SPOV
I'm walking down the hall because I feel a void of someone who's definitely older than Eric, I assume it has to be Godric. If I find him, Eric won't have to keep intimidating and scaring that man. I know that man isn't a good guy but he's still a human and doesn't deserve to die, which is what I know Eric wants to do, I can feel his blood lust for the man almost as if it's my own. He just won't because of me, which I love him for. Wait, I love him? Do I? I know I care about him, a lot, more than I've ever cared about someone before. Maybe I do. No, I don't have time to dwell on this, it's something I'm going to have to think about more later. Right now I have to focus on Godric.
'Right, keep telling yourself that, Sookie. It's not because you're avoiding thinking about being in love with someone who'll probably get bored of you in a few weeks.'
I shake my head because now really isn't the time to think about my feelings or insecurities. I must be too lost in my thoughts and focused on getting to the void because the next thing I know, there's a man in front of me asking me what I'm doing down here. I put on my 'I'm just a dumb blonde and nothing special' face.
"I heard there's a vampire here that's going to burn in the morning, I just want to see him, I've never seen one up close before. He's caged, right?" I ask, trying to sound excited and nervous.
"You know little lady, there is, come with me, and I'll show you."
'Stupid bitch doesn't think I know who she is. The Reverend made sure to print pictures of her when that other fangbanger was going to bring her in today.'
"You know what? Don't worry about it, I'm just being greedy, I'll wait my turn like everyone else. My Gran always says 'You shouldn't get rewarded for misbehaving."
"No, you're going to come with me nicely or I'm going to force you to come with me."
I hope Eric's blood in my system is worth something because I pull back to punch him as hard as I can in his face. It knocks him back a little bit but he quickly comes back at me and hits me in the side of my head. I let out a noise of distress that I can't keep in.
I don't know why I always do this to myself. Why didn't I just stay with Eric and wait until we got the answers instead of running ahead? I'm trying to fight this guy off but he's so much bigger than me and I'm still not seeing straight. At least I'm sure Eric will be here soon because he can feel my distress and pain. Except, now the part of me that always feels Eric's emotions just goes blank, like he's gone. I've gotten so used to him being with me, it feels like a part of me is missing. What the hell happened to him? I have to get over there to make sure he's okay. There was intense pain before all the emotions left me, if I didn't know any better, I'd think he was dead. No, that can't be right. I just have to get over there.
Mr Big Broot Guy manages to get both my hands behind my back and is now pushing me down the hallway. He grinds himself against my back and I shiver in disgust when I feel how hard he is.
"Oh, I'm going to have my fun with you, little missy. It was dumb coming down here all by yourself. What else could I expect from the whore of Satan though? You had no choice but to come in and try to free that filthy thing in there. Don't worry, if you want him so much, you can have him. I'll suggest to Steve that you should be right next to your master when he burns come morning." I can't help the way my breath hitches because of what he's saying. "You don't have to be so scared, I'll take real good care of you before morning comes. You'll go out like the whore you are." He doesn't know Eric is here? That's good, I don't need him letting his other cult people know that there's another vampire down here.
"I'm not a whore, you pig, I've only ever been with one person and that's damn sure not going to change for the likes of you. Call me a whore and vampires things all you want, but we're not the ones talking about raping someone, you're the only monster I see around here."
I turn my head just enough to spit in his face. It's not the most ladylike thing I've ever done but desperate times call for desperate measures. It works too because he lets go of me to wipe his face. I take that second to kick him as hard as I can where the sun don't shine then push him and run past him to the last place I saw Eric.
Unfortunately, my kick doesn't incapacitate him like I hoped because I only take two steps before he's on me again. He knocks me to the ground, face down, and crawls on top of me. I have a sense of dread come over me when I hear him unzip his pants.
"Someone's a feisty one. I like 'em feisty myself. Too bad you're spoiled goods or I'd keep you for a while. Oh well, once will just have to be enough."
"Eric!" I scream at the top of my lungs when I realize I have no leverage to get out of this situation.
