Chapter Twenty Six:

"Can we kill him instead?"

I had nearly forgotten Pam was standing there, her hands planted on her hips, her eyebrow lifting at Bill's incredulous statement.

"Do not touch her." Eric growled at the approaching guards as he shoved me behind him forcefully. I lost my footing, but Pam laid a hand on my shoulder to steady me. I shot her a look, but she was glaring daggers at Bill. Though there was a hint of eagerness in her icy blue orbs. She, much like Eric, detested Bill. She wouldn't mind ridding their lives of Bill Compton once and for all, and would do so without any hesitation if she could. I knew the same could be said about Eric. He was baring his fangs at the guards, growling so low that even I felt afraid of what he could do.

The guards kept to their King's order, however, and continued their approach. I could do nothing but stand there clutching onto Eric's arm out of fear. I held my breath, my heart pounding so hard in my chest that is was almost painful. I squeezed my eyes shut as I spotted the silver handcuffs and I waited for the inevitable. It never came however, and as I felt my hands being pried from Eric's arm and screams sounding around me, my eyes flew back open. My eyes grew as wide as saucers as I found Eric grabbing onto one of the guards and throwing him right across the bar, his form hitting the wall with enough impact to slump to the ground limply. The other guard was quickly approaching, his hands outstretching towards me. It was Godric, not Eric, who reacted next. He grasped onto the guard's wrist, twisting it until a sickening crack sounded. My heart leapt in my chest as the guard howled in pain and scrambled away, nursing his wrist against his chest. He tried to draw his gun, but Eric only appeared before him in a flash, yanking the gun from his hands and twisting it into an unrecognizable piece of metal.

"Enough." Bill hissed, his fangs extending as he stood in a defensive stance. "Enough of this now!"

"Don't think for a single minute, Bill," Eric brushed imaginary dirt off the shoulder of his leather jacket before turning to glare so darkly at Bill, that even I wanted to run and cower. "That I won't hesitate to kill you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I'm nearly ten times your age. Try me." Eric challenged him.

Bill looked ready to do just that when Godric stepped between the two vampires. "Move out of my way, Godric. I could have you all arrested for hiding such a dangerous threat."

"What dangerous threat, Bill?" Godric shook his head. "Savannah? She's a harmless, innocent human. And you come here to arrest her. For what?"

"She's a threat to our kind." Bill insisted, his glare focusing on me now. "She's a witch."

"Careful now." Eric warned. "I'll rip you apart, limb by limb."

"Oh can we?" Pam smirked widely as the prospect of tearing Bill apart. "I'd like some of that action."

"I bet you would." Eric sent her a knowing smirk before focusing his attention back on Bill. "Savannah is no threat to you or any single one of us."

"I can smell her scent. She's not human. She's used dark magic. She needs to be..."

"To be what? Executed? What are we, in the 17th century?" Eric rolled his eyes. "She's a human girl, Bill."

"She's far from human." A look of disgust crossed Bill's face as he took in the sight of me. "It seems you've tasted her. Does she taste human to you?"

Eric hesitated and that was all Bill needed to know.

"Even you cannot deny what she is. She's a threat and needs to be taken care of."

"She hasn't harmed a soul, and I doubt she could ever be capable of evil." Godric sighed. "She's an innocent girl, Bill, that's all. Nothing more, nothing less. She is as you see her now. She's scared. Look at her. Do you see evil inside of her?"

I swallowed hard as Bill's scrutinizing and accusing gaze fell on me, looking me over inch by inch. I couldn't look him in the eye, and instead caught Eric's gaze. A look of concern flashed in those blue orbs, as if silently questioning if I was alright. I nodded at the blonde and a look of relief passed over his face before he masked all of his emotions just as he always did. It was amazing how he could do so so quickly. I always wore my heart on my sleeve. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't hide how I felt.

"She still raised a vampire from its grave. That's an offence in itself." Bill accused.

"She didn't do so on purpose." Godric shook his head.

"How do you even know she was there that night, hm?" Eric narrowed his arms and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Have you been spying on us, Bill? That's hardly being a trusting king."

"How can anyone be trusting with you?" Bill sneered.

A hint of a smirk appeared on Eric's lips. "You're one to talk. If I can recall, you've had your fair share of secrets."

"Don't." Bill snapped suddenly, his gaze growing dark. "Do not bring her into this. This has nothing to do with her. She's as good as..."

"Dead?" Eric taunted. "Of course you would think so. You're so narrow minded, William."

"Enough." Bill shook his head, as if he was trying to shake away the memories of the past. "Enough of this at once. Your human is to be arrested. She's to be..."

