Chapter Seven:
Three years later
"It's almost Christmas."
Eric raised an eyebrow as he gazed across the living room to where Mackenzie was curled up on the couch. Eric sat in his usual plush chair, his leg crossed as he worked through the paperwork that seemed to constantly come with the many companies he had owned throughout the years. It had only been recently that he had left the guarded room of his office, seeking out quality time with his surrogate daughter. Though Eric would throttle any living, or dead, soul that dared to call her such.
"I've been made aware." Eric answered dryly, glaring around at the Christmas decorations Mackenzie had thrown up during the day. "Did you happen to miss a spot?"
"Made sure not to." The fourteen-year-old girl grinned from ear to ear.
Eric rolled his eyes as he closed his folder, setting his work down onto the coffee table and focusing on the blonde. "Karen's already talked with me about you joining her family for Christmas dinner, and I've already agreed."
"That's great, but that's not what I wanted to talk about." Mackenzie tucked her legs underneath her as she began nervously fidgeting with the book in her hand. She chewed on her bottom lip and Eric immediately grew worried.
"What?" he questioned skeptically. "What this time?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing." She laughed softly, though as her eyes darted from her book up to him, Eric's worry didn't lessen even a bit.
"Mackenzie." He crossed his arms as he sent her a pointed look. He had dreaded the moment she hit her teen years. From Pam's horror stories, teenagers were the absolute worst. But Eric was pleasantly surprised with Mackenzie, not that he should have been. She was a model student at the top of her class, with a handful of friends he had made certain weren't troublemakers. She never snuck out, and stuck to most of the rules on a regular basis. She didn't party, she didn't drink, she hadn't even asked to get her ears pierced like all the other girls her age did. She was absolutely angelic.
Something Eric knew would eventually falter.
She couldn't be perfect all the time.
And he had a feeling that was about to change drastically.
After a sigh, and a hardened look being sent her way, Mackenzie set her book aside and turned her body completely towards Eric. "I want to go see Godric."
Eric was shocked by her request. Nearly three years had gone by since her twelfth birthday debacle, the one that left Mackenzie without one of the most important people in her life. Three years later and Eric had done his best to try and avoid the topic of his maker. He had lied left and right, doing everything he could not to utterly break her heart. He knew eventually he would have to come clean, if she didn't already know that Godric didn't look to be coming back into her life. Mackenzie wasn't an idiot. She was intelligent beyond her years. Eric wasn't sure whether to be proud, or be worried by that fact.
"I want to go see Godric." Mackenzie repeated with a bit more confidence. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she pushed forward. "It's been nearly three years and…well…I miss him."
"Mackenzie, we've talked about this." Eric racked his brain for a new lie, one that he hadn't already used before.
She frowned at his response. "It's been three years. Godric couldn't have been busy this entire time."
"He has been. I told you he was the Sheriff of his area just as I am here." He had been forced to tell her about the workings of the supernatural world; just enough to satisfy her constant questioning of this whole new world her brain was trying so desperately to understand.
"But it's been three years." She pointed out. "He never goes this long without visiting or even calling. He hasn't even called me. And you won't let me call him."
"He doesn't like to be bothered when he's busy."
"You're busy and yet you're here." She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, not buying his excuse. "It's Christmas. Godric always tries to spend Christmas with us, or we go there. Well, I want to go there."
"Mackenzie." Eric sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "No."
"Why not?" She prodded. "Why can't we? You say he's busy, but even he needs a break once in awhile. It's not like I'll get in the way. I'm never in the way here, am I?"
Eric raised an eyebrow but didn't answer the question. He didn't want to deal with an emotional teenager tonight. It was the only downside to the perfect teenager he thought he had been dealt with. Her emotions were a rollercoaster and he couldn't keep up with all the mood swings. They had all started a year ago when Mackenzie had rushed out of the bathroom one day, pale as a ghost and in tears. At the first whiff of blood, Eric had grown worried, but when she ran away from him embarrassed and in a fit of tears, it was Pam who came to the rescue. Ever since then, once a month she would be a devil to deal with.