I hear a sickening squelch sound then the head of my attacker drops in front of my face. The problem is, it's just the head, the body is still on top of me. Everything in me is telling me to scream but thankfully, enough of my brain is still thinking logically, and calling more attention to us is not the best of ideas. I turn to thank Eric when I see someone who looks like he cannot be older than a teenager but he has the glow of a vampire. I did not expect him to look like this but there's only one person it could be.
"Godric."
"Yes, are you well?" He holds his hand out to help me up and I reach out to take it shakily.
I'm about to take it when I'm scooped up into arms that could only be Eric's. I breathe a sigh of relief that he's here but it turns into a gasp when I turn my face to look at him. He's all bloody, there's a lot around his mouth, it's clear he's just fed viciously on someone, but that's not even the problem. It looks like he has severe burns on his face. He has no shirt on and it's even worse there. It's like whatever burned him got into his shirt and kept burning him until he got it off. As lightly as possible, I lift my fingers to his face and skim over the burns.
"What happened?"
His fangs are down and he's growling lightly while holding me close. In the bond, which I just noticed I can feel again, it feels like he's barely holding onto control. I don't know why, we have Godric, and we're both safe. Maybe it's the pain he's in? I don't think so though because it's not as bad as it was before he got some blood in him. Which I am 100% not going to think about how that happened.
"The liquid silver."
Oh god, that's what silver will do to vampires? I just want to take him into my arms and cuddle him until he's okay. That's not really possible right now, considering where we are. Especially because of how crazy Eric is feeling.
"What's wrong? We found Godric, he's safe now."
He growls again for a few seconds then leans into me and I hear him take a long inhale of my hair. It's strange that just my scent can calm him down but it does, he still feels wired and close to going off the deep end but he's getting better.
"What did he do to you Sookie?"
"Who?"
"That human. I smell him on you and I felt your fear and disgust."
I shiver just thinking about the things he said to me. It doesn't matter anymore he's…. Dead. He can't hurt me anymore. God, he's really dead, I know he was trying to hurt me but Godric ripped his head off. I snap back to the current when Eric's growls get louder. I put my hands on either side of Eric's face, well the parts that aren't burned, to make sure he's looking at me and hearing what I have to say.
"It's okay, Eric. Nothing happened, I'm okay. Godric got there before he could hurt me."
Eric takes a deep breath, which strikes me as strange because I never really see him breathing. It seems to calm him down a little more. His eyes move from my eyes to around my face then with one hand, he lightly touches where that guy must have punched me.
"He did hurt you, min kärlek" Hmm, that's a new name, he's never called me that one before. I sigh.
"I know you're right. What I meant was he didn't hurt me the way he wanted to."
Eric's growls come back with a vengeance and I can tell he wishes the guy was alive so he could kill him all over again. Thankfully, for me, he's not alive. I know Eric has done things that I would hate, heck, I'm pretty sure he did something just a few minutes ago, I just don't want to see it.
"Eric, I promise I'm okay. Godric saved me."
I guess Eric is finally calm enough because this time when I say his maker's name he freezes, then puts me down and turns to Godric. It takes everything in me not to let my jaw drop when Eric gets down on his knees and bends his head down to Godric's feet. He's saying something to Godric but it's in a language that I don't know. I know enough from what I've read that I'm pretty sure he's speaking in Latin.
"domine mi, gratias ago tibi, quia dilectum meum servasti. Non possum illam amittere." (my sire, thank you for saving my beloved. I cannot lose her. )
"Surge puer." (Rise child )
Eric stands up but grabs Godric's hand and kisses it reverently. I almost feel like I'm witnessing something that I shouldn't be. I'd turn around except they both know I'm here and neither seem to care.
"Haeccine est illa quam sentio te cum copula coepisse? Quem in via nostri generis tuam accipies?" (Is she the one I feel you have started a bond with? The one you shall take as your own in the way of our kind?)
"Ita. Ea mea est Sookie nec aliam habebo. Nescio quid me ad eam trahit, sed eam adiuvare non possum nec amplius cupio." (Yes. She is my Sookie and I shall have no other. I do not know what draws me to her so but I cannot help it and no longer want to.)
