Chapter Seventeen:

Eric was startled at hearing his maker's name, taking a step back from her. Henley remained pressed where she was against the wall, partly too frightened of he vampire to move a muscle, and partly due to the fatigue of her body. Merely breathing was a fight, every inch of her form aching from Jackson's torture. It had felt like an invisible force was ripping her apart from the inside out, like her limbs were being torn off. She didn't even know how she was remaining upright in that moment.

"How do you know that name?" Eric suddenly growled, his eyes narrowed into slits as he took an intimidating step forward.

Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. She hadn't even realized she had spoken Godric's name, not until the look of sheer horror swept across Eric's face. He looked like he had seen a ghost before he quickly masked the emotion with anger. She had been so stupid, so careless. The last thing she needed was to anger the already raging vampire who was hell bent on killing someone – any one – for his own progeny coming into any harm.

"How the hell do you know that name?" he roared, grasping her by the neck in one swift movement, forcefully squeezing.

Her already fragile skin burned at the contact, the muscles in her neck protesting at the pressure. It was the third time she was being strangled, the third time she was gasping for breath, searching for a single gulp of air.

"Tell me," Eric hissed, his fangs baring at her as Henley struggled. She was just too tired, too spent, that she could do nothing more than half-heartedly claw at his hand. It was no use, however. Eric was much stronger than Jackson and Pam had been. "Tell me now!"

Godric.

Please Godric.

Please please please Godric.

"Eric!" it was Willa that called to the furious Viking. "Eric stop!"

Eric sent her a snarl before returning his burning glare onto Henley. Her eyes squeezes shut as she pleaded in her head for the vampire ghost. Where was he? Why wasn't he here? He would know what to do. He could calm Eric like he had been able to do with Pam. Where was he?

"Godric," she croaked out again, a strangled whimper slipping out afterward.

The name of his maker only angered Eric further as his grip tightened "Tell me how you know that name. Now!"

"She can't tell you if you kill her!" Willa sped to her maker's side, worry plastered across her face as she tried to tug on his arm. "Eric, stop!"

"Silence!" he growled down at her. "Return to Fangtasia. Now."

"But Eric…" her gaze darted to Henley, the girl's struggles fading.

"I said now!"

Willa hesitated, but knew she could do nothing to help Henley now. Bowing her head, she vanished from the room as quickly as she possibly could. She passed Pam just outside of the room and sent her a pleading glance. Pam could only shrug; she knew better than most the temper of the Viking. Very few had ever been able to calm him, and both were dead.

"I'll try," Pam muttered before waving Willa away. "Close Fangtasia and wait there."

Watching as Willa took off into the night, Pam sighed before turning her attention back into the motel room.

"If you really are here, Godric, now would be a good time to show yourself," Pam murmured to herself before stepping into the room. Shaking her head, Pam came to stand a few feet behind Eric, not wanting to startle him. "Eric, you need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Pamela. I don't want to fucking calm down," Eric sneered.

"You're going to kill her," Pam eyed the red headed human. She was pale; too pale. "You'll never know how she knows Godric's name if you kill her."

Eric cursed in Old Norse before retracting his hand, only to pin Henley to the wall by her shoulders. She gasped out in rapid successions, choking on the gulps of air she was finally able to inhale. She made the mistake of risking a glance up at the raging man, catching his gaze. She had heard too many stories of what vampires could do, of the mind control ability they each were gifted with. She could feel it immediately, the glamour. Her mind felt hazy, like she was trapped in a field of fog and mist. She tried to mentally break through, but no matter how hard she, she was trapped against that wall by here mere stare.

"Who are you?" he demanded to know, grasping onto her chin to hold her gaze still. "What's your name?"

She struggled not to answer, but her lips were moving on their own accord. "Henley," she rasped out, not sounding like herself at all. Her voice was flat and monotone, like he was physically forcing the words from her mouth.

"How do you know that name?"

"Because he told me."

Eric grit his teeth, his hold on her tightening. "Don't be cute with me, human. Tell me how you know my maker, and tell me now."

"I…" she couldn't do it. She couldn't just explain everything, not like this. None of this was supposed to happen this way. She was supposed to calmly confess to Eric about her gift. She was supposed to ease him into a conversation between him and his maker. She wasn't just supposed to blurt it out in a moment of haste.

Her hesitance was enough to cause Eric to frown. She was fighting it. She was fighting the glamour and he didn't understand how. He focused his concentration, focused on pulling the truth out of her, but the longer it took for her to answer, the more he knew he had lost her.

"Damn it!" Eric grunted, releasing her completely.

He started pacing before her, sending Henley a glare every so often as he tried to understand who – and what- she was. The only one to ever be inept to his glamour had been Sookie, but she was a faerie. No human had ever been able to fight his glamour; it wasn't possible.

"I want to know everything, and I want to know now," he turned

Henley didn't know what to do. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't just tell him about Godric. He likely wouldn't even believe her and kill her for wasting his time. But what lie could she offer him instead?

"Tell me now!" he growled so darkly, Henley was certain he was going to kill her without a second thought.

Why the hell wasn't Godric there?

It was sirens that saved her from having to blurt out the truth to save her life. She sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping as both Eric and Pam's heads snapped towards the motel room door.

"The staff must have called the police," Pam muttered, her lips forming a thin line. "We have minutes at most."

"Plenty of time to kill her," Eric's orbs narrowed as he stared down at Henley furiously. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as her form stiffened. He tried to pull her conscious under her control for a second time, but the connection was broken. There was something strange about this girl, something that even he had to admit intrigued him.

How did she know his maker's name?

