Chapter Five:

I ran.

I left town the next morning and I didn't look back.

That kiss just wasn't a kiss. It was one hell of an eye opener and it scared the hell out of me. So I did what any coward would do when they're scared, and I ran. I packed up, promised to keep in contact with my mother and friends, and hightailed it out of Louisiana on the first possible flight. I didn't even care that I was in line ups at the airport, or had a drink spilled on me in the plane. I was just thanking the heavens when I touched down in Connecticut.

I didn't even want to think about Eric Northman. No, I could never think about that blonde vampire ever again. I was too scared that I would turn back around and return to Shreveport. And kiss him. Repeatedly. Followed by many rounds of wild and passionate sex.

But it wasn't entirely Eric that scared me. No, it was the power, the energy that I had felt that night with that single kiss. It was unlike anything I've ever felt before. It was such a power rush that my hands still shook slightly. It felt like it was crawling beneath my skin, like it was surging through my veins. It was so intense that I laid awake thinking of only that. What the hell had happened during that kiss? Sure I had never kissed a vampire before. But that didn't exactly seem normal. Especially when Eric pointedly asked what I was.

What was I?

That was a stupid question. I was human, of course. That was all there was to it. There was nothing special, nothing other worldly about me. I was just Savannah Kingsley, soon to be Yale Graduate and top journalist prospect. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. That's who and what I was.

So why didn't I entirely believe that?

Days passed, weeks flew by, and still, that power remained inside of me. It felt like it was just waiting to be unleashed again, waiting for Eric to sweep on by and unlock the beast from inside of me. What did that even mean? I was so confused, and I had no one to turn to. Sarah would think I had gone crazy. She studied science, none of this was normal and scientifically proven, therefore to her, it just couldn't be happening. My mother, god she didn't even know about the vampire bar or Eric! God knows I couldn't pick up the phone and call Fangtasia.

What would I say?

"Oh hi, is Eric there, I'm trying to figure out what the fuck is wrong with me."

Yeah, I had a feeling that wouldn't go over so well.

I did the only thing that I could think of doing to try and distract myself, and that was throwing myself back into my studies. It was my last semester at Yale, my last semester to prove something of myself. So I focused on my assignments, on my essays, on not thinking about vampires or odd weird kisses that left me wanting more.

But more of what exactly?

Was it the kiss that left me wanting more from the vampire?

Or was it the power, the raw intense power that lay dormant inside of me?

I just wasn't so sure, and that scared me.

Weeks turned into a month, and before I knew it, it was Valentine's Day. I hadn't thought about Valentine's Day before, but this year, all I could think about was what Fangtasia was possibly doing on this night, or who would be hanging off of Eric's arm. And that thought alone sent me into such a bitter mood, I was nearly kicked out of the library. Dirty looks were being thrown at me by the other students who thought books and schoolwork was a better relationship than with the opposite sex (or same sex, I didn't judge). I was shoving books around, slamming down covers, angrily typing on my laptop. It came to a point that a girl who looked more like she was twelve than in her twenties, came stomping over and asked me in a sickeningly sweet voice if I would please leave. I didn't have to go. I was just being a little loud, I could tone it done. But I didn't want to tone it down.

Where had this blind jealousy come from?

I didn't own Eric, and he certainly didn't own me. We had one kiss, so what?

That thought made me snort as I collected up my books and stuffed them into my schoolbag before throwing it over my shoulder. Who was I kidding? It wasn't just a kiss. It was everything and nothing all rolled into one. It was what was driving me insane day in and day out. All I could think about were those sweet soft lips, his hands gliding across my body, that exchange of raw power between our tongues...

"Ahem."

I rolled my eyes at the girl who was impatiently tapping her foot on the ground, making more noise than I thought I had. But I gave her an equally sickening smile before heading out of the library. It was late anyways. Not as late as I usually spent in the library, but late enough that the sun had set and the snow began to fall again. I almost missed being in Shreveport for the fact that snow barely even existed and I didn't want to wear five coats all at once. I would never get used to the winters of the north, even though my plan was to live in New York City one day. I would just stay inside. A lot. With so much heat that you'd think it was the south.

