the wrong thing around her best friend and find herself regretting it later, and in her nerves she'd taken for granted having someone there who understood you perfectly.

Even without that power though, Sookie coming outside to sit by her side was proof enough that she still had some concept of what was going off inside her head.

The two sat in comfortable silence as they watched men move around them. Lou's eyes were following one in particular as he carried weapons out of the house, when something in the tree line caught her eye. It was the silhouette of a figure - a nervous one at that, or so she'd assume from how they paced back and forth. With everyone else being busy with their arrangements it seemed she was the only one who'd clocked them.

"I'll be right back." She said towards Sookie in a bid to stop her worrying. Before she could answer Lou had already crossed the length of the lawn, and skidded to a stop in front of the figure in the trees.

When she saw it was Lafayette, she was shocked to say the least, though hers was less than his, as a yelp escaped him at the sudden site of her at the same moment he lost his footing. Lou managed to take hold of his hand to steady him before he ended up on his ass.

"What're you doing here, Laf?" She asked, dropping his hand as he brushed himself off with his free hand. The other was holding a rather hefty book, a burlap sack swung over the same shoulder.

"I uhm- I came to talk to you, actually. But that place looks all kinds of fucked right now so I was waiting 'til the vamps with the guns left." He admitted. Considering how they'd last left things she was confused as to why he'd be wanting to speak with her. Usually when someone shouts at you in a bar to 'go fuck yourself', it's an open invite to never speak to them again, or at least in her experience it was. "I've found a spell."

"A spell?" Lou repeated, brow furrowing. "I thought you don't practice magic?" There was the hint of an attitude in her voice, as she remembered his denial of such a notion very vividly.

"I don't- didn't... I don't know, do you really wanna go over the bullshit from the other night or do you wanna hear me out?" Laf's confidence grew a little, clearly not wanting to rehash the tension between them. Lou said nothing in order to allow him to elaborate. "I've found a separation spell. In theory if I do it right, it'll snap that witch bitch out of your sister for good."

Lou could've sworn the flush of hope that ran through her made her float for a second.

"Are you sure?" She eagerly asked.

"Well I ain't ever done nothing like this before so I can't promise it's gonna work, but I'm gonna guess it's about the best we've got right now." He shrugged slightly, his honesty as welcome as his offer for help - it helped her keep a level head to realise this wasn't a certain fix, but he was right. It was certainly the closest thing she had to one.

"What about her magic? The spells she's cast, will they-"

"Gone. All gone. We kick her back to whatever fucking hole she came from, any pull she's got here goes with her. I made sure to check that part, y'know for-" Laf didn't finish his sentence as Lou lunged at him, arms flying around his neck as she pulled him into the tightest embrace of his life. In her whole life, she'd never been so thankful for another persons existence. Whatever his incentives were she didn't care - he didn't need to be doing this for them - the fact was that he had come to help, even if it had taken him a little while to do so, and that was all that mattered to her now.

"Thank you." She choked, squeezing him tighter still. "Thank you, Lafayette." He tapped her back in return, a sure sign to let go before she choked him out. With an almost elated giggle Lou let go and took a step back. "We have to go tell the others." She realised aloud, her mood dropping as she remembered that any moment Bill would be deploying the guard and by then they'd be out of time. Without asking permission, she scooped Lafayette up as though he were a sack of flour and sprinted them both back into the house, dropping him again once they were inside. Sookie had since left the steps of the porch and was stood in the now open doors of the study, where inside she saw everyone was stood in a stunned silence, staring up at the TV screen. Lou pushed her way through rather carelessly, following their gaze.

Nan Flanagan was taking to the stage. Close behind she was followed by the human senator of Louisiana, a meek little man with thinning hair who Lou forgot the name of. The shared shock and confusion was not thanks to that, but due to the third man who walked on stage.

Eric.

He stared forward with the same glassy gaze he'd had outside the Emporium, everything about him from his stiff body language to his vacant expression screaming that he was still not in control of himself.

Useful. The word ricocheted through Lou's head like a bullet, as she remembered how her sister had described her new puppet.

"Oh my god..." She muttered, as she saw the full picture for the first time. "Eric's not a hostage."

Godric looked over at her, the dark of his eyes more alert than she'd ever seen them. It was him who concluded for those who still weren't understanding.

"She means to use him as a weapon."

i feel as though i'm leaving every chapter on some kinda cliff hanger but hey ho! it felt soooo good to bring godric back, and honestly it reminded me why i chose not to kill him off, because my god i love him and his relationship with lou.

i'm working on finessing the next chapter now, so hopefully that'll be live this weekend too. a huge humble thanks for your kind reviews, it always makes my day reading them. love to you all xoxox