Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for all your reviews! I really appreciate and love reading them!

So, this is my longest chapter yet - a whopping 9297 words and 23 word document pages! This is my favourite chapter yet and I tried to balance as much romance and action as I could in it.

Rated M: strong language, violence, mentions of suicide, bomb threats and sexual references.

Disclaimer: I had to lift a lot of the lines from the show to fit the scene and of course, these lines do not belong to me nor do I take credit for them. Again I do not own any of the True Blood characters, apart from my own.

As always, constructive criticism is welcome!

Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

I didn't think my life could get any worse: I had a double concussion (if that's possible), a broken rib, I was tied to an altar by spiked ropes and a vampire had just decided I was a perfect meal.

When I had started to lose consciousness I was relieved – I figured I was either going to wake up in the afterlife or in a hospital after all this shit was over, on all the good pain meds. Instead, I was unconscious for two minutes at the most. I was pretty pissed – the universe wouldn't cooperate with me even when I was dying.

Sadly, I couldn't focus too much on my ire with the universe because I had bigger problems: namely the vampire looming over me with a vicious grin.

Overwhelming panic surged through me as I struggled against the rope, desperate to get free and start running. I felt so helpless, so powerless as the ropes only dug deeper into my skin and as my poor broken rib screamed in agony.

"Aren't you delectable," the vampire sneered, her fangs glistening in the light, "and look, you're ready made – all tied up for me." She giggled manically.

"I hope you choke," I snarled, trying to maintain a façade of bravery in the face of death. It was difficult to maintain it when the vampire hissed at me as a reply. I didn't think that vampires could choke but the sentiment remained the same. She stalked towards me and I whimpered, continuing to struggle and feeling bile rise in my throat. She was going to rip open my neck and there was nothing I could do. I couldn't even raise a hand to defend myself.

The vampire lunged and I screamed, clenching my eyes shut so I didn't have to watch my own blood fly all over the room. It felt as if time had slowed down, like it was taking forever for her to reach me. It was only after a few seconds had gone by that I realised I was waiting for a bite that would never come. Confused, I opened my eyes and immediately thought I was dead or that hell had frozen over.

Eric Northman, the vampire who I had just met and I was pretty sure would like nothing more than to see me dead, was holding my would-be murderer in the air by her throat. His fangs were mere millimetres from her neck as he whispered something I couldn't hear. He released her and she fell to the floor like a sack of bricks before speeding off out the church.

My jaw dropped. I stared at him with wide eyes wet from tears. He stood there and stared at me for a moment – I didn't know if it was because he wanted a moment longer to enjoy my pain or if it was because he was trying to figure out the best way to get me out of this mess. I'm assuming it was the former.

Even though it had felt like hours since the vampire had decided I would make a tasty meal, in reality it had been less than a minute. The church was still filled with ravenous vampires and screaming humans who didn't stand a chance. I hoped Sookie was ok and I scanned the room for her, relieved when I saw that she was safe in the arms of her boyfriend. At least Sookie would live and get out of this mess.

"Enough."

That single word echoed throughout the hall, ringing with pure, unlimited power. It took me a few moments to realise that it was Godric who had spoken, it was so different from the unthreatening, serene tone he had used when speaking to me.

I immediately felt lighter as relief surged through me – despite his pinky promise I was worried he would use this chaos to slip away unnoticed and take the opportunity to end his life without any of his friends and loved ones knowing, as he had previously intended to do. I took a deep breath and slowly released it – he had kept his promise.

The room froze at his command, his power. Humans and vampires alike instinctively obeyed his wishes. I was in awe.

Godric started to speak again but I couldn't hear what he was saying. Now that all the commotion had died down and I knew we were all relatively safe for the time being, the adrenaline that had been keeping me awake and fairly alert died down and I was left in agony. I could feel every spike buried into the soft skin of my body, I could feel every bruise, every scrape. My head pounded, on fire, and my rib felt as though it were a dagger plunged into my chest.

Tears of pain started to silently slide down my cheeks, blurring my vision. When I blinked to clear them, it was to find Eric standing over me. He was still looking at me with that same cold, hard look of distaste but, and maybe this was a pain induced delusion, I thought I saw a grudging respect in his eyes, just a tiny weeny smidgen, but respect all the same.

He reached down and slowly started pulling the rope from my body. I stared at him in surprise – I didn't think he had it in him to be gentle.

Noting my shock, he rolled his eyes. "I am not doing this for you, I am obeying my orders from Godric to keep you safe."

I snorted and pointedly looked down at my battered body, at all the blood dripping from it. "Yeah, nice work," I commented sarcastically, only to regret it when he tugged viciously on a spike, making me hiss in pain.

"You're alive, are you not?'

"Barely," I replied dryly, trying to take my mind off how painful it was to have him remove the spikes – why was it more painful than when they went in? I sighed, "Just yank them out all at once, quickly."

He raised a brow at me but shrugged and before I could change my mind, he had pulled all the rope off me in one go, at super vampire speed. I screamed, a fresh wave of tears falling down my face. Ouch. That had hurt like a bitch.

I bit out a small, "thank you," to Eric and he shrugged again before walking off to be at Godric's side.

I looked over and jumped, not realising how close he was. Despite the fact that he was smaller than most of the men here, he appeared to stand taller than them – just through his strength. He was holding Newlin up by his neck.

"Good people," he spoke quietly but his voice still emanated around the room, "who of you is willing to die for this man's madness?"

The room remained silent.

'That is what I thought."

Ooohhh, sick burn, I thought, before mentally rolling my eyes at myself – what am I, fourteen?

"Stand down everyone," Godric's voice became firmer as he eyed the vampire in the cowboy hat, "people, go home. Its over now."

There was a moment of confused silence before everyone started to leave, shuffling out of the exit in a state of shock.

I slowly sat up on the altar, too shocked to know how to feel. I had been so terrified for most the night, that now it was finally over, my body didn't know how to act or how to feel. I almost didn't believe it.

"I dare say my faith in humankind is stronger than yours," Godric commented as he threw Steve Newlin to the ground, who lay there pathetically.

Godric: 2, Newlin: 0. I snickered then abruptly stopped when it jostled my rib, hissing in pain again.

Godric flew to my side instantly, looking over me in concern. I looked up to meet his eyes and my blood froze. If I thought he had looked predatory or furious before this, boy, was I mistaken. His eyes were so dark with anger you would think there was a thunderstorm raging inside them. He looked ready to kill.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, voice low and dangerous, tight, like he was trying to control his emotions. I didn't really know why he was so worked up – surely he should be more concerned with Eric? But when I looked over at Eric, he was completely healed. What the hell? When Godric had said that vamps healed quickly, I didn't think he had meant that fast!

"It turns out I was here due to some good, old-fashioned revenge," I sighed. Now he mentioned it, where was Hotshot? I hadn't seen him since Sookie's boyfriend arrived… had- had he escaped when he noticed the tide turning? That son of a bitch!

I was dragged out of my thoughts when Godric gripped my face tightly, "Who. Did. This. To. You?"

I gave him a weird look. "He's gone – I think he slipped out in all the commotion. Why do you care?"

But Godric ignored my question, turning to Eric.

"Who did this?" he demanded.

Eric replied without hesitation. "She called him Hotshot – from what I could gather he was a fire-fighter with her until she did something to get him fired."

I glared at him, "you dick – that makes it sound like this was my fault!"

He also ignored me. I huffed.

A blonde haired man rushed towards Sookie, gathering her up in a big hug. The two looked uncannily alike and I guessed he was her brother. They were strangely familiar. The two shared an emotional moment and it made me miss my own siblings like crazy. They were probably so so worried about me right now.

Steve Newlin, who just would not shut up, ruined their emotional moment.

"You know nothing, on the final day of reckoning, we'll see who goes to heaven and who goes to hell." He sounded smug, like there wasn't green paint on his forehead and like all his followers hadn't just walked out on him. I guessed he was putting on a face but it just made him look more stupid.

Sookie's brother, I think she said his name was Jason, sauntered up to Newlin. I raised a brow – I didn't see what reason he had to be so cocky, although, he was holding a paintball gun in his hand - he must have been the one to shoot him?

"I reckon I've already been to heaven," he grinned, "it was inside your wife." And with that he decked Steve Newlin straight in the face.

I laughed loudly, gripping the altar for support, whilst Sookie loudly scolded her brother. Looks like it was just not Steve Newlin's day, at all.

Sookie and her brother were turning out to be quite the pair, and I decided I rather liked them – they reminded me of my own family. They would fit right in the Kent household.

I slowly started to slide myself off the altar, wincing the entire way. Godric appeared next to me in a flash again, making me jump and screech.

"Will you stop doing that? I have a heart attack every time!"

He smiled unapologetically at me. "Little one, let me help you." He reached for me and gently guided me to the floor, before swooping me up in his arms.

I shouted in pain and he froze, his face clouding over in regret. "I apologise, little one, I only meant to aid you."

"Put me," I hissed, "the fuck down. Now. And stop calling me that! I'm not that small."

"I cannot do that, I am sorry, little one."

I let out another aggravated yell, glaring at him. He knew exactly what he was doing – he called me that on purpose just to push my buttons!

I started struggling in his grip, wiggling for all I was worth and causing myself a lot of pain. Fresh tears sprung to my eyes but I did not stop. I would not be carried out of here like a damsel in distress – I am a goddamn fire-fighter, I can take care of myself. If the rest of my truck found out I had been carried out of here bridal style, I would never hear the end of it – it had taken me so long to earn their resect, to be treated as an equal and I didn't want all that hard work to be undone in one night.

"Stop, you are hurting yourself." Godric demanded and I almost, almost listened. He was using his scary vampire voice but I refused to obey him. I was going to walk out of here with my head held high even if it killed me.

"Let go of me!" I demanded and finally Godric set me on my feet, growling.

I glared at him before turning around and slowly starting to hobble my way out of the church, wincing the whole way. Godric and Eric went with me, going at same pace. Godric was eyeing me darkly, and looked close to just ignoring my demands and picking me up anyway.

I glared at him again. "Just go ahead without me, I can do this myself – I don't need your help!"

"Ah, but you have it whether you want it or not, little one." Godric had the nerve to smirk at me.

A frustrated scream bubbled up in my throat, "you—"

I walked straight into a wall.

I was mortified. Keeping my head stubbornly held up, I carried on up the hallway, spotting the exit, pretending like nothing had happened. "Don't you dare say anything."

Even though I couldn't see Eric's stupid, beautiful face, I could just tell he was smirking, the smug asshole.

Stepping through the doorway of the exit, I felt my shoulders relax for the first time in days. I took a deep breath of glorious, fresh air and giggled. We made it!