I was lost in thought as I made my way down one of the pathways through Yale, thankful that I knew the campus like the back of my hand. The snow wasn't thick, but the wind was whipping it in my face that I had to look down while I walked. It was for that reason that I never saw the figure just standing in the middle of the pathway. It was for that reason I ended up walking straight into what I first initially thought to be a brick wall. I let out a yelp as I stumbled, the ice under my boots causing me to slip and fall backwards. My bag was slipping from my shoulder and I tried to grab it, not wanting my laptop to feel the brunt of the fall. But then out of nowhere, and faster than I could even see, a hand flew out and caught both my bag and me. I felt myself hovering over the ground, my back less than a foot away from hitting the hard sheet of ice. It took a moment for it to all register, for my eyes to focus and stare up at who had caught me and saved me from my unfortunate fall.

Those eyes.

They were the colour of the sea.

It was as if I was staring into the sea as I gazed into those orbs and it was mesmerizing. I had never seen eyes so blue and yet so green at the same time. They twinkled in the moonlight in such a way, that they reflected life. And yet, there was a sadness in those eyes that I had never witnessed before. Those orbs looked like they had seen the entire world, seen much more than any pair of eyes should have ever witnessed.

But they were still beautiful.

"Are you alright?" the owner of the brilliant eyes voiced in concern. His voice was soft, almost as if he were afraid to speak. Or maybe it was because he didn't like to speak, like he thought words were useless. Perhaps even a combination of both.

"Oh I'm..." I searched the face of the man holding me still, my body still hovering over the ice. It wasn't a man though, at least not one that much older than I was. He seemed almost like a boy. Was he even eighteen? Maybe he could be twenty. He could pass as a student here at Yale.

But it wasn't his boyish features that rendered me speechless. It was his eyes once again. Except this time, I noticed the ring of red around those beautiful sea coloured eyed. A ring of red that clashed against his pale face that told me immediately that this wasn't a man, or even a boy.

"Y-you're a vampire." I couldn't stop my voice from shaking as the words just slipped out of my mouth.

A flash of pain crossed those orbs as I was slowly lifted back onto my feet, my bag resting back on my shoulder. I wanted to slap myself for what I had said. That had been rude. I had treated him like he was a monster, like I was sure every other scared human had acted. And that wasn't who I was. I wasn't scared of vampires. At least not as naively as I had been before Christmas break. I had been thrust into the vampire world, kissing a vampire of all things. I couldn't be rude; I couldn't be judgemental towards a vampire. I felt terrible for the words that had just slipped from my lips.

Open mouth, insert foot.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." I apologized hurriedly. "I didn't mean it like that. God that was rude!"

"It's perfectly fine." The vampire attempted a smile, though it didn't reach those lovely eyes of his. He wasn't much taller than I was, in fact, we were almost eye level.

"No it's not alright. I want to be a journalist and the first thing we learn is to not be biased and judgemental and here I am being just that." I shook my head at myself. What an idiot! Just because I was confused over Eric and what had happened over that two week holiday, it didn't mean I had to be prejudice and horrible to other vampires. Eric hadn't acted at all like I assumed vampires to. He did in some ways, but in others, well he just surprised me. I was sure all he wanted was sex, but even then, he had tried to protect me when he could have just let that other vampire drain me dry. He wasn't the monster he tried to be, and that just showed that not all vampires were evil. Humans were far from perfect, we weren't exactly saints. So why couldn't vampires be good? "I'm really sorry. My brain is fried and the whole almost falling flat on my ass thing totally threw me off. I'm extremely sorry."

That small smile of his slowly began to grow, the pain and sadness beginning to seep back out of those orbs. "It's alright Miss..."

