A/N: Hey everyone, thank you so much for all the happy birthday wishes. I have to say, it was one birthday I will never forget. So here is a new update chapter twelve. I hated writing this chapter, and I know you might hate me once you read it too, but it's something that must be done. Anyways thank you for reading, and I hope you like it, please let me know what you think.
P.S: I have especially thank you to my reviewers, kyskhet, Tilting At Windmills, dancing-in-the-rain01, kingdomfantasyanime453, smilin steph, moonlight1ify, laurelley, Aimezer, LuciansLycanNightShade, hannah-chan93, Tsumi, lolielolszx, justareader13, wolviegurl, caleb's babe, .olivia, GreyLionDiva, Littleredridingwho, julieakaweirdo, mrssamwinchester93, DarkAngel620, RedRaven, GeorgiaDawgette, Raz 42492, BloodyTink, Yuki082, LUCY, powergirl24. Of course don't for get my readers too, thank you and love you guys.
P.P.S: I'm dedicating this chapter to iluvspike1024 (AKA Antoinette) as a thank you for a sweet banner she made me. Please check it out it's in my page.
Disclaimer: nothing you read here belongs to me except for some of the plot and unknown characters you will meet. All belongs to True Blood, an American television drama series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris.
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And I'd give up forever to touch you,
Cause I know that you feel me somehow.
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be,
And I don't want to go home right now.
And all I can taste is this moment,
And all I can breathe is your life.
Cause sooner or later it's over,
I just don't want to miss you tonight.
And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
Chapter Twelve - Running Down The Hill
I hummed quietly as I concentrated looking at the chess peaces in front of me. My eyes scanned the board, thinking of a possible move I can make. It was my lunch break, and I was back in the cage again, sitting across from Godric with my legs crossed, the chessboard sitting between us. We have been playing the game for about half an hour now, and I was very determined to finally beat him this time. I was starting to get frustrated, for we have played this game numerous times before, but not once have I won. I mean seriously, I have been the undefeated champion in our family since like… forever. I have played with dad and had won. I have even defeated Steve countless time knowing how he mopes around like a child every time he loses. But even with all my proficiency, tricks and poker-face, I could never seem to surpass Godric's amazing skill. He seemed to always be one step ahead of me. But not this time, today was different, I was close, closer than I have ever been to winning.
Without moving my eyes from the game, my hand stretched to my right, blindly trying to find my half eaten sandwich and took a bite. The vampire's hand moved as he shifted his chess peace. My lips twitched a bit in excitement, for he was walking right into my trap. Godric always said not to look at it just as a game, but to observe it like a battle strategy. And that's what I've been doing, watching each and every tactics he made, and I could tell I was getting better everyday. My fingers griped my knight as I made my final move, making certain every square of his king's surrounding has no possible movement.
"Check mate!" I shrieked loudly, laughing in happiness. Godric didn't seem surprised by his defeat; he just looked up at me with a kind smile.
"Ooh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah; I kicked a vampire's butt." I sang doing a little dance from where I was sitting, making Godric chuckle a bit with an amusement in his eyes.
I was in the middle of my little happy dance when I caught something in the corner of my eyes. It was hidden so well, yet far too obvious. I don't know how I didn't notice it before; it was right in my face. "Oh, my god, you let me win." My voice came out in a whine, as I stared at the board, my mind thinking over all of his moves. He could have easily avoided my trap, and knowing Godric, he probably had another trick up in his sleeves as well, but he purposely moved into my trap.
"I did no such thing. I just simply gave you the opportunity to win." He spoke with spark in his eyes. I laugh at his explanation, before stretching my hand to punch him playfully on the shoulder. "That's cheating. Going easy on me is the same as letting me win." I voiced, giggling cheekily. I couldn't help but find it sweet that he let me win. I leaned forward with my hands on either side of the chess board, and gave Godric a soft a peck on the cheek before sitting back down. The vampire's eyebrow rose, making me smile, "thanks for cheating for me, but next time I don't need your help to seriously kick your butt."
"I have no doubt." He smiled before continuing, "Your skills have improved greatly. You have become a strong opponent in a very short time." He spoke watching me stretch out on the ground, finishing my lunch. I guess I can't blame him for feeling bad about my countless defeats. My eyes moved to stare at the silver ceiling; today was like any other day, even though I slept here for about two hours. The recruits were rousted out of bed early and put through a tough drill by a very sadistic Gabe this morning. It was kind of sad watching them do all that calisthenics, running and obstacle courses. But Of course, Jason and that Luke guy seemed to enjoy it a bit, getting all competitive with each other.
I turned toward the vampire who seemed to be just watching me. I opened my mouth to challenge him to another game, but I was interrupted when the door to the room barged opened. My eyes widen in surprise as I choked on the air itself when I saw who entered into the room. I shot to my feet trying to act calm. The vampire slowly followed my action as he glanced from me to the preacher.
