Ch 28: Godric Is Alive!

Lorena A Fucking month I’ve been waiting for an appointment with that no-good, low-life, piece of shit who calls himself a King! I’ve been living in Mississippi for over a year and this is the thanks I get?  To be pushed to the side like a piece of trash? Now, finally when it’s time for my appointment, I’m told I have to sit here and wait until the King is done with his all important business. I’ve about had it with this shit. My bottom lip was trembling with rage. Do they not have any fucking respect? “Lorena.” Oh god, not that fucking twerp, standing there like he’s better than me, with his hands on his scrawny little hips, and that arrogant smug look. “Talbot,” I replied dryly, standing to my feet and smoothing out my long red dress. I hated coming to this fucking mansion and being around these god damn queens. “It is so good to see you, darling,” he said with about the fakest fucking enthusiasm I’ve ever seen. Why doesn’t he just say what he thinks? Why doesn’t he just admit he hates my dead fucking guts? “Likewise,” I said. “Where’s the King? I’ve been waiting for my appointment for an hour.” “Russell will be up momentarily.” He said, walking to a flower arrangement sitting atop a table in the middle of the foyer. He began meticulously readjusting the flowers. I mean fucking really? How much god damn sissy can you get? I huffed and sighed, narrowing my eyes at him and putting my hand on my hip. He thought he was so special being the king’s fuck toy. I’d love to rip him apart. “You would think someone died with all the insistence you had to see Russell,” He purred, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes while he tried to decide where to put a pink flower. “You know he’s in the middle of important business.” “I don’t care what his fucking important business is. This is god damn way more important.” I hissed. “My child has met the true death!” “William Compton?” Talbot said, turning to me and putting his hand on his chest in fake concern. “YES! I don’t have any other fucking child. I am a subject of the kingdom of Mississippi, am I not? I demand an investigation be conducted. It’s my right to request one!” “Request denied,” I turned to see Russell Edgington, the all important fucking bastard King, walk in the room chuckling, followed by a nasty stinking werewolf. He walked up to Talbot and kissed him on the cheek. PUKE! “What do you mean request denied?” I screamed. He turned to me and raised an eyebrow in warning. Fuck him! “What do you mean request denied, Your Majesty?” I said the last part as sarcastically as I could manage. “Request denied because I do not need to perform an investigation. I already know what happened to your half-wit progeny.” My mouth gaped open at his audacity! How dare he speak to me that way! I am not a baby fucking vampire. I am 278 god damn years old, and I deserve respect! I have been in this country longer than any other vampire on the continent. I came here with the first French settlers to New Orleans in the early 1700’s. Therefore, I have superiority over every fucking vampire in the New World, except of course the Native American vampires, but they don’t fucking count, a bunch of tree hugging hippies who live in caves, the whole lot of em. “Russell,” Talbot said surprised. “Is William the one Alan was talking about the other night when you commanded him to tell you everything he knows about our guest?” “Yes, he’s the one,” Russell said walking up to me slowly. “Nut confronted the girl about it the night after she killed Compton.” “What fucking girl? William was in love with me! He worshiped the ground I walk on!” I spat. “He won’t be easy to replace!” Russell started laughing again. “That’s not what I heard. Rumor has it he couldn’t get far enough away from you and your unhealthy obsession with him.” That’s fucking bullshit! He only moved away because he needed to learn a little about being a vampire on his own. Fuck Russell! “I demand that you seek out and destroy the one who killed my progeny!” “I will do no such thing. It’s your child’s own fault he is an idiot. What sort of vampire gets himself staked while he slumbers by some backwater country bumpkin little human girl?” “God Damn it, then tell me who did it! I’ll fucking rip the blood bag apart!” Russell started laughing hysterically and looked over at Talbot who started laughing loudly too. Then the Werewolf started bellowing out as well with a fake laugh that boomed off the walls. Am I missing the fucking joke here? I put my hands on my hips and rolled my eyes as the three of them carried on laughing for a good three minutes. “What the fuck is so funny?” I screamed. “The