AN: Thank you for a wonderful feedback. As always, big thanks for my beta keiman and kei.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Enjoy!


Chapter 24

To Hell and Back

SPOV

My body was trembling when I moved, step by step, in Godric's direction. The ancient vampire was sitting completely immobile, his gaze stuck somewhere in the lines of trees and I found myself completely at sea. The truth be told, I was not sure how he might have reacted. A few minutes ago, this calm creature had been ripping Bill to pieces.

Bill…

I stopped and risked a hesitant glance in his direction. What was left of him was laying in the bloody pulp on the ground. He was whimpering softly and I needed all of my willpower not run to him. I couldn't help that I was worried about him – he had acted like a jerk, but experiencing this kind of brutality just wasn't right. I had to remind myself that I had made a promise to myself few days ago though. I had sworn that Bill will no longer be a part of my life. I also had to remind myself that despite his horrible state, he will not meet a true death.

My last steps towards Godric were less tentative and I sat next to him, making sure to keep at least a foot-long distance between us. I was still unable to read anything from his face.

Our silence only made Bill's sobs more prominent and eventually, when I was about to open my mouth to break this damn silence, a soft swish of air warned me of the presence of another vampire. Jessica was a blur when she stopped at Bill's body and a moment later she had bared her fangs and charged at us. Or more precisely – at Godric.

I didn't got a chance to do so much as scream softly when Jessica was dangling in the air, struggling in Godric's vice-like choke. He was watching her without any traces of violence and I again found myself confused as to what I should do. The girl's next words completely shocked me though.

"Get away from her…" she gasped as loudly as her crushed windpipe would allow, still trying to reach the other vampire's face. Godric raised an eyebrow at Jessica's demand and he loosened his grip, releasing her. She was on him instantly, seemingly trying to scratch his eyes out and I had to scream at her a couple of times to get her attention. Why an ancient vampire was lying under her and allowing this assault was unclear to me, although something was telling me that his feeling of being guilty was responsible for it.

"Jessica, stop it!" I repeated and she turned her head to me, panting heavily even though her body no longer needed any oxygen. "Godric is not a threat to me…"

I watched her expression soften and after a moment she mumbled an apology and stood up from Godric. He followed her, wiping the blood from his face and I cringed at the sight of him. Deep scratches were all over his face and if I was correct, the sticky white substance dripping from his cheek was eye matter.

Jessica paused for a moment, looking at her Maker.

"What happened to him?" she asked eventually, looking back from me to Godric.

"He angered me." the old vampire answered softly and something akin to fear appeared on Jessica's face. She quickly schooled her features and raised her head defiantly though.

"He would do that, he's such a prick," she summed up in a typical- for her- way. Christ, she was really an annoying brat. An annoying brat who charged at a more powerful vampire just because she assumed that I was in danger. It really warmed my heart and I felt a small smile appearing on my face. I would have never called myself her friend, but clearly, she held me dear. Maybe even more than her own Maker – the fact that Jessica seemed to be unfazed by his state of health was another testament to this assumption.

"He will grow his limbs back. Please call doctor Ludwig to come and see to his treatment. I will cover all the expenses," Godric said quite formally.

"Who is a doctor Ludwig?" Jessica asked with furrowed eyebrows and Godric looked like he wanted to sigh.

"She's a supernatural doctor," I explained. After all, I had already had the "pleasure" to meet this mean tiny lady.

"Well, I don't have her phone number."

Godric looked at me questionably, but I only shrugged. I had no idea where my purse was; if he needed a pen, he would have to figure out something on his own.

"Give me your phone," he ordered, stretching out his hand to Jessica and I swear that if she could, she would have been blushing.

"I don't have one. Bill says it's better if I can't contact anybody."

Eventually, Godric took out his own phone and called Ludwig himself.

"So what?" Jessica was standing over Bill's immobile body with a disgusted expression painted on her face. "I have to pick him up?"

"You can try to kick him into his own front yard." Godric offered softly and I turned my head to him, shocked by his humorous offer. Or at least- I hope it was a joke. Jessica looked disturbingly thoughtful and I decided to step in before she did anything stupid. Like treating her Maker like a soccer ball…

"Just pick him up and go, please!"

