Title: Because He Lied

Author: Devlyne (Originally posted as BelleAngeli)

Published: 07-20-10 (Re-Posted 9/3/2015)

Disclaimer: I don't own them

A/N: Re-Post of the 3rd Part, Because He Lied. Godric. Still not dead. And while I'm at it, let me tell you about this river I know of, in Egypt.

Part 3: Because He Lied

Eternity.

He had promised an eternity of family, of friendship and brotherhood. One decade had dwindled into two then into three until one century bled past into the next. Eternity stretched out between them until the line between one and the other blurred. In Eric's mind they had long ago ceased to be separate beings.. It reminded him of a story that Godric had once told him of a God named Janus gifted with the sight of the future and the knowledge of the past. Eric had always been future to Godric's extensive past. In that one moment years of faith and love had yanked away leaving only a gaping hole which Eric could not fill. He had lost a part of himself on the roof that morning.

Eric appreciated Sookie's comfort, but even that small yield to him would not fill the gap left in his life. Her fingertips had left warm trails across his cheeks but once the warmth was gone only an unbearable cold remained. Nothing physical would take that away now and Eric was not even certain that time could ease it. Godric had promised him eternity but had left him to see it on his own. This human he so coveted with her warm caresses and her tender, caring nature would pass into oblivion in the mere blink of his eye. Time was so short and so long to those who did not die; one more loss to remember, one more face to forget and a lonely eternity stretching out before him.

Pam had been all too good about the news of Godric's passing. She had been both helpful and consoling, giving space to her Maker; her friend. Had he promised her eternity as Godric had promised him? Eric had searched his memory over and again, but could not recall his exact words to her. Perhaps he had made that promise and Eric always kept his promises. He wondered, in these reflections, if Pam mourned for Godric the way he did; maybe not in intensity, but with any small part of herself. In the end, Eric did not have the courage to ask. He did not want to know preferring to believe that she did.

It had been these reflections which had brought him to his current state of irritation. Bill Compton was the most disrespectful creature that Eric had the displeasure to run across in well over a thousand years. Again and again the man intruded upon his reflections of that last evening with Godric. There had been fire in Bill's eyes as he'd landed that one allowed punch. The way he had moved to block Eric from going after his Maker, had not seemed to care what Godric intended. Perhaps if he had had those few precious moments that Bill had taken from him, Eric could have found the words to talk Godric down. It was futile to be grasping at straws like this, but part of him gave in to the scrabbling claws of doubt.

It had planted a seed in Eric's brain. He found himself re-reading files about Bill Compton and his association with Sophie Anne. It was all above board and boring considering it was the life of a man who made Louis and Lestat look almost normal. Perhaps he could 'dig up' this Louis and send him to Vampires Anonymous meetings with Bill. Maybe they would walk into the sun together and he would be rid of the tiresome nuisance. Lestat, had he been real, would no doubt have thanked him for the effort. A flip of the page, turning to the next in Bill's file, reading the neat script; these days most of the files were online, but there was something about owning a hard copy that was refreshing.

Here it was in black and white, signed by Bill Compton's hand. A loose strand of his ever lengthening hair pushed back as eyes flickered across page after page. There was one thing that Eric was certain of; Bill Compton had lied. Even at its base, no vampire's existence could be quite this mundane. True, he had been on that killing spree with Lorena for a hundred years or so, but after that, to just...give it all up? Forty years with Sophie Anne as a procurer, and then he had taken a sabbatical to Bon Temps, Louisiana? No, there was something more, something that was not here before him on these pages. Something Eric could not quite put his finger on. After all, what Queen in her right mind would allow her best procurer to take a sabbatical?

Procurer; unless, the Queen was intending to get something beyond her reach. It was not a far leap. Bill had moved awfully fast on that human of his. Sookie, his mind reminded him sharply. And then there was Bill's continued reluctance to put her 'talent' to good use. His continued reluctance for it to get out that Sookie was a telepath and something more than human. Eric did not know for sure and could not at the moment produce evidence enough to voice these suspicions. And for that matter, who would he voice them to? It seemed his Queen had overstepped him in this matter if she had indeed sent Bill Compton into his domain.

One thing was certain, Bill Compton constituted a threat. Threats must be dealt with immediately, with no remorse, no falter. Sookie. Therein lay the rub. Sookie Stackhouse was a valuable commodity. Person. You like her. He did not like humans. Wasn't that what he'd told Isabel in Dallas? That was before she had stepped forward to help him fill that gaping hole in his chest. Before she'd stood by Godric in his final moments. You owe her. He owed her. He owed her for staying by Godric and for staying by him. He owed her for being the embodiment of Godric's last lesson to him. Godric had promised him eternity and had left him, but there were tokens he had left behind. Bill Compton was a threat to Godric's legacy.

Because as certain as Eric was of ever so many things. And as uncertain as he was of ever so many more. He was sure of one thing. Bill Compton was going to do harm to Sookie Stackhouse; emotionally, perhaps physically.

Because he lied.