Chapter One:

There was something wrong. That was evident the moment Eric Northman snapped to attention, the sun still shining high above the horizon. His eyes roamed over his resting place, searching for the reason he had been disturbed. Nothing in the room was amiss, minus the bed sheets that were wrinkled and pushed to one side. He stared longingly at the emptiness beside him in the bed. He had hoped that by some miracle his escapades would have kept her with him, would have shown Elizabeth Cole exactly why he desired her. But not even giving her the best fucking of her life had he been able to convince her to stay. She was gone, though it didn't appear as it had been long ago. It was still morning as he checked the clock beside the bed; he had only been resting for a few hours.

Eric lay back on the bed, his eyes closing as he attempted to return to his peaceful rest. But there was something on the edge of his consciousness that kept him wide awake. This wasn't a usual occurrence. There had been countless of times he had kept himself awake during the day when he should have otherwise been resting. But this was different. He had been roused out of his dead like sleep, a feat that had only occurred a handful of times in the thousand years he's been a vampire.

He allowed his senses to heighten, reaching out with his mind to find the source of what was troubling him. He couldn't sense Ellie in the house and knew she was more than likely halfway out of Louisiana by now. Godric was still in his own resting place, though he could feel that he was awake as well. Sighing, Eric pushed himself out of the bed and pulled on a pair of silk pyjama bottoms before exiting his resting place in the basement of his home. The entire house only held one door and absolutely no windows. He had designed the home himself after becoming Sheriff of Area 5, wanting to live in a comfortable environment. Though he kept his resting place in the basement in a secure room, not for fear of the sun, but as a safety precaution.

"There is something wrong, my child." Godric's voice pulled Eric's attention to the top of the basement stairs.

Eric was beside his maker in a flash. "What is it?"

Godric stared up at Eric, worry in his blue green eyes. "It's Ellie."

Eric immediately tensed. He should have known the reason he had been awoken had to do with Ellie. The majority of the times he had been roused from his slumber had been because of her. He opened up the bond that he had closed last night, not wanting to feel the emotions she was feeling, not wanting to know if her happiness of leaving outweighed the passion and arousal she held for him. But their bond had been strong enough that even while dormant, he still knew something had been wrong.

The moment he allowed the bond the flow freely, he was nearly knocked off his feet. His eyes grew wide, startled by the amount of pain he felt. He was taken down to his knees, gritting his teeth as he tried to control himself. He had never felt such pain before in his life, and he had almost burned to death only the other day. He searched for life, fearing that someone in this amount of pain could hardly remain alive, and was welcomed with a faint lifeline. Thought it was barely there, and Eric grew scared. He would never admit it out loud, nor would he ever show it, but Ellie's life hanging in the balance frightened him more than he ever thought possible.

"Remain calm, Eric." Godric laid a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I felt it not long after she had left. If the sun hadn't been up, I would have been there in a heartbeat." Godric replied sombrely, his eyes wandering down the hallway and to the front door. "You have a much deep bond with her. Is she..."

"She's barely alive." Eric looked up at his maker, a ring of red around his blue eyes. "Godric, she's dying."

"She won't." Godric shook his head in assurance. "She's a Phoenix, she cannot..."

"I feel it, Godric. I feel her life slipping away."His hands clenched into fists as the pain just continued to sweep through him. "I need to..."

"You cannot do anything, Eric. It's day time."

"I don't care. I'll burn." Eric pulled himself up onto his feet, struggling to do so as the pain grew stronger.

Godric was surprised by his drive to find Ellie. He knew Eric loved her, he knew it before either of the two even knew of their own feelings for one another. But Eric's stubbornness had been the reason Ellie left. For him to sacrifice himself to search for her, it took the 2000 year old vampire by surprise.

"You will not make it far." Godric placed his hand on Eric's arm to steady him. "Wait until dusk."

"It will be too late then." Eric growled, his fangs extending. "The pain...Godric it's too much."

"She is strong, my child. She is much stronger than you and I may ever believe. She will make it through this."

"It cannot wait."

"I will command you if I have to." Godric warned. "I'm just as worried as you are, but we can't do anything if we're both burnt to a crisp. We can only hope that whatever had happened, someone will find her and help in whatever way possible."

"The moment the sun sets..." Eric trailed off, staring at the front door with such a longing. He wanted nothing more than to march out of that house and search the entire country for her, wherever she may be.

"We will find her." Godric nodded. "There is nothing we can do until then. Close off your bond, