Chapter Eleven:

The moment Godric knocked on my door that night, I sprung off of the couch and ripped the door open.

"What's wrong?" were the first words out of Godric's mouth. His forehead was wrinkled in concern as he stepped into the apartment, his hands cupping my cheek as his eyes searched over every inch of me. "I could feel your fear; I could feel the...oddest things. It drove me out of a dead rest. What's wrong?"

"I..." I had to squeeze my eyes shut as I remembered the voices, the begs for help, my help. It shook me to the core. How could I possibly be hearing the dead? How in the world had I been pulled into the cemetery while hearing all of their voices? It couldn't be possible, it just couldn't be. Maybe I just hadn't had enough sleep lately. Maybe between school and whatever was going on inside of me, it was stressing me out to the point that I was just hearing and seeing things.

But I knew deep down inside that that wasn't true. This was very real. I had heard those voices. I had been tugged into the cemetery and surrounded by dead people begging for my help. That was reality, not some dream I had concocted. Though I did wish to god that it was. It would make more sense if it was made up, if it was make believe. How could any of this be real? How could my entire world be thrown upside down in such a short amount of time?

"What is it, Savannah?" he caressed my cheek soothingly. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I...I was..." my voice wavered as I tried to calm myself down. I was panicking again. Just as I had been ever since I had run back home from the cemetery, forgetting why I had even gone out in the first place. I had locked myself in the apartment for the past few hours, just waiting for nightfall for this vampire to finally appear. And now he had and I felt only a touch better.

"Breathe, Savannah." He coaxed, tugging me into his arms, wrapping himself around me in comfort. "Everything is going to be alright. You're safe now, little one."

I sighed heavily as I clung to Godric. I felt the fear beginning to slip away as he comforted me, as he soothed away all the evil in the world. How could this vampire be my rock, my one solid source of support?

"Tell me what happened; tell me what's frightened you."

I inhaled deeply, letting out a long breathe before nodding against his chest. "I was on my way to the store a few hours ago when...when I felt this tug. But there was no one around. It was like...like some invisible force was tugging at me, pulling me into the cemetery a few blocks away."

"What did it feel like?" he questioned.

"I can't even explain it. It was painful at first. It felt like my power just charged right out of me and I lost complete control of my body. When I regained control, I found myself in the middle of the cemetery and...and..." I squeezed my eyes shut as the tears began forming.

"And what?" he began rubbing invisible designs on my back soothingly. "It's alright."

"I heard voices." I whispered out, too afraid that he was going to think I was going crazy. Hearing voices was never a good sign. But I knew they weren't just a figment of my imagination. I knew they were real. But they weren't voices of the living, and instead, of the dead, of all those dead bodies laying to rest there in the cemetery. "They were...they were in my head but..."

"But..."

"But they were real, Godric." I pulled away so I could look him dead in the eye. "They were real, I'm positive."

"I believe you." He nodded, not showing any sign that he didn't. "Go on."

"I didn't...I didn't realize who's voices they were until I...well until I touched one of the tombstones."

Godric's eyebrows furrowed together. "What do you mean?"

"I heard it, Godric. I heard her voice."

"Who's voice?"

"The little girl who was buried there. She was begging for my help. I heard her, Godric. I heard her and I heard every other dead body in there. I wasn't hearing the living, Godric. I was hearing the dead." The tears began slipping down my cheek one by one.

Godric was shocked, that was written all over his face as he took a step away from me suddenly, almost as if he was afraid of me. That only caused my bottom lip to tremble, my eyes to grow blurry with tears. If it had caused this reaction from Godric, I knew I should be worried, I knew I had a reason to fear myself. What was wrong with me? What was I?

It all came back to that same exact question Eric had asked after we had kissed. He had known something was different about me all along, but it wasn't until we kissed that he knew it for sure. Maybe I should have stuck around, maybe I would have figured out what in the world was wrong with me before something like this happened. Because it was one thing to almost die by simply kissing someone, but to hear the begging of the dead, to hear their voices rolling through me, it was the worst experience of my life and I never wished to ever feel that again. It terrified me. It brought me to tears just thinking about it. Death was not something I ever wanted for myself, and to hear the painful cries of those that were already dead, well that was just devastating.

"I'm a freak, aren't I?" I tried to rub at my eyes to cease the tears. "I'm just a complete freak."

"You're not a freak." Godric finally spoke, shaking his head and stepping forward.

I moved away from him however. "Even you're afraid of me. I am a freak. There's something wrong with me. I can hear the dead, Godric. I almost died last night just because we kissed. There's something wrong with me!"

"Savannah..." Godric reached out for me.

I shook my head as I went to turn away, to hurry back into my room and hide from the rest of the world. Godric wouldn't allow it however, and grabbed me around the waist and tugged me up against his chest, turning me around and clasping a finger under my chin. I trembled at his touch, trying not to look him in the eye.

"You are anything but a freak, Savannah." His voice was soft as he spoke. "I was...surprised, taken back at what happened to you today. But I'm not afraid of you. How could I possibly be afraid of you, my little mystery?"

"But I'm...I'm a freak."

"You're not." He shook his head, drawing his arms around me as he held me. "You are not a freak, Savannah. There is something inside of you that neither of us can explain. But we will discover what it is, I promise you that."

"You...you really don't know what's wrong with me?"

He didn't answer at first, and that caused me some concern. Did he know what I was, what was wrong with me? Had he known all of this time and just hadn't told me?

"Godric?" I pressed, looking up at the vampire. "Do you know what I am, what this all is? Do you know why I almost died last night, why I'm suddenly hearing voices of the dead? Do you?"

Godric sighed and averted his gaze.

"Godric?" I shook his arms from around me and stepped away from him. I wrapped my own arms around myself, feeling a slight chill in the air. "If you know you have to tell me. Please. I need to know."

"I have my suspicions, but it can't be possible." he shook his head.

"But you know what I am?" I asked hopefully. Maybe if we could find out what I was, then we could go from there. I could learn what was happening to me, how I could control it. And maybe learn how I could make it stop.

"I've never encountered another being quite like you before. I may be wrong and could lead you astray."

"But..." my face fell. "I just...I just want to know what's wrong with me.

There was pain in those sea coloured orbs of his as he stepped forward, and despite my flinches, he wrapped his arms around me once again, holding me to him securely. I tried to pull away from him, but his hold was just too tight. He wasn't letting me go. He would comfort me, he would hold me for as long as he had to. It was for that reason that I began to relax, that I melted into his embrace and set my forehead against his shoulder with a sigh. My eyes fluttered close as I focused on my breathing, on my rapid heartbeat. I knew Godric could hear it, it almost echoed against Godric. His arms tightened around me at the feel of my heart, his own forehead coming to rest against my shoulder as we just stood there, tangled in one another's arms, perfectly content to never let go.

But we did let go eventually.

After minutes of silence, of the world passing along around us, Godric drew away just enough to peer down at me.

"Give me time to research this, Savannah. We need to know for certain what you are, but that will take time. I don't want to feel this pain of yours, Savannah. It's all I can feel. Your pain, your fear, it pumps through me like a life force. It tears me apart to know that there's nothing I can do or say that will help you. I wish there was, I truly did."

"You're helping by just being here." I wrapped my arms around Godric's torso, drawing closer to the vampire as I laid my cheek against his sweater covered chest. I could feel the power inside of me skip ever so slightly, the beast dancing around as if it knew Godric was here, that he was taking care of us once again. For once that power felt pleasant, it felt happy and safe, much like I did. It filled me up entirely to the point that I wasn't sure where the power even ended. Godric must have felt it, because he hesitated at first before obliging and circling his arms back around me, feeding the beast as best as he could.

