From Chapter 1

Eric took three steps into the house, turned, and proceeded to let his eyes roam over my body. Godric, however, stepped inside and looked around, taking in his surroundings. As if sensing my tenseness at Eric's appraisal, he said,"Miss Stackhouse, the reason I asked Eric to allow me to join him in seeing you this evening, is that I have a favor to ask of you." Hmmm. A favor for a Vampire. Conversations which start like this NEVER end well.

Chapter 2

SPOV

My face must have betrayed my emotions (a rare occurrence), because Godric smirked and chuckled under his breath before saying, "I'll take it from your reaction that you know Eric well. I promise you, though; my favor is nothing that you get you attacked, kidnapped, or covered in blood."

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry." Was it that obvious? "Please, won't you come in the living room and have a seat? Can I get either of you a bottle of blood?" It took all of my self control not to fidget like crazy. Here, in the living room my Grandmother had entertained in for decades, stood the oddest combination of vampires. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Godric was Eric's maker. You'd think a little of Godric's positive attitude would've rubbed off.

"No, thank you, Miss Stackhouse. Why don't we get right to the point," Godric answered. "Sure thing, but, please, call me Sookie."

"Well, Sookie, then. I would suppose that in order for you to understand the favor, I will need to tell you a slight bit of history. As I'm sure you know, because the Japanese invention of synthetic blood, we Vampires had to work hard to keep our true natures concealed. One of the easiest ways to do this was to not have permanent human staff. The best way was to keep someone on staff for a few weeks at most, and then glamour them to forget everything they had seen while in our presence. Occasionally, though, you would come across a human that could be trusted with your secret, and you could keep that person in your employ as long as they were needed. I had one such employee many years ago, a young woman by the name of Elaina. She was extremely loyal, hard working, and efficient, and was in my employ for around 5 years. I knew that many of the vampires in my area found her beautiful, and desired her, in many different ways; however, they all knew that she had my protection, and stayed clear of her. However, one night, a rogue vampire took it upon himself to attack her while she was leaving my nest. He took enough of her blood that, if she were not turned, she would die, and then left her in a place he knew she would be found while still alive. Isabel was actually the one to find her, and called me to her quite quickly. Elaina knew she was dying, and I told her that I would give her immortality if it was her desire. She, however, said she did not want it. I told her that I would most certainly find and destroy her killed, and apologized to her for her suffering. She then told me that the only thing that made her sad about dying, was that she was leaving behind a daughter. When she first began working for me, I knew that Elaina had a small child, but, it wasn't something I thought about often. Elaina was the only family the child had left, and without her mother, she would probably be forced into the foster care system, and become lost, as unfortunately, so many other children do. I told Elaina that I would not let that happen. I would see to it that she was raised by good people, and would pay for everything she would need, and ensure she would get a good education. Elaina died that night in Isabel's arms, and when I rose that evening, I had her child in mine."

As Godric had been remembering the death of this woman, Elaina, his eyes had been fixed on a blank spot of wall just behind me. I could tell that he was reliving the events as he told me of them. When he spoke of her death, it was almost as if he had to take a pause to collect himself.

"I quickly arranged for the child, a girl named Lilliana, to have immediate room and board at a private school in New England. Isabel and I, that evening, explained as best as we could, that she would no longer see her mother, and that she would be living at school from now on. She asked why she couldn't see her mother, and Isabel gently told her that her mother was dead. I'll never forget the way her eyes lit up as she responded by saying 'well, mama always did want to be an angel, so she's happy now.' I was shocked at how poised and clever this small 7 year old child could be. Isabel and I traveled with her to her school in Connecticut, and left her in the care of the mistress of the school, a woman who was very familiar with the supernatural world, being herself the second born child of shape shifters. The school sent me regular updates on how Lilliana was doing, and I would send her a small gift for her birthday and at Christmas time, so that she remembers she was not completely alone in the world. As time moved on, she began to write letters to me, describing her thoughts on the school, her friends, and how her education was going. When she was 15, she wrote a letter asking if she might be allowed to come to Dallas for a few days to visit. I was hesitant at first, because, I felt I would be letting down Elaina if I allowed her daughter to be near any trouble. She was very diligent in her request though, saying she wished to visit the small cemetery where her mother had been laid to rest. She was quite persuasive, and I ended up allowing her to come and stay in my home for 3 days time. During her stay, she made every effort possible to try and get to know Isabel and I are well as she could. She said that we were her family now, and that although we didn't see each other often, we should still know at least the basics of each others personalities. I found it very intriguing that this still young child was so enthusiastic about getting to know two vampires! I don't believe that, at the time, she knew what our true nature was, however, she definitely knew we were not human. After she went back to school following her visit, she made it a point to come back to visit for a week during the summer break from her classes, and on her Christmas break as well. It was on one of these visits that she first met Eric. I must say that, few things about humans have I ever found to be more impressive than that first meeting." At this, he turned to Eric and smiled, while Eric simply raised an eyebrow, acting almost as if he had no idea what Godric was talking about. "I had never seen another human stand up to Eric like that before. Oh, how did she put it? She was 'refusing to take his bullshit, no matter who, what, or how old he was.' By this point, the announcement that we were all Vampires had been made, and she simply accepted us for what she suspected us to be. I must say, it is quite the sight, watching a 5'5", tiny, 16 year old human female, yell at a 6'4", 1000 year old vampire, as if she was his superior. Which, oddly enough, brings us back to my request for a favor. Since Lilliana, you are the first human I've seen who can hold their own when it comes to arguing with Eric. While at school, Lilliana became very interested in dance. She trained herself mercilessly, and was recently offered a full scholarship at Centenary College in Shreveport. I have arranged for her to have an apartment close to campus, and she has an interview for a job as an instructor at a small children's dance school. She will be flying to Shreveport later this week, and, the favor I would ask of you, is simply, to pick her up from the airport, show her around a little, and bring her to me once the sun sets."

Wow. Now that's something you don't hear everyday. A vampire needs a favor, and it turns out, it's just to pick a friend up from the airport?