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:
A well-deserved shout-out to ZizzyO's brilliant mind for cooking up the concept of Zompires well before the season 6 finale.
xXx
12
"Sheriff, the King wishes to be briefed about the afternoon's meeting."
Godric lifted his chin from strawberry blonde locks at the sound of his second in command's voice, pulling his mind from thoughts of how to teach the little one how to hunt, a skill she would need in her eternal life, without harming humans in the process. He did not wish for her to feed on the unwilling, but she did deserve the best possible chances of survival, which included learning how to hunt efficiently, should willing donors or TruBlood not be available to her at some point in the future.
"Is he on the line now?"
The black haired woman nodded, a smile playing on her lips as one, well-manicured eyebrow rose teasingly. "He is rather impatient, so I am afraid that you might have to wait with further cuddling until dawn."
The ancient vampire sighed. His King still had lingering worries over the vast age-difference between himself and his most powerful Sheriff, and while he seemed to generally have accepted that Godric had no interest in angling for his throne he was still very unhappy with the Authority trusting the elder vampire in matters they did not discuss with him.
The result had been frequent communication from the King and request for status reports, but in this particular matter Godric did agree that the monarchs should know as soon as possible so they could act accordingly.
"Very well," he said, pulling out of his stray's embrace, only to have her latch on to his arm, slender body pressing up against it in a silent plea. It seemed that asking Isabel to take the girl for a tour of the house while he dealt with his liege lord was out of the question. "Come then, kitten. The King wishes to be briefed."
She followed him, keeping her grasp on his arm while she looked at him with eyes round from surprise. "There's a King?"
"There are many – this one is the King of Texas, and we are his subjects. He governs the vampire matters of this state."
"But then what does…" She quieted when he put a finger to his lips as they entered his office.
"I will explain all to you in due time, little one," he promised, smiling at her put-out facial expression at being hushed like a child. "Right now I have work. You can roam around inside the house as you want, but please be quiet if you remain here with me."
"You work an awful lot," she commented sulkily, following him to his chair and slipping onto his lap as soon as he sat down, curling up so her back was leaned against his right arm and her bare legs pushed underneath his left.
"Yes, I do, and no one is forcing you to stay here while I do so, so I will hear no more complaints out of you for the night." He sighed at the awkward position, shifting her a little so he could reach out and press the speaker-button on the phone. "Your Majesty. I am sorry to have kept you waiting."
"I am sure you had your reasons." The tone of voice more than suggested that whatever said reasons were, they were not an excuse for keeping his royal highness waiting. "But I would appreciate an update on this meeting immediately, Sheriff. Rumours are circulating and they are frankly very disturbing."
"The rumours of a disease are true, Sir. The Americas currently have no known infected, but the Euro-Asian continent is experiencing an alarmingly quick spread. Russia and China seem to be the worst affected, but there have been noted cases as far west as Rumania." Godric paused when Irin scooted restlessly around in his lap, her bare heel digging in to his thigh as she tried to get comfortable. She stilled at his warning glare, wincing slightly.
"And is the nature of this disease true to the rumours?" The King intervened in the short pause.
Godric recalled the Russian woman's account of an infected she'd seen personally and frowned. "It is worse. It seems to only affect vampires, but the human population is getting increasingly suspicious in the areas with the heaviest infection – the healthy vampire population in those locations is getting overrun and cannot keep up with the Glamouring required to keep this under wraps much longer. The disease causes volatile and erratic behaviour, with infected attacking anyone in sight. And to make matters more complicated, they seem to increase in strength after the infection has taken fully hold of them."
"And how does it spread?" the King inquired, seemingly having a bit of trouble keeping his voice even at the gloomy news.
"By bite. The transfer rate so far is 100%," the Sheriff answered, but before he got to continue with the debriefing his progeny dug her fingers painfully into his chest muscles and yelped: "Zombies! Zombies are real?!"
"Kitten!" he scolded, but his annoyance at her interference died at the sight of her completely petrified face. Sighing, he dislodged her fingers so she only had a hold of the fabric and wrapped his arms around her in the hopes of providing some comfort. "There is no such thing as zombies. Be calm, Child."
"Are you sure?" she inquired shrilly, fingers again finding the pressure points in his torso as she clutched at him, at the same time as the King's voice broke through: "Sheriff, who is overhearing this private meeting?" in a rather irritable tone.
Godric took a second to give the girl a firm glance that had her quiet down before he returned his attention to the phone. "I am sorry for the interruption, Your Majesty. I have a new Daughter, and she is yet too young to be left to her own devices. She should, however, know better than to disturb. My sincerest apologies for any disrespect – it was not intended."
A moment's stunned silence.
"You made another progeny?!"
The ancient vampire strangled a sigh. Apparently, his choice to procreate was more interesting than the looming pandemic. "Yes."
"When?"
Godric glanced down at the girl in his arms, who lifted her face to meet his eyes. The wildness in her was at the forefront of her expression, brought out by her fright. She might have been a few months old now, but as far as anyone would know she came into existence the night he brought her to his nest. "She rose last night."