"I didn't mean to do it." I surprised everyone by softly whispering. I wasn't sure what had possessed me to speak, but this conversation was going nowhere. No matter what Eric and Godric said, Bill just wouldn't believe them. Other than killing him, there was no other way than to just tell him the truth. Or at least as much of the truth as possible to satisfy his curiosity and suspicions.

"Savannah." Eric shook his head, trying to get me to stop speaking. "You don't have to..."

"No, I do have to." I sighed, taking a tentative step forward. "He's going to have me executed if we don't tell him something."

"So it is true." Bill narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't mean to raise that vampire. That's the god honest truth." I inhaled sharply before looking Bill dead in the eye. "I never...I never meant for any of this to happen."

"What are you?" Bill's stare hardened. "Only dark magic could raise a vampire before they've completely turned. What are you?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't." I shrugged. "One day I was a normal human girl, and the next, I had this...power inside of me."

"You're a witch." He accused.

"She's not." Godric was the one to speak. "I've encountered many witches over my long life, and Savannah is not one of them. There is a magic inside of her, but it's different than anything I've ever seen before."

"Then what are you?" Bill was growing agitated. "You called upon dark magic in the cemetery. You're a threat to our kind. You need to be executed."

"For a crime I never knew I even committed? I don't know what I did. I really don't. One minute I was walking by the cemetery, and the next, I was standing over that unmarked grave. I didn't know it was a vampire that was buried there."

"Lies."

"Oh shut the fuck up and listen to her." Eric growled, baring his fangs at Bill. "Before I beat you to a bloody pulp and use your bones as dental floss."

Bill gritted his teeth but he kept quiet.

"Go on, Savannah." Godric nodded for me to continue.

"All I know is that six months ago, something happened. I don't know what exactly happened, god knows I wished I did, but something inside of me was unlocked and I started to be able to do things."

"Like what?" Bill asked snappily.

"Bill..."

"I had this power inside of me. It was like crawling beneath my skin until I met Godric. And then it was just constantly there." I wrapped my arms around myself, a chill beginning to rise in the room as I thought back to the last few months. So much had happened that it was hard to believe that it had only been a handful of months since I had first met Eric, since we had first kissed and my problems all began. "Then one day I was just walking past a cemetery and something weird happened. Something was pulling at me, tugging at my conscious. And then I was just moving without having any control of my body. Just like that night when I accidentally raised that vampire. It was almost like I had just blacked out those few quick minutes."

I felt all of their stares focused on me almost too intently and I fidgeted uncomfortably. I remembered back to that first day I was tugged into the cemetery, when those voices had attacked me, had been screaming at me for help. To this day I still didn't completely understand what they wanted from me, but what Eric had found the other night had helped. If what we had found out was true, then the dead I was hearing, that were pleading for me to help them, that part of their soul was still left in their body. Maybe they were calling out to me to release what still remained inside of them. Maybe they couldn't be put to rest until that last remaining piece of their soul was guided over to the other side. I wasn't sure how I could do so though; I wasn't a medium, I couldn't communicate back to them.

"Savannah?" Eric spoke, breaking me out of my thoughts with a frown settled on his lips.

"Sorry." I shook my head. "Was just lost in thought."

"It's alright." Godric offered a small smile. "Take your time, my love."

I forced on a smile in return before nodding and continuing. "I feel this rush of power whenever I'm near a cemetery. It's like I said, I just black out. I don't have any control of my own body, almost like someone had glamoured me. And when I do come to, things just happen."

"What things?" Bill demanded to know.

"I hear them usually. And see things most of the time. Mostly the last few moments of their lives. Some are pretty horrifying." My hands trembled as I remembered the visions I had been forced to see. That little boy being shot, women being brutally beaten. And then there were the others that died of sickness, from childbirth, from rotten bad luck. No matter the cause though, each death I had witnessed, it had the same lasting effect. There were still nights I had nightmares. There were still days I found my thoughts drifting to those that had died long ago. It had almost been a blessing to focus on Godric and persuading him to not meet the sun, as it meant I didn't have to think about those horrific images.

"You're a medium?" Bill wondered with furrowed eyebrows.

"Eric and Godric don't seem to think so." I shook my head. "I can't communicate with them, not really."

"But your power, it calls upon the dead." His frown deepened. "It called on that vampire, raised him before his time. That's a very dangerous power, one that I cannot just let..."

"Think very carefully before you finish that sentence, Bill." Eric stepped forward, Godric having to raise a hand to keep him in place.

"She's a threat to our kind. She cannot control this power of hers. She could destroy us all if she wanted to."

