New Beginnings

Chapter 5

Unfortunately, I don't stay blacked out for long. I wake back up as Godric is situating me in the back of my car, looking around desperately. The look of fear on his face looks odd, as though he doesn't feel that emotion often. I then realize that my car isn't working and that is why we aren't going anywhere.

Through the haze of pain, I hear Godric speaking on the phone, in another language. He hangs up shortly after that and comes and sits beside me, just holding my hand. His fangs click out, and I reach for his wrist, hoping that blood can fix me, but he shakes his head and smooths my hair down. I start to get dizzy, and then black out again.

This time when I wake up, I am in the back of a big SUV that is speeding down the highway. I don't know how much time has passed, but I know that I am with Godric and Eric. Eric must be who he was calling when he got me in the car.

We pull back up in front of Fangtasia, and Godric scoops me out of the backseat. He runs me into the bar and lays me face down on one of the black pleather booths.

"Godric, what has happened?" Eric asks, looking down at me, stricken.

"She has been attacked by a maenad. I need you to call the healer for this area. She is the only one who will be able to save her."

"Why can you not just give her your blood?" asks Eric, turning on his maker.

"Because vampire blood will kill her in this state," Godric says calmly, laying a hand on Eric's chest. "Call the healer."

Within a few minutes, a tiny older lady with a medical kit is walking through the front doors of Fangtasia like she owns the place.

"What the hell happened?" she asks in a screechy voice.

"She was attacked by a maenad in the woods," Godric says evenly, not betraying any emotion.

"She is going to die—soon. Do I have your permission to do what must be done?" the tiny doctor asks before opening her medical bag.

She sits down beside me and begins look at the scratches. All of a sudden, she sticks her finger in to one of them so she can see the poison. She nods her head absently, and then reaches into her bad, removing a sort of paste.

"Northman, Godric, hold her down so I can rub this on her," she says brusquely. Before giving me any warning, she sticks her finger all the way into the wound, rubbing the paste in.

I think I must have passed out again, because the next thing I remember is my head being Godric's lap, and my feet being in Eric's. I am still face down in the pleather booth.

"You're finally awake," Godric says, smiling at me. "I was finally able to give you my blood, so the wounds should be close to healed by now."

I stand up and walk over to a mirror by the bar and pull my shirt up, noticing that the scratches are indeed gone, without even trace of a scar.

"What attacked me?" I ask them both, wanting to know why I almost died.

"A maenad," Godric answers quickly. "I did not get a good look at her, but those were indeed the marks of one. A very old one, to cause that much damage. We must see what she wants and why she is here."

I nod my head slowly, taking all of the information in. I can't help but notice the warning glance that Godric gave Eric when he answered the question about the maenad. I go to sit back down, but don't do so between the two of them. I decide to sit in the booth across the table from them.

"Can one of you take me home? I'm tired, and seeing as the blood healed my face, I want to try to go to work tomorrow evening," I say, because I really do need the extra money, seeing as now my car is going to most likely need major repairs.

Before Godric even has a chance to respond, Eric stands up, and takes my hand. "I'll take you home, Sookie. Godric needs to stay here and attend to the payment of the healer."

Godric looks at Eric with anger in his eyes, and for a moment I see the vampire that he once was, many centuries ago. Before he has time to say anything, though, Eric has whisked me out the door to his red Corvette. He gets me situated in the seat, and then speeds around to his own side so we can leave.

About 20 minutes into the drive, I notice Eric grinning.

"What's so funny?" I ask him, confused.

"Nothing. It just seems my maker will be having a word with me when I return home tonight," he says, with a rebellious glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, what was all that about, back at the bar? It seemed like y'all were having a damn pissing contest with each other," I say annoyed. I don't want to be some toy that they fight over like children.

"Sookie, you know that I am attracted to you. I have never hidden that fact. My maker is upset because he can feel your attraction to me through the small bond that you have between each other. It makes him angry," he says smugly.

"Eric, you high handed bastard. I never said that I have feelings toward you. I have feelings toward Godric," I say angrily. I don't want Eric to ruin what I have going with Godric, even if I don't know what it is that I have going.

"Oh, Sookie, I never said you had feelings toward me. I said you are attracted to me. You shouldn't feel bad. Humans haven't always been monogamous, you know," he teases, while waggling his eyebrows.

"Well, this human is monogamous. And I am so not attracted to you, Eric."

"If you say so, Miss Stackhouse," he says smiling broadly, turning back to the road. At that moment, we turn into my driveway, and Eric parks the car. He gets out and comes to my side so he can help me out, and walks me to the front door.

"Just know, Sookie, that if my maker ever happens to not be quite enough, that I will always be here to fill the void."