human is claimed by The Northman, and he is quite obsessed with her. Good luck getting within a mile of the girl,” Russell told me. “Russell, darling, please get this trashy vampire out of our home. She clashes with the decor.” Talbot said waving his hand in the air like a diva. “Arrrrrrgggg,” I growled and turned to the door. On the way out, I knocked over the oriental vase which was holding Talbot’s precious flowers, sending it to the ground. The vase shattered into a million pieces all over the floor. “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,” Talbot screamed rushing to the mess. I continued walking with a little more sway in my hips, a sly smile forming on my red lips. Fucking pussy!     Eric There had been a fairy in the safe house today. Sookie warned me before I went to slumber that she would be calling Claudine to continue her training. I wanted to wake my mate and spend time with her but she needed the sleep. After spending several hours just lying in bed and holding my Sookie while she slumbered, I forced myself to get up and prepare for the night. Sookie was the only thing motivating me to trudge forward. Without her I would be an empty shell, but she has filled me with everything I needed during this dark time. I do not know how I have become so attached and drawn to another soul in such a short amount of time, but one thing was clear, I needed Sookie more than she would ever know. She thinks I am the strong one, but she sells herself short. She was the one holding my world together. She was the one holding me up as I fall. I love her, and I confessed it to her last night as we made love for the first time. I have never made myself so vulnerable to another, except of course Godric. But then what surprised me was that Sookie confessed the same feelings for me without any hesitation, and her emotions over the blood-bond confirmed her words to me. In her I see light. I felt contentment and peace fill my heart, even though it was weighed down so heavily at the moment with my anguish over Godric’s true death. When Sookie was looking in my eyes or touching me, it made the pain bearable. It was moments when she was not in my presence that I felt the weight of my loss. Yes, she was in the other room while I stood under the warm water of the shower. But I could not gaze upon her face and get that feeling of peace and hope. I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall of the shower as I tried to picture my beautiful Sookie in my mind. When she was standing there in my mind’s eye, her brightness swept away all the darkness, and I could not help but feel a little bit more high-spirited thinking about her. She was truly magnificent in every way possible, and she was mine. I dried off after my shower and put on a pair of pants with a little less melancholy. My cell phone began to ring, and I wondered who would be calling before the sun even set. There were very few vampires in my acquaintance who rose as early as me, so I assumed it was one of my Were connections or perhaps my day man, Bobby. I would occasionally get calls from all sorts of supernaturals since I am the Sheriff of Area 5. I did not want to deal with any bullshit tonight. I picked up the phone and recognized the number as one saved in my contacts. It was Isabel, Godric’s former second in command. I frowned a little. Last night I tasked Pamela with communicating with Godric’s nest in Dallas. I could not imagine why Isabel needed to call me. “Northman speaking,” I answered, pressing the phone to my ear. “Eric, my condolences,” Isabel said softly. “I was truly saddened to hear about Godric from Pam last night. His nest is truly in a state of mourning and shock.” “Those who dared to violate Godric will wish for the true death once I find them,” I growled, however, I was confused. It was not customary for Vampires to call with condolences. Death was a part of our existence and those who suffered a loss did not show their pain to those outside their blood-line. It could be viewed as a sign of softness. The only acceptable behavior to deal with Godric’s true death was violence. Anything less would be considered weakness. “I will not rest until Godric is avenged.” “I expect no less. That of course is not why I am calling, Eric,” she stated, getting straight to the point. “Before dawn last night, we had an arrival here at the Dallas nest.” “Why does that concern me?” I said dryly. I had nothing to do with Godric’s affairs in Dallas. Isabel should handle these issues on her own. I assumed she was now the Sheriff of Area 9. “Because our arrival was Nora, your sister. A few hours after sunset yesterday she felt the true