CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

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         STEVE NEWLIN DIDN'T TAKE THEM TO SEE THE REST OF THE CHURCH, INSTEAD HE DECIDED TO SHOW THEM THE BASEMENT. Dakota had tried to get Hugo's attention the entire walk there, but it was as if he was genuinely interested in whatever the reverend had to show them. With Gabe behind them, there was nowhere to go.

In this moment, the blonde regretted ever coming here. For some reason, the Newlin's knew exactly what was going on and she had to figure out how to get the hell out of there. 

"Now i'd like to take you all to see a very special part of the church." Steve announced, leading them through the hall, the front doors so close she could almost touch them. Instead, they went down a hallway.

"There's more?" Dakota wondered, trying to still seem interested.

"Yes, my father's tomb." Steve said, leading them toward it. "It's on the lower level."

"Honey, are you sure?" Sarah rushed after him, grabbing a hold of his elbow.

"Absolutely, darling." he drawled, smile never leaving his lips and it started to freak Dakota out, it was as if he was made from wax with his ever growing smile.

"Steve," Sarah tried, brows pulled together. "I just don't see why we need to take 'em down there."

The reverend stopped before a light wooden door, turning around abruptly to face the four of them. He clasped his hands together, bright smile on his face. Dakota took in a sharp breath, desperately trying to come up with an excuse to get out of the situation.

"You can feel the presence of his spirit." Steve grinned, giving his wife a pointed look.

"It's okay," Dakota scratched at the skin around her nail. "we don't need to see it."

"I insist!" beamed the man. "It's the rock our church was built on, much like St. Peter's tomb in the catholic Church, only without being polluted by evil. Did you know that there was actually a vampire pope back in the middle ages."

Sarah shot her husband a look, panic evident in her eyes and this made Dakota worry even more as Steve opened the doors with a key. Her heart hammered within her chest as she glanced down the narrow staircase that led to god knows where.

"Rufus," Dakota said urgently, eyes wide as she nudged his side. Hugo looked somewhat nervous as he glanced down the staircase, chewing the inside of his cheek uncomfortably.

"What's the matter?" asked Steve, raising a brow.

"It's no big deal." Hugo tried, peering at the blonde sideways. "She just has a tiny little case of claustrophobia. We both do, actually."

"Well, at least take a quick little look to see." Steve dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "That way you can say you saw all of the church and you can make an informed decision."

"Steve!" Sarah panicked.

"It's alright, Sarah." he reassured her as he gave her shoulder a squeeze. "This is something they need to see."

"But we've already decided that we're getting married here," Dakota warned, taking a cautious step back. "so how about we go back to our apartment, we'll look at a calendar and we'll call you on the phone to set the date?"

"No," said Steve bluntly, eyes turning to the tall man behind her. "Gabe!"

Dakota gasped as the man went for Hugo, wrapping his arms around him and forcefully pushing him toward the stairs. Dakota tried to jump back but Steve grabbed her, fingers bruising her skin and following after the other two men. 

"No!" Dakota shrieked, trying to scratch at his arms, nails dragging down her skin. "Get off me!"

Steve swore at her, tightening his hold on purpose. They almost fell down the stairs as they roughly tried to get them down the steps. Sarah whimpered as she closed the door behind them, disappearing from their sight. As they reached the bottom, Gabe threw Hugo on the cement floor with a huff. 

It was a small room, half of it covered by metal bars. Steve pushed Dakota inside and she dropped to her knees with a grunt, bruising her skin. Before she had time to turn around to try and escape, Steve had slammed the door shut, locking it and glaring at her through the bars.

"Get me the fuck out!" Dakota screeched.

Neither of the men replied to her, disappearing back up the staircase. Dakota slammed her hands against the bars in anger, pulling at the door but it wouldn't budge. Hugo had gone silent, squeezing the metal tightly with his eyes closed, defeated.

The room was dusty and the blonde had sneezed seventeen times in total while being locked down there. Dakota had no idea how long it had been, but she guessed it would have to be evening by now and she wondered if anyone was coming to get them. Dakota already knew the answer to that and she closed her eyes in frustration.

"Godric, Godric can you hear me?" she had tried an hour ago. "Isabel and Eric sent us!"

It was no use. If the vampire was locked up like they were there was no way he could get them out, otherwise he'd escaped by now. The woman sat on a box, hands in her lap as she waited for something to happen, anything at all. 

The 'prison' was full of boxes and church stuff, including three games called 'Jesus Christ, vampire exterminator' and 'Silver and Stakes' and the last one was 'Send 'em back to Hell'. 

"Ridiculous," she muttered.

"Remember how I said I was claustrophobic?" asked Hugo, holding onto the bars with two hands while his head hung low. Dakota tore her gaze away from the floor. "I wasn't makin' that part up. It's bad. Okay, I can't take elevators, walk-in closets. You know hotels where they tuck the sheets in all tight? Just thinking about that makes me want to scream."

"Calm down," Dakota got up from the ground, making her way toward him. "Look at me, just breathe. We're okay."

"I need to get out of here!" 

"Take a deep breath." she tried as he began to hyperventilate. "We're going to figure it out, all right?"

"Okay," he closed his eyes. "Okay, i'm okay."