"I will help you, Savannah, I promise you that." He whispered in my ear, his lips brushing across my neck softly, causing me to shudder with a strong desire that suddenly surged through me. Being so close to Godric, holding him, having him hold me, it reminded me of what I wanted, or what I desired. And that was him. I wanted those lips on mine. I wanted his hands roaming my naked body...

I had to shake my head to rid myself of those thoughts. I couldn't do any of that, at least not now, not until I knew how to control whatever was going on inside of me.

I didn't need to almost die. Not again.

For now, we couldn't kiss; we couldn't feel each other like I so desperately wanted.

I had never realized just how much pent up sexual hunger one girl could contain until it was impossible to release it.

"I'm not following you on this." I stood with my arms crossed just outside of the very same cemetery I had my very unfortunate incident in only the night before. "Why are we here, Godric?"

"We need to know just how much of this little ability of yours that you have. If you can only hear the voices, then what you are could be very different than if you could respond back." Godric explained as he held out a hand for me.

"Great, so either I can be a freak, or an even bigger, scarier freak." I rolled my eyes. "How can I ever choose?"

"I'm sorry this ever happened to you, Savannah. But we're all born with a touch of magic. Not all of us are in tune with that side of ourselves, while others are very sensitive to that magic. It seems that somehow, it was unleashed inside of you for whatever reason. You said the first time you felt this power was when you...kissed that other vampire, correct?" Godric wondered, though there was a flicker of darkness in his eyes as he spoke of another vampire kissing me. Was that jealousy I was seeing? No, impossible. But was it?

"I've never felt this before that night. When we kissed..." I shuddered at the memory. It was a good memory, despite everything else, and I hated that. I hated that I still wanted to have a repeat performance of that kiss, that I wanted to feel Eric's body pressed against mine. "When we kissed it felt like something was unlocked inside of me, like the door was pushed open and this came all rushing out."

"But it never grew to this degree until recently?"

"Until I met you, it was dormant. I knew it was there, I could feel it crawling under my skin. But once I met you, it seemed to just burst free of whatever restraints was still holding it back." I frowned as I tried to explain the journey I've had with this beast inside of me. I wasn't sure why I called it my beast. It just seemed like the perfect description. It felt like a wolf, or maybe even a ferocious wild cat was running around inside of me, leaping free, roaring and howling whenever it was energized.

"And you heard voices of the dead." He tilted his head to the side, a look of contemplation sweeping across his face. "It could be true that you're very in tune to the dead then."

"That honestly doesn't sound appealing." I pulled a face. "No offence or anything. I mean I like you, but..."

"There's no need to apologize." Godric shook his head, outstretching his hand even further. "Come, we need to do this."

"Are you sure?" I looked from Godric's hand to the cemetery beyond the vampire. "Maybe we can just test this theory in some other way."

"Like?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Okay so I don't know, but...I can't go back in there. It's bad enough that I can feel a pull, I can feel them calling to me. Once I step inside of that cemetery, I'm scared of what might happen, of what I might not be able to control."

"I will be here the entire time. I'll hold your hand, I won't let go. I'm here, Savannah, you're not alone in this." He assured me.

I sighed, knowing he was right, that he wouldn't let me go into that cemetery and do this alone. But that didn't make any of the fear vanish. That didn't give me any sort of relief. It wasn't even the voices that scared me. It was that feeling of death just rolling through me, entering my body and mind, using the energy and power inside of me to try and climb their way out of their graves.

"Trust me. I won't let any creepy crawlies harm you."

I couldn't help but laugh as he said this. How could I not when a two thousand year old vampire just said 'creepy crawlies'. A smile grew on Godric's face and he knew what he had said amused me, had lightened the mood. I shook my head at the vampire, a smile playing on my lips as I slipped my hand into his, trusting him entirely. I had never trusted anyone in my life, not completely, not besides my own mother. But Godric, he was different. I felt safe with him, I felt protected no matter what, and I doubt that feeling would ever change.