death of Godric and immediately boarded a flight on Anubis Airlines straight here. Once she arrived, she was in an awful state of hysteria and had to be restrained by five of my retinue. We had to silver her for the day to keep her contained. It was awful Eric. I didn’t want to hurt her but she was consumed by violent madness. She still slumbers now in silver.” I sighed. Nora was not quite as close to Godric as I was, but she still had a very strong attachment to him. Last time the two spoke, they parted on bad terms. To Godric’s dismay, Nora had been secretly dabbling in the Sanguinista teachings. He taught us for centuries to avoid anything having to do with that dark faction, but Nora disregarded his lifetime of knowledge and wisdom. The Sanguinista’s believed in the literal teachings of the book of Lilith, and Godric had been a leader in the movement before he turned me. I do not know a lot about that period of his life, but I do know he killed dozens of humans nightly in what he called ‘twisted games of pleasure and sport’. Those memories haunted my maker until the night he met his true death, and he always regretted that Nora did not adhere to his teachings. Instead, they parted on angry terms, and she made her way to the vampires who live the Sanguinista lifestyle. They placed her as a sleeper agent within the authority, and now Salome serves as her mentor. Godric hated Salome, who was a close acquaintance of his from the time when he was a part of the movement. He considered his daughter lost and kept their bond closed as tightly as he could. I still spoke to her regularly though, and Godric would often ask me how she was doing. He still loved her, despite everything that ensued between them. He was a good maker. He could have commanded her to have nothing to do with the Sanguinista’s, but instead, he released her as she requested and let her find her own way in the world, make her own mistakes, and come to her own realizations as he had to do. “Eric, you need to be the one who explains to Nora how Godric met the true death,” Isabel whispered, as if saying Godric’s name would anger the spirit world. “And you need to tell her face to face. He was her maker, and she deserves to hear it from her own blood-line.” “I agree,” I told her. “When she rises put her on a flight to Shreveport. I’ll have Pamela pick her up at the airport and bring her here.” Nora may be a part of the Sanguinista’s now, but I do not believe her to be as fanatical as Godric once was. She does not live the hard core lifestyle that he did. I knew my sister well, and she loved her maker and she loves me, as I do her. Perhaps, Godric’s true death will even cause her to re-evaluate her choices. Isabel and I said our farewells, and I wished her success in her new role as Sheriff. I will have to call Pamela later when she rises and inform her of her orders to retrieve Nora from the airport and bring her to the safe house. Despite the reason for our meeting, I found I felt a twinge of excitement at the prospect of introducing my bonded to my sister. The two were alike in many ways. Both were stubborn, strong women, that was a given. And Sookie has been misunderstood her entire life, just as Nora was during her human life. I walked back into the bedroom and gazed upon Sookie’s face as she continued to slumber. She was smiling in her sleep. Whatever she was dreaming of was good, and I would not rouse her back to the problems of the waking world from whatever was softening her mood. I prodded the blood-bond to gauge her emotions and found that she was overjoyed. There was also worry and concern, but her elation nearly drowned it out. I lay beside her on the bed and stared at her beautiful face.     Godric I tried to convince myself that thinking about Russell eating shit made my captivity worth it. I had spent the last few hours thinking about Russell’s shit eating escapade. The ancient spent several hours trying to re-establish the glamour that had weakened on the witch last night after Angur was resurrected. Such a powerful witch would not be easy to keep under tight restraint. If she completely broke the trance and became aware of her enslavement, she would likely severely damage Edgington, perhaps even control his mind. Soon my mind wondered to Eric and Sookie, and my heart swelled thinking of memories with them. Finally, when I had nothing else to think about, I went into downtime and let my mind shut down to pass the time. My inner clock stirred me out of the nothingness, like a built in alarm indicating the sun had set in the sky and it was now nightfall. Almost right on cue, I heard four sets of feet above in the mansion making