"Kingsley, Savannah Kingsley." I stuck my hand out, only to realize a half a minute later that vampires didn't shake hands. I was about to retract my hand and apologize again when this vampire surprised me and clasped his hand around mine. A shock sparked between us as our connected hands and I had to fight the urge to jump away. My cheeks flushed, and I was thankful that it was freezing out and that my face probably was already two shades darker than it should have been.

"Godric." His voice was wonderful. It was so soft, and yet at the same time, when he spoke, you stopped to listen. He just had one of those voices, like you wouldn't mind just hearing him speak for hours on end.

"Well it's nice to meet you Godric. Again I'm so sorry for how that sounded. It was incredibly rude of me. And I'm sorry I just walked into you. I wasn't watching where I was going and..." I began rambling, a nervous habit of mine. I wasn't sure why I was nervous though. It wasn't because I was in the presence of yet another vampire. Instead, it was because of the goose bumps that rose on my arms, the little shocks that still ran up my arms as our hands remained connected. It almost felt like his hand was made to cover mine. But that was just ridiculous.

Right?

I had to shake my head, our hands finally parting. I never should have let Sarah talk me into going to Fangtasia. I never would have met Eric then, and then I wouldn't be feeling like such a fool around this other vampire.

"You weren't at fault. I was lost in thought." He offered kindly.

"Well I'm still sorry." I flashed him a wide smile. "I'd like to make up for my extremely rude comment, if you'd let me."

"It's not necessary." Godric shook his head.

"But it is." I nodded. "I've met vampires...well I've more than met a few of them and I honestly hate myself that I sounded like some scared little judgemental human. That's not who I am and I don't want to become that person. So please, let me...let me buy you a drink."

He tilted his head to the side, and I knew what he was thinking before he even uttered a word.

"There's a small diner a block away that I know serves true blood. They're trying to bring in vampire tourists. But for some reason, vampires just don't seem to want to flock to the Ivy League schools." I chuckled.

"It's a very...beautiful school." Godric's gaze rose to glance up at one of the oldest buildings on campus.

"It is. It's one of the reasons I chose to come here. There's just something about standing where there's been history." I shuddered as if I could just feel the spirits of the past right then and there.

Actually, in fact, I did feel something.

But I shrugged it off to just be the chill of the cold evening and didn't think anything of it.

"What do you say? I'm sure you have much more important...vampire business? But I would really like to make it up to you. I feel horrible."

I don't know why I was trying to persuade a vampire to take me up on my offer. You would think that after the winter break that I had, I would run in the other direction when a vampire came along. Hell, it was one of the reasons I was happy to be coming back to Yale, where we had had no vampire visitors up until tonight. But for some reason, Godric felt different than all of the others that I had seen in Fangtasia. His aura, the air around him, it felt calm and...even a little bit sad. He was mild mannered and heck, he was downright polite. Of course, I had been blinded by Eric's good looks, but something just told me in the pit of my stomach that Godric was one of the good ones. I wanted to trust him; I wanted to tell him everything, to learn everything that I could about this vampire. It was so sudden and unexpected, I almost did want to excuse myself and leave. But the moment our hands had connected, there had been some sort of other worldly force going on here that I couldn't understand.

And part of me didn't want to.

"I would very much like that Savannah."

A shudder ran up my spine as my name rolled off of his tongue. My cheeks reddened even more as I blushed and clutched onto the strap of my bag.

Here's to hoping I didn't make a complete and utter fool of myself this time around!

"You honestly didn't have to walk me to my apartment." I stood outside of my apartment door, my keys in hand, with Godric standing beside me.