Sookie had been standing outside with her brother and boyfriend, but upon catching sight of me exiting the building she ran forward, giving me a big hug.

"I'm so glad you're alright!"

I hugged her back fiercely. "You too! Thanks for your help."

"If you need anything, just give me a call and if you ever find yourself in Bon Temps, you always have a place to stay with me." Sookie was displaying the infamous Southern hospitality but all I could do was stare at her in shock.

"No way!" I exclaimed. She looked at me in confusion. "You're Sookie Stackhouse! Oh my god, this is crazy! I grew up in Bon Temps, my family lives there now – the Kents? I can't believe this – you look so different!"

She stared at me in confusion for a few moments before gasping and grinning widely. "Amelia Kent! I can't believe I didn't realise it sooner – you and Jesse Taylor moved to Dallas right after high school to make it big as fire-fighters, right?" She laughed, "you know, your momma has this wall in the station that is like, dedicated to you – every time you and Jesse do something heroic and it ends up in the papers, she sticks it on that wall."

I groaned, embarrassed. "Ugh no way? She does? That's so embarrassing – I can't believe she does that!"

Sookie laughed again, waving over at Jason. "Jase, come on over here – you won't believe who this is – Amelia Kent!"

Jason's eyebrows shot up to his hairline before his face broke into a big, toothy grin. "No way! The girl who did a drunk strip tease at her prom?"

I immediately flushed a flaming red and I could feel the two vampires who had accompanied me out the church staring holes into my back.

Sookie slapped her brother on the head. "Jason! I can't believe you – of course you would remember her for that." She rolled her eyes. "Apologise!"

Jason grinned sheepishly at me, "sorry."

"No worries. I just don't talk about that, ever. As long as you don't ever mention that again, we're good."

He laughed loudly and nodded. "I think I can do that. How are you anyways? What's it like in big ole' Dallas?"

I sighed sadly, "not that great – the city is running low on funds and they had to make budget cuts – our Firehouse closes next week. Pretty much all of us had to find work elsewhere and, weirdly enough, one of the only available firehouses for that many fire fighters was in Bon Temps. Lots of us are moving up there."

"Really?" Sookie asked, "I'm sad to hear that it hasn't worked out in Dallas but it will be good having you back in town again – Jesse's mom is always going on about the two of you!"

I laughed, "Yeah, I guess it will be nice to be back. How about you? You still working at Merlotte's, Sookie?"

She smiled widely, "yeah, I like it there – couldn't find another job where the boss is so easy to manipulate." She winked and I laughed again. "Do you want to get a lift back with us? I doubt you have any way to get back home, what with the whole kidnapping thing and all."

Before I could answer, Godric was next to me again (I still jumped, dammit), laying his hand on my lower back.

"That is a lovely offer but Milia is travelling with me."

I am? "I am?"

"Yes."

"Look, that's nice and all, but I have people worried about me – I would rather get home as soon as possible and let them know I'm ok."

"And you can do that with me. Do you really want to make Sookie go out of her way to take you home when she has suffered a lot today as well?"

I bit my lip, feeling guilty, he was right. "I suppose." I smiled at Sookie, "thanks anyway! Hopefully I will see you back in Bon Temps."

She smiled back at me uncertainly, eyeing Godric's hand on my back with suspicion. "If you're sure. Drop by Merlotte's when you get back." With that, she waved and joined her brother and boyfriend in a small car that was parked in the corner of the lot.

I turned back to Godric, biting my lip again and feeling unsure. "I need to stop off at the hospital before I go anywhere, would it be ok if you dropped me off there? I can phone my friends from there and you won't have to see me again."

He stiffened slightly at my words, I didn't understand why.

"Of course."

I smiled brightly at him, "thank you so much!"

As soon as we got into the car that somehow magically pulled up for us (at this point, I didn't question it) I immediately fell asleep on the plush leather seats, curling up in a ball. This car was ridiculously spacious.

Eric and Godric had settled into the seats opposite me and I decided not to bother with a seatbelt – if the car crashed they were more than capable of catching me. Well, Eric wouldn't be willing to but I hoped Godric would.

The sound of quiet murmurs woke me up but I was too warm and comfortable to move or do anything about it.

"She is a very spirited human." I heard a low voice say. It took me a few moments to figure out where I was and what had happened; and then a few more to realise who had spoken.

I flew up with a wide grin. "You think I'm cool!" I waggled my eyebrows at Eric. "You think I'm spirited! No take-backs!" I pointed at him, laughing madly.

He shot me a deadly look and I immediately shut up, flying backwards against my seat but I still couldn't help a small, victorious smirk.

Godric laughed lowly and it sent a small tingle down my spine that settled in my belly. I blushed.

Yawning and stretching my arms up, something felt different. Off. I stared around in confusion, not sure what was wrong. I lifted a hand to massage my slightly stiff shoulder, where I slept on it funny, only to feel smooth unblemished skin. I immediately freaked out.

"What the fuck? There should be a small stab wound here!" I frantically looked over the rest of my body, shocked when my ribcage felt fine. That was what was off – I felt amazing when I should be feeling like, well, like I was dying.

"What's happening? I don't understand." I started hyperventilating, seriously bewildered. Godric reached forward and gently took my wrists, steadying me.

"Its ok, Milia, I healed you."

I froze. Huh? "What? How?"

Godric shared a cryptic look with Eric before glancing back at me. "I used a special… vampire magic."

'Whaaaat?"

"I cannot tell you how – the law forbids it."

