Chapter Nineteen: Not Every Man Lives
"You and Quinn spent quite a lot of time together today." Sookie mused as she turned onto the long gravel driveway leading up to the house I wasn't sure I wanted to see again. I could just imagine the lecture I would receive from Godric. Actually, I was surprised that he wasn't the one sitting on the porch waiting for us to return. But he wasn't. However, there was someone waiting on the porch, and it was someone I don't think either Sookie or I expected to ever see again.
"Oh my god." Sookie breathed out, pulling the car to a sudden stop.
"Holy crap, is that..." My eyes grew wide as Bill Compton stood, his gaze rising to meet ours. "Holy shit!"
"Oh my god." Sookie was panicking; I didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. I glanced over at the blonde and she was as white as a ghost. I slid my hand into hers, squeezing it as I tried to calm her down. I didn't blame her for this reaction at all. She hadn't seen Bill in over two years, and now suddenly the betraying bastard shows up on her front porch? What the hell! Part of me wanted to just use my nifty gift and set Bill on fire. I'm sure Sookie wouldn't mind at all. But I couldn't help but find myself intrigued as to why Bill was here, now of all times.
"Let me go talk to him, okay?" I suggested.
I'm not sure she even heard a single word I said as I climbed out of the small yellow car and made my way up the rest of the driveway.
"Ellie." Bill nodded at me as I stepped up onto the porch.
I didn't respond, not right away, and not verbally. Instead, I slapped him right across the face. And as usual, there was a lingering burning hand print on his cheek, Bill hissing in pain at the immediate contact. I saw the flash of surprise, and I was certain he wasn't aware of just how powerful I had become since we last saw one another. Oh he had no idea of the tricks I had up my sleeve.
"What the hell Bill!" I was seething, my hands curling into fists at my sides. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Ellie, if you'll only allow me to explain." He rubbed his cheek, the wound slowly beginning to heal.
"No, you don't get to explain. You broke her, Bill." I pointed at the blonde still sitting in the car, scared straight out of her mind that she couldn't even move a single muscle. "You broke her and you don't get to come around wanting to explain a damn thing."
"Please, Ellie..."
"No, Bill. I don't care why you're here, you need to just leave." I shot him such a dark glare, that if it was possible for looks to kill, he would be a pile of vampire goo right now. "Leave Bill, before I set you on fire. Believe me, I can. I've gotten extremely good since you've been gone. I wouldn't test me."
"I only want to speak with her. I was a weak man. I'm sorry for the pain I've caused her. I love her, truly I do."
I didn't believe him for one minute. There was something not right in his eyes. He was saying one thing, but those eyes just didn't lie. They were saying a whole other story, and that was one that I wasn't so certain of. He was ready to hand Sookie over to Russell, and in turn, he would have done the same thing to me if Eric hadn't shown up when he had to Jason's house. He had betrayed Sookie; he didn't have the right to love her after that, for him to expect her to feel the same way. He had tricked her into loving him, and she would never forgive him for that. And neither would I. It didn't help at all, that he didn't look like he wanted to even be here. I don't know why he suddenly had just appeared, but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that it wasn't for a good reason at all.
And that worried me.
"Bill, if you don't leave in the next 5 seconds, I won't hesitate to turn you into a pile of ash." I threatened, meaning every word.
Bill must have realized that as well, and before I even had to start counting, he was gone and out of sight. I sighed heavily as I ran a hand through my hair. I shook my head as I turned back towards the car, relieved to find Sookie leaving the vehicle. She was shaken, I could tell that right away, but she didn't look too traumatized. I wonder if I had looked like that at all when Eric had suddenly just shown up out of nowhere in Mississippi. Then again, I had vampires attacking me; it had been a completely different situation.
And Eric hadn't exactly betrayed me.
"Are you okay?" I walked over to her and the car, helping her pull out the bags from the trunk.
"I'm...I'm fine." Her voice wavered, and I knew she was lying.
I didn't call her on it however, and instead grabbed her bag and led her into the house. There was a note on the kitchen table from Sam, and I shooed her over to it in hopes that it would make her feel better. I began the trek up to the second floor, setting Sookie's bag beside her bedroom door before moving onto the next room. I pushed open the door, not even bothering to turn on the lights as I dropped my bag next to the closet and wandered over to my bed. I was about to just flop onto the bed when I caught sight of a dark form by my window. My heart nearly leapt right out of my chest as I hurriedly reached over and flicked on the lamp on my nightstand. I was relieved to find that the dark form only belonged to Godric and not some other creature that had been waiting to kill me.
Or worse.
"What the fuck, Godric!" I shook my head in disbelief as I rested a hand over my racing heart. "You do not do that!"