The young girl raised an eyebrow at me and after a short tense moment, she picked up her Maker and sped off towards the woods.

Taking another calming breath, I walked back to Godric. He was sitting on the steps, getting back to being expressionless and ignoring his buzzing phone. My guess was that it was Eric calling.

I hoped that maybe something changed when he had joked with Jessica, but apparently he was back to being grim. I couldn't stand the state of his face and clothes - the dried blood from Jessica's assault and the evidence of Bill's dismembering, left him looking like a maniac killer. I passed him going inside and heading for the bathroom. My hands were shaking a little while I was preparing things and I desperately tried to come up with a good way to start our inevitable conversation. Despite all of my best efforts, when I came back to him, my head was just as empty as it had been a few moments earlier.

I put down a bowl and reached for a washcloth, stopping when Godric didn't turn his head towards me.

"Uhm, Godric? Would you mind if I wash it off?"

He slowly looked at me and I gave myself a mental high five when I noticed the shock on his face. Shock was better than nothing.

"Wash me?" he asked quietly. "I thought that you were hiding inside - away from me…"

I rolled my eyes at his dumb assumption. "No, no hiding; just getting the water ready. So?"

He nodded without a word and I got to work just as silently. I slowly washed the blood from his cheeks and forehead, trying to ignore the icky milky substance that grossed me out more than the blood. The water was quickly turning red and I knew that I would have to make another trip inside to change it.

"No!" Godric exclaimed when I tried to stand up, his hand closing tightly around my wrist. "Stay! I will not harm you."

I quickly sat down again, almost scared by the desperation in his voice.

"Sweetie, you can feel my emotions… Am I afraid? Am I worried that you can hurt me?"

He tilted his head aside and eventually shook his head slowly. "You shouldn't have seen this… I don't want you to be afraid of me, because I will never harm you, I swear I will never…" As the means of reassurance, his thumb gently massaged my wrist and I couldn't help but smile.

"I know," I told him firmly. I knew it and I was sure about this.

"The way that I lost my temper with Compton was inexcusable," Godric continued, completely ignoring my previous declaration of trust. "I just…. I decided that it's time to shut him up because he had no right to reveal your secrets. I th…"

"What?" I completely lost his train of thought. We were watching each other for a moment, both of us wearing similar confused expressions. "You didn't go all Hulk on him just because he was saying all of those horrible things about you?"

"Those were true things though… It's something that everybody knows."

I took a deep breath, trying to understand him. "You did it because he spoke about my funny uncle?"

Godric frowned. "Didn't sound like a funny uncle… Did I understand something wrong?"

I dismissed his question with a shake of my head. He had understood things correctly, but I was still confused. "No… I just can't get my head around it. I assumed that you wanted to stop him from revealing your secrets."

"You would have learned about this eventually," he shrugged, but I wasn't having any of this.

"I just heard what Bill was saying. I heard nothing from you…"

The vampire was watching me intensely for a moment, unnerving me with his empty gaze. "I have a certain reputation among vampires." he said finally, when I had almost given up hope that he would say anything. "It makes things easier for me when others see me like a heartless monster without a conscience."

I wanted to interrupt him and point out that he has enough conscience to divide it among whole Bon Temps but I decided to stay silent and allow him to speak. It was apparent that he had decided to open up and I didn't wanna blow it.

"They just know that my Maker was a monster and they all just assumed that he had picked me up for the same reason – because he had found a perfect partner in crime. Someone just as cruel and heartless as himself. Damn…" he chuckled, without any traces of humor. "When the vampire community learned that I had killed my own Maker, they just believed that I had to be even worse than him. So, I left it that way…" I nodded, seeing the logic in keeping up this hoax. "They thought that I was willing and eager to please my master. What they don't know is that my Maker took me in as a slave and had been breaking me in for years!"

With every word, his voice was getting louder and louder and when he had finished his sentence, he was close to screaming.

"Did I kill all of those children? Yes, I did. Did I torture and rape them with him? Yes, yes, yes I fucking did!" I gulped when his gaze became heated with a fury that has been building up inside himself for millennia. "But tell me, what else could I do having a Maker who had command over me? I could feel disgusted and I could not enjoy it, but there was nothing I could do but follow his orders."

