OOM - Dallas, Texas. Inside The Church of The Fellowship of The Sun and at Godric's Nest

They are caught.
And they chain him, the boy soldiers of The Fellowship. They think that their pathetic, silver chains is holding him, when it is his Maker's word that stays his hand. His fangs.

Godric told him not to spill any blood. So he will not. Instead, he offers himself up. Knowing that it might be fatal.
But it is worth it for the way Sookie suddenly looks at him.

Bill comes running. He sees the look on her face too and Eric would smile if the chains were not burning into his skin.

Then Stan arrives with his vampire army, and Sookie's moron brother.

And Godric.

His clothes are too big for him. White. They make him look like a little, saintly boy trying to pass himself off for grown. So small and yet so strong.

He stops them. Stan and the rest. They still obey him, as well they should.


And Sookie is the one who frees Eric of his chains.

*

At the house, Eric enjoys telling her of the strong bond between Maker and progeny, looking at Bill. Watching him squirm. Bill clearly does not wish to tell her of Loreena and Eric can hardly blame him. She is a crazy cunt but she is his Maker and sooner or later that shit will hit the fan. And it will be gloriously messy.

Hugo is brought before Godric who shows him mercy. Because he can. Stan is unhappy but Godric silences him with a simple, "It is my verdict," and Eric can feel his heart swell with pride at his Maker's power. His assuredness. He is asked to remove Hugo and he does so, returning to squat at Godric's chair.
He's arranged for an AB Negative human for him. They're rare and highly prized and he is pretty pleased with himself for having been able to take care of this in the madness of the evening. But Godric declines the meal. Politely.

So he asks, "Why would you not leave when I first came for you?" Almost unable to look at him.

So Godric tells Eric of The Fellowship, of how ordinary they were most of them. Of how he understands their fear of vampires. That he sees no trouble in treating humans as equals for not doing so leads to groups like The Fellowship of The Sun.

Eric hears his own voice asking Godric, "Is that why you wouldn't fight when they took you?" Quietly.
He can hardly bear to look at him.

He could have killed them all, Godric says, and Eric knows that it is the truth. And then he asks Eric what killing them would have proven and he cannot answer. He can only look away.

There is a commotion at the other end of the room.
Loreena and Sookie and poor William caught between them, looking miserable and defensive. And while the promise of a cat fight is promising, very much so indeed, seeing Godric handle Loreena, not even once having to raise his voice, is even better.

So Loreena is sent packing with Bill as an escort and then the foolish boy shows up, wrapped in silver chains and explosives.

He lights the world on fire and Eric jumps, not toward him but away, covering Sookie with his own body, feeling the silver tear into his flesh.

OOM - Dallas, Texas. A Rooftop. Sunrise.

The aftermath after the explosion is thrilling. At least the part where he tricks Sookie into drinking his blood by sucking two bullets from his chest.
She is furious, as is Bill, but what is done is done and a bond formed between them.

Somehow, it doesn't feel as good as he had thought. Winning.

He still wants her. No doubt about that.
But he wants Godric to be the way he used to be even more. He is so quiet. Gentle. It unsettles him.

*

Then Nan Flannagan arrives with her entourage and starts giving out orders as if she somehow has a right. And Godric just takes it. Accepts the blame of what she calls a PR crisis. Accepts being demoted. Eric is ready to kill her, but he cannot go against Godric's wishes. So he fumes, silently, and then everything inside him drops. Freezes.

"I will make amends," Godric says. Amends for all the lives lost. He swears it.
They are old, even if Eric feels like a child compared to his Maker. They know how one atones for lives lost, even if Nan dismisses Godric's words as drama. He has accepted to resign as Sheriff. To her all that lacks are some filled out forms.

He swore to make amends.

She files out of the room with her sycophants in tow and he goes to Godric, Bill and Sookie forgotten.
"No," he says and Godric looks up at him. Calmly. Asking him to look into his heart. Telling him there is nothing to say. But he insists that there is. He is not willing to accept what he hears hidden in his oath.

He will not!

"The roof," Godric says and walks ahead of him. And he feels the cold spread. The empty feeling that makes him want to claw at his chest.

Bill gets in his face and strikes him, splitting his lips. He spits blood and tells him that what is done is done. And to get out of his way.
Quietly. So quietly.
There is no room for anger in him now. The cold has spread too far.

*

The sun is rising. Not visible yet, but easy to feel, like a promise of warmth, and light. And death.

"Two thousand years is enough," Godric says, standing calmly beneath the slowly brightening sky.

Eric protests and feels his voice break. Saying that it is insanity.

And Godric's answer? That their existence is insanity. That they do not belong here.

"But we are here," Eric almost yells. Desperately.

"It’s not right. We’re not right," Godric says. Quietly. Looking at Eric with his new, kind eyes.

"You taught me there is no right or wrong, only survival or death," Eric insists and Godric says, that he told a lie. As it turns out.

Eric steps close and almost snarls that he will keep Godric alive by force, but his answer, a question, dismantles him and he crumbles, sinking to his knees.

"Even if you could, why would you be so cruel?"

No room for anger. No room for rage.

Only sorrow.

He sobs, kneeling at his Maker's feet, and the only words he can find are in the tongue of his childhood. Begging him.

Godric reminds him of the centuries between them. Of faith and love. And Eric starts crying in earnest, begging, begging, begging in a language that has no word for please. Saying snälla over and over. Sweet, sweet Godric. Don't do this.

Don't abandon me.

Godric's hand in his hair, on the back of his neck. So calm. As calm as his voice asking him to let him go.

And he grows calm. He knows what he must do. So he says, "I won’t let you die alone."

"Yes, you will," Godric says. Eric does not want death. And Godric knows this. He knows him. His heart. And that realization calls the tears forth again, stronger than before.

He must stay. He must.

Or he will be alone. They will both be alone. .

Godric asked to be released, but in the end he is the one who sets Eric free, forcing his hand.
"As your Maker I command you," he says. Kindly. And Eric looks up at him, drinking in his face. Imprinting it on his heart. He tries to speak but he cannot, and so he gets up and walks away. Slowly. Feeling the weight of the hazy dawn on his shoulders.

Sookie takes his hand. He had not realized that she was there. "I’ll stay with him," she says. "As long as it takes." And he cannot answer, but perhaps she sees the gratitude in his eyes.

He casts one long, one last, look at Godric. Gilded by the rising sun.
And then he opens the door to the stairs, his eyes blinded by bloody tears.