Eric could have sworn it was only a few weeks ago that she was the moody girl he wanted to throttle.
"It's been three years. I turn fifteen in a month. I just want to see him."
"No." Eric shook his head.
"Why not?"
"Because I said so." Eric quickly collected his folder and stood to escape the argument he knew was coming.
"That's not an answer." She stood alongside him, her eyes narrowing as her hands planted firmly on her hips. It was startling how similar to Pam she was in that moment, with her bright blue eyes and golden blonde hair. They had noticed the subtle changes in Mackenzie over the last few years. She may not have been of their blood, but there was absolutely no denying that she was a Northman in appearance and attitude. She was a sweet little angel most of the time, but there was an underlying mischievous devil just waiting to pop out. "Tell me why."
"I'm the adult here, you're the child. You do as I say." He told her firmly. "And my answer is no. Now let it go Mackenzie."
"No." she childishly stomped her foot on the ground. "Why can't I go see Godric? Tell me why!"
"You don't want to get into this, Mackenzie." He warned her.
"I think I do." She threw back. "It's Christmas. It's been three years. I want to see him damn it!"
It took all the strength Eric could muster not to throw down his papers and wring the girl by the neck. His patience had been spread thin the moment Godric had disappeared out of their lives. He had always been the referee; the one either could go to to cool down, to talk things out with. He had always stood the middle ground, acting as neutral as possible as he calmed the situation down. But without Godric, their arguments escalated quickly, and it took everything Eric had not to let it turn violent.
"Mackenzie, please. Just do as I say. My final answer is no. You're going to spend Christmas vacation here. I don't want to hear about this again."
He turned his back to leave, hoping that she would just leave the matter at that. But he was frozen in place when Mackenzie retorted, his cold black heart melting.
"It's because he doesn't love me anymore, isn't it?" her voice was tiny, sounding much more like the five year old girl he remembered running around the house not too long ago.
Eric sighed heavily as he turned, this time settling his folder down so he could focus entirely on Mackenzie. Her arms had fallen to her side as her eyes grew wide with despair.
"That's it, isn't it?" she swallowed down a rising lump in her throat as she tried to blink away the threatening tears. "He really doesn't love me anymore. It's why he left and never came back, isn't it?"
"Fuck." He swore under his breath. He should have known Mackenzie would have come to her own conclusion sooner or later. He had just hoped it would be later, much much later. "Mackenzie…"
"Don't." She shook her head, rubbing at her eyes. "I mean I…I always suspected it. But I thought maybe you could have been right. Maybe he was just really busy and didn't have time to call or visit. But that was just stupid because he's always found time, no matter how busy he was. He always came to visit. He always called. He always wrote. He always went out of his way to show that he loved me. But…"
"Stop." Eric shook his head. "Just stop right there. You don't understand what you're talking about."
"I understand exactly what I'm talking about." She snapped furiously. "He just doesn't love me anymore."
"That's not it at all."
"It's because of what happened when I found out you were all vampires, isn't it? Because I was scared of you. H-he didn't love me anymore after that. That's it, isn't it?" a stray tear escaped, slipping down her cheek. She hurriedly tried to brush it away, but another took its place.
"Oh Mackenzie, you have absolutely no idea…"
Mackenzie just wouldn't listen to reason, however, her emotions taking over. "He hates me. That's got to be it. He hates that I was afraid of him. That's why he doesn't want to see me, why he doesn't ever call. He hates me."
Eric was surprised at how strongly he wanted to take the tearful girl into his arms and comfort. He had struggled with having her in his life for the past ten years, not sure whether to hate or love her, not sure to see her as a burden, or an absolute treasure. But in the last handful of years, the answer had begun to grow clearer, his affection for Mackenzie stronger than he ever thought possible. He wanted to protect her above and beyond all. He wanted to keep her out of harm's way, to keep her the innocent little girl he would forever see her as.
He wasn't supposed to be a father to anyone. He was a vampire. A thousand year old Viking vampire at that. He never wanted kids in his human life, and he hadn't wanted them in his undead life either. But then Mackenzie was tossed into his life, throwing his entire world upside down. And now he couldn't imagine a day without her there.
Well, perhaps a nice quiet evening would be nice. Just once in awhile.
"Godric doesn't hate you. Don't be so ridiculous." Eric ran a hand down his tired face. "Godric loves you. He always has and he forever will."
"So then why did he abandon me?" she didn't even attempt to wipe away the tears as they began multiplying, sliding down her cheeks one by one.
Eric crossed the room this time, unable to take watching her fall apart as she was. He cupped her cheeks, cradling her face in his hands as if she were as fragile and glass. And to him, to the monstrous vampire that he was, that's exactly what she was. She was just a human, just a little girl. One that desperately needed the comfort of a parent, of someone she loved to tell her everything she wanted to hear. And somehow, along the way, that person had become Eric.
"Listen to me, Mackenzie." He orbs searched hers until he grabbed her full attention. His thumbs brushed away the tears that he could every so often, sniffs sounded from the broken girl before him. "Godric loves you. He never left because he hated you. There's not a bone in his body that could possibly hate you. You know that, deep down inside."
"T-then why did he leave?" she really did appear to be the small little girl that would run to him, or rather Godric, whenever she had a nightmare or scraped her knee. She was growing up so fast, nearly an adult, and yet in his eyes, she was still his little girl.
His little girl.
When had he started thinking of her as his little girl?
"Why doesn't he love me anymore?"
Eric didn't know what to do. He wasn't equipped to deal with this. It had always been Godric she had run to, Godric who she sought out in a time of need. Even when he was in Dallas, she would call or write him with her troubles. But now without Godric here, Eric was the only one Mackenzie truly had in her life. He was the only permanent force that she could lean on. As difficult as it was, as uncomfortable as it made him feel, Eric knew he couldn't just shove her aside like every fiber of his being was telling him to do.
"Come here." He muttered, enveloping the teen in his long arms, curling them around her small form until his chin was rested on the top of her head. A muffled sob sounded as she dove her head into his soft shirt, her hands clutching onto the fabric as the tears racked her body. He didn't know what else to do other than hold her, other than caressing her long locks soothingly. He didn't utter a word, he didn't even attempt to move. They just stood there as the turmoil filtered through her body until there was nothing left.
When the sobs had turned into soft sniffs, her body growing still and her breathing fell into a steady rhythm, Eric moved them to the couch. He sat Mackenzie down, though she still hid her tear stained face in his chest. He didn't try and move her much more than that however, and just returned to petting her hair, occasionally running a comforting hand down her back and back up again. Eventually, her heart slowed, her form growing sluggish as she cried herself to sleep.
"Well isn't this quite a site? Where's a camera when you need it?"
Eric shook his head as he glanced across the room to where his progeny stood in the doorway, her perfectly manicured eyebrows shot up into her hairline.
"What happened?" she wondered, taking a step into the room and sweeping her gaze over the pair. "What did you do to her now?"
"Why do you assume I did anything at all?" Eric grunted before continuing in a quieter voice so not to wake Mackenzie up. "She started asking about Godric."
"Ah." Pam nodded, understanding immediately. "The little cupcake figured it out then?"
"She thinks Godric doesn't love her." Eric frowned deeply.
"Well you can't blame her." Pam shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "He just left, without even saying goodbye, without even a good explanation. Of course she's going to think that."
"But he does. I know he does. Eric gazed down at the sleeping girl. "He did this because he loved her."
"Seems to me like he did this to protect his ass from getting rejected." Pam rolled her eyes.
Eric sent her a dark glare. "That's my maker you're making assumptions about, Pamela."
Pam stifled a snorted as she raised her hands in defense. "I mean no disrespect to my grandfather. I just think he was a complete idiot and a coward. We didn't leave just because she freaked out, now did we? We stuck it out and now look at us." Pam motioned to Eric and the sleeping Mackenzie. "You two are closer than you've ever been. And where's Godric? Oh right, he was too much of a chicken shit to be here."
"Pam." Eric warned.
She just shook her head, stopping herself before she said something she knew she would regret. "All I'm saying is he was an idiot. And now we have a fourteen-year-old girl who thinks she's unloved. What are we going to do about that?"
"I'll figure something out."
"Call him." Pam insisted. "Tell him yourself he's being an idiot and tell him to get his ass back here pronto."
"He never listened to me when I begged him not to do this in the first place." Eric reminded with a sigh. "I doubt anything I say now will change his mind three years later."
"Well try damn it. Before she gets hurt anymore because of this." The frustration was evident in Pam's tone.
"Careful," Eric forced back a smile. "You're starting to sound like a pissed off mother."
"Oh not even." Pam's nose scrunched up in disgust. "I'm not equipped to be anyone's mother."
"Isn't that the truth." Eric smirked up at her.
She mirrored the smirk. "I see myself more as the guiding big sister."
"Who is guiding her to become a selfish brat, I'm sure." Eric teased.
"Damn right." Pam planted her hands firmly on her hip. "She is a Northman after all."
Eric did smile this time as he swept his fingers through Mackenzie's golden hair. "I couldn't agree more."
"Are you going to mope the entire night?" Eric sighed as he watched Mackenzie move around the house a few nights later. "It's Christmas Eve. I thought you loved Christmas Eve."
"I used to love Christmas Eve." She mumbled, yanking the fridge door open and peering inside before slamming the door back shut. "But that was before."
"Hey," he caught her by the shoulder before she could stomp out of the room. "You've been stuck in this mood for days now. It's time to snap out of it, Mackenzie."
"I'm not having a mood, this is just how I am." She defended, crossing her arms across her chest. "Deal with it."
"I'm your…" Eric hesitated, quickly shaking his head. "Last time I checked, this was my roof you were living under. Fix this attitude of yours, Mackenzie, and do it quickly."
"Yeah well maybe you shouldn't have let Godric abandon me."
Of course this was about Godric. Ever since her breakdown the other night, everything had to do with Godric. He knew he never should have gotten into it with her, or at the very least, glamour her to forget. Or better yet, understand the situation. Then again, not even he understood why his maker had to leave, why he had stayed away for so long.
"Mackenzie, we've talked about this. Godric…"
"Godric abandoned me. That's all there is to it." She shrugged. "I get it. You don't have to sugarcoat it anymore. I'm all grown up now."
"You're only fourteen, Mackenzie."
"Nearly fifteen." She corrected. "I'm not a kid anymore."
"You'll always be a little girl in my eyes."
"Well then maybe you should get your eyes checked." She grumbled before moving passed him. "Because that little girl grew up a long time ago."
Eric watched as she left the room, wishing he could fix this. Except he couldn't. Only his maker could, and with Godric's lack of contact in the past three years, Eric doubted it would ever get smoothed over.
He didn't even have a moment of peace however, before Pam was sweeping into the room, a deep frown set on her lips.
"We have a major fucking problem." Her eyes darted out. "Where's the little brat?"
Eric tilted his head, listening for where Mackenzie had wandered off to. At hearing the sound of her bedroom door slam shut above them, he settled his gaze back on his progeny. "She's in her room."
"Good." Pam immediately twisted and made for the door, the clicking of her heels ringing in the room. "You need to see this."
Eric raised an eyebrow but followed Pam down the hallway and into his office. He settled himself in his chair behind his desk, clasping his hands together as Pam scurried over to the TV, clicking it on and searching for whatever she needed to show him. If it were another pair of shoes or some rare piece of jewelry, he was going to pull his hair out.
He wasn't, however, expecting her to stop on the news. Now he was intrigued. Pam hardly ever cared about the humans that existed around them, and even less about their current events. As long as it didn't directly affect them, she was sound.
But this, this certainly affected them.
"In the wake of the ten year anniversary since the devastating house fire here in Shreveport, we remember the lives of Colton and Miranda Summers, the victims of the mysterious fire that to this day, has not been explained."
"Fuck." Eric leaned forward, and if at all possible, his face paled even further.
"My point exactly." Pam's arms crossed over her chest as she watched the broadcast with a worried gaze.
"What separates this disaster was the sudden disappearance of a young girl, age four. Ten years ago, the daughter of Colton and Miranda Summers went missing the same night as the fire. Neighbours insist all three residents were inside of the house at the time the home was set ablaze, but when the fire department set to work, only two bodies were found…"
"This is so not fucking good." Pam groaned.
Eric barely even heard her however as the scene changed to that of a sobbing woman and her comforting husband. It was a couple that Eric could have picked out of anywhere. Their faces were imbedded in his memory.
"We just want our niece back. That fire was not an accident. Someone murdered my sister and her husband and stole our little girl. It's been ten year but we refuse to give up hope that she's gone forever."
"No." Eric shook his head. "No, this isn't happening. I thought they stopped looking."
"Apparently not."
"Anne Jackson and her husband, Jonathan are pleading with America to help in the search of their missing niece ten years later. We've spoken with the detective who last worked on the case, and while he hasn't given us a cohesive statement, we're being led to believe that the case is being reopen at the request of the family. The police department is creating a digital reproduction of what Mackenzie Summers may look today as a fourteen year old girl. If you have any information that could help, please call…"
"Shit." Pam cursed as she quickly shut the TV off, neither needing to see anymore than they already had. She turned towards her maker and wasn't surprised at all to see the frozen state he was in. panic had swept across his face as he just sat there, his mind reeling, trying to piece together everything that had just seen. "Eric?"
"This was supposed to be put to rest." He leaned back in his seat feeling numb. He couldn't believe this was happening. It had taken every resource he could think of to bury the truth, to ensure Mackenzie's biological family's investigation led down a dead end and was closed. It was never supposed to be open again. Mackenzie Summers was supposed to have been declared dead and forgotten. They weren't supposed to dig everything up again.
But they were.
And that worried Eric. He should have known that disgraceful family wouldn't leave well enough alone. Mackenzie's parents were despicable human beings, and he had a feeling this aunt of hers wasn't much better.
"I won't let them have her. I won't let them take her away from me." Eric growled, his eyes suddenly narrowing as his hands curled into tight fists. "I won't let them lay a hand on her."
"But how are we going to make sure that doesn't happen?" Pam tried to be the voice of reason. She was on the same page as Eric, without a doubt. They had become a dysfunctional family over the years, and she was fiercely protective over Mackenzie. She would kill before she ever thought about letting someone take her away from them. But how were they supposed to stop this? Once the digital reproduction was out, anyone that had come into contact with Mackenzie would know the missing girl was her.
"I don't know."
Pam could just imagine the wheels turning in Eric's head as he thought through every possibility until finally, his gaze snapped to hers. "What? What is it? What do we do?"
"I think I might just have a plan."
"You want to send me to boarding school?" Mackenzie sat there in shock, her jaw dropping open as she stared down at the pamphlet in her hands. "This is how you're punishing me?"
"This isn't a punishment, Mackenzie." Eric tried to insist, keeping his thoughts carefully masked away. She couldn't know the truth. She didn't even understand, or remember, what happened that night ten years ago, and Eric refused to let her. They were happy now. Everything had worked out. They didn't need to go down that road. Especially not one that involved her biological family. They were lunatics that would only cause Mackenzie harm, that Eric was certain of.
"It looks like a punishment to me!" She exclaimed, throwing the pamphlet down onto the desk. It was one of the very few times she was allowed in the office, and now she wished she had never been invited. "I can't believe you want to send me away again!"
Eric sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "It's not like that, Mackenzie. This school is a great opportunity for you. It's the best private school in the country. The education you'd received…"
"I don't want it!" Mackenzie shook her head wildly, pushing her chair back and looking as if she was about to leave. "I'm sorry for being moody. I'll be better, I promise."
"This has nothing to do with that."
"I shouldn't have brought Godric up. I'm sorry." Mackenzie shifted into panic mode. It had been seven year since Eric had last shipped her away. But that was at least to Godric's, and Eric had brought her back home not even two weeks later. This was a bit more permanent than that. "Please don't send me away, Eric. I'll be good, I swear."
"Mackenzie…" Eric shook his head. "This isn't any form of a punishment. This isn't because of Godric. This is to further your education at the best possible school. You'll be given opportunities there that you'd never get here at the hillbilly school you attend now."
"But my friends are here. I like it here."
"Your school doesn't know how to handle your intelligence level." Eric reasoned as best as he could. He knew this decision would not be taken lightly. In Mackenzie's mind, this would seem like he didn't want her any longer, like he was tossing her aside like he had done seven years ago. But this was so much more than that. This was the only chance Eric had at keeping her safe. In only an hour after the news broadcast he had been able to make contact with an associate he knew invested in the private boarding school and immediately had Mackenzie enrolled. His next call had been to his contact on the police force, ensuring that the least amount of information concerning Mackenzie was released.
"I don't want to leave. Please don't make me go." Tears formed in her eyes. "I'll try harder. I'll be better. Please don't make me go. I don't want to leave."
"This isn't up for discussion, Mackenzie. I've already enrolled you into classes starting in January. You'll begin immediately after Christmas Break." He cringed when the first tear rolled down her cheek. He seemed to be making her cry a lot lately. But this was all to protect her, he just had to remember that. "This won't change anything, Mackenzie. This is not me throwing you out. This is your home, this is your family. You're welcome here whenever. But this school, this is what's best for you and your future. You just need to trust me."
Mackenzie knew she couldn't argue with him. His mind was made up and Mackenzie knew him well enough to know that no matter what she said or did, she wouldn't be able to deter him. This was settled.
She hated him, partially, for this. She wanted to hit him, to yell and scream. He said this wasn't a punishment, but Mackenzie couldn't help but think it was. Maybe she had been a terrible daughter. Maybe she hadn't tried hard enough. Maybe without Godric around, Eric just didn't love her. This would be the perfect way to get rid of her for the rest of her high school career. And by the time she'd be finished, she would be eighteen and a legal adult. Eric wouldn't have to deal with her again after that.
"Hey," Eric stood and moved around his desk and clasped a finger under her chin. "This doesn't mean you can't come home, Mackenzie. There's summer, there's holidays. I would never tell you you couldn't come home. This will always be your home, Mackenzie. This is just an opportunity I know will be right for you. You may not see it right now, but you will one day."
"Why now?" she asked softly, another tear slipping down her cheek.
"Everything just lined up. There was an opening and I couldn't refuse." Eric lied through his teeth, but it was easier than telling her the truth. "You do know that this doesn't change the fact that I…care about you, right? We may not have always seemed like a family, but we are one. And I don't expect that to change just because we'll be in different zip codes."
Mackenzie could only nod numbly as she picked the pamphlet off the desk and stared at the school that would soon be her new home. "I already hate it."
Eric chuckled softly. "You'll love it, I know you will. The library is supposedly divine."
"I'd be happier here." She gazed up at him sadly. "I don't want to go."
"I know, Mackenzie, I know." Eric sighed, stroking her tear stained cheek. "But this is what's best for you, even if you don't see it yet. Believe me."