The moment I stepped into the cemetery however, the smile was wiped from my face. A chill ran up my spine and I was hit straight in the face with the fresh feeling of death. It rolled over me, through me. It felt like a gust of wind, except not even the branches of the trees swayed from side to side. My hair sat across my shoulders completely still. It hadn't been the wind; it had been something much darker, much more surreal. I shuddered and tried to back up out of the cemetery, but Godric had his hand pressed against the small of my back, willing me forward. He tightened his other hand around mine in comfort. I barely could feel his touch however, as the cold grasp of death latched onto me, turning my body ice cold. I squeezed my eyes shut as the beast inside of me leapt forward before cowering backwards. Even the beast was frightened, was unsure of the unknown.

But after a moment of hesitance, the beast began roaring back, as if responding to the dead calling me. I could hear the whispers again. They were so low that I couldn't make out what was being said, but as the whispers grew louder and louder, I could make out their pleas, their cries for help. I didn't understand what they wanted from me, but it was almost as if they knew I was there, that they were no longer alone.

"Godric." I whimpered.

"I'm here." He whispered in my ear. "I'm right here."

"There's too many voices." I clutched onto his hand so tightly that if he weren't a vampire, he would have tugged his hand away in pain.

"Concentrate." He stepped before me, letting my hand go only to raise both of them up to the side of my head, this thumbs rubbing small circles around my temples. "Breathe, Savannah, and just listen. Listen to their voices, listen to their calls. Concentrate on them, concentrate on one. You can do this, I know you can."

"I...I can't." I shook my head, just wanting to turn around and run from this place and just never return. I didn't even want to know if I could do this. I didn't want to communicate with the dead. I didn't want to be in tune with the dead in any sort of way. Why couldn't I have some sort of Tinkerbell magic instead of this? Clap your hands if you believe my ass. I didn't believe and I damn well didn't want to.

"You can. Just concentrate." His hands moved down to my shoulders and squeezed them gently. The power responded, bursting free and nearly knocking into Godric. His hands tightened on my shoulder, the power now flowing through him, but he never once let go of me. He would be there from beginning to end, just like he promised. "Listen to them, Savannah. Listen to them and concentrate."

It took all the strength in the world to stay standing in that cemetery. But I did it. I kept my eyes closed, squeezing them shut even tighter as I fought to concentrate on them all. It felt like their dead hands, their dead bodies were touching every inch of my body. I shuddered, my body shaking, but Godric held me as still as he could, steadying me so I couldn't fall over. I focused on the voices as they grew louder, almost deafening. They were all screaming for help. They knew I was here, that I could bring them the peace they desired. They had been waiting for me, for someone like me. And now I was here and they were overjoyed. They wanted free. Free of what, I wasn't sure. I didn't even know if I could help them. They were dead, and I was...well I didn't even know what I was.

"Just listen." Godric whispered in my ear softly.

But his voice barely registered to me as the voices began to overtake me, sweep me away as if my mind was no longer connected to my body. At first, the voices sounded all mingled together, like it was impossible to tell who the voices belonged to. But the longer I concentrated, the longer my beast pushed through that barrier of the dead, I could start to make out the different voices. Some were young, younger than the dead should have been. Some were men, some were women. There was even an odd bark, like someone had buried the family dog along with the human. That was disturbing all on its own, but I didn't let it rattle me. Because if I did, I would have lost all concentration.

I continued to delve into the voices, letting them wash over me. They sounded as if they were all around me, and yet inside of me at the same time. I could pick out specific voices here and there. But it was only one that drew my attention away from the rest.

"Help me please! Please help me!"

It was a voice of a young boy. He sounded more distressed then the others, almost out of breath like he had been running. My eyes snapped open as I could feel the wind on my face, the dirt beneath my feet. There was no wind, and as I looked down, my boots were covered in snow. But I could still feel it. I could feel my heart racing in panic, my breathing faltering as branches attacked my arms. I raised them, pushing up the sleeves of my coat as if expecting to find cuts, but I found nothing. It was then that I realized I was feeling everything the boy was.