"But why would I want to?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Why would I want to kill off the vampire race? And even if I did want to, which I don't, I don't think I have that kind of power."

"You don't understand what's inside of you at all, do you?" Bill looked over me with a shake of his head. "It's dark. I can feel it. Your scent litters the air; it's filled with dark magic. It's nearly suffocating. I don't understand how they can stand to be in your presence. I can feel the power inside of you, and if you so desired, you could destroy us all."

"But I don't want that." I tried to make him understand. "I don't want this power. I don't want any of this. This just happened to me. I had dreams, you know. I had a plan. I was going to be a journalist. I was going to live in New York and have this grand life. But I can't now because god even knows what I am. I never asked for any of this. It just happened and I can't do a damn thing about it."

I felt tears forming in my eyes and I had to look away, my hair falling like a waterfall in front of my face to hide my rising emotions. I hadn't wanted any of this. Sure, this power had brought me both Eric and Godric, and for that I would be grateful. But what about everything else? What about my dreams, the plans I had set since I was eleven? I didn't want to live the rest of my life not knowing what I was or what I could do. I didn't want this power inside of me, cursing through my veins day in and day out for the rest of my life. I just couldn't.

But I didn't have a choice. This was what had been given to me. And I couldn't do a thing about it besides accepting myself for who I was, for whatever it is that I am. I didn't want to hate myself. That wasn't the life I wanted to live. I would have to make this work in whatever way I possibly could.

And right now, I was just trying to keep myself alive. Being executed didn't sound like an appealing idea.

Maybe it was the sight of my tears that began to change Bill's mind about me, but whatever it was, as I risked a glance through my strands of hair to the vampire, I was surprised to see a flicker of change in those once cold blue eyes. Maybe he realized that a monster who wanted to destroy the whole vampire race wouldn't end up crying or wishing that she was anything but a freak. It didn't matter to me what was beginning to change his mind, it just mattered that he was.

"And you have no idea what she may be?" Bill looked between Eric and Godric.

"We've sought out answers for months, but we've discovered nothing." Godric shook his head.

Bill looked thoughtfully down to the ground, as if trying to decide what to believe.

"Answer me this, Bill, how exactly did you discover it was Savannah who was the one who raised the vampire?" Eric questioned.

"I questioned the groundskeeper of the cemetery. He had watched Savannah enter the cemetery. He also watched you rip the hands off of the maddened vampire." Bill lifted his gaze to glare at Eric.

"That's my fault, I'm afraid." I admitted with reddened cheeks. "The vampire attacked me and I was hysterical. It was the only thing Eric could do to free me."

"Is this true?" Bill asked through narrowed eyes.

"Would I lie to you, my majesty?" Eric smirked down at the brunette.

"Yes."

"Well I can't deny that." Eric snickered.

"So does this mean you're not going to execute me?" I wondered hopefully. I didn't want to die. Not at least until I found out what I was. I couldn't simply not know. That would forever haunt me, even in my afterlife.

Bill sighed but shook his head, running a hand through his dark hair. "I may have...overreacted."

"You may have?" Eric snorted with an eye roll.

Bill shot him a dirty look.

"Well this was boring." Pam shook her head while picking at her nails. "I was hoping for a fight."

"Not tonight, Pam."

"What a shame."

"Why were you so dead set on executing my human tonight, Bill?" Eric questioned after we had all settled, minus Pam, in his office.

I was seated next to Godric on the couch, my form curled up against his comfortably. I hadn't been sure at first, if it would have been acceptable to show Godric any affection in front of Bill. He didn't know about our arrangements, and as he had nearly killed me tonight, I wasn't sure if we wanted him to know. But Eric had nodded at us, giving us the ok, and I didn't hesitate to take advantage of it. Bill sat in one of the empty seats on one side of the desk while Eric sat in his leather chair, his hands clasped together.

"A coven of witches have begun to form here in Shreveport." A dark look crossed Bill's expression.

"Oh no, witches." Eric rolled his eyes.

"I had assumed Savannah had been one of their members and was using dark magic to summon vampires from the grave to control them." Bill sent me a sheepish look. "I see now that I was wrong. I apologize for my behaviour."

"It's alright." I shrugged, offering the vampire a small smile. I understood why he had been so concerned, and I couldn't necessarily fault him for his actions. All of a sudden, this strange girl pops up and begins to raise vampires (albeit, it was only one) from their graves. If I were a vampire, I would be worried too. Hell, even I was scared over what I might be. And anyways, I've spent enough time around vampires now to know that they didn't act rationally when emotionally charged. I don't even think Eric acted rationally ever.