I stared at him in confusion, "ok?" I felt the back of my head, noting the lack of a bump, although there was a lot of dried blood matted in my hair. "Thank you, I guess. You didn't have to do that though – I wouldn't have died if I got to a hospital."

Godric's eyes darkened. "I wanted to."

I was saved from having to reply as we pulled up to a really big, really nice house.

"Where are we?"

"My nest."

Both Eric and Godric escorted me through the house. It was full of vampires and as soon as I entered the front door and they smelt all the dried blood stuck to me, their heads snapped up in my direction.

I felt nervous and vulnerable under all their gazes, and tried to hide myself behind Eric's tall form (he had to be good for something, right?), who smirked and moved out the way so that I was still in plain view. Fuckface.

And almost as if he could feel my fear, Godric stepped in front of me, staring down the room, which hastily averted their faces. Weird.

I was led through the house; Godric must be loaded – it was modern and open planned, decorated with expensive, minimalist furniture. He took me upstairs (there were so many, oh my god) and showed me inside a massive bedroom. It had a huge, and I mean huge, four-poster bed, with soft, black sheets. I would bet my life savings it was Egyptian cotton.

I thought I would feel exhausted just looking at the bed but instead I felt full of energy, like I could dance the night away – it must have been that weird vampire magic they had used to heal me.

"The bathroom is through that door," Godric gestured to the room beyond, "you can use the shower and anything you wish. I will find you some clean clothes." He left the room, gently shutting the door behind him.

Confused, I looked down at myself only to remember I had been wearing his shirt this whole time and it was soaked with blood, which was thankfully no longer dripping now. God, I must have looked like a mess.

I jumped what had to be fifty feet in the air when the bedroom door abruptly snapped open and Eric appeared.

Placing a hand on my chest, I glared at him. "Jesus, you ever heard of knocking?"

He just smirked at me. What is it with vamps and smirking?

"Why are you here?"

He raised a brow. "I can leave if you want, but if a hungry vampire comes in here smelling your blood, you're on your own."

I huffed. "Fine, you can stay."

That deadly expression flashed across his face again. "I don't need your permission."

I held my hands up in surrender. "Okay, dude, cool, whatever, don't get your panties in a twist!"

He growled at me and I automatically took a few steps back, which appeared to appease him, but not enough. "If Godric hadn't ordered me to keep you safe, I would have ripped your throat out hours ago."

I gulped and hastily made my way to the bathroom, sternly telling myself to keep my mouth shut – this was not someone I wanted to provoke. I stopped suddenly before the door, remembering I was still wearing his jacket.

"Um," I hesitantly slipped it off – noting all the holes in it from the spikes that had been used to tie me up. It was also drenched in blood; it looked pretty unsalvageable. I hesitantly handed it back to Eric, who looked at it in clear disgust and refused to touch it. I awkwardly dropped the jacket on the floor next to him, eyeing him the whole time with wide, apprehensive eyes.

He stared at me expressionlessly.

"Its not my fault," I told him and emboldened by his lack of response, I stupidly carried on, "in fact, this is your fault."

He looked surprised at my blatant lie and it was the first genuine expression I had seen on his face and I caught my breath at how beautiful he was, despite my fear.

"How?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, it just is." And before he could like, murder me and hide the body, I hurried into the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind me.

I quickly stripped off, almost weeping with joy when I got my dirty underwear off. Damn, it was one of my favourite sets – matching black bra and lace panties – and they were forever ruined.

I turned to put them on the counter and I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I did not know what to think. On the one hand, that weird voodoo vamp magic had my skin glowing and had cleared up any blemishes I had – that small scar on my chin had vanished without a trace. On the other hand, it was hard to see how good I looked when I was caked in a thick layer of dirt, dust and blood. My hair had matted together, turning messy curls into an extremely unattractive lump. I sighed deeply – it was going to take me forever to untangle it.

I hated my hair anyway. In this lighting it looked like the colour of fire but normally it was a calmer, copper colour. I always had to put up with people making jokes about a fire-fighter having fire coloured hair and let me tell you, it got real old, real quick.

The only part of my features that I actually liked were my eyes, however, due to my exhaustion and tears they were now puffy and bloodshot, somewhat taking away the wow factor of my big, golden, honey coloured eyes. People always admired blue or green eyes and ever since I was little, I had always wondered why they didn't do the same for brown ones? They were just as beautiful.

Getting in the shower was a dream come true – better than any orgasm I had ever had. I spent forty minutes in that shower – it had so many buttons and settings and I was going to try out each one. I was in heaven. Or pretending to be – I refused to think about what had happened to me until I got home. If I lost it, I wouldn't be getting it back for a while and I didn't want to have my breakdown in a house full of vampires.

Stepping out the shower, I grabbed one of the plush white towels and moaned at how it felt – it was like I was wrapping my body in marshmallow fluff. I opened the bathroom door and peered out, noting with relief that the bedroom was empty. I spotted a dress on the bed and eagerly rushed towards it before I saw movement in the corner of my eye.

I screamed and froze, very close to losing my grip on the towel. Thankfully, I managed to hold it up through sheer willpower alone.

Eric was lounging on an armchair in the corner, legs elegantly sprawled out and smirking downright sinfully at me.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you enjoy scaring naked women half to death?" I yelled, flushing. His eyes followed my blush as it spread all over my body and I cursed my fair skin to kingdom come.

"Yes. I do, but only if I'm naked with them."