"I apologize." He stepped forward, and I noticed right away just how angry he was. I prepared myself, taking a seat on the edge of my bed as Godric drew closer, his eyes narrowing as he stared me down. He wasn't happy with me, that much was obvious. And I understood it. He only cared about me. He cared about me so much that he was acting like a father would have. And in a way, it was sort of cute. And nice. I never had a father to lecture me over sneaking out against his orders. Matt never had to do any of that stuff, mostly because I was a well behaved teenager. But here Godric was, about to yell at me as if I was some rebellious teenager.
And I had to admit, it was a bit amusing.
"This is not amusing, Elizabeth." He snapped suddenly, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.
"Sorry." I mumbled, biting down hard on my bottom lip.
"Sorry, you're sorry." He shook his head as he began pacing before me. "Do you not realize how irresponsible you truly are, Elizabeth? You've made some stupid decisions in your life, but this? What the hell were you thinking!"
"I was..."
"Don't." His eyes narrowed. "Do not justify this. I asked you not to leave..."
"Told me to." I corrected him. "You told me to when it was a decision that you had no say in."
"I asked you not to leave." He sent me the nastiest look. "And yet you went ahead and left town against my orders."
"See, orders, that's not..." I trailed off at the look he gave me.
I will admit, he was a bit scary when he wanted to be.
"There are vampires after you, Elizabeth. There are people that want you dead. And yet you act like a child. You act immature and didn't use your brain at all."
I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. I understood that Godric was worried about my safety, and he a reason to be considering the possible invasion. But I wasn't completely useless. I was a Phoenix. I had powers that not even Godric could comprehend. He was my best friend, and I wanted him to worry, I wanted him to care about me. But there had to be a line. There had to be a time for him to not worry, for him to just let me take care of myself. I wasn't a little kid. I wasn't the same pathetically weak girl I was when he first swept in and saved my life. I was different now. I was stronger. I needed him to believe in me.
"I thought you knew better. I thought you would have learned from your past mistakes." Godric shook his head as he continued to lecture me.
"Godric, will you just..."
I never got the chance to finish however, as an ear piercing scream interrupted us. Godric immediately froze in place while I jumped off of the bed, my eyes growing wide.
"That was Sookie." I shot Godric a scared look.
"Stay here." Godric ordered before he was out of the room in a flash.
I stood there, just staring at the spot he had previously been occupying, my head swimming as I just listened. Another scream sounded in the house, and I knew for certain that was Sookie. My heart was racing, nearly pounding right out of my chest. I could hear scuffling downstairs, shouting and furniture being broken. Sookie screamed again, and it was then that I seemed to be knocked out of my shocked trance. I moved quicker than I thought I could have, though I knew I shouldn't have gone against Godric's orders for a second time in two days. But he wasn't my maker; he couldn't command me to stay, to keep my nose out of this. Because my best friend was down there, both of them, and it didn't sound good at all.
I shot right out of the room, my feet moving me down the hallway and I just about flew down the stairs. I skidded to a stop in the front hallway, the front door lying on the floor before me. My breathing stopped as I was frozen again, unable to move. Once again, it was Sookie's cries that pulled me back to the present, back to the problem at hand. I could hear the fighting outside, and I ran out of the house as quickly as I could. I found Sookie leaning against the porch railing, her arm bleeding, and I immediately was at her side.
"Sookie? Sookie are you alright? What happened?" I asked hurriedly, looking around for something to press to her sound. I cursed to myself before ripping my jacket off, ignoring the slight chill on my arms, and pressed the fabric to her bleeding arm. She barely even knew I was there however, her eyes dead set on the commotion on the front lawn.
I braced myself as I turned my head, searching for what had attacked Sookie. I was horrified to find three wolves flying through the air towards Godric, who was bleeding and healing quicker than I could have counted the wounds. Godric used his quick speed to avoid each wolf, until one took him by surprise and knocked him to the ground. I opened my mouth to scream at him, but no words came out. I couldn't speak. I couldn't even do a damn thing. I could only stand there, my hand pressing my coat to Sookie's arm, watching as the wolves stalked him, surrounding his shaken form. He wasn't moving. He wasn't moving at all as a wolf suddenly just clawed at his face while another ripped right into the flesh of his leg with their razor sharp incisors.
And then he woke up.
Godric, having only been unconscious for not even a complete minute, regained his consciousness.
The scream that emitted from his lips felt like a stake was being driven straight through my heart. It was painful to hear. It felt like I was the one the wolves were attacking, not him. I had to stop it. I couldn't hear those screams of pain any longer. He tried to fight back. He was strong. He had two thousand years of strength on his side, and yet these wolves were attacking him so viciously that even when he was able to knock one away, the others would only grow more ferocious.
"No." I shook my head, shooting right off of the porch and towards the wolves, towards my pained best friend.