Steve stood about five foot from the cage, his eyes burning with rage as his hand shook. Gabe stood behind him, his eyes straight at Godric ready to act if anything was to happen. "Anna, get over here, now." Steve ordered as his hard voice sounded almost like a growl. I knew he was beyond angry, and from my experience, angry Steve was someone I would never want to be around. I took a single step before pausing. One part of me said, I should follow Steve's command, but the other half said, no, it was time to fight, to take back my life. I stood there trying to gather my courage before speaking. "Why don't you come in and get me?" I challenged uneasily, knowing fully well that he would never take a step into the cage while the vampire was in here. "Anna, this isn't a joke. Now, get over here." He spoke his voice a bit louder.
"No, I won't. I'm done Steve; I'm done taking orders from you." I walked closer to the bars looking Steve in the eye. The anger in his eyes seemed to fire up as his body went tense in frustration. "Listen to me, this is for you own good. For God sake, you're in there with a vampire." He voiced like he can't believe the words that was coming out of my mouth. My heart was beating fast in fear. I was afraid of what he would do, if he gets any angrier. "I would rather be with him in here than anywhere else in the world." I replied confidently with my voice strong, even though my inside was anything but that.
"Do you even hear yourself? Just imagine all the people he killed, all the innocent women and children he had brutally fed on and murdered." He seemed to spit the words loudly taking a step closer to the cage. In my head, I repeatedly told myself not to listen to what he was saying. Godric wasn't like that any more. He was different, different than any vampire out there. "He didn't know what he was doing, and God will forgive him for all his sins." I replied.
"Oh please, come on Anna, you're smarter than that. The Anna we all know wouldn't say that, she always thinks twice about what she does. She always thinks about what the lord would want. The bible repetitively forbids murder, but we're talking about vampires, it is in their nature to kill. It's in his nature to murder." Steve spoke pointing at Godric.
"And who are you to punish him, who are you to punish any of them? You have your own sins, Steve. Why don't you start there first?" The fear I felt was slowly starting to disappear. I can not and will not be afraid any longer. All this time I stood in the background, letting Steve do whatever he wanted, but not anymore.
"Of course, like all human beings I have my share of sins too. But these creatures are the devil's minion, and I'm fighting for what the Lord would want me to do, what's best for this world." The preacher Proclaimed strongly.
"You don't get to decide what's best for this world. We both know what would happen if you do this, all the blood that will be shed." I spoke the anger in my voice coming out like fire. This was never about what's best for the world; it was always about vengeance from the beginning. And because of His issues, he was going to start a war, and countless vampires and humans would die for it. "You don't have to do this, Steve, we can coexist. There are other ways." I let out a sigh, trying a softer approach.
Steve let out a growl of frustration almost yanking his own hair out, "Can't you see, this is all his talking," he pointed at Godric. "He's been brainwashing you?" He yelled taking another step forward. I laughed at his accusation. "What are you talking about, the only one who's trying to brainwash me is you." He was the one using our lord's name to manipulate everyone, all the new members and Sarah. It was all his doing.
"Please, listen to me, Anna; I know we have never seen eye to eye, but I'm just trying to watch out for you. He could be Glamouring you, and you wouldn't even know it." He spoke, acting like he actually cared about me. I rolled my eyes at him. If this was coming out of Sarah, I might actually believe her.
"Glamouring? What in the world are you talking about?" I questioned confused a bit. Steve just stared at me for a second before a flash of recognitions appeared in his eyes, like he just figured out something juicy. "Oh wait, let me guess, he didn't tell you about that now, did he?" He let out this twisted laugh, shaking his head before continuing, "Vampires have the ability to control humans mind, make us feel and do whatever they want. See Anna, this is what I have been trying telling you, they're the devil."
I turned toward Godric who has been watching our exchange quietly. When my eyes met his, he looked away. I took steps toward him my inside heavy with worry. Have I been played all along? When I was close enough I whispered softly, "Is it true, Godric, can vampires control human minds?" I questioned. Godric had told me all about the powers and abilities they possessed when he found out I wasn't very knowledgeable when it comes to vampires. Most of my information came from all the black and white Dracula movies I have seen, so when I asked him if he hated garlic, he had chuckled and told me about their powers like, super strength, speed, accelerated healing, heightened senses, but he had never mentioned anything about controlling human minds.
"Yes, my kind do possess the power to glamour their victims to do their biddings." He spoke sadly. I just don't understand why he left this information out, I mean he even told me about their weaknesses, but why leave this out. "Then, why didn't you tell me?" I whispered back not liking the idea Steve watching our exchange.
"I just… I didn't want you to doubt your actions." He murmured back looking up at me as his eyes seemed to beg me to understand. What? Doubt your act—that was when it clicked to me. He didn't want me to doubt my feelings toward him; he thought if I knew about glamouring, somehow I would think he was controlling me to feel for him or influencing my actions toward him. "Don't you trust me? You know I would never think of you like that, Godric." I spoke feeling a bit let down. Godric slowly raised his hand brushing it against my cheek, he opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by apparently forgotten Steve.