"Bonus est, fili mi. Optavi iamdiu tibi tali modo occurrere." (That is good, my child. I have long hoped for you to meet someone in such a way.)
If this were any other situation I would huff and stomp away because it's quite rude speaking another language in front of me and I'm even pretty sure I heard my name. I'm not going to though because Eric finally feels better and I know he's missed Godric so much. I can let him have this.
Godric turns his attention to me and takes the few steps so that he's in front of me. "Are you well, little one?"
"Huh, oh yeah, I'm okay. Thanks to you. Right before you saved me, I came to the realization that there was no way I could have gotten myself out of that situation. So, thanks."
"No need to thank me, you are the mate to my child, that makes us family."
I'm not really sure what he means about that but I think that's just something I'm going to have to ask Eric later. So I just smile at Godric. "That's nice to hear. We don't have very much family, so it's always nice when it gets a little bigger."
"We?"
"Me, my brother, and my Gran. You'll love her. She's come to help find you too, she's at the hotel. Jason, my brother is home….." I trail off because I'm just now remembering what Eric and I heard earlier. "Oh that stupid SOB I'm going to kick his behind till the cows come home."
Godric quirks a brow in a way reminiscent, my word of the day today, of Eric. Actually, now that I think about it, Eric probably learned it from him. "Kick who, till when?"
He's smiling at me the way an adult would smile at their child when they think the kid did something cute. Which, I guess isn't far off considering our age difference and what he was just saying about family. "My brother, Jason." I turn to Eric. "You heard that too right? They were talking about the Stackhouse guy being all buddy buddy with Steve Newland. Gran told me she talked to him a few days ago and was proud of him for going on some church retreat. I'm going to kick him where the sun don't shine from here to Timbuktu if this is the retreat he was talking about."
"Yes, lover, you are correct. They were speaking of a Stackhouse."
"It's probably not him, right? I mean I know our name ain't too common but there's gotta be more than just us. It's probably another Stackhouse, right?" I look at Eric hopefully, begging him with my eyes to tell me I'm probably right and it's not Jason who signed up to be a part of this group of hate. He looks like he's about to burst my bubble when Godric answers first.
"You are Jason's sister?"
I turn to him quickly. "You know my brother?"
"Yes, he's been coming down here to keep me company and bring me sustenance. He's not a bad human, not like the rest of these people here."
Well, that makes me feel a little better but I still have all intentions of beating some sense into that boy."
"Yes, I'm sure you will, dear one. For now, it is time for us to get out of here. People are sure to notice these two missing soon."
I try to hide the shiver that comes over me when I think about the fact that these two probably have family upstairs waiting for them to rejoin the lock-in. I'm able to stop it from showing but Eric can feel the shiver all the same. He looks at me worriedly, I think he's scared that I might decide this is too much and leave him. Honestly, part of me thinks I should, some of it is too much. But then I have to think about what my life will be if I leave.
I'd have to take Gran and disappear somewhere, it's not like I could go back home, Sophie Ann would come to try to take me. I can't put Gran in that type of danger. How could we even afford to restart somewhere else? Anyway, the biggest and most important reason I won't just walk away is because of my feelings for Eric. I don't want to go the rest of my days without him. Never seeing him, never talking to him, never making love to him. No, I can't give this up. So I do my best to give him a small smile but I'm pretty sure it's more like a grimace.
"Yeah, you're probably right, let's go." Eric and I take a few steps before Godric speaks up again.
"You two go ahead, I am right where I need to be."
"What? Godric, no we need you up there. Plus we've been looking for you for days now and I almost died three times doing it. There is absolutely no reason to stay behind, let's go." I say Eric quickly turns me to him.
"Sookie, no. Do not speak in such a way to him."
"No, child, she is correct. I must make sure you get your Sookie out of here safe."
That gets my hackles up a little bit because Eric doesn't need help keeping me safe, he does a great job on his own. I don't say anything though because it got Godric to come with us and I don't want to upset Eric by correcting his maker. Plus I can feel the pleasure in the bond and I think it's because he's happy that Godric cares enough to help keep me safe. So instead I just nod and lead the way to where I think the exit is. I don't get a few steps before Eric picks me up bridal style and continues walking as if nothing has changed.