I scowled at him, grabbing the dress that lay on the bed without looking at it and retreating as quickly as I could.

I slammed the bathroom door shut, grumbling under my breath when I heard him laugh mockingly from the other room. "Asshole."

I lifted the dress up and stared at it in shock – it was the exact same dress I had been wearing when I was kidnapped. How did Godric do that? I was impressed, despite myself.

I was not too thrilled about wearing it however – the dress was tight and, if I'm being entirely honest, slutty. I did not want to wear this in a vampire nest. I ddin't have a choice though – it wasn't like I had any other options.

That is when I came across my second, much worse dilemma – I did not have any underwear. There was no in hell I was putting my dirty underwear back on and I was too embarrassed to go back out there and ask Mr Pervert guarding the door to get me any. Did Godric not think to get me any underwear? Did vampires not need it? Why was this my life now?

Sighing in an incredibly world weary way, I pulled the black dress on, grateful for once that it was so tight – it held my boobs up in a flattering way (if I do say so myself) and there was no risk of a breeze blowing it up.

Maybe I could escape out the window and never have to face these people underwearless. I grinned to myself, and reached for the bathroom window, only to see that what I thought was the window was actually a thick metal screen, covering what should have been the window. Why…?

Oh, vampires – no sunlight. Right. That made sense. I wasn't any less crushed though.

I took a deep breath and faced my doom.

As soon as I had stepped out the bathroom, Eric eyed me with dark, lustful eyes, a broad smirk on his face.

"Eyes up here," I snapped, gesturing to my eyes. Before I could blink he was suddenly in my face and I flinched back, hitting the bathroom door where he had trapped me.

"Sure," he breathed, seductively, his face ghosting past mine. My heart was beating wildly in my chest and I was very confused – he hated me but he didn't mind hitting on me? This guy had issues.

His nose brushed my ear and I squeaked. I was then hit by a powerful memory of another vampire doing this exact same thing to me less than twenty-four hours ago. I could see where Eric got it from then.

Not wanting to humiliate myself twice, through the exact same fucking trick, I slowly started lowering myself, sliding down the door until Eric's face was no longer invading mine. I then darted out next to him, making my escape, knowing that he had let me do it.

I honestly didn't know what to think.

By the time Eric and I had made it from the bedroom to Godric, I was feeling just about ready to say fuck it to politeness and make a break for the door. I could feel several sets of eyes on me at all times, but whenever I tried to find who they belonged to, no one was facing me. It was driving me insane.

Thankfully, for some reason that was beyond me, Eric helped shield me from a lot of the staring this time and I hid behind his towering form.

"Why so shy?" he asked me, "would a strip tease make you feel more at home?"

I had had enough of this douchebag. "Shut up," I seethed.

He merely laughed at me.

When we caught sight of Godric, sitting stoically on a chair like he was a king and that was his throne, I scurried towards him, seeking safety with him from Eric's innuendo.

To my horror, Godric was just as bad, if not worse than Eric.

At my approach, his eyes had darkened hungrily as they raked over my form. I suppressed a shiver and crossed my arms, hoping to hide some of myself.

He pretended to frown, "Are you cold, Milia, feeling a bit… breezy?" he asked teasingly.

What? It couldn't be, right? That was not a veiled reference to my lack of underwear, it couldn't be.

"I must say; if I had walk about with no underwear on, I would be rather chilly too."

My jaw dropped. He- he had done this on purpose? What? Why the hell would he do that? Did he think he was going to get lucky tonight or something?

"You bastard!" I yelled, gearing myself up for a good rant when the room went silent and everyone stared at me. I went a bright, horrible red, and lost my momentum – if I wanted to scold him, I was going to have to reveal to the whole room that I wasn't wearing panties. My pride just couldn't take that.

I deflated and slumped onto a couch, questioning and regretting every moment that had led me here.

Godric was outright laughing at me now, still staring at me like he was dying of starvation and I was a banquet. I could feel my insides clench at his look, if you know what I mean, and it was almost like he knew? His eyes, if it was possible, darkened even further and it looked like something had snapped within him. What the hell is going on?

I don't know what would have happened then, but I was saved, mercifully, by Sookie who interrupted us loudly.

"Milia! I didn't expect to see you here!" She said, in a voice that strangely sounded like she was forcing herself to be cheery, almost like she knew what I was thinking and had deliberately engineered a rescue. But that was impossible so I quickly dismissed it from my mind.

"Sookie!" I greeted just as surprised, but in that moment I don't think I had ever loved another human being more. Thank you, Sookie Stackhouse! "Yeah, Godric, took me here to get cleaned up before I go home. You won't believe this – they used this weird vampire magic to heal me – all my wounds are gone! Isn't that crazy?"

"Vampire magic?" Sookie asked, her nose scrunched with confusion. Then her face cleared, like she had just realised something and then it clouded with anger. "Vampire magic! You—"

At that moment, her boyfriend, who I had since learned was called Bill, came for her, forcefully dragging her away as she yelled something about blood.

That was really weird.

"What was that about?" I asked Godric, puzzled.

He just smiled reassuringly at me. "It was nothing, little one."

"Okaaay," I replied doubtfully, eyeing him suspiciously. Thankfully, his eyes held the same, calm neutral expression that I was used to, and any of the hunger that I had glimpsed before was gone. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

We sat in companionable silence before I remembered something.

"Oh, hey! How did you get my dress? I thought I had left it behind at the Fellowship. And how did you get it cleaned so quickly?"