"Ellie no!" Sookie shouted from behind me, but I ignored her. I had to stop this. I was a Phoenix, I had to do something.
"I know you can all hear me, you're Werewolves I can sense it. So I swear to god if you do not leave him alone I will kill each and every one of you slowly and painfully." I threatened as I came to a stop, my hands clenched at my sides.
I could feel the power. It was cursing through my veins faster than it ever had before. I didn't have to stop to think. I didn't have to concentrate at all. It was just there. One minute I was a mere human, and the next, I felt a warmth spread through me so rapidly I was nearly knocked over by the sheer force of my own strength.
The wolves halted for a moment, and I almost thought they would listen. But then one bit down into Godric's forearm, Godric's eyes shooting open with agony in those orbs. That's when I snapped. That's when the wind began to pick up, when claps of thunder sounded in the distance. If I had been paying any attention, I would have wondered what was going on, but I wasn't caring about anything but Godric right now. He could heal, I knew he could. But the wolves needed to be taken care of, for Godric to have a moment to allow his body to regenerate itself. And he needed blood.
He needed my blood.
"I'm going to kill you all." I whispered under my breath as my hair began whipping in every direction, the wind so powerful I could barely hear Sookie shouting from behind me.
A bright light suddenly began enveloping my chest. It started out as a dim flicker, and then grew to this blinding force that even I had to squeeze my eyes shut to avoid damage. I felt my body beginning to shake as the light took over my entire body. It felt like someone had just dumped a pot of scalding hot water all over me. I could hear a scream, and it took me a minute to realize it was emitting from my own lips. But I kept my focus, because I couldn't let those wolves rip Godric apart like I knew they could. I couldn't lose Godric, not in this horrific way.
"STOP!" I screamed out, the wind growing even stronger.
I heard whimpers and whines before the screams in agony started. But they didn't belong to me or Godric, or even Sookie. They belonged to the Weres that had turned back into their human form. I cracked my eyes open and the blinding light was gone. I barely even got a good look at the Weres, smoke rising off of their bodies as they began burning from the inside out, when my legs collapsed from underneath me. I could feel my consciousness slipping away from me but I fought back. I forced my eyes back open and looked for the form of my best friend. I found Godric only a few feet away, blood pooling underneath his violently shaking form. I crawled over to him, using a strength I never realized I had. Sookie was there before I was and she pulled Godric's head into her lap as I reached them.
"Godric?" I croaked out, black dots beginning to invade my vision. "Godric can you..."
"Poison." He gasped out, his eyes squeezing shut as if to try and rid himself of the pain. "Werewolf bites...too many of them..."
"Can they hurt vampires?" Sookie looked at me in horror.
"I didn't think so." I raised a shaking arm up to Godric's form. "You have to drink my blood, Godric."
But no matter how hard I pressed my wrist against Godric's lips, his fangs just wouldn't extend. I looked up at Sookie in concern. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep myself going for my longer. My energy had been wiped out. I hardly even know what I had done to those Weres, the powers I had possessed. I was conscious for now, but I could feel it slipping away from me. Godric needed to bite me now; he needed my blood now before it was too late.
"You need to cut my wrist, Sookie." My voice was just as shaky as my arm. "He needs my blood."
"With that?" her eyes were wide. "What am I supposed to..."
"Allow me."
The voice sounded familiar, though I hadn't been expecting to see him, not here, not so soon after Dallas. My gaze rose to find the familiar figure of Quinn standing over us before he knelt down, pulling a pocket knife out of his jacket pocket.
"This will hurt for only a second." He looked me dead in the eye as he spoke.
I nodded and let him grasp my hand in his. He turned my shaking wrist towards him as I turned my head away, not able to watch as he sliced the small blade right through the flesh of my wrist. I bit down hard on my bottom lip to keep from crying out, and just let Quinn guide my wrist to Godric's waiting lips.
"Come on Godric, you have to drink." Sookie coaxed him. "Please just drink."
"Godric please..." I whimpered out, my eyes fluttering close as my body began slumping on the ground.
Quinn's large arm wrapped around my waist and I found myself sitting upright, my back pressed against a hard chest. Sookie held my wrist to Godric's lips, and I was relieved when he finally began sucking on the blood pouring out of my wrist. I tried to open my eyes, to encourage Godric to drink more, but I found that I couldn't. I felt the tug on my consciousness, and no matter how hard I tried to keep myself awake, for Godric's sake, I just couldn't do it.
"Sleep, Phoenix, all will be well I promise." Quinn whispered in my ear as I fell limp in his arms.
"This is taking too long." Sookie paced the length of the living room.
"She used a lot of power, Sookie. Her body is just trying to rest." Quinn assured, running his hand through the hair of the sleeping form on the couch. "She didn't lose too much blood and she's breathing steadily. She'll be fine."