"Eric, I'm not an invalid. I told you I'm fine. I can certainly walk on my own." I say and this time I do huff. I feel a blush come over my cheeks when I realize I crossed my arms too, like a petulant child.
"Ahh, Sookie. You must forgive him, as well as get used to such actions as this. It is the way of a bonded pair. His instincts call for him to care for you after the injury. He shall be like this for a while, I'm afraid."
Eric doesn't comment, he just looks resolutely forward and keeps walking. I'm starting to think there's more to this than I know. Godric is talking like we're more than just dating. Didn't he say mates earlier? I know what that means in terms of animals but I have no clue what that means for vampires. I mean I know we were talking about completing the blood bond, and that sounds very serious and permanent. More permanent than a marriage I remember Eric telling me once. Am I ready for that?
I'm about to start internally freaking out when I feel Eric pull me closer to him, rub my back gently, and start growling in such a low soothing tone that I almost consider it a purr, though I'd never tell Eric that. I work hard to hold in my giggles at the thought of his reaction to being told he's acting like a cute cat. He looks down at me with a quirked brow but doesn't stop the sound. I decide to go with the mindset set 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em' and lean into his chest to enjoy the rest of the walk, uh ride.
Unfortunately, as soon as I get comfortable, Eric's whole body goes rock solid and his purr turns back into the ferocious growl I've become used to, signaling someone's pissed Eric off. I look at him but he's looking straight ahead. Slowly he puts me down. When he does I turn around to see none other than Steve Newland, his wife, Sarah, and a bunch of their followers.
They're all holding weapons that I'm willing to bet are meant for vampires. I turn around and see that Godric is gone. Did he leave us to deal with them ourselves? Isn't the whole reason he decided to come with us, to make sure we get out of here safely? It's not like I think we need his help I just feel bad for Eric, he obviously loves Godric a lot and to have him leave us in the lurch must hurt. Except, he doesn't feel hurt, he feels confident. That must mean that he knows something I don't about Godric, he must be here somewhere waiting until the best time to come out.
"Hey you, Fanger, what are you doing in a place of God? And what are you doing with that poor girl, put her down."
Eric puts me down but not because the Reverand says so, it's because it'll be better if his hands are free, plus he must be able to feel that I'm okay.
"It's okay, little lady. Just slowly take a few steps over here, we'll keep you safe from the night walkers."
"I think I'm fine right where I am, thank you very much. I'm in no danger with him and you're not either. We're just trying to leave."
I get a strong feeling of disagreement and I realize that Eric would much rather end a lot of the people in here than just walk out of here peacefully. I don't like that and it makes me feel dirty but I ignore it for now. Right now I have to focus on us getting out of here in one piece, without hurting any of them.
"Now you listen here, you little whore of Satan." Well, that took a turn really fast, a few seconds ago I was a little lady, now apparently, I'm the whore of the devil himself. "I know who you are and I know what you're doing here. If you think there's any way we're just letting you walk out of here, you're dumber than you look."
I'm used to hearing insults like that from people but I can feel that Eric hates it with a vengeance. Even if we didn't have this bond I'd know how strongly he feels about disrespecting me by the sound of his fangs dropping and the step forward he takes. Thankfully, it's not in vamp speed, if it was, I wouldn't have been able to put my hand on him to stop him and calm him down.
"No," Steve continues, "I think the best way for you to have a chance of being forgiven of your sins is to repent. And I know just the way to make it happen."
I'm officially sick and tired of these bigoted people. They think they're so much better than me because I'm in a relationship with someone they don't like or approve of. "Oh yeah? I wonder what someone like you would think a good way for me to repent is. Let me take a guess. You want me to repent by having all my sins burned out of me. You want me to be tied to Godric while he burns. Am I close?"