He looked at me like I was an idiot. "As far as I know, your dress is still there. I bought you a new one."

I gaped at him for a second time that evening. "What? I can't wear this! Take it back!"

He looked amused. "And what will you wear instead?"

Shit, hadn't thought of that. "Give me one your shirts – you owe me one anyway."

He smiled, "no, little one, I do not. If I recall correctly, our bet was for that shirt, not another one. If you want another one of my shirts, you shall have to make a new bet."

I pouted at him, giving him the best puppy dog eyes in my arsenal, which were pretty effective, if I'm being honest here.

He chuckled. "That will not work on me, young one, you forget I am very old."

I sighed and slumped back in my chair. "But I don't have anything to give you."

"Oh," he said in a low voice, "that is far from true."

Huh?

"Like, I told you – I'm broke."

He smirked victoriously then, like he had me exactly where he wanted me and if I didn't know any better, I would say he had steered the conversation this way.

"What about our old agreement? Same stakes, new bet?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Deal."

We shook hands and I pretended that touching his skin wasn't affecting me and like my heart rate hadn't sped up. Hopefully vampires didn't notice things like that.

"What will we bet on?" I asked, eying him curiously.

He pretended to think and I realised he had had a new bet planned this whole time. Sneaky bastard.

"How about we bet on how long it takes for us to see each other again?"

I stared at him in confusion. "What? But we aren't going to see each other again. I'm moving to Bon Temps, you live in Dallas."

He sighed mockingly, "well then, I guess we have nothing to bet on."

I don't know why I even cared, or why I was so desperate to make a bet with him – its not like I was in desperate need of a man's shirt. But there was something about him, something alluring and tempting and it was making me want to see him again.

That would be the last time, I promised myself. I did not need to get involved with vampires – my life was full of excitement and danger as it is – I sure as hell didn't have room for more. These vampires spelled nothing but trouble.

"Fine. I bet that I will see you again in…." I took a moment to think, "a month."

He smiled devilishly. "I bet we will see each other again in less than a week."

My mouth fell open in astonishment. Why would we see each other again so soon?

"Deal, I guess."

He smiled at my reply.

We sat in silence for a while longer, but by then I had gotten a little thirsty. Weirdly, there had been water bottles in the bathroom and I had chugged them all down, having not had anything to drink for almost an entire day. I guess I was still slightly dehydrated.

I made my way to his awesome kitchen, which was also unsurprisingly very large, and had a glass of water before making my way back to Godric. Avoiding eye contact the entire way.

Just as I passed the hallway leading out of the main room, I caught sight of a man in a large dark coat. Shit. This could not be good. All my instincts were screaming at me that something terrible was going to happen. The way he walked, the look in his eyes – it all spelled trouble. I pushed my way over to him, trying to stop whatever was about to happen but I was too late.

"Excuse me, everyone." He yelled. The whole room turned to stare. I was still forcing my way to him.

"Luke, what the hell are you doing?" I heard Jason yell from somewhere.

"My name is Luke McDonald. I'm a member of the Fellowship of the Sun and I have a message for you, from the Reverend Steve Newlin." He unzipped his coat to reveal a bomb, wrapped in silver chains and wooden bullets, strapped to his chest. He was holding a detonator in his hand and the timer on the bomb was stuck on one second.

He raised his thumb, about to push the button, when I jumped up in front of him.

"Luke!"

He paused and I tried to give him a shaky smile. I had startled him and momentarily caught his attention. Good.

"Luke is it?" I asked and he nodded. I had his curiosity now.

"You're that bitch from earlier, why should I listen to you?"

"Well, as you heard earlier – I'm a member of the DFD. If you were listening, you would know I was at the church today through a simple mistake – I saved a vampire once, as my job description entails and Hotshot lost his job because of it. He had ordered me to let her die. I'm ashamed to admit," a lie, I wasn't ashamed at all, "that I punched him before directly disobeying his orders and saving the vampire. I know you may not want to listen to anyone here, but I'm telling you – I'm different, I'm not one of them."

I was bullshitting of course – one of the first things you had to do when dealing with someone dangerous and hostile was to calm him or her and to do that you had to establish a relationship. I was hoping he would see me as more of an ally than an enemy. I just prayed that everyone else here were smart enough to keep their mouths shut and let me handle him – if anyone else here tried to speak to him, he wouldn't view them as an ally and they may well provoke him.

"Do you think you could spare a moment to listen to me, Luke?"

He nodded, slowly, and I could see the sweat pouring from his brow, his hands were shaking. I breathed a small sigh of relief. I had just bought myself some time to analyse the bomb before me. I had taken a class at the academy once – on explosives and EODs. It had been optional but they recommended we all take it, because in this day and age, you never knew what you would run into as a member of the emergency services.

Looking at him, I could tell he had never done anything like this before. He looked like he had never even seen real violence before and I knew that his knowledge of explosive devices was limited to whatever he could find on Google. This was good news – it meant that the bomb would be simple and easy to disarm, without backups and trick wires. Even just looking at the bomb I could tell it was crude.

"You don't have to do this." I started off, going down the expected route. He started crying and I took the opportunity to peer at the bomb more closely. The room appeared to be holding its breath; everyone frozen in place, not wanting to trigger the man whose finger was a mere millimeter from their destruction.