He had been the perfect gentleman all night. he pushed in my chair at the diner, he had even paid for his true blood and my hot chocolate, and now he had just walked me home, which wasn't all that far anyways. Besides the pale face and the ring of red around his eyes, I never would have thought that he was a vampire. He didn't act like any vampire I had met, and I had met some very interesting vampires on my short trip home. But he was just so peculiar. And sadly enough, I actually liked it. I had to scold myself multiple times in the night not to fall as hard as I had with Eric. That had been stupid and had ultimately led to a kiss, which opened a whole can full of worms. No wait, it wasn't just a can, it was a friggin truck load. I didn't need to fall all over Godric, who was just as good looking as Eric in his own way, and have a repeat performance. No, I needed to stay clear headed.

Even though all a part of me wanted to do was to stare into those sea coloured eyes all night. And for every night after this one.

Seriously, did I have an 'all hot and sexy vampires come to me' sticker on my forehead or something?

"A young girl shouldn't be walking around alone at night." Godric offered a kind smile

"That sounds like something another vampire I know would say." I mused more to myself than anything. I had to shake my head to rid myself of thoughts of Eric. Why couldn't I just get that damn vampire out of my head?

"That vampire must be very wise them."

"He was very something alright." I snorted and rolled my eyes. "But anyways, these parts aren't all that dangerous."

"Danger always lurks where you least expect it." Godric cocked his head to the side.

I was staring again.

How could I not?

It wasn't just his eyes that were mesmerizing. Dark brown hair was cut short and out of the way, showing off his strong features. He looked like he had come from another world, or at least another time and that made me wonder how old this vampire might be. I never had figured out how old Eric was. A couple hundred maybe? More? How old was this vampire? It was a fascinating topic, I would admit that. Vampires could span the entire lifespan of the human race. One vampire could be thousands of years old, while others could only be a few hundred years, or maybe even recently turned.

"I had a lovely evening, Savannah. Thank you for reminding me that the kindness of humanity is not entirely lost." He bowed his head before turning and beginning down the hallway to the stairs.

"Wait!" I called to him, not really sure what I was going to say next. I didn't want him to go. Why, I wasn't entirely sure I understood that part. But there was just something about Godric that caused this odd warm and fuzzy feeling inside of me. An odd thing to be feeling around a vampire, but it was true.

And that power.

When I was around Godric, that power flourished, as if his presence alone unleashed the beast from within and it was just surging through me with such force, that it had caused me to stagger sideways.

Godric was back at my side before I could even blink. I had braced myself against the opposite wall, my eyes closing as the power grew so intense, I had to squeeze my eyes shut and will for it to go away. It rolled over me, waves of power after waves of power. It felt like someone had just flicked a switch and suddenly the light was on. Only in this case, it was a crap load of power. It felt like a nuclear reactor was inside of me, ready to explode at any moment.

"Are you alright?" I felt a cool hand pressing against my cheek and I was flung back into reality. The power didn't cease, it didn't fade away, and in fact, at Godric's touch it only became worse. But it calmed down just a touch, enough so I could at least open my eyes. "Savannah?"

"I'm fine." I whispered, letting out the breath I never knew I had been holding. "Really, I'm fine."

"Are you certain." He frowned, his eyes searching my face. "You're pale and growing warm."

"I'm just...feeling a little out of it." the power hit me with so much force suddenly that I lost my footing and went crumbling down to the ground.

Only Godric caught me, gently lowering me to the floor.

"You're not fine." He shook his head, the backs of his fingers caressing my cheek. "You are far from fine, little one."

"I'm not so little." I mumbled as my eyes fluttered close, my head feeling so heavy that I had to lean it forward against Godric's shoulder. "I'm sorry. This is a horrible first impression."

"You keep apologizing." I felt a hand stroke my hair. "You are the most intriguing human I've ever encountered. And I've roamed this earth for more than two thousand years."

"Two thousand?" if I had any strength at all, my mouth would have been hanging open in shock. "Wow."

"Wow indeed." He chuckled softly."Perhaps you should be taken to a doctor. That's what you humans do when you're sick."

"No no, I'm fine. I just need a minute." I shook my head, breathing shakily as I tried to collect myself.

