I DO NOT OWN OR CLAIM ANY CHARACTERS OF TRUE BLOOD.

PLEASE REVIEW, AND I WARN THAT MY IMAGINATION CARRIES ON, AND YOU MAY SIT A WHILE... :D

The Scent of Blood

Chapter 1

His name was Godric. The strange young man I met as I was walking to my small apartment. It was late at night, a time not fit for a young woman to be walking home from work. The night was a dangerous thing. And I would know. It was the reason for my existence. My mother was brutally beaten and raped in the comfort of her own home. I knew that the poorly lit streets would be even worse.

"What is a beautiful lady doing walking home this late, exposed to the dangers of the night?" he asked softly, as he approached me.

I hadn't noticed anyone near by though he looked harmless enough. I examined him clearly, if anything went wrong, I would be able to instantly give a detailed sketch of my aggressor. He was taller than me, built fit frame, buzz cut hair that grew out hazel, the exact same color of his eyes. He spoke more knowledgeable than the years he presumed to be.

"Could I say the same to you?" I whispered, not wanting to provoke the unknown man. He snorted lightly, his lips lifting to create a sensual half smile. His gaze took me in an interest that was somehow disturbing and yet comfortable, which strangely made my heart flutter. I looked down as well; did he see something that I did not? "My name is Godric. I am the Sheriff of this area." he said promptly, extending his hand toward me. "what an odd name…" I thought. "Maribel…" I said smiling, taking his hand and shaking it lightly.

The brief touch was enough to tell me so far that he was not lying to me. "If you are ok with it, is it possible that I could walk you home?" he asked politely. I looked at him decisively, as I bit my bottom lip. "I'm sorry, I'm making you uncomfortable aren't I…?" he asked. I smiled to think more or less of a good response. "I'm sorry, I just don't trust easily." I said. He looked past me, as if he was looking at someone behind me, making me turn in reflex. I looked back, seeing that there was nothing there, I turned my attention to the Sheriff, but he was gone. I was standing alone under a flickering post light. I looked around once again, and continued my walk to my apartment a bit faster.

Now I knew that something else was in the streets, something my mother always warned me about.

"You will not touch the female, you hear." he told Andale, the lieutenant of Godric's nest. "Yes sir Sheriff. I apologize. She smelled so delectable. Like nothing I've ever smelled in my entire 500 plus years." he said. "indeed…" Godric agreed, remembering the aroma signature. He had never smelled it either, came across similar aromas throughout history, but never one as inviting and mouthwatering like hers. "She's a beauty as well, sir Sheriff." Andale added with a sheepish grin.

Godric remembered her well. Her small voluptuous 5'4 frame, curvy in all the right places, beautiful heartwarming smile, mesmerizing light green eyes, and chocolate brown curls. Her blood aroma signature, utterly rare, and insanely tempting. Roses. It was a miracle she remained untouched, it was a feat for him, a vampire with millennia of experience, to resist such a delicious fruit. His eyes grew dark with hunger at the memory. Her delicate frame was also a reflection in her eyes, her innocence profound. "Spread the word. The female is to remain untouched. Anyone who does will have my personal consequence. GO!" he ordered. "Yes, sir Sheriff." Andale said, running into the night. Godric walked a safe distance behind the female, escorting her home, to guard and protect her, knowing with all his heart that this female was meant to be his.

Godric is a vampire. I know he was. I know vampires exist. I kept to my silent thoughts as I toweled myself dry. I wrapped my hair in a towel, and caught a glimpse of my birthmark behind my ear. It was more than a birthmark. It was a symbol of what I was, and what I was capable of doing. My mother had a similar mark on her inner left wrist. A tear drop falling into a bowl of a crescent moon. A Breedmate mark.

"it's a symbol that makes women who bear the same mark superior among all females. Queens in a vampires eyes." Maria said. I had questioned her about the unique birthmark once I discovered it looked exactly like my moms did. "Vampires don't exist mom…" I chided. "they do baby, they do exist. Before you born, I had my vampire mate, and son, who was a vampire as well." She looked down; it seemed like the memory hurt her deeply. "We Breedmates, are able to reproduce with vampires, and more than that, we are able to live as long as our mates do by sharing each others blood. A bond between a vampire and his Breedmate is profound and unbreakable. Only broken with the death of a mate…" I stopped her mid sentence. "Mom, your talking crazy!" I said in disbelief. "No baby.. I am not…" she murmured.