I was surprised that none of the vampires had surged forward to attack – the one in the cowboy hat looked like he was reckless enough to. I figured that whoever was in charge was smart enough to know not to risk it, and was holding back the more thoughtless members of this household.

Luke's anguished tears fell down his face. "Yes, yes I do," he cried, "vampires are a curse, an abomination and we need to send them a message. A message that they won't be tolerated and that God will always win."

I nodded slowly at him, still holding my hands out in front of me in a calming gesture that also let him know I was not armed.

"I understand that, Luke, but do you think that God would want you to do this? There are humans in this house, Luke, and the Bible says that murder is always wrong – do you think that you will be allowed to enter heaven if you're last act on earth is murder?"

Bingo, I spotted the wire I needed to disarm the bomb. If I could reach that wire and pull it out before he pressed that small red button, I could save us.

"No! The Bible says that killing others is justified in the name of war and this is war!"

Seeing that it was either now or never for me and seeing that I could no longer hold him off, I lunged forward. At the same time, he pushed that small red button. I flew forward and time really did seem to slow down this time as I yanked out the small blue wire just as the timer hit zero.

I flinched.

The room around me exploded into noise and fury. Before I could take a breath, I was pushed to the side as the vampire wearing the cowboy hat grabbed Luke by the throat, crushing his windpipe.

"Stop!" I yelled, desperate, tugging at his arms. "Be careful, if you jostle him it could accidently set off the bomb! You could get us all killed!"

That caught his attention and he slowly lowered Luke to the ground. Luke was screaming and crying, yelling prayers and curses simultaneously. At my words, he immediately started thrashing, hoping to set the bomb off accidentally.

"Eric, restrain him. Make sure he cannot move. Let it be known now that no harm should come to this man – he will be dealt with by the human authorities." Godric's voice effortlessly rose above the confusion, ringing with his earlier authority and power and I realised that he was the one in charge here. Wow.

Everyone was too relieved to still be alive and shocked at what had just happened to put up much of a fight if they disagreed with his orders.

It was at that moment that my legs gave out and I collapsed to the floor, struggling to breathe – this night had been way too much. I had almost died so many times nothing was registering anymore. I didn't notice as the people around me celebrated, hugging their friends, lovers, family, whoever, in celebration. All I could do was stare blankly at the wooden floor, fascinated by the grain pattern.

Hours could have passed, or mere seconds, I couldn't tell, before I was lifted from the floor in the strong arms of Godric. He was staring at me in what only could be described as awe. I didn't get it – he was an old, powerful vampire and I was just a tiny human who had a serious penchant for trouble. I looked behind Godric to see Eric and for the first time he was looking at me with an openly positive expression. I couldn't identify any of the emotions on his face, however, because as soon as he caught me looking at him, it immediately fell into a cold, expressionless mask.

I have said it before and I will say it again: what is going on?

"Um, Godric," I said hesitantly, anxiously, "about what I said earlier, about not liking all of you or being associated with all of you, I was lying."

He smiled softly at me. "We know."

I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful a vampire wasn't going to come flying around the corner yelling traitor and ripping my throat out.

Godric gently put me down and the Stackhouse siblings appeared out of nowhere to envelope me in a warm hug.

"Milia, that was amazing!" Sookie exclaimed, crushing my ribcage with her tiny arms.

"Yeah – you're a real life hero," Jason yelled excitedly, also crushing my lungs.

Before I could reply, he had bent down and swooped me up onto his shoulders.

"Three cheers for Amelia – our hero!" He shouted.

My face went red from embarrassment. "No, no don't – please! I was literally doing my job, please, you don't need to cheer."

But my protests were drowned out as most of the room cheered for me. I wanted to die from humiliation and I hid my face in Jason's hair, which made him laugh. It was the same laugh half the girls in Bon Temps were in love with, but it just made me grin fondly at him.

Some of the vampires that I assumed were more hostile to humans didn't cheer and instead rolled their eyes, scoffing in disgust – which was fine by me, I preferred their reaction to everyone else's.

Eventually, Jason placed me back on the ground, laughing heartily; he saw something over my shoulder and his laugh died in his throat. His face went pale. I was still giggling but catching sight of his expression, I peered at him in concern. "Jason? Are you all right?"

I turned to look behind me but all I could see was Godric and Eric. Huh. I wonder what had spooked him.

I smiled at the Stackhouse siblings as they bid me goodbye and waved them off, making my way over to Godric.

"Did you call 911?"

He nodded. He seemed strangely standoffish with me.

"They're sending the police, bomb squad and DFD, right?"

He nodded again.

"Where are we? What neighbourhood is this?"

"Near East."

I squealed in excitement and he looked taken aback.

"That's my district! My Firehouse is on their way!"

And before he could say anything else, I rushed outside, standing on the street and eagerly waiting for what was basically my second family to appear.

I had been waiting for less than five minutes when I heard sirens and less than a minute later I watched as Truck 28 pulled up a few metres from me.

I felt nervous now; unsure I actually wanted to see them. Did they know I had been kidnapped? Were they worried about me? Would they be mad at me? I looked behind me and saw that Godric's entire nest had gathered outside to watch the human authorities. From what I understood, the vampires thought that the human emergency services were hilarious and fascinating.

I caught sight of Godric and Eric. Godric was my burning holes into me with his eyes and Eric was watching the fire truck with boredom and disinterest.

I turned back to the truck and watched as everyone piled out. They were acting strange – excited and urgent.

Jesse Taylor, my best and longest friend, pushed his way to the front of the group and immediately caught sight of me. He froze. I froze.