"The Newlin's knew who we were the minute we walked in." Dakota informed him. "Same way they knew to come after me at the airport. 'Cause someone in that nest is a traitor."

"You think a vampire is siding with the fellowship to get Godric out of the way?" Hugo wondered.

"I don't know." she sighed.

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"YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING ME." SAID ERIC AS HE AND ISABEL STOOD ATOP THE HILL THAT OVERLOOKED THE CHURCH. Humans were spread over the grounds, standing guard. "This is The Fellowship of the Sun? That's their army? Scared little boys with bibles and crossbows?"

"Don't underestimate them." said Isabel, following them with her dark eyes. "Support for their movement is growing. Their leadership camps are overflowing with self-righteous extremists, all willing to die and for their cause."

"Mmm," Eric hummed. "That can be arranged quite easily."

"Not until we know for sure the Fellowship has Godric." Isabel interjected, turning her gaze back to the grounds.

Eric let out a sigh, eyes never leaving the church. "What about your boy, Hugo? And Dakota? They've been in there too long."

"There's no sign of alarm." Isabel said. "And if Hugo were in serious danger, I would know it."

Eric narrowed his eyes, having felt the blonde's fear the moment he had woken up from the dead. It was quick, all he felt right now was her anxiety and he wanted nothing more than enter that church and kill everyone he would set eyes on, but he couldn't. Not yet. Godric was the goal, even though it made him feel somewhat uneasy. Eric didn't know why.

"What about your human?" asked the woman, giving him a side glance.

"She's not mine."

"But you want her to be." she said, raising a brow in his direction.

Eric clenched his jaw as he turned to face her. "Tell me, what is so fulfilling about human companionship?"

Isabel smiled at him and noted how he didn't deny her claim. "They feel much more strongly than we do. Everything is urgent. Exciting. Maybe because their lives are so temporary."

"Yes, they certainly don't keep well." agreed the blonde vampire to which the woman chuckled. "Don't you find the prospect of him growing old, sickly, crippled, somewhat, uh repulsive?"

"No," Isabel said simply. "I find it curious. Like a science project. Don't deny it, I can see it on your face whenever she's near. You find her interesting."

"Interesting, yes." he agreed. "Nothing more. My only interest right now is finding Godric."

"Of course," she grinned, eyes taking in his pale face.

"Don't look at me like that." he glared, turning back to the church. "You really believe these fools could overpower a vampire such as Godric? And hold him for weeks?"

"Stan is sure of it." she nodded. "But I have known Godric a long time. It's hard to imagine anything could overpower him."

"Not anything human."

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DAKOTA HAD FALLEN ASLEEP, SITTING UP AGAINST THE WALL WITH HER HEAD LOLLED TO THE SIDE. Night had passed and she and Hugo had been locked in the basement for sixteen hours. It was freezing, and all the blonde had was her pale blue summer dress to cover herself with. The door above the stairs opened and she blinked, frowning.

"Mornin'!" Steve hollered, grinning as he and Gabe appeared before the bars, holding up two bottles of water. "Refreshments? How did ya'll sleep?"

The blonde got to her feet, rubbing her arms from the cold. "They're coming for us, you know."

"Yeah? Well, that's what I thought." Steve confessed. "Figured a pretty girl like you would have a vamp running off to her rescue. Actually, we were kind of hoping for it, weren't we Gabe?"

"Yes, sir. Bring it on."

"Yeah, we're ready for 'em." Steve crossed his arms over his chest. "We've been ready for a long time."

"You're gonna get yourself killed." Dakota glared. "That's not a threat, it's a fact."

"Well," he chuckled. "they've got you all twisted up, haven't they, with their ... with their glamouring and their empty promises and their evil blood."

"You're the ones who are twisted!" she retorted. "You call yourself Christians? Jesus would be ashamed of you."

The reverend laughed humourlessly. "We're just gonna have to agree to disagree on that one." He slid a chair over, sitting down in front of her. "Now, things got quite out of hand last night, and I apologize for that. I'm not the monster that the vampire-lovin' media makes me out to be. All I want from you is a couple of answers and then i'll feed you a nice hot breakfast and send you on your way."

"What do you wanna know?" Hugo didn't hesitate as he said those words. Dakota turned to face him in disbelief. "Dakota just tell them what they want to know, we need to get out of here. Her name is Dakota Elkins, and i'm Hugo Ayers."

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"We were send here by the vampires of area nine to find their sheriff." Hugo explained.

"Dakota Elkins? From Bon Temps?"

The woman turned away from Hugo and frowned at Steve, confused. "How do you know where i'm from?"

"You're Jason Stackhouse' ... cousin? Am I right?"

"You know Jason? He's got nothing to do with this."

Steve smile had faltered as he squeezed his thighs in anger, glaring down at the floor momentarily. Dakota was confused, not know what the hell Jason had to do with any of this. Steve stood up from the chair as they left the room. "Come on, Gabe."

"How do you know Jason?" she called, but they were already gone and she turned to Hugo, angrily. "Nice work, asshole."

"Just shut up." Hugo threw his hands in the air. "If you want to play damsel in distress, be my guest, but I am getting out of here."

"You shut the fuck up." she snapped.