"I can't believe what my eyes are actually seeing!" He yelled his eyes wide a bit. He turned to Gabe that was behind him and exchanged a look before he slowly turned toward back to me. "Anna, please, I'm begging you one last time. Please, just come out here." He requested politely, His voice was calm, lot calmer than it should be. Immediately my heart beat started to increase as my instinct told me something bad was going to happen. "I'm sorry Steve, I won't do it." I replied my voice shaky a little.
There was a pause of hesitation before Steve spoke, "I guess you leave me no choice… I'm really sorry to tell you this…but…we found Claire's body-" I cut him off be for he could finish his sentence. "Stop lying. Do not bring Claire in to this!" My voice was loud as I screamed at him. Now, it was my time to be angry. "You have no right to bring my sister into this. That's low, even for you."
"I am not lying to you; we found her body over six month ago. Ask Sarah if you want, it was her wish not to inform you." He stated a he stared at me dead in the eyes. My heart seemed to beat hysterically. Even though I don't believe Steve, somehow my heart seemed guess there was some truth in Steve's words.
"I refuse to believe you and your lies. I would have known about it. Sarah would never; she would NEVER do that to me!" I spoke my voice trembling in anger as I took steps toward him. I can't believe he tries to come between me and my sister. "Then you don't know your sister well." Steve spoke coldly, stretching his hand toward Gabe to except a tan folder that I didn't even notice he was holding "It's all in here, Anna." Steve said passing me the folder through the bars. My hand was shaking, trembling beyond I could control as I slowly took the file. My eyes glimpse the cover, which said "Police Reports" in bold letters.
I slowly looked up at Steve, my eyes pleading him to tell me that it was all just a joke, that it was his way to get me out of the cage. But he did none of that except nodding his head for me to open it. I didn't know what else to do, but turned toward Godric for some sort of strength, for support. Godric's eyes were unreadable as he gazed at the ground like he knew what was coming. I took along sigh before slowly opening the folder with a shaky hand.
No, no, no, NO!
Strange cry left my lips as I felt the folder slip from my hand and hit the metal ground, all the papers within it spilling across the floor. It was like everything was in slow motion. For a moment, my brain had just blocked out. The only thing I noticed was how loud, how unbelievingly loud my own heart beat sounded to my ears. All I felt was dizziness as my surrounding blurred. In that moment, in that couple of seconds, my world rammed to the floor, crushing into bits. My body craved for air, but my lungs can't seem to take the oxygen I desperately needed.
I didn't need to read what the folder held, I didn't need to know what was written, it was all there, a single picture that was connected to the tip of the folder by a paperclip. It was her, it was Claire; it was a picture of Claire's lifeless body. Her body was half way decomposed enough to see the bones, but I knew it was her. The cloth she wore the day she disappeared was all there. Her pink sweater, her blue jeans, it was all there. Her long blond hair held in pigtails, all there. My legs couldn't support me any longer as my knees gave out, but before my body could touch the ground something caught me. Cold fingers turned my face toward the right as Godric's blurry figure appeared. My eyes couldn't focus on him or anything else for that matter. He shook me back and forward slowly, as His fingers moved to my cheeks to wipe the tears that seem to rain like a thunderstorm from my eyes.
"I am so sorry, Anna. I'm so sorry you have to find out this way," Steve spoke, for once sounding sincere. "Please, don't blame Sarah, she meant well. If there is anyone to blame, it's him. It was his kind, they did this to her. They murdered a twelve year old and dumped her body in a sewer like she was garbage. It was all proven; they kidnapped your sister, fed on her and killed her. There was not even a single drop of blood found in her body." Steve spoke, hatred dripping from his voice like venom, each of his words were malice to the core. I felt the vampire's arms tighten around me. "This is what I have been trying to tell you, Anna. What I'm doing is best for everyone." This time Steve's voice was a bit calm.
My tears continued to fall as I felt like I was going to faint any moment. Even though I was half way unconscious, I heard Steve address the vampire next. "If you care about her, vampire, even a little… then let her go. Let her have a normal life, we both know you're not what's best for her. She was kind to you, now it's your turn to repay her kindness by letting her go. So for her sake… let her go." Steve spoke to the vampire softly. Godric slowly looked down, gazing my half fainting self before brushing my hair back. He slowly leaned his head down to wispier in my ear, "he is right you know, it's for the best." there was so much pain in his voice, so much pain in that small words. He slowly released his hold on me before getting up, taking a few steps back. I closed my eyes shut tightly, I didn't want to be here any more, and I wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
The next thing I know, I felt Gabe's strong arms scooped me up and walked out of the cage as Steve locked the door quickly behind. I twisted my head in an odd angle to glance at the vampire who stood in the middle of the cage. And that was the last thing I saw, Godric's sad eyes watching me walk away in Gabe's arm before I passed out.
A/N:Thanks for reading and I hope you like it. Please, please reviews
see you next time:D