their way in my direction. Two vampires, a witch, and a Werewolf, I could tell two were mortal by the heart beats and rhythmic breathing that became audible as they approached one floor above. I knew one was the witch because of the light footsteps she made in her glamoured state. One was the Werewolf because of the stomping, and I thought I heard him expel gas too. I knew the other two were vampires because they did not make any noise when they walked, but I could hear them talking to each other. One was Russell Edgington, and the other was Angur. I knew not what they had in store for me tonight, but I assumed it may have something to do with trying to get information about the stone that Edgington wants. I don’t know what they hoped to accomplish. Angur could not command me to say or do anything. I will go to my true death before I put Eric and Sookie in any danger. Last night, after Angur was resurrected, the body of Alan Nut was so weak the Werewolf had to carry him out. I assume after that, my maker had fed on many humans, not to mention slumbered for the day, so he would now have regained his strength. I have no idea how he will react to the progeny who murdered him 1900 years ago. The door creaked open, and I looked up the stairs as Edgington and Angur stared back with their chins held up. “Well, well, well,” Edgington mocked coming closer, Angur at his side. “What do we have here?” “A witness to your shit eating endeavor to bring your deplorable progeny back to this world in a fat soft body,” I smiled with a fangy grin full of smugness. I looked over at Angur and raked my eyes up and down the pathetic body he was forced to now live in. I snorted in derision. Vampires were almost always the pinnacle of beauty in the human race. A maker did not want to turn an ugly child. Russell was one of the exceptions to that rule. But rumor has it his father was a powerful Kassite Chieftain in Babylonia around 1500 B.C. and was turned by a vampire who admired him. Russell was then turned by his human father not because of his exceptional abilities or beauty, but because of their human blood-tie. That almost never happened because a maker would take their newly turned progeny to another region, but because of the Chieftain’s influence over the area, they decided to remain. This of course, is all rumor and hearsay, but the story would not surprise me in the least. “He is right. This body is fucking soft.” Angur snarled. “You have your murderer to thank for the blood that resurrected you,” Russell spewed. “If he had not delivered you the true death 1900 years ago, you would not have to live in such a body now.” Angur turned to me, his eyes flaring with an otherworldly evil. “I have wallowed in the shit hole of the universe for 1900 years, destroyed by my own child. What have you to say for yourself, Godric?” “I refused to walk the path you laid out for me,” I hissed looking away. “Ah,” Angur chuckled. “But that is not what I hear, my child. I hear that after I departed this Earthly realm, you left a trail of slaughter and carnage in your wake. You are known as Death, are you not?” “That is the past,” I muttered. “I have made many errors which I regret in my immortal life.” “And there is one error, Godric, for which you will regret dearly,” he growled. “I command you to beg me for my forgiveness.” A dark glower spread across my features, and I smiled sardonically. “Why does he not adhere to the maker command?” Angur screamed, his face nearly turning purple as his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed into slits. His hands clenched into fists and he crouched forward. “What is the meaning of this?!” “Ah yes, that,” Russell said irritated. “We had to sever his ties so The Northman would give him up for dead. We did not want any unwelcome visitors.” “What?!” Angur yelled. “This cannot be! How will I seek my revenge if I cannot control the Gaul? How was the tie severed?” “This witch,” Russell pointed. “I had her use an old spell to sever them.” “Then it can be rebuilt!” Angur said walking up to the witch and looking her over. “The spell you speak of is not final. And the maker-tie can be rebuilt without re-establishing the tie with this child Northman.” “Yes, however, the Gaul might not survive such a re-connection, especially since you met the true death.” “I demand that the maker-tie be rebuilt. It is my right! The tie should have been re-established upon my resurrection if not for this outrageous spell. If Godric meets the true death in the process, so be it.” “Very well. Re-establishing the maker-tie will be no problem for us,” Russell chuckled. “However, the Gaul here will feel the pain of a