Why were Pam and Willa protecting this mere human?

Why was a witch after not only her, but him as well?

"Fix this," he ordered, motioning towards the door.

"What are you going to do," Pam eyed the frightened human. "Kill her and you'll never know her connection with Godric."

He knew she was right. Despite his fury, despite his anger that this human had brought suffering to his progeny, her intrigue was enough to keep her alive.

For now.

"Just fix this."

The moment the two were alone, Henley braced herself for the inevitable. "Are you going to kill me?" she tried to not let her words waver, but failed miserably.

Eric ignored her plea as he grasped the back of her neck, forcing her gaze to meet his again. He used every ounce of concentration and focus he could muster as he caught her orbs with his own, forcing his will on her. In her frightened and vulnerable state, every moment that passed caused a crack in the barrier protecting her free will, until eventually he broke through entirely.

"Sleep," he commanded.

Confusion filled her before the sudden desire to sleep consumed her entirely. Her eyes fluttered, despite her protests, and soon her limbs were growing limp. Eric caught her as she crumbled to the ground, lifting her into his arms as he took one last look around the room. He found a paralyzed dog in the corner and raised an eyebrow before slipping from the motel. He nodded at Pam as he passed her glamouring the police, noticing a glimpse of relief on her face that he hadn't killed the human.

"Why are you so important?" he murmured to himself, gazing down at the mysterious red head. "Who the hell are you?"

Henley woke with a gasp, her body springing to life as she snapped into a sitting position. A groan slipped from her lips at the aching that stemmed from very deep within her body, the memories of Jackson's torture returning. Her hands shook as she slowly raised her fingers to gently graze across her bruised throat, hissing in pain at the contact. For a split second, she had hoped it had all been some terrible nightmare, that she was still safely back in the motel room, or even at home, that she wasn't being chased by some vengeful witch and threatened by a furious vampire.

But it was real; it was entirely real.

Forcing herself to focus, Henley let her gaze to take in her surroundings. It was dark; so dark that she could barely even see her hands in front of her face. She was able to feel the cold hard ground beneath her, the mixture of bricks and cement behind her, but she had no indication of where she was.

"G-Godric?" she croaked, wincing as her throat burned. "Where are you?"

She prayed that she would feel the air around her change, that he would appear and aid her through this. He had promised not to leave her, after all. He had promised her!

But where was he?

"Of all the times to finally leave me alone," Henley rested her head on the wall behind her, her eyes fluttering back close. "You choose now to go away?"

Godric never appeared, even as she pleaded for him to. And she hated him for it. Hated herself. How was she somehow able to communicate to him in need once before, but not again? What had she done differently?

Or was this his way of ignoring her? The last time she had seen him had been when he panicked over her falling asleep. He didn't want another strange occurrence and he took off. And now she was in some strange place, without even Willa or Pam as protection, and she had no idea where her resident annoying ghost was.

"Please Go-" she was interrupted as the sound of a door opening and footsteps echoing off the walls filled her ears.

Henley grew stiff and aware as she waited for what felt like hours in that darkness. She didn't know who was there, how long it took for them to reach her. She knew whoever it was, they were doing it on purpose, instilling the fear in her. Was it Jackson? Was this his new form of torture? But no, she had watched him vanish before her very eyes. Was this instead Eric? Had he…

Glamoured.

Eric had glamoured her.

"Sleep," she vaguely remembered the command that had sent her into darkness She had fought against his forceful control, but her exhaustion was her weakness. She had succumbed to his will.

What was he going to do to her?

Henley was pulled from the list of terrible things he could do to her as she was suddenly yanked to her feet. A whimper escaped her lips as her limbs ached from Jackson's carefully crafted curse. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and let the wave of pain pass. Eric had other plans, however, and dragged her up a set of stairs and into a brightly lit hallway.

She cringed, lifting her arm to shield her eyes from the burning light as she was pulled down the hall before being shoved through a swinging door.

"You have five minutes," Eric's voice was gruff before the door swung to a close.

It took a moment for Henley to get her bearings, blinking rapidly until her irises were used to the sudden brightness. Her eyebrows furrowing, she was surprised to find herself in a bathroom, stalls lined behind her as sinks stood in front of her. The big bad vampire had brought her to the bathroom?

Glancing at the door, she wondered for a moment if she would have a chance to escape.

Doubt it, she thought to herself.

She may be able to communicate with the dead, but she couldn't exactly match the speed or strength of a vampire.

Sighing, Henley accepted her fate and quickly slipped into a stall. She tried to gauge how long she had been asleep for, even searching her pockets for her phone, but found that it was missing.

Stupid, of course he would take it.

When she maneuvered her way back out of the stall and to the sinks, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and her jaw dropped in surprise. The bruises surrounding her throat were grotesque in colour, clashing against her paled face. She looked like death. Trying to bring some colour back to her face, Henley splashed water onto her cheeks, rubbing at her red and puffy eyes. She licked at her cracked lips, but as she glanced back into the mirror, she didn't look any better.

"Tick tock," Eric called through the door.

Her time, her small sliver of freedom, was up it seemed.

"Still?" she muttered to the empty room, her hope that Godric would suddenly appear beginning to diminish. If he hadn't shown up yet, she doubted he would at all.

She was going to have to get herself out of this mess.

A/N: Short and likely terrible, but this chapter kicked my ass and didn't want to get written. I'm excited for the next chapter though, so that should happen sometime before the weekend, so keep an eye out for it. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with my terrible updating schedule. School has been a bitch, but I managed to get an amazing internship, so all the shitty times will be worth it in the end. And in the meantime, lots of Godricness (hopefully).