AN: Enjoy this chapter! Happy Reading! :)
Chapter 9
EPOV
We pull before Sookie's farmhouse and I glance over to her, wondering once more why the hell it took me so long to see what had apparently been so clear to everyone else for some time now. A small frown forms then, realizing I'll soon lose this close connection I feel with Sookie as well as my Maker once I leave for the bar and I'm not quite sure I'm ready to let go just yet.
"You alright, Eric?" Sookie questions softly, placing her delicate hand on my arm as I nod to her.
"Yeah, walk you to your door?" I ask, watching a bright smile stretch over her beautiful face as she nods her agreement. I reach back to take hold of Sookie's bag, deciding it best to carry her rather miniscule luggage for her.
"Such a gentleman," she teases, bringing a light chuckle from me as I lead her up the steps of her front porch. I can certainly appreciate her sense of humor, finding it to be rather refreshing.
"Of course, Lover," I assure her, pulling her tightly into my embrace before breathing in her intoxicating scent that I could swear holds a tinge of Godric's own comforting scent now.
"Call me tomorrow, Viking?" she questions softly, tracing her fingertips over my back to bring a pleasured purr from me as I nod to her.
"Consider it done, Lover," I tell her, reaching up to cup her face into my hands. A fond smile comes to my lips watching her blue eyes flutter closed in anticipation before I capture her sweet lips with my own.
Sookie hums softly against my lips before reaching up to twine her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck and what started as a chaste, goodnight kiss suddenly becomes heated between us, our tongues twining against one another as the sweet scent of my fey's arousal wafts up around us.
"No freaking way!" is screeched out excitedly as Sookie pulls from our kiss and we both turn to take in the exuberant face of Pamela's current pet as she beams at the two of us.
"Ames," Sookie chastises softly, a pink blush crawling up her cheeks as Amelia's grin widens. "You're kind of interrupting a private moment here."
"It's alright, Lover," I assure her, tucking a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. "If I stay much longer, it's likely I'll never make it to the bar tonight," I explain as she gives me a coy smile, nodding to me. "Goodnight, Lover, I shall call you tomorrow evening."
"'Night, Eric," she says softly, rising on her tip toes to press a soft kiss to the cleft of my chin, an action that manages to elicit excited squeals from her rather obnoxious roommate. Sookie shakes her head, rolling her eyes at her witch friend before we wave goodbye and I make my way to my car once more.
A smirk comes to my lips hearing the two women argue quietly about adequate privacy protocol and I leave them to their soft bickering as I speed off through the night, apparently needing to attend a meeting of sorts. I briefly wonder if Pam's current pet may truly be able to concoct a spell or potion capable of bringing my Maker back to me and quickly shake off those thoughts realizing this will likely be the first of many attempts to bring Godric back to himself once more.
I make it to my bar, parking the corvette in its rightful parking space before marching through the backdoor, only to run abruptly into my child, whose apparently been waiting on me. Her nostrils flair subtly before a knowing smirk pulls at her crimson stained lips and I smirk back at her, nodding to her probable mental assessment.
"About fucking time," she quips before her features turn stoic. "Your guests are in your office, Master. They refused to leave without speaking to you directly," she informs me as I feel her annoyance laced with just a hint of fear. I raise a questioning brow to her before we're headed back to my office together.
We come to my office door and my fangs shoot down in ire discerning the scents of weres, who apparently have a predilection for using V. Pam nods her agreement with my anger as I fling open the door to be presented with several cloak encased woman, all casually lounging around my office. What the ever loving fuck is this all about?
"Ah, Mr. Northman," sounds one of the cloaked figures, drawing back her cloth hood to reveal a rather plain, smirking face.
"I'm the Northman," I concede, heading to my desk with my child as Pamela sneers openly at the collected group. "And V users are strictly prohibited from these premises," I inform her, leaning back against my desk and crossing my arms across my chest as the homely woman gives me a smug grin.
"Yes, well, we aren't known for playing by the rules, are we ladies?" she questions as the group proceeds to snicker softly. I subtly cringe at the eerie laughter that I swear I can feel tingling along my skin before scowling at the apparent leader.
"I'm in no mood for dealing with V using were bitches so just spit out whatever it is you have to say and get the fuck out of my bar," I challenge as the head were bitch's grin widens.
"My name is Hallow Stonebrook and this, Mr. Northman," she says, waiving her arm over the cloaked figures. "This is my coven. We've come to Bon Temps intent on taking over the local businesses, including your little bar here and if you're smart, you'll agree to the terms we're willing to offer," she informs me as my jaw ticks in irritation.
"If you know anything about me, you know I heal to no one, witches or no," I retort as she shrugs dismissively.
"You're welcome to fight against us, though I must warn you, any such attempt will be most futile," she purrs out confidently. My anger with this woman is steadily building and it takes Pam patting my arm whilst shaking her head subtly to remind me attacking such magic wielding foes could prove quite devastating to a member of our kind.