I don't have to let them know that the other guy already told me the plan. Plus, the look of surprise on the Reverend's face is completely worth it. However, I could do without the utter rage that Eric's feeling. I'm not sure how he's still holding himself together. Especially because I doubt I'm feeling him as strongly as he's feeling the emotions since our bond isn't even complete.
"Well, yes, actually. That is exactly what I have in mind. See, little lady, you do have some brains in that head of yours, if you weren't spending all your time being a whore of these things, you could have amounted to something in your life. Too bad it's about to end now."
I scoff, "Godric isn't even your prisoner anymore, you have no one to burn me with."
"I don't care about Godric, I'll take any vampire. And lookee here, it seems one has come to offer themselves up to us."
This time, Eric scoffs. "I have fought much more difficult foes than you but you can try your best."
I hear from the thoughts of some of the followers that Eric's calm and nonchalance about going against so many people is making them weary. They're wondering how old and strong he must be to not be worried at all about going against so many people. I start to panic when I feel at least two dozen voids coming this way and fast. The only thing I can think is that Stan got bored of waiting and is trying to save Godric his way.
Eric must feel them too, he knows that I don't want anyone hurt, so he comes up with a way to get us out of here fast. Unfortunately, it is not the way I would have gone about it. He vamps over and grabs Sarah Newlin, then pushes her head to the side and gets close to her neck with his fangs.
"We shall be leaving. As long as no one makes a move on us, your wife here will be fine. Sookie, start walking to the door."
I really don't feel comfortable with a hostage, so I'll try it my way. "Listen, I don't want anyone to get hurt. Other vampires are coming and you took their leader. They'll do whatever they have to, to get him back. Please, just end this nonsense."
"No, we're not ending anything. They'll just prove my point. They're evil things that thrive on killing. I'd rather them kill all of us than let you go. At least the world would have to acknowledge that they deserve to die." It seems like he doesn't care one wit that his wife's life is on the line.
"Steve, what are you saying, stop this!" Sarah speaks up in a shaky voice, she's clearly terrified.
The followers have gone from weary to terrified hearing Steve speak so callously about their deaths.
"Sookie, what are you doing? Let us get out of here, go to the door, I will be right behind you. Go, now" Eric growls. Uh oh, he's dropped the contractions, he's angry. But I have to try one more time to do this peacefully and hope the congregation can see the error of their ways and get away from this nutjob.
"Don't you see? He doesn't care about you, this is all about his agenda. Do you really want to die for another man's vendetta? There's still time. Put down your weapons and leave. There are children here, I'm sure the parents here care more about your children than the Reverand's agenda. Please, think logically here."
About seventy percent of the people here tonight put their weapons down and back away. They're thinking that they don't want to die and that they didn't sign up for all this. Most of them are just scared of the unknown.
I smile at them but Steve must not like how things are turning out because he pulls out a gun and aims it right at me. I can tell Eric is trying to figure out the best way to protect me, vampires can move fast but not faster than a bullet. I'm surprised I'm not more scared, I feel like I should be right now but I'm not. Maybe it's because I trust Eric will find a way out of this.
It turns out I'm right not to be scared because I am saved, just not by Eric. Jason storms into the room and shoots Steve in the hand. I scream until I realize it's a paintball gun. It's enough to knock the gun out of his hand though. Eric lets go of Sarah and vamps over to me so I'm behind him. I huff and step around so I can still see what's going on, we still need to find a way to get out of here. Plus, I need to keep an eye on Jason.
"Let her go, fuckwad!" He yells and aims the gun again. Someone rams into Jason from behind to stop him but actually makes him pull the trigger and shoot Steve in the head.
Steve reaches for the gun again and I guess that breaks the last of Eric's temper because he wraps his arm around my waist and vamps over to Steve then he throws him on the ground with his hand around his neck.
"Eric, don't," I say
"Kill him, kill the mother fucker!" I hear Jason yell. If it wasn't such a serious situation I'd reprimand him for his language. Ugh, as if Eric needs to be egged on. His rage and bloodlust are even getting to me at this point.
"Go ahead, martyr us, murder us before God, we're all willing to die."
I see and hear from everyone else that they definitely do not agree with their Reverand. Stan and about 20 of his goons walk into the room, all with their fangs down and clearly ready for a meal. This could not be worse timing, I'm still trying to calm Eric down. How can I count on him to stop the other vampires when he's not even able to stop himself?
"You have pushed us too far. You expect us to sit on our thumbs while you round up your men to come linch us? We'll kill ya first. The same way we did your father." Stan says. I really don't like this guy. Is he just trying to prove all the stereotypes right?
"Murderer" Steve tries to yell though his windpipe is a little squished right now thanks to Eric. I put my hand on Eric's arm which is holding Steve. After a tense second, he looks at me.
"Eric, let him go. He didn't hurt me, I'm fine. Godric's fine. Let's just stop this mess and get out of here, It's been a long day, I'm tired and worried about Gran being alone all this time.
He stares at me for so long that I think he's going to ignore me but eventually, he lets Steve go.
"Destroy them, all of them," Stan says to his cronies.
Godric decides to let himself be known, he's standing on the upper level on a ledge and almost looks ethereal, word of the day, with the way the lights are hitting him. "Enough. You came for me, I assume. Am I right?"
"Yes, Sheriff," Stan growls.
"These people have not harmed me. You see? We can coexist. Mr. Newlin, I do not wish to create bloodshed when none is called for. Help me set an example. If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?"
"I will not negotiate with subhumans!" He looks to Eric, sits up on his knees, and starts loosening his tie. "Kill me, do it." He looks back at the crowd. "Jesus will protect me."
"I'm actually older than your Jesus. I wish I could have known him but I missed it." Godric says then vamps over to us. He grabs Steve by the back of the neck and stands him up. "Good people, which of you are willing to die for this one's madness?"
The rest of the congregation looks around and it's clear they all want to live and have seen the error of their ways when it comes to following the Newlins. "That's what I thought, stand down everyone," Godric commands. The vampires look unhappy but comply nonetheless. "People, go home, it's over now.
"Oh thank God," I whisper and hug Eric. He idally wraps his arm around me but I can tell all his attention is focused on Godric.
It seems strange to me, shouldn't he be happy? We saved his maker. Why does he feel so uneasy?
"Please don't leave me," Steve begs his followers but most of them are already out of the doors and on their way home. The few that hear him pretend they don't and keep walking. Godric throws him on the ground.
"I dare say my faith in humankind is stronger than yours," Godric says to Steve. "Come." He directs his vampires.
Stan steps in front of him. "Sir, after what these humans have done to you? We're just going to let them go?"
"I said come," Godric says in a tone of command and walks away.
"Are you okay?" Eric asks, finally looking away from Godric.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you?"
"Yes, all will be well. Let us go. I must speak to Godric."
"Sookie, Sookie, come here."
Eric growls and turns around with his fangs down but I stop him when I realize it's Jason.
"Eric! It's okay, he's my brother." I know they've never actually been introduced but he has to know what Jason looks like by now, right? Maybe he's just still strung up all tight. Eric steps aside and Jason continues his moves to me and wraps me up in a big hug.
"I'm so sorry, will you ever forgive me?"
"What were you doing with those people? Are you out of your mind?"
"Yeah, I was. It's just like that son of a bitch sucked out my brain and planted all his babies in there." My brother sure has a way with words.
"You know nothing. On the final day of reckoning, we'll see who goes to heaven and who goes to hell."
Jason walks up to the Reverand and smiles widely at him. "I reckon I've already been to heaven, it was inside your wife." I elbow Eric in the side when he laughs. I see the realization start to come over Steve's face before Jason punches him in the face.
Eric leans down to me and says, "I think I might like your brother."
I scoff. "Men."
"Jason, that's enough. Let's go." I run up to him and try to push him away from Steve. It's not doing much good until Eric helps.
As we're walking to the exit, Jason throws a ring at Steve. "Take your ring you lying shithead. White suit mother fucker."
I hear Eric chuckle again and I roll my eyes. I really want to go to the hotel and go to bed but I know Eric has to see how Godric is and if I'm honest to myself, I'm worried about Godric too. It seems like it's going to be another long night.