thousand true deaths. Then once the tie is rebuilt you will be able to command him to tell you where the stone is. Once we have that in our possession we can open a portal to the other world and a virgin frontier will be at our fingertips. Ripe for the taking!” “Do it!” Angur spat. “Witch!” Russell called to her. “Reconnect the tie between Godric and Angur.” “The tie cannot be reconnected,” the witch said swaying on her feet with glazed over eyes. “Why the hell not?” Russell screamed. “I command you to tell me the truth witch.” “I cannot lie since I am under the control of your glamour. So I will tell you the truth.” “Then fucking do it!” Russell yelled. “Are you sure she is fully glamoured?” Angur asked, scrutinizing the witch. “Positive. She isn’t easy to keep glamoured, but I spent several hours last night putting her back in a trance.” “I cannot re-establish the connection because you dined on dog dung last night. I must draw magic from all those present in the Gaul’s blood-line in order to make the spell work properly. The feces has contaminated your body.” “I can’t believe you let this witch fool you into eating shit.” Angur laughed, causing his maker to growl. “What can be done witch?” Russell asked, casting an outraged stare at Angur. “I can expel the shit from your body.” “Then fucking do it!” Russell screamed. “What are you waiting for you stupid witch?” By the gods, Russell was an idiot. He had spent too much of his existence living on the fringes of society with his pack of wolves and lurking in dark caves while they brought him meals. At first, I thought he was cunning and intelligent because he successfully faked my death. But now I see that he is as daft and dim-witted as a yearling. I knew immediately what the witch was about to do. As strong as Russell’s glamour was with his age, he could not keep the witch completely under his command. Somewhere deep inside the depths of her mind she was fighting back. She was probably consciously unaware of what she was doing, her survival instincts acting merely on proclivity. “Very well,” the witch said with the slightest hint of amusement dancing across her glazed eyes. “I will have to induce a bowel movement.” “You can’t be fucking serious?” Russell hissed in outrage. “I haven’t shit in 3500 years.” “It is the only way,” the witch said. “We must expel the feces from your system.” “But…” Russell began to argue. “Shut up,” the witch chanted in a monotone voice. “Your incessant whining will further hinder the re-establishing of the maker-tie.” “How will that fucking hinder it?” Russell screamed. “Because your constant moaning will impede the casting of the spell. Any moment your body will be irreversibly damaged from the feces. Vampires are not meant to eat turds. You should not have done that.” “She has to cast the spell,” Angur hissed at Russell. “Why do you continue to delay?” “Fine,” Russell growled. “How do we proceed?” “You need to pull your pants down and squat, sir,” The Werewolf instructed. “Yes, like that, sir. Now squat down real low.” Russell was now squatting on the ground with his pants around his ankles while everyone stood around him trying to give him instructions on how to shit. I watched him as I dangled from the ceiling, a dark smile spreading across my lips. “How does it feel, Edgington, squatting your ass to the ground like a mangy animal?” I asked with a chuckle. “Shut the fuck up, Gaul!” Russell shrieked. “Sir, you need to stick your ass out a bit or the shit will get on your ankles,” The Were said. “Fine,” Russell hissed. “Witch, proceed with your spell. I am ready.” “Very well,” the witch said. She began chanting in Latin and soon Eddington’s eyes bugged out and his face turned red. “What the hell is that?” He screamed. “Something is stuck in my ass.” “It’s your shit, sir,” One-Ear said. “You can do it, sir. Just push. Push!” “It’s not fucking coming out!” Russell grunted. “It’s stuck.” “Try breathing, sir. in Hee out Hoo. Hee-Hoo Hee-Hoo.” “Hee-Hoo, Hee-Hoo,” Russell screamed. “It’s too big! It feels like a fucking butternut squash.” “I suppose you have rammed that up your ass at one point” I laughed. “Fuck you, Godric! I have never put human food in my ass.” “Then I suppose you are only used to Angur’s tiny penis in your ass.” “You will be the one crying in a few minutes, Gaul! So you would be wise to hold your tongue. Soon Angur will be able to command you and you will have to tell us where the stone is. And we may even command you to tell us where The Northman is and pay him a little visit.” “You should not have eaten feces,” the witch said, pointing at Russell. “That was stupid.” “Oh gods! It’s coming out!” Russell