"I, on the other hand, don't forgive you for your blatant lack of respect." Eric replied coldly. "You seemed to quite enjoy attack my human, Bill."

"Eric, don't be a jerk." I sent him a pointed look. "Bill was just doing his job. If you had discovered dark magic here in Shreveport, and if it hadn't of been me, wouldn't you have been concerned too?"

"But it was you." He pointed out moodily with a frown.

"Yes, but if it was a witch, like Bill first assumed, then you would have been worried."

He grumbled under his breath in another language, though glancing at Godric's frowning face, I knew he understood his progeny perfectly.

"Anyways," Godric moved the conversation along, looking between both Eric and I as if to silently scold us. My cheeks burned as I looked down at my fidgeting hands in my lap. "These witches, have they given you a reason to worry?"

"Not yet." Bill shook his head. "I've had them monitored closely, but they're nothing more than a group of wiccans playing with magic."

"So then why were you concerned in the first place?" Godric wondered.

"You know where witchcraft can lead." Bill reminded him. "You more than anyone Godric. You've lived for two thousand years. You know what witches can do."

"Yes, I do. But it takes a great deal of power for a witch to control a vampire."

"That's not even witchcraft, its necromancy." Eric gave his two cents worth.

"Necromancy is a form of witchcraft, Eric. The right spell and..." Bill trailed off, a look of worry crossing his face.

"Necromancy?" I asked softly, looking up at the three vampires. "I don't mean to be the idiotic one here, but what is that exactly?"

"Necromancy is a very old form of dark magic able to call upon and manipulate the deceased." Godric explained. "It's a forbidden art among the supernatural community, and has been for years."

"So it's a form of magic then."

"In some cases." Eric spoke. "But there have been those that had the natural talent of necromancy in their blood."

"But they were all executed centuries ago." Bill frowned.

"Why?" I wondered.

"They can manipulate the dead, Savannah." Godric looked down at me seriously. "And we're the dead."

"You're not entirely dead though." My eyebrows furrowed, trying to understand what Godric was telling me. "I mean, you're the undead. You have some sort of magic inside of you that lets you live."

"Yes, but we're still corpses walking around the living."

"So then these necromancers, they could control vampires?" the moment I met Godric's eyes, I knew the answer. "Alright, so I can see why they might be dangerous. You're supposed to be one of the most powerful beings in the world. You wouldn't want someone walking around that could just suddenly control you."

"Which is why we must ensure that these witches don't increase in number and power." Bill looked between Eric and Godric seriously. "They may only be practicing a new religion now, but one day, they will dig deeper into their magic and seek out power. And when that day comes, I fear for us all."

"You're too much of a worrier." Eric snorted. "These wiccans, what can they possibly do to us?"

"Witches can be very powerful, my child." Godric's voice was strained, and as I gazed at his face, there was a faraway look in those sea coloured orbs, almost as if he was remembering a time in the past. "And convening with other witches usually will turn to greed for more power."

"We should take care of them while we still have the upper hand." Bill suggested.

"Like you wanted to execute my human?" Eric didn't look impressed at Bill's impulsive behaviour, which was a bit hypocritical of the former Viking considering his history.

"I apologized for doing such." Bill sighed in annoyance. "I overreacted; I was worried that these witches had already risen in power."

"Bill's right, I'm afraid." Godric's statement caused Eric to nearly fall right out of his chair. His jaw clenched as he sat forward, his eyes narrowing as he glared at his maker.

"You're agreeing with him."

"I'm surprised that you're not." Godric tilted his head to the side. "These witches can be dangerous."

"I'm surprised that you're agreeing to execute a group of people that may be innocent for all we know." Eric frowned.

"I agree that may be a bit...extreme. But I do think we need to monitor these witches closely to ensure this doesn't happen." Godric sighed. "I don't want any bloodshed that isn't needed. I've lived for too long to want another war on my hands. But I understand that times are changing. And I don't wish for anyone that I care about to be put in harm's way because we were careless."

"I think Godric's right." I voiced, earning a dark glare from the Viking. Since when did he become the level headed one? "I don't think you should barge in there and kill each and every one of them for no reason. Maybe we shouldn't even take a trip back to the 17th century and start burning witches at the stake. But if they do become dangerous, then something needs to be done."

"Unbelievable." Eric grunted with a shake of his head.

"I don't want anything to happen to you or Godric, Eric. I..." I shot Bill a quick glance before continuing. "I love both of you and I really don't want to have either of you end up dead because a few witches were power hunger."

"We don't even know this will happen." his voice began to rise.