"Where did you even come from?" Sookie questioned. "I thought you had business in Dallas?"
"I lied." Quinn sighed as he glanced up at the blonde.
"What do you mean, you lied?" Sookie frowned. "Why did you lie? Why were you in Dallas?"
"Technically I did have business." Quinn shook his head, his gaze falling back on Ellie's curled up form. "But it was to watch over this beautiful Phoenix."
"What?" Sookie's eyes widened in shock. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to explain yourself right now."
"Don't worry Sookie, I'm on your side." He assured her as he stood and ran a hand over his bald head. "Godric was worried about you two going off on your own and I was called in to protect you."
"So that's why you randomly showed up in Dallas." Sookie stepped back, completely stunned by his answer. "Godric, he hired you to..."
"It's not like that." Quinn stuffed his hands into his jean pockets. "Alcide brought my name up to him when Godric wanted him to keep an eye on you. Alcide...well he didn't want to get involved and called me up."
"And you...you do want to get involved." Sookie clumsily found her way to a chair, needing to sit down as she processed everything.
"Ellie is...well she's a magnificent person." Quinn couldn't help but smile as he stared down at the brunette. "I hardly know her, and yet somehow I know that I want to protect her, to make her happy."
"So you came to Dallas to what?"
"Godric didn't want anything to happen to you, and I agreed with him. I know you two can take care of yourself, but as tonight showed, Ellie doesn't know the full extent of her powers and ended up using too much of it. If that happened in Dallas, with no one around to help, you could have gotten yourselves killed. It was safer if I showed up, if I watched over you two." Quinn tried to explain.
"So last night, when you two went out this morning, it all meant nothing then?"
"Look, I agreed to watch over Ellie not because someone was paying me some big cheque. Because that's not at all true. I want to protect her, Sookie. From that first day I met her, I saw something special in her. Something special that needed to be protected and guarded. There's trouble brewing, and if I hadn't of been close tonight, it could have gone differently."
"Why did you step in sooner? You are a Were-tiger after all." Sookie pointed out, running a hand through her messy hair. "Why didn't you help Godric?"
"I didn't get here soon enough. By the time I arrived, Ellie was already in full swing."
"But by then the Weres were taken care of."
"But Godric was dying. Slowly and painfully, he was dying." Quinn sighed, sitting on the arm of the couch. "Were bites, they will not harm vampires, not with only a single bite. But with the amount of Weres and bites that they had created, it was beginning to poison him. Once that poison got into his system...he might not have made it out of this alive if Ellie hadn't been able to give him her blood. You needed help, and I stepped in. It doesn't look like I did very much, and I guess I didn't. But you needed her blood spilt in order for Godric to survive."
Sookie nodded without speaking, her gaze falling on her closest friend before rising to the stairs leading up to where Godric was lying in one of the guest bedrooms. He was still alive, that was a good sign. But he had fallen unconscious not too long after ingesting Ellie's blood and had yet to wake up. That had been nearly an hour ago, and both were unconscious and worrying Sookie. Quinn had assured her over and over again that both would be alright. But Sookie couldn't help but worry over the lives of her friends.
"Why did they attack?" Sookie asked quietly after a moment. "Why Weres, why now? I thought it was vampires that were invading."
"They were V addicts." Quinn looked over at the worried blonde. "They had been part of Russell's pack a couple of years ago. All these vampires had to do was offer them some of their blood, and they would do their bidding in a heartbeat."
"Why Godric?"
"They were going after you. The vampires, they didn't realize that Godric was still alive. They thought you were alone, and sent Weres to attack. Maybe not kill, as you would be worthless dead, but you were their targets tonight. Both of you. It just happened to be lucky that Godric was here." Quinn's hand moved on its own accord, the backs of his large fingers caressing Ellie's cheek.
"Oh my god." Sookie breathed out, her eyes closing as she tried to keep herself calm.
"Sookie?" a voice filled the silent room. "What...What the hell happened? There's blood outside...are you bleeding?"
Sookie's eyes filled with tears as she opened her orbs and ran right into Sam's awaiting arms. He held her shaking form tightly as she sobbed against his chest, trying to explain what happened. He looked up at Quinn for an explanation, and the shifter began retelling the events of the night. Sam's face paled as he held onto Sookie even tighter, too afraid to let her go. Once Quinn had finished, Sookie's gaze fell on Ellie's peaceful form, and was thankful that both of the women in his life were alright.
Or as alright as they could possibly be.
"Who are these vampires?" Sam questioned. "Who the hell are they? Why are they doing this?"
"They want Louisiana. They want Sookie and Ellie. And they don't care how they get it." Quinn explained grimly. "The war has begun, and there's no going back now."