"State your terms," I demand of the grinning witch who nods approvingly.
"Fifty percent of your bar's profits are all we ask," she informs me as I break out into barking laughter.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me, there's no way in hell I'll agree to such a ridiculous amount," I inform her, shaking my head at the very audacity of her. If I paid them that much, I wouldn't even make my monthly quota to Louisiana's queen and there's no way I want that crazy bitch on my ass.
"Know that if you do not meet our demands, we will not hesitate to make life quite difficult for you, Mr. Northman. It would certainly be a shame if the whole of your liquor supply were to spoil and if your patrons were to succumb to mysterious falls leading to nasty lawsuits against you and your bar," she threatens with a raised brow as my fists clench tightly in ire.
"Bitch," I spit out, earning a delighted cackle from the coven's leader.
"I'll return in one week's time for your answer, Mr. Northman, I certainly do hope you come to realize this is a rather reasonable request," are Hallow's parting words before her and her little cloaked clan of crazies are trailing from my office.
"What the fuck is going on in this fucking town?" I whisper, shaking my head as the last of the coven disappears from sight. "First a goddamn maenad demanding tribute, now these fucking witches demanding payment from me, do I have fucking 'ATM' tattooed across my goddamn forehead?" I grumble out irritably, before plopping down to my desk chair with a defeated sigh.
"Must be something in the swamp water," Pam retorts coolly. "But I swear, if one more fucking thing goes wrong this week, I'm leaving your ass and returning to Paris," she informs me with a smirk.
"Admit it, you'd miss me if you left," I tease as she shrugs whilst pushing her love through the bond. "So tell me, my child, has Castillo made her departure yet?" I question somewhat hesitantly, recalling her vicious attack on my Sookie.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? I left the fucking bull for her, didn't I?" she cries out irritably as my head falls back in defeat, not needing any more craziness added to this clusterfuck of a week.
"Just find out, Pam," I demand of her, earning an angry scowl from my child before she's stomping from my office. "Oh, and Pamela," I call out after her, seeing her annoyed face poke back through the doorway. "Before I forget, thank you for bestowing my lover with such thoughtful gifts," I tell her, bringing a wide, knowing grin from my child before she disappears once more.
I sigh once more, hardly believing my run of bad luck these past few days. We've got an insane maenad, who's likely still roaming the surrounding woods causing Odin knows what kind of trouble on top of being left with trying to find a way to bring my Maker back to me once more. Add to that these crazy, magic wielding weres who are trying to run me out of business. Fucking hell, maybe Pam's right, if one more thing happens this week, I very well might talk Sookie into jumping ship with me right along with my child.
SPOV
"Seriously, Ames, rude," I chastise my still giggling roommate as she continues to relentlessly harass me for details about my trip, more specifically the saucy details. Ugh. "I don't ask what goes on between you and Pam," I remind her, lifting a challenging brow at her as a devious grin stretches over her face.
"Oh, I'd gladly tell you," she starts excitedly as I let out a frustrated sigh. "Did I ever tell you about this thing she can do with her tongue?" she teases as I plop down to the living room sofa, rolling my eyes at her. Yeah, really should have seen that one coming.
"Oh, and the little underwear prank? So not funny," I add, eliciting delighted giggling from my witchy bestie as she collapses beside me on the couch, plopping her head onto my lap and looking up to me with a wide grin.
"But it worked, didn't it?" she teases and my lips lift to a small smirk despite myself, recalling I didn't need the help at all. I just shrug to her before a frown pulls at my lips, recalling we have some serious business yet to discuss tonight. "What's wrong, Sook?" Amelia questions, apparently noticing my sudden change in mood.
"Well, I kinda need your help with something," I start hesitantly, not sure how on earth to explain what happened in that backyard in Dallas. "Do you know anything about souls, or more specifically, how to transfer them into their rightful bodies?"
"Just what the fuck were you all doing in Dallas? Raising freaking zombies?" she asks disbelievingly as I let out a loud sigh, plopping my head against the back of the couch. God, how am I supposed to explain this? I guess the truth, no matter how insane it might sound, is likely my best option.
"Alright, so we went to Dallas to save Eric's Maker, Godric, from the Fellowship of the Church," I start as she nods knowingly. "So I was able to free him, but turns out, he…well, he wanted to be there, Ames. He was ready to die," I admit softly as an image of Godric's serene face floats to the forefront of my mind.
"Oh my, God," Amelia whispers, shaking her head in disbelief. "So what did you guys do?" she asks softly, her eyes shining in concern.
"We tried to stop him, Ames, we really did, but," I start as my eyes are welling up with tears. "But it was too late, he met the sun yesterday morning, Ames, and I watched the whole thing. God, it was just awful," I recall tearfully as my friend pulls me into her embrace, letting me cry against her shoulder.
"Baby girl, if Godric met the sun, there's no helping him. He's gone now," she whispers as I shake my head fervently, brushing away my tears as I meet her startled face.
"No, that's just it, he should be gone, but for whatever reason, I somehow managed to, I don't know, like, absorb his essence, his sprit, soul, whatever, but it's inside me now, Ames. I'm carrying around his life force and Eric confirmed as much, saying he can feel him through me," I explain as her jaw drops in shock.
"Holy shit," she whispers, looking me over in puzzlement, as if searching for some sign of this extra carry on I've managed to attain.
"So do you have anything, or know of some kind of spell or something that could bring him back?" I question eagerly as her face sets in deep concentration before she shrugs to me.
"I'm not really sure, I mean, I try and stay out of the whole soul…business," she says cautiously as I tilt my head in puzzlement. "It entails some pretty dark magic, Sook, I don't need that kind of karma coming back to bite me on the ass," she says with a small frown as I drop my head to my hands in defeat.
"Shit," I whisper, wondering where to go from here, because I'm far from finished. I told Eric we would Godric back and I meant it.
"I could ask around," Amelia offers as I look up to see her sympathetic smile. "We're right next to the Supernatural capital of the world, Sook, someone is bound to know something," she encourages as I nod to her, a grateful smile pulling at my lips.
"Yeah, you're right," I tell her, reaching out to pull her into a tight hug.
"We'll figure this out, I promise," she whispers and I know without a doubt she'll be just as diligent in this as Eric and I. "What the fuck?" she cries out then as a loud booming sounds from just outside the house. We both jump up from the sofa and I automatically march to the hallway closet to pull out my shotgun, figuring it's better to be safe than sorry.
"I thought you had wards up on this place," I tell Amelia as she nods firmly.
"Hell yes I do," she assures me. "I just strengthened them too." My heart is racing then as thoughts of clawed maenads are dancing in my head and the two of us proceed to the front door cautiously before we're glancing out over the dimly lit lawn.
"I don't see anything," I whisper, double checking for shells before I carefully push open the front door, glancing all around as I lift the large gun to my shoulder, intent on filling any unlucky intruders full of silver buck shot. I motion for Amelia to stay back before I creep down the porch steps, looking out for whatever could have caused such a loud racket this late at night.
"It's probably just coons," Amelia whispers through the screen door as I trail to the side of the house, hoping she's right even as I'm unwilling to assume as much. I've ran into many a coon in my day and none have ever made sounds even close to what we just heard.
"What the-," I whisper, seeing all our trash cans scattered over the side yard, looking as if a mini bomb went off at the side of the house. "Who's there?" I call out, feeling very much like the heroine in some cheesy horror flick.
When I receive no answer in return, I begin kicking through the strewn trash, wondering what the hell I'm apt to find before my breath catches in my throat. No fucking way. I drop down to my knees, seeing a motionless body sprawled out among the debris and know instantly who it is as I'd be able to recognize those distinctive tattoos anywhere.
"Godric?" I whisper, reaching out towards the motionless, silent body as an icy chill runs down my spine. Why isn't he moving? And how the hell is he here? I finally place my hand upon his cool back and am left gasping for breath as a rushing wave washes over me, alighting my every nerve ending. The sensation finally settles and my head falls forward as I'm left gulping down huge lungfuls of cool, night air whilst trying to figure out just what the hell is going on around here.
"Chloe?" is whispered softly then and I whip my head towards the previously motionless vampire to meet Godric's very alive, very ecstatic face as he breaks out into joyous laughter just before jumping into my arms. I have to drop the shotgun and can't help the snicker that leaves me as Godric proceeds to squeeze me into a breath stealing hug, rubbing his face over every inch of exposed skin as he proceeds to scent me deeply.
"Godric, are you alright?" I question, reaching up to cup his grinning face as he nods vehemently.
"What the ever loving fuck is going on out here?" Amelia questions, staring down to the two of us in shock as Godric's fangs shoot down and he proceeds to hiss viciously at my roommate. Amelia jumps back, her eyes bulging from her head as I take firm hold of Godric's arm.
"Godric! No! She's my friend, it's okay!" I assure him as he continues to glare at Amelia, a low growling sounding from his throat as Amelia looks to me in shock.
"That's Eric's Maker?" she questions disbelievingly as Godric proceeds to wrap his limbs around me tightly, apparently having no intention of letting me go anywhere anytime soon.
"Yeah, it's him," I assure her, looking to the vampire who certainly looks like Godric, though he's so caked in dirt, mud and what I quickly realize must be dried blood, I wouldn't know it were it not for his telling tattoos.
"Well how the hell is he here?" Amelia questions, staring down at Godric somewhat nervously as I shrug to her.
"Hell if I know, but I suppose we won't need to search for that spell anymore," I joke as she nods lightly, a small frown on her face before I look to Godric's elated, mud and blood covered face.
"It's good to have you back," I whisper, feeling that same comforting familiarity washing over me in his presence. I don't know why he's here and I still have no idea why I feel so connected to him, but now that he's returned, I'm sure all my questions will be answered soon enough.
AN: Yay! Goddy is back! Somehow...lol! :)