Before he was finished, my cheeks were wet from the tears that I had shed for him. It had never occurred to me how horribly dependent on his Maker is a young vampire. It was terrifying to be completely robbed of your own free will and forced to become a puppet for a Master who was able to do with you whatever he desired. It made me sick to even think about what Godric had to be feel… Experiencing this had to be something unspeakably terrible.

"How I hated his parties…" He turned his gaze to the sky and closed his eyes for a moment. "Do you think that only vampires were attending? No, Sookie – humans always sat in the first row."

"How long have you… been forced to do this?"

"It's hard to say…" Godric answered flatly. "Twenty, maybe thirty years. The worst part was that I became numb… Each and every victim becoming the same for me and I was getting more and more afraid that I would learn to enjoy it."

"What happened then?"

"Appius was no more." Godric smiled genuinely, the memory of his Maker's death clearly lightening his mood. "I don't know if the gods were watching over me but somehow he picked up the wrong meal." I frowned, not understanding this puzzling statement. "It gave me the opportunity to finish him off."

"And then?"

"And then, I was free… and unfortunately, I was being hunted."

"Why?"

"Oh Sookie, I ended Roman's favorite party planner. He had many friends among vampires and humans. Also, killing a maker was and still is one of the most punishable offences under our laws."

I was sitting on the edge of the porch step by now. "And?" I asked, completely intrigued by his tale. It was somehow an unhealthy fascination, but I was curious, almost too curious to learn something more about Godric.

"And somehow I survived," was his nonchalant answer. "Somehow I was able to defeat a few of them and run from the others, those stronger than myself. I will not lie - I didn't become a saint the second that I had escaped from his influence. I murdered many humans on my way to here and now. I could say that the time was different; I could say that I was forced, but no - I killed many people because it was easy or just because they were in my way. And maybe I killed them because I knew how cruel that humans can be." He paused for a moment and searched for something on my face. If he had expected to see there some repulsion or judgment, he was disappointed. I wasn't naive. I knew that vampires kill people. Of course, I could play ignorant and try to judge Godric for his past actions. That wouldn't be fair though - I wasn't in his shoes. I hadn't been tormented by this monstrous Maker for decades. He regretted what he had done in the past and his guilt was palpable. "Since his death, I haven't hurt a child," he emphasized, looking me deeply in the eyes and I believed him. I really believed that he hasn't.

"I know Sweetie and I know that you really regret what you've done. I want you to believe me when I tell you that I will not judge you for what you did to Bill earlier tonight. That was gruesome and kinda disgusting and damn, it was brutal. But, I also know now what you can do to someone who would threaten me. Does it make me a bad person to be somehow glad that you're able to rip someone to pieces like confetti?"

Godric was watching me with a dumbfounded expression and he finally cracked a small smile.

"Your bloodthirsty ways are just a bit disconcerting, but I guess it's more self-preservation than just morbid fascination speaking."

I giggled finally, relaxing my muscles.

"Thank you for sharing this with me," I whispered, reaching for strand of hair that was sticking to his forehead. His hair was bloody too.

"That's fine... It feels very nice to share it with someone else besides Eric."

Whoa... Hold on a second!

"Only Eric... I mean, am I the only... But how..."

Godric shook his head at my unintelligent stuttering. "Yes, I haven't even shared it with my other child."

"Well, than I feel very honored." Something else had occurred to me as well. "You have another child?"

"Yes, but that's a tale for another day."

Godric stood up, signaling that this sharing night is over. He stretched out a hand for me and he was looking at me somewhat unsurely. I accepted his hand without a second thought and his body relaxed visibly.

While we were standing like that, being at the same eye-level (thanks to the fact I was still standing on the porch), I decided to share my own bogeyman with him.

"What Bill said about my uncle was true, you know."

"I figured it out myself but you don't have to tell me."

I took a deep breath, nodding my head. I was happy that he didn't wanna listen to my story. It was ridiculous, I know. Godric had just shared with me the worst moment of his life and I couldn't do the same for him. There was a block in my mind telling me to not go any further.

"He's dead. Bill killed him," I blurted out.

"Then Bill Compton did something good... probably one of the very few things that he has done right."