I didn't believe her then, but most of what my mother said made sense. She had also said that all Breedmates are born with a gift, that no regular human could possess. That's when I started to believe. I looked at my hands, and thought of what a single touch could do. Touching objects, either inanimate, human, dead or alive, I took in their knowledge, their history, and with that their strengths, manipulating and influencing their energies to my advantage. The longer the touch, the more I knew, or the more I could influence or manipulate. This is why I knew Godric wasn't human. He was extremely powerful, but to what extent. Did he somehow know what I was?

"Being a Breedmate is also not as good a privilege as it seems. There are evil vampires and other beings out there baby, just as there are bad humans. They can keep you captive, and alive, for the torture to never end… it's a risk women like us possess." Maria warned. I pushed those memories far from my mind as I changed into my sleeping clothes and removed the towel from my head.

I was just about to lay down, when the door bell rang. My heart picked up pace. Who would come looking for me this late at night? I remained quiet. The bell rang once again. My heart was pounding loud and hard. The bell rang once more. "Maribel? Its me, Godric. I apologize for how late it is, but I was wondering if I can speak with you for a moment.?" he asked politely, and made it obvious that he wasn't going to leave until I answered. How did he know where I lived?! I willed my feet to move toward the door. Before I undid the locks, I made sure which weapon of choice I could use. The umbrella was the only one that could keep some distance; harm to a vampire with an umbrella would be ticklish in comparison.

I opened the door, and was welcomed with a warm dazzling smile. "Hello, can I come in?" Should I risk being hurt, or should I slam the door and call the police. He said he was the Sheriff, I recalled. "Yea sure…" I said, and opened the door further. "Once again, I am so sorry for bothering you so late, and for disappearing on you earlier." he started. I simply lifted my shoulder a bit, and waited for him to continue. "The thing is, I would really like to take you out sometime, get to know you?" he asked. I chuckled, wondering why he was so interested in me.

"I work tomorrow, and the next day. Pretty much my entire week is booked with work." Of course it was. Since my mother died last year, and no family, and friends that I saw at work or on Saturday nights at clubs, work was the only thing I had to do besides tend to my spotless apartment. He didn't buy it. "Are you just saying that cause you don't want to see me, or you really work all week?" he questioned with a smile. "I really do work all week." I said with a chuckle. "Ok, well could I at least come visit you here at home when your not working? I would really like to get to know you." he said in a hopeful tone. "You saw how late I get out of work. I can't… I'm sorry." I concluded. "Ok… I see… well, uh, I guess I'll see you around then…" he said with a defeated smile. "Yea… see you around." I shut the door behind him and locked it nice and tight. That night, I slept with my baseball bat beside my bed.

He had evaded her privacy. Its been two weeks since he spoke to her at her apartment, and because of his own selfish need, he had pushed her away. He knew she was going to go to a club Saturday night. She always went every other weekend. He had followed her scent there once before and saw her sway beautifully to the beat of the slow music. It took a lot of strength not to attack the guy that was grinding on her. The guy obviously meant nothing to her, but it was a hard thing for him to watch. Godric knew he had it bad for this young female. She was no more than 20 yrs, but seemed so much more wiser than her youthful existence. "Sir Sheriff, if you would want for us to go the club tonight, to keep watch on her safety, we'd be glad to go." Isabel offered. Isabel was second in command, and been a loyal friend for 650 years. "No, there's no need. I will go. You can come if you like.. You and your human companion." Godric offered. Isabel had her vampire mate, Andale, but they both preferred to be a couple for appearances sake. They usually tended to their human toys to satisfy their needs. "yeah, that's a good idea!" she said excitedly, busying herself with her cell phone.

My eyes went wide open when I spotted him. He looked so handsome in his attire. But what was he doing here?! "So, why don't you go introduce yourself?" Clem asked me. Clem was overly observant, and saw Godric looking at her constantly. He noticed things no one else would notice when giving it some thought. "I don't know what your talking about…" I said absently. Clem gave me a skeptical look. "Mmhmm… you ain't fooling me girl…" he teased. I let out a laugh that turned some interested heads in my direction. "You see, that sexy laugh of yours is getting plenty attention… why don't you just have your pick… you've obviously got your options…" he said, looking at another guy up and down, before looking at me in the eyes.

"His name is Godric…" I mentioned. "Omilord! Maribel spoke to a guy! Thank ya Jesus! She's finally going to lose her virginity!" he teased, throwing his arms in the air. More people than before glanced in my direction. I lightly smacked him on the arm, giggling to myself as I was apple red. "Shut up fool. I spoke to him in passing a few weeks ago." "Ugh, dish it out girl! What did he say? And what was your exact response?" he said, his eyes widening with excitement.