"Savannah?" a voice sounded far away as they spoke, and it took me a moment before I realized it had been Godric. I looked up at him, but I wasn't really seeing him. There was a strange look on his face, and I didn't even want to imagine what I looked like right now. I didn't feel like myself at all.

I couldn't control my movements as my legs began to move. Godric had let his hands fall to his side as I walked around him and deeper into the cemetery. I could see with my own eyes, but I didn't feel a whole lot like myself. I felt like I was that boy. His cries, his thoughts, his panic, it had all consumed me in a way I never thought possible.

"Stop! Please leave me alone! Please don't hurt me!"

"Come back here, little boy! I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"

"No please! Help me! Someone please help me!"

When I felt something wet touch my legs, I shook my head and tried to pull back into my own consciousness. I realized I had fallen to my knees in the snow right in front of an aging headstone. It was dusted in snow, and I had to brush the flakes away before I could get a good look at who was buried beneath me. But it was as I touched the headstone, as I stood above where the body of the boy was buried, that I could no longer only feel and hear that boy running, panicking as he hid from his captor, but I could also see it.

It was like a movie was playing before my eyes. Long gone was the cemetery and Godric, and instead, I was in the middle of a forest. It was the dead of night, the moon high above the tree line. I could hear rustling around me and I spun around to find a boy running right towards me. He couldn't have been more then twelve years old. He was small and too thin for his age. His clothes, which looked like early 1900's, were hanging off of him. It was his face, however, that struck me. Even in the dim moonlight, I could see the fear crossing that young boy's face, his blue eyes lighting up in panic as he threw a look over his shoulder before darting forward. I didn't have enough time to move, but it didn't seem to matter because the boy just ran right through me as if I was only an illusion. And I must have been.

"I'm going to find you boy. You can't hide from me forever."

The voice was gruff and cruel, and not even minutes after the boy had dashed off had a man come through the same sets of trees, a gun hanging down at his side. There was blood on the side of his head, telling me that the boy had fought as he had tried to get away. But there was a cruelness in this man's eyes that caused me to fear for this boy. I knew the boy's fate. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't dead. I wanted to try and help the boy, to stop this man from hurting someone so innocent and young. But as I tried to hit the man with my fists, he only came walking right through me.

"No." I cried out, running after the man as he caught sight of the boy.

I followed through the forest, my legs aching and burning. But I needed to see. I needed to know. But I didn't get far before I heard the shot of a gun, a cry sounding before everything grew silent.

"No." I shook my head, forcing my way the rest of the distance before I came to a small clearing and found the boy lying on the ground, blood seeping out of his middle. I fell to my knees, my head shaking wildly as the scene began to transform back into reality. "No."

I hadn't realized I had been crying until I felt Godric's hand on my cheek, his thumb brushing the tears away as I felt myself being lifted up into his strong arms.

"It was terrible." The first sob left my lips as I dug my head into the curve of his neck. "H-he was murdered. He was only a boy!"

"Shh, let's get you home." Godric took off into the night sky, the air growing colder the higher we went.

I was lost in my own thoughts though. All I could think about was that poor boy who I couldn't save, who was murdered long before his time. All I could think about was that small connection to the dead that I could still feel inside of me, filling me up and sucking the life right out of me. I felt cold, I felt miserable and disturbed. It was the worse feeling of my life, and I just wanted it to go away.

A/N: First off, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is reading this fic. You all rock. It makes me happy to see so many people enjoying this fic already. and there's still plenty to come! as for what Savannah is, I know all of you are wondering that. you won't find out concretely what she is for a little while, but her power grows stronger throughout the next handful of chapters that you might be able to guess what exactly she is. if you do have any guesses, please do tell me! I love to hear what you're all thinking, it even gives me a few ideas. I've taken my inspiration from a few different sources to create something amazing and unique, and I hope you all enjoy it.