Disclaimer:
Anything you recognise belongs to the creative genius that is Charlaine Harris and/or Alan Ball. I'm just playing around with their universe(s).
A/N:
Thanks a bunch for the feedback! I really like this idea so I'm well pleased that you guys were arsed enough to write a few words of encouragement. :-)
xXx
2
"I am a vampire, yes," he replied, leaning back on the bench, stretching an arm out along the backrest so he still appeared relaxed and unthreatening. The smell of her fear wafted down from the branch over his head, giving him a clear indicator that gentleness was the best approach with this one. "The vampire Sheriff of area 9, to be more exact. You are on my territory."
"The vampire what?" She sounded rather confused. "Are you like… the law enforcement?" Her sudden gasp disturbed the air over him as she pulled back towards the trunk. "Did you send those two that hunted me yesterday?"
"I did. You have made quite the ruckus with all the humans you have killed, and I can't have that in my area." Godric kept his relaxed pose, but he got ready to chase her down if she decided to take off.
She breathed in noisily and unnecessarily at his words but stayed in the tree. "Please, I… I didn't mean to! I am just so hungry all the time, and… I tried to stop, I swear, but I can't! Please, can you help me?"
Oh, young ones and their lack of control. He sure didn't miss that from when Eric and Nora had been new-borns, especially not Eric's constant need to fuck after feeding. His lovely Son still had that urge, but he managed it with quite a bit more grace these days.
"Why don't you come down and we will talk a little?" he coaxed the female, smiling a little to himself at how similar his voice was to someone trying to get a feral kitten down from a tree.
She hesitated, clearly preferring the illusion of safety the small distance between them gave her. "Do you… do you promise not to hurt me?" she finally whispered.
Godric didn't like making promises he couldn't keep.
"I promise not to hurt you if I don't have to," he answered smoothly.
The leaves rustled as she set off, and a small thud sounded right in front of him as she gracefully landed on the ground about a yard away.
The ancient vampire was happy he had the iron self-control that had made him more or less legendary in the vampire world, as not many of their kind would have been able to keep the relaxed pose when another predator suddenly arrived so close to them, and he was fairly sure the little thing that was currently staring at him with all kinds of mistrust would have taken off if he'd jumped into a defensive crouch.
He took in her form and felt another pang from his memories as a younger vampire; she was dirty and wild-looking, her hair – which he thought might be some form of blonde underneath the dirt – flowing around her slight shoulders in tangles along with the big, violet eyes filled with fear marking her as completely untamed; feral. Of course, the dirty, ripped clothes barely covering her fragile-looking body and the dried blood around her full lips didn't exactly help the image either.
She was in bad shape. How on earth she'd managed to out-run his underlings was beyond him.
"Where is your maker?" he asked, wondering how anyone could let their Child get to such a state. Even his own maker, as heartless and cruel as he'd been, had ensured his survival by keeping him fed and teaching him hunting skills that wouldn't bring down the humans' suspicion.
"Who?" Her fine brows furrowed, forming a delicate wrinkle between them.
"The vampire who turned you," he explained. Whoever it was had clearly dropped the ball if they hadn't even explained the most essential of concepts to her.
Her eyes went – if possible – even wider and her gaze darted around quickly as she took a quick step backwards. "G-gone, she whispered, visibly shuddering. "He left."
Godric's forehead furrowed at that. "How old are you?"
She blinked. "T-twenty one."
Her face, if she had been a human, looked like she was younger than that, but that was not what he had wanted to know. "No, young one, how long have you been a vampire?"
"Oh." She thought for a moment. "I… think, maybe… a month?"
Well, this wasn't going to work. No vampire was ready to be on their own this early on, and this one even less so than most, if she couldn't even feed without killing. He would have to work out her punishment when they returned to the nest, but mostly he wanted to get his hands on whatever vampire had thought it a good idea to turn a girl in his district, and then leave her to her own devices. It wasn't really her fault that she'd killed those humans, but her maker sure should have known better.
Godric was renowned for his care for humans, and setting a feral baby vampire free in his district was quite the provocation.
"Alright. We will get you back to the nest and…" He'd gotten to his feet while he spoke, but the girl interrupted him with a hiss – she actually hissed at him– and jumped back several paces.
The act was so ridicules that he snorted involuntarily. It had been a very, very long time since anyone had thought it a bright idea to make any sort of threatening noises in his general direction, and she mostly sounded like a little kitten trying to prove itself dangerous.
'Just a baby' he reminded himself, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow at her. "Calm down and get back here, I'm not going to hurt you."
She stopped several yards away, looking at him with a mix of anger and panic, her upper lip curling up in a sneer, showing her fangs. "I am not going anywhere with you!"
"Then how do you suggest I help you?" he reasoned, taking a cautious step towards her that she instantly followed with three backwards.
Oh, this was so going to end up in a round of chase the wildling. He sighed inwardly, fully realising that she wouldn't take kindly to being hunted down and dragged back against her will. But the lives of the humans in the area were more important than the feelings of this feral little thing, however pitiful she was.
"Just… tell me how I can avoid killing people," she begged. "I promise I won't hurt anyone again then."
This time his sigh was a full exhale. Reminders of sitting with first Eric and then Nora, keeping a cautious eye on them as they practised stopping when the human's heartbeat slowed sprung to the forefront of his mind. It had taken a very long time before they had enough control to always stop in time without his intervention. "I can't tell you how to do that, I have to show you. Besides, if you feed off the unwilling you will still harm them, even if you stop before they die."
"How do I know you won't kill me if I go with you?" she challenged, which was a fair point, he had to admit.
"I have no reason to kill you." He cocked his head as he gaged how long it would take for her to bolt – her eyes showed no sign of taking in his soothing tone, and he knew she was too far into her fight or flight instincts to listen to reason.
As it turned out, the sound of his phone going off was what snapped the strained tension in the air between them, sending the girl sprinting off away from him.
Godric cussed under his breath over the poor timing of whoever the caller was and set after her.
She really was surprisingly fast for someone so young, but she was no match for him and he quickly gained on her as they wooshed through the park, but just as he was about to reach out and grab her arm she cast a glance over her shoulder, spotted him and shrieked shrilly, only to disappear several yards in front of him with a soft pop, staggering a little before she started sprinting again.
The dark-haired vampire stopped, surprise clear on his youthful features. So that explained how she had managed to make Stan and Isabel run around after her for hours. He wasn't about to spend his night in the same way.
Quickly calculating his options he ruled out taking flight and catching her that way. He might be able to catch her unaware from the air, but what was to stop her from teleporting again when he'd caught her? Nothing, most likely.
It seemed like he just had to go about this in the slow way.