"He wanted to talk to me, but I was working a lot.. Besides it wouldn't of worked out…" I said, dancing to the new beat that came on. Clem joined, as the song was a couples dance. "You always say that, and I mean to the rarely few guys that actually have the guts and courage to approach you to ask you out. Your intimidating and to top it off, you deny… how are you ever gonna find a baby daddy?" he chided. "Its not like that…" I began, "but nothing. You don't give a chance to nobody, how are you ever gonna know if that person was or could be the one? Huh?" he said, gesturing his hand to his ear waiting to hear my obvious silence. "You don't so stop being so negative," he said. A blushing smile escaped my set facade. I knew he was right. About everything he just said.

Godric ran swiftly across the field in the dark night. There had been a troublesome demon in his area, and the unfamiliar scent he caught was too alarming to be ignored. He gazed across the area, Andale to his left about 300 ft away, searching as well. To his right, his son, Eric, the one he made into a vampire a little more than 500 years ago, was also searching for the demon. He had left the club early, hesitating greatly, but the annoying phone calls had gotten his full attention about the new danger in the area. Normally he wouldn't of bothered, seeing as he had other vampires he could command to do his bidding, but ever since his ever growing affections for the young female Maribel had made themselves known, he had made it his personal conquest to get rid of anything that may cause any harm to her. Especially since whatever the demon was, it had been targeting young helpless women, so the attention span peeked to its limit. He was getting too paranoid about the situation when the scent disappeared into thin air at the edge of a cliff into the sea.

"There's nothing here" he called out. He spoke as if he were indoors, but he knew that, despite the distance, he had been heard. He looked at his time. 2:30 a.m. The club closed half an hour ago. Damn it all. The demon hunt had taken longer then expected. He ran in the direction of the club. Pausing at the entrance, he caught her signature Roses scent and headed in its direction. He paused just before he got to a taco stand where her and her friends where getting a quick bite to eat. He sighed in relief. She was ok.

I almost spat my drink in Kayla's face when she made the funny remark about Clem. In the past, the memory of that joke would have been hilarious to me, but I haven't been able to get Godric's face out of my mind, not to mention out of my dreams, and day dreams, and fantasies. I thought about him constantly, but I knew it was too good to be true. I couldn't help but think about how swiftly he had left the club. Part of me was hoping he'd talk to me again, though the other half was in denial about my emotions toward the guy. I guess I'm too late, I thought.

"What's with the long face, Belle" Allie asked. "Oh nothing…" I waved off. "Sure nothing…" Clem butted in. "I'm sure your thinking of that man candy from the club." he said, with a mischievous smile. My mouth gaped. Never trust Clem with a secret. "Maribel, and a Guy?!" Layla said with a surprised gaze. The twins Kayla and Layla, Allie, and Clem stared at me with curious eyes, forcing me to dish about Godric. "Its nothing really…" I said with my hands in the air. "Sure…" they said in unison. "I'm serious!" I said, getting red. "Well, whenever there is something, we all want to know every detail…" Allie said with a huge grin. I laughed, hoping that she was right about there ever being something between me and Godric.

Clem dropped me off in front of my apartment building. "Goodnight Belle, see ya Monday girl" he yelled out from inside his car. "Bye" I said, waving to the car as it disappeared into the night. As I was walking towards the building door, something beside the stairs near the alley caught my attention. Whatever it was, it looked like it was concealing itself with a sparse, dirty looking blanket. I grabbed a nearby stick to poke at whatever it was. I pinched my nose between my fingers. It smelled awful, like sour vomit. Just then it shifted. "oh shit!" I screamed, trying to quickly run up the stairs. Of course that's what I would have done if my heels hadn't betrayed me. Whatever it was grabbed my feet as tripped on the first step. "NO!!, no no no help!…" I screamed as the thing grabbed me by my throat with its scaly claws, cutting off my air supply. I felt my feet dangle below me as the thing suddenly got taller than I expected it to be. My vision was clouding, but I could clearly see that whatever it was that had me by my throat got closer to me, opening its enormous jaws to take a big huge bite out of my throat!

DEPENDING ON HOW THIS ONE REVIEWS, ILL POST THE SECOND CHAPTER...

WHICH IS MORE ON THE MATURE SIDE (IF YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN)

THANKS FOR READING!! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY PRIVATE THOUGHTS - LUVNGODRIC