But I couldn't. The power was just so intense that it felt like it was destroying me from the inside out. It felt like my insides were tearing apart, like my blood was boiling in my veins. It became so draining, so painful that a soft whimper escaped from my lips, tears pooling in my closed eyes.

"I'm sorry." I just kept repeating over and over again. "I'm sorry."

"You have no reason to be apologizing, little one." I felt myself being lifted up into a pair of strong arms, my keys jingling as he pried them from my hand. I hadn't realized I had been clutching them for dear life until he tugged them from my fingers, almost having to use his vampire strength.

"You are a very nice vampire." I commented as I heard him insert the keys into the door and pushed it open. He didn't move at first though. He just stood there, holding me in his arms effortlessly. It took me a couple of minutes to realize he needed to be invited in in order to enter the apartment. "Oh sorry, please Godric, won't you come in?"

"Another apology." He stepped over the threshold and into my apartment. I hoped and prayed that it didn't look completely horrible and messy. I mean he was a two thousand year old vampire, I felt like I had to impress him even just a little bit. God knows I wasn't impressing him with my sparkly personality at the moment. "You are definitely a unique one."

"I get that a lot apparently." I snickered, thinking about Eric yet again. I tried to open my eyes, but even as I tried to, another whimper left my lips as they crashed back shut. The power wasn't lessening at all, and I just couldn't understand what was going on. Ever since that kiss, I had felt this energy inside of me that couldn't be explained. And now all of a sudden it had been unleashed in such a way that it was causing me harm.

What the hell had that kiss done to me?

"My bedroom is that way." I slowly lifted my arm, though it felt almost too heavy to move, as I tried to point in the direction of my bedroom.

I felt a sudden gust of air and within only seconds, I was being placed down on my comfortable comforter. A moan slipped from my lips as I curled up onto my side the moment my head hit the pillow and my body sunk into the squishy bed. I felt my body being lifted for a second time before my bed sheets were being placed around me. Godric, the two thousand year old vampire who I had walked right into and proceeded to be a judgemental bitch to, was tucking me in. and I just met him tonight. Seriously, what was wrong with me sometimes? The fourth time I had seen Eric, we had kissed. And the first night I had met Godric, hell he was in my bedroom! Something had to give!

"You can rescind your invitation now if you wish." Godric almost sounded like he was urging me to.

I cracked my eyes open into slits so I could stare at his blurry form.

"Why would I do that?" I asked in the form of a mumble that I hoped he understood.

"You invited a vampire into your home." He pointed out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You don't seem all that dangerous to me." I shrugged, snuggling further underneath the sheets. I was getting colder now. Instead of boiling, my blood felt ice cold. My temperature was lowering, my body beginning to shake. I couldn't understand what was happening to me. I wanted it to stop. I could go to the doctors, call my mother even as she was a nurse. But I knew it wouldn't help anything because this wasn't some strange illness. This was something inside of me fighting to come out. And there wasn't anything I could do to stop it.

"I used to be." He answered softly.

"But you aren't anymore, are you?"

"I don't wish to be."

"Well see, then why should I..." I was interrupted as a yawn escaped my lips. "Sorry about that. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Are you sure you don't wish to see a doctor? I can take you to the nearest hospital." I felt his cool hand pressing against my forehead and I leaned into his touch. "You're freezing cold now, little one. You're sick."

"No." I shook my head, shivering from head to toe. "No I'm not."

"Then what's wrong?" he knelt down beside my bed, a frown settled on his lips as he caressed my cheek as if we had known one another for years instead of just the few hours that we had.

"Honestly Godric, I have no idea."

A/N: so obviously, since this fic is taking place in that year between season 3 and 4, Godric obviously didn't die in Dallas like in season 2. the reasoning behind that is a bit important to the story and will be explained in time, so I won't give anything away. I'll just say that he was talked down off of the roof in Dallas and therefore didn't die.