said excitedly. “The shit is coming out of my ass. I can feel it.” He grunted and groaned and heaved on the floor. “You got this, sir!” One-Ear cheered him on. Finally the shit plopped on the ground and Russell sighed in relief. “Now what?” He asked. “You uh, have to wipe, sir.” “I don’t have anything wipe with,” he looked up at One-Ear furiously. “You do it.” “Sir?” “Use your fucking hand and wipe my ass, you idiot!” Russell screamed. “So I can stand up.” “Oh, okay, sir.” I was in the midst of idiots. But one thing was clear, my maker-tie was soon to be re-established and when that happened Angur could command any information from me that he wished. I would be compelled to tell him what he wanted to know, unable to stop myself. He could command me to tell him where the stone was, where the safe house was, anything he wanted to know I would be forced to reveal. I have heard of severed ties from a witches curse being reversed. It was one of the most painful experiences a vampire could endure, and the survival rate for such a arduous ritual was very low. I only hoped that I would not survive, for I could not bear to be the one who exposed the location of the safe house to these pathetic vampires. If Eric and Sookie met their true death as a result of this, I would never be able to forgive myself.     Sookie It was one of those lucid dreams. I knew I was asleep. I knew I was dreaming. It was awesomely wicked! I don’t know where I was, in some strange place, where the sun was setting. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. The sky was streaked with hues of red and orange. I stood on a grassy hill staring out at the beautiful sun as it descended in the sky. “Beautiful is it not?” My head snapped to the voice beside me, and I could hardly believe my eyes. It was Godric, standing beside me staring at the sunset. I looked at the side of his face. My eyes raked over his features, his square jaw, sprinkled lightly with dark stubble, his striking cheek bones and chiseled eyebrows, his perfect lips as the corner slightly twitched up signifying he was well aware of my gaping. “It has been so long since I have seen a sunset, two thousand years. I suppose your dream brought me here. Thank you for this gift Sookie.” His eyes squinted and his body jerked as if he was in pain. Opening his eyes back up, he turned his head to look at my face. “But then the sun does not compare to your beauty, my love. To look upon your face, that is the true gift.” “Godric,” I whispered, facing him. “Oh my god Godric, I miss you so much.” “And I you, little one.” “How are you here in my dream? I thought I only had lucid dreams of you guys when I had a blood-tie or blood-bond. But that would have been severed when you were…” “When I was what?” He said, raising an eyebrow. I looked at the ground, a tear rolling down my cheek. “When you were killed.” “I am not…” Before he finished he fell to his knees clenched his teeth. “I did not meet the true death, my love,” he groaned as if he was fighting some unknown pain. “You have been deceived.” “Godric, what is wrong with you? Why are you in pain?” I fell to my knees in front of him. He lifted his head to look at me, his arms wrapped around his abdomen, but he didn’t answer. What ever pain that had gripped him seemed to be passing.  “I want to believe you didn’t meet the true death, Godric. I want to believe it so badly,” I cried, closing my eyes and shaking my head. “Please Godric do not give me hope unless it is true.” I don’t know how, but somehow I knew whoever was talking to me was indeed my Godric. This was not a figment of my imagination. I knew it as surely as I knew my own name. “Our bond still exists. It has only been severed. Like two ends of a cut rope swaying in the breeze, trying to reconnect. With you currently sleeping and my meditation it must have relaxed our minds enough that we could meet here like this.” “What are you saying? I don’t understand…” He lifted his head and screamed out in pain. It was so terrifying, so agonizing. I gasped and put my hands over my mouth. “Godric, what is happening to you?” “Please, my love. Please, little one. I… I am trying to hold the meditation, trying to put my mind in downtime. Let me feel you in my arms, for it will help me bear this pain.” I quickly scooted to him as he hunched over. His chest heaving as he sat on his knees on the ground. He put his arms around my neck and raised his head with half open eyes lids. “My beautiful, Sookie,” he whispered pulling me against his chest. “Oh, how I have missed the feel of you in my arms. You must listen to me. You must listen to my words. I must tell you…” He yelled and groaned as the