The rest of the truck immediately caught onto to his behaviour and turned to see what he was staring at. They also froze. I would have felt embarrassed by our audience but I was too focused on my friends to care

We were caught in a stare off until Jesse broke into the biggest smile I had ever seen on him and loud cheering erupted from the group. Then we were all running at each other. Tears of happiness were streaming down my face as I was engulfed in the tidal wave that is known as Firehouse 28.

"I knew it" I heard Mckinnely yell, "I knew it! We knew it was you as soon as we heard a red haired girl had gotten into trouble with a bomb over the radio."

"Kent! You're alive! Where have you been? We missed you!"

"You stupid girl, we were all worried sick about you."

"Kent, if you ever pull this shit again I'm going to kill you."

I didn't know who to speak to. I was passed from person to person, hugged by everyone at least twice, until there was no more air left in body. Everyone was crying, cheering, trying to get a word in as they checked for themselves that I was alive and well.

Eventually we all settled down, and the others moved off to actually, you know, do their job, but not after threatening me with bodily harm if I didn't sit them all down later and explain exactly what had happened.

Only Jesse had stayed with me, and everyone knew better than to separate us, especially at a moment like this.

Jesse Taylor was a tall, muscular twenty one year old with dark curls and piercing green eyes. He was always dubbed the 'Hot Fireman' whenever we got calls. I always made fun of him for it.

We just stood there, hugging, for as long as we could – not needing words to say what we were feeling. We knew each other too well for that.

The sound of police sirens broke us apart and I wondered what had taken them so long to get here.

The rest of what appeared to be the entirety of Dallas PD rushed around us, trying to control the scene and take statements. Bomb squad had already arrived and were dealing with the bomb strapped to Luke's chest a few fields over, where he had been moved after Eric had restrained him.

Two deputy officers stepped up, and as soon as the younger one caught sight of me he immediately started yelling to his partner.

"I knew it! You owe me fifty bucks."

"Excuse me?" I demanded hands on my hips.

"Oh, no, don't take offense ma'am." He explained, holding his hands out soothingly. "Its just that, as soon as we heard that a fire-fighter in this district got into bomb trouble, I bet my partner here that you two were involved – you always are."

I was Offended. How rude, how presumptuous – it didn't matter if it was true – I was furious. Jesse knew exactly how I would react and as I lunged at the two men, trying to give them an earful, he put a hand over my mouth and dragged me back into the house, easily dodging all my kicks and punches as I struggled with him.

He set me back down in the living room and gave me a stern look. I immediately deflated, pouting at him.

"Those eyes don't work on me anymore," he laughed, "especially not after you used them on my brother to get fake IDs last year."

I rolled my eyes, "don't be so dramatic, it wasn't that bad."

He snorted. "Not that bad? You were doing a drunk strip tease in the middle of the bar!"

I shot forward and placed a hand over his mouth. "You keep your mouth shut!"

But it was too late; the damage was done.

As if the words "strip tease" had magically summoned him, Eric Northman appeared. Followed by Godric shortly afterwards.

"What's this I hear about strip teasing, human? It seems you have a thing for that. You know, I own a very infamous bar in Shreveport and we are always looking for new talented dancers." Eric winked at me.

"Well, she has been looking for part time work," Jesse mused, pretending to look thoughtful.

"You ass!" I said to him before sucker punching him in the gut. He coughed and bent over, gasping for breath. Godric looked weirdly proud of me.

"Worth it," he breathed. Honestly, he knew me well enough by now that he should have seen that one coming."You know, I was going to give you a fair warning before Chief arrived, but now I don't think I will."

My face transformed into a look of horror. "Chief," I whispered.

"Uh huh – if you thought the rest of us were mad about your disappearing act, then you're in for a surprise when you see Chief. He was only a few minutes behind us as well. I reckon you only have seconds before he arrives. You best start running, Kent."

"But I was kidnapped – it was hardly my fault."

"Oh, he knows," Jesse continued, pretending to be oblivious to my terror, "and he is still really pissed. As far as he is concerned, you're a stupid, reckless magnet for trouble, who should know better than to walk home in the dark on your own, especially when everyone knows you can't find your way back when you're drunk."

I paused for a moment. "Please wear black to my funeral."

"Don't worry, I got you – I'll play 'Born to Die' when they bring your coffin in."

I patted him on the arm. "You're a true friend."

"I know."

McKinnely was passing us at that moment and snorted, "You two are ridiculous."

We simultaneously stuck out tongues out at him, acting like the three year olds we were inside.

Ta daaaa!

So, a lot happened in this chapter.

Poor, poor Milia - she was manipulated so many times and Godric now has her exactly where he wants her.

In case it wasn't clear - he gave her his blood to heal her and because she obviously doesn't know anything about vampires, he lied about it. Tsk, tsk, naughty Godric.

A song I thought fitted Milia perfectly in this chapter is 'Trouble' by Neon Jungle. Lets hope she doesn't do a strip tease to it ;)

And yes, Amelia grew up in Bon Temps! Although, she obviously didn't know Sookie and Jason that well, which makes sense as she is a few years younger than them.

Side note: I know nothing about Dallas, the DFD or explosives so please don't take anything I say about these as accurate because they are not.

Thank you for reading!

Next chapter: We meet Chief, Godric's suicidal intentions are dealt with head on, we meet this mysterious vampire Milia saved and Milia finally, finally gets to go home.