"It's slightly more complicated..." I murmured. Thinking about this now, I had no idea why I had shared my story with Bill. What's even worse, I had shared it with him the same night that I had lost my virginity. Another wave of betrayal shattered me and I fought down an urge to run to his house and rip his only healthy arm off.

"Sookie?" Godric asked hesitantly, probably taken aback by my sudden change of mood.

"I shared that story with Bill. I don't know why I did!" I knew though… I knew very well why I had done this. "Blood?" I asked meekly and Godric shrugged lightly.

"Maybe..."

"Stupid asshole..." I muttered under my breath. "Stupid asshole and his stupid sideburns!"

I was marching to the car with new found energy, but I stopped to take a glance at my poor Yellow. My poor car was almost bent in half thanks to two vampires running into it.

"I'm sorry for breaking your car. I will have it fixed." Godric whispered, the shame clear in his tone.

"We'll see..." I only muttered.

Maybe the destruction of my house, my car and my relationship with Sam and Bill was a sign from a higher power. Maybe it really was time to start anew.

EPOV

When Godric's blinding hot fury had embraced me, my fangs ran down, startling poor Andre.

Damned French asshole. Damned French asshole and his stupid childish face.

"Excuse me?" he asked and dropped his own fangs at my reaction.

"Forgive me. It's the memory of Maenad's madness... I simply wish that I had had an opportunity to kill her."

Godric's fury swiftly turned to bloodlust and slowly, a fear for Sookie's safety was creeping under my skin. He would have never hurt her, would he?

Fighting with this worry was pointless and I excused myself for a moment, giving some lame excuse of my Child's call. Andre allowed me- seeming slightly amused.

I stopped in the corridor and dialed my Maker. I'm sure that if I had a heartbeat, my heart would have been drumming in my chest. What if Andre was only a diversion? What if a group of vampires has been sent to capture Sookie? What if my Maker is fighting them all?

These violent emotions subsided as quickly as they had appeared and my Maker has been left feeling slightly numb. I tried to reach him a few more times, but I had to give up after a few attempts. Whoever my Maker was fighting had failed because Godric was safe. And I genuinely believed that he had kept my lover safe as well.

This panic attack only strengthened my earlier resolve – Sookie will be drinking my blood later. I just had to keep tabs on her.

When I got back to the office, something similar to worry flashed on Andre's face and I noticed that he was holding his own cell phone. It made my suspicions even stronger. Queen's butt boy has been sitting here for three hours asking me questions about a Maenad. Very meticulous and inquiring questions. I have answered them to the very best of my ability- even though I was not present in the area when she had struck. Andre seemed to be completely oblivious to this fact.

"Excuse me this… Area matters." I sat in my chair comfortably. "So, Andre, I believe that I have resolved all of your doubts. Maenad moved on and the tracker I sent after her informed us that she has moved to Mississippi. She will not cause any more problems on Queen's territory.

"Yes..." He glanced at his watch and stood up with a small smirk on his lips. "By the way, I heard your Maker is visiting. You should bring him to the Autumn Ball."

I wanted to groan - it was hard to hide anything from this pricy Queen bitch. On the bright side… Maybe her spies had learned this the hard way - being on the receiving end of Godric's fangs.

"I will inform my Master of this most gracious invitation," I answered smoothly. The ignorance of Sophie and her child was endless - the second oldest vampire on the continent is around and they cannot even show the minimum amount of respect by sending him an actual memo. "Although it's not been determined how long my Master will be staying. It's also possible Queen's gathering may not be to his taste."

That was not as subtle a hint on my side to point out that my Master is far beyond the Queen. Also, it was widely known how Sophie's parties look like at the end. Vampires and human donors ending up naked and bloody in all kinds of sexual positions. Orgies lost their appeal for me twenty years ago – around the time that I started attending those at the palace - maybe because there was always something repulsive in the way that the Queen was handling them. My Maker has never been a fan of these kinds of activities and everybody knew it.

"Well, I will inform Queen she can expect you... Try to help your Maker get around this idea. Queen would be disappointed if he doesn't stop by."

I gritted my teeth trying to stop myself from ripping his head off.

"I'll speak with him..." I answered coldly.

"Good. And Eric..." Andre paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Feel free to bring your pet with you. She has to learn how certain things work with vampires and… those beneath us."


AN: So, what do you think? Please, leave a review!