pain radiated through his body again. I pulled his head to my neck and held him as he circled his arms around my back. He sobbed into my neck, almost desperately and I could feel the blood-tears running down his face onto my skin. “Why are you in pain, Godric?” I cried, running my hands through the hair on the back of his head. His body tensed in pain. “I came here to think of pleasant things, my love, pleasant things to distract my mind. If I think of the pain I will be pulled from this place back into the waking world. But I have to warn you. Once I do I will be pulled away. I do not want to go, little one. But I must.” “No, don’t go, Godric! I love you, Godric!” He lifted his head and put his hands on my face. “That is the first time you have told me you love me,” he said with parted lips and shining eyes that showed how touched he was. “I do!” I cried. “I love you so much!” I took a deep breath. “Godric, you have to tell me where you are.” “I am in…” He squinted his eyes again and hung his head. “No,” he said desperately. He pulled me back to him and laid his head on my chest, crying into it. I knew asking him questions about what was happening was somehow making him loose control of his hold in this place. I wanted to be here with him so badly, to make the pain go away, but at the same time I needed information. I was so torn. I held his head, running my fingers through his hair. “Shhh,” I said softly. “I’m here, Godric. Feel my warmth. Hear my heartbeat.” “Yes, my love,” he sighed with a shaky breath. “I hear it. I feel you. It is so nice.” His body tensed again and he squeezed his arms around me. “Do you remember how it felt when we made love? Do you remember how it felt when we blood-bonded?” I said trying to distract his mind from whatever torture he was enduring. “I will remember for the rest of my nights,” he whispered softly, pulling me onto his lap so that I straddled him, his head still against my chest and his eyes still squinted tightly shut. “Yes, we will make love again soon, Godric. When I come there. Won’t we?” I said trying to somehow get information from him without bringing back the reality of what he was going through. “Would you like to make love to me again when I come to where you are?” “Yes,” he sighed. “When you come to Mississippi we will make love. We will make love for many nights.” Bingo! I knew that bastard Russell Edgington had him. The bastard had somehow faked his death, complete with a severed bond. But the joke was on Edgington, because I had learned that very day from Claudine how to reverse any curses with my fae magic. I could re-establish the bond the moment I saw Godric. “Hide the stones somewhere else,” he said grabbing my face with both hands. “You must take them from your farmhouse in Bon Temps. You must get your grandmother out of that place and somewhere safe. You and Eric must leave the safe house and go somewhere I am unaware of.” “Okay, I will. Don’t worry about that, Godric! I’ll get Gran out and move the stones to the…” “Little one, no! Do not tell me where!” he screamed again. “I cannot…” “Godric!” I screamed as he faded away. He reached out with his hand as his solid form became ghostly. I put my hand up and touched it to his, feeling only air as he disappeared. “Godric, Please!” No! No! No! I thought he was dead. He was just here. I just found out Godric was alive! Now he was gone! I stared at the empty lonely spot where he was just sitting. I felt like crying in misery and screaming out in happy joy at the same time. Godric was in so much pain, but he was alive! My god Godric was alive! I never thought that my heart could both break and heal at the same time. I was going to wake up and tell Eric what I knew. Then he and I would go to Mississippi and save him! I couldn’t wait for that moment, the moment when I felt Godric’s arms around me again. I took my shoes off and stood to my feet. I began sprinting across the ground barefooted, feeling the grass and dirt under my bare feet, the wind whipping through my hair as I raced over the rolling meadow. Oh my god! Godric was alive! I couldn’t believe it. The relief poured out of my soul. The sunset in the sky reversed and the Sun rose, shining over the landscape like a beacon of joy. Birds rose up out of the trees and grass as I ran, swarming above me in a myriad of whites, blues, yellows, and reds, chirping and singing in a harmony that filled the sapphire sky. I landed on a shady spot under a large oak and lay on my back panting, looking up at the fluffy white clouds that lazily breezed across the sky high above. I wiped the tears out of my eyes and stared at the beautiful heavens. Godric was alive!