"Perhaps we'll be lucky. Perhaps these witches won't pose a threat." Godric's arm tightened around me as he sent Eric a sad expression. "But I've learned over my years that everyone, even humans, are greedy for power."

"I'll have my men continue to monitor their coven meetings." Bill decided, eyeing Eric out the corner of his eye as if he was afraid he would just leap across the desk. He didn't, but I wouldn't have put it passed Eric to do something like that when he wasn't getting his way. I didn't understand why Eric suddenly was being all righteous. Eric could be bloodthirsty when he wanted to be, I had seen a small part of that tonight when he attacked those guards in favour of me. And I knew it could get much worse. He had been a Viking in his human years; violence was usually his answer for everything. So why was this time so different? Why was Eric being so unusual?

"I think I should take my leave." Bill stood, his gaze falling on me once again. "I cannot express how sorry I truly am. I see now that I was mistaken. You may have a great deal of power inside of you, but Eric and Godric are correct; you're only an innocent girl. I hope you can forgive me."

"You're already forgiven." I assured him, though I found there was still something bothering me about Bill Compton. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I still didn't trust him, not entirely anyways.

"Eric. Godric." Bill nodded at the two before taking his leave.

I waited patiently as Bill left the office, giving him enough time to leave the premise before I raised an eyebrow at the silently raging blonde.

"What's stuck up your ass?" I questioned. "You're usually the kind to take action first and ask questions later."

"You are both idiots." He snapped, his form rising out of his chair.

"My son?" Godric frowned. "What's this about?"

"Why don't you just hand her over already; you're already sighing off on her death." Eric's hands curled into fists as he glared across the room at Godric. I looked between the two vampires worriedly, hoping our new arrangement wasn't already going to blow up in my face. "You're sending Bill right back to her."

"Eric, I don't understand what you're..."

"Don't you get it?" Eric flashed around his desk before beginning to pace the length of the room.

"Get what, Eric?" I began chewing on my bottom lip nervously.

"I can't believe I never saw it before. There it was, just staring us right in the face." Eric shook his head, his pacing picking up speed and soon I was growing dizzy from trying to keep up with him.

"Eric, you're starting to worry me." I settled on staring at Godric's face, gauging his reaction to his progeny's sudden erratic behaviour.

"Eric, calm down and just tell us what you want to say." Godric's frown deepened. "Eric, I command you to stop."

Eric came to a sudden halt, and I let my gaze fall back on his still form. He twisted towards us, his deep blue orbs boring right into me. "I know what you are."

"What?" My eyes grew wide in shock. "But how? What do you mean you know what I am? None of us had a clue five minutes ago."

"Don't you see?" His gaze moved to Godric. "You told us everything we needed to know about Savannah tonight."

Godric didn't seem to understand what he was talking about either.

"Think!" Eric exclaimed in frustration. "She can hear the dead. She can communicate with them. She raised that vampire from its grave a night before it should have even been possible. You and I have both felt her power, and that is anything but normal magic."

Realization dawned on Godric's face, though I was still in the dark.

"It's impossible, Eric. They were wiped from existence."

"Were they?" Eric pressed. "How can anyone be sure?"

"You cannot honestly be telling me you think Savannah is a..." Godric looked at me through calculated orbs. "She can't be."

"She could control us, Godric. Just last night she was able to control us against our will."

"But Savannah...it's not possible." Godric shook his head.

"I know you know it's true. I can see it in your eyes." Eric stepped forward. "You know I'm right."

"Can we please fill me in on what's going on?" I tried to grab their attention. But it was as if I was invisible.

"I had my suspicions but I didn't want to believe it." Godric's arm fell from around me as his eyebrows knitted together. His gaze fell on me, his eyes sweeping over every inch of me. I felt nervous and worried as his eyes stopped on my beating heart. It leapt to attention as I felt both vampires watching me in very different ways. Eric looked like he had just discovered the greatest mystery of life, and Godric...well I couldn't read the expression on Godric's face.

"You're both freaking me out right now." I whispered. "Please tell me what you're talking about."

"We know what you are, Savannah." Eric was the one to do the honours.

"W-what am I then?" I held my breath, waiting for the answer I had been seeking for months now.

"You're a necromancer."

A/N: And we finally find out what she is! Savannah is a necromancer. a giant cookie to whoever guessed correctly! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's been reading this fic up to this point. you all rock and I hope you continue to read. Because we're embarking on the Season 4 plot lines now (if you haven't seen season 4, I'm sorry for whatever spoilers there may be...it will be altered to fit my little true blood world here, but I will be using elements from the season)