"I suppose that explains why I have yet to learn of her before tonight," the other vampire noted sourly. "The timing is quite… boldly chosen, Godric."
By 'boldly' he obviously meant 'poorly'. The Sheriff couldn't exactly fault him for his observations – protecting his area through the possible pandemic while raising a young one was not the best idea, as both would demand much of his time, but the only other option had been to let the little stray meet her True Death, and… he let his gaze lock with hers, smiling softly as he sensed her relax at the eye contact. And he did not regret his choice, even though she was proving to be quite the handful.
"She was dying, Sir. If she had not been I would not have claimed her at this time. I am aware that it is inconvenient, given the current situation."
Her Maker was lying to this King about her, and she wasn't quite sure why. But when she raised her eyebrows at him in silent question he just placed a finger over his lips to indicate that she should remain quiet – so she did. He must have had his reasons, and whatever they were she was just thankful that he claimed her as his own; she hoped that one day she could completely forget about her true Turning and remember it as if she had simply laid dying when Godric came across her and took pity on her. Waking in the depths of the Earth in his arms to an eternity of safety and warmth was infinitely more pleasant to think about than… him.
She shuddered at the dark caress of his memory, but before fear and repulsion could overtake her strong arms cradled her closer while a comforting hand idly stroked down her hair and back, and she sighed in relief, pressing her lips to the tattooed skin showing at the top of her saviour's shirt in silent gratitude.
"She must be very special," the voice on the other end of the phone remarked in a tone Irin couldn't quite decipher. "I shall look forward to meeting her. It is my wish that my Sheriffs convene at my estate one week from now, to formally discuss this infection and what preparations we should undertake to secure the state of Texas. Hopefully, the Authority will have sent out some guidelines for the Monarchs by then. Bring the girl and introduce her then."
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
Her guardian sounded perfectly neutral at the prospect but his body tensed underneath her, and Irin nuzzled against his chest in an attempt at repaying his calming gesture. She was rewarded as the hand on her back stroked her gently again, but his muscles didn't relax, which she found rather odd – the idea of seeing his boss couldn't possibly be worse than a herd of zombies making its way through Asia, however much a King he might be.
She didn't pay much attention as the two elder vampires ended the phone conversation, but as soon as it was over she straightened up and stared into the deceivingly young face of the man she was perched on. "Zombies?"
Godric sighed at her. "I told you, they are not. The whole myth of zombies stem from humans who were buried alive after being poisoned by Voodoo practitioners. This infection is just a disease, nothing more."
A few flashes from her human life made her shake her head at him. "You have never heard of the zombie apocalypse?"
Dark eyebrows rose. "I beg your pardon?"
The many movie nights she had had with friends, revelling in the fright caused by horror movies, seemed decades away, but she did remember. "Most zombie movies assume that the world will be overrun by zombies infected with a rabies-like disease, causing near-human extinction. What you talked about just then sounded pretty much exactly like a movie-plot, except…" She blinked. "Except the infected are humans, not… zompires."
Godric stared down at her. "'Zompires'?"
"Half vampire, half… zombie?" Her voice died at the slight quiver of his full lips. "You think it is funny?" To her, the idea was rather terrifying.
"I think you have had a very long, very eventful night, little kitten," he said calmly, getting up from the chair and placing her on her feet. "The infection is not something you need to worry about – the Authority will have it under control soon enough."
Irin grabbed his hand as he led her back towards the bedroom. "You really should see '28 Days Later'," she muttered sulkily.
"Is that the name of one of these movies you base your zombie-expertise on?" he asked, his tone light.
The girl growled at his teasing, not appreciating not being taken seriously, but she nonetheless let him take her into the safe space for their daytime rest and rolled over so her leg and arm rested over him as soon as he laid down, her head finding its place underneath his chin.
"Godric?"
"Hm?"
"Is it normal? This sort of outbreak?"
There was a slight pause before he answered, probably while he decided how much he should disclose. "No, it is not. In my two thousand years of existence there has only been one known disease that could affect vampires, and not in this way."
She frowned. "Then… this could be very bad, couldn't it?"
His arms came up to rest around her. "You do not need to worry."
No matter his reluctance to entertain the idea of zompires, Irin found it rather impossible not to worry about something so petrifying. "But what if they come here?"
A strong hand stroked through her hair. "If they come here I will keep you safe. I will always keep you safe."
xXx
A/N
I really want someone to whip out first season of 'The walking Dead' as an instructional video session.
So yeah, zompires. I don't remember who mentioned something along these lines in a review quite a few chapters back, but you, madam, get bonus points!
Nemu-Chan: Alexander may pop up at some point in the future!
Guest 1: Yeah, the kitten will probably show some claws if someone tries to make a move on her Maker. And yes, eventually it'll be an Irin/Godric romance!
Star gazer: Aw those lyrics are so sweet for that scene!
Thanks to everyone for some really awesome reviews for the last chapter – I'd have PMed y'all because they were like, extra-fantastic, but so many of you are not registered so I'm just gonna be lazy about it and give a group-hug sort of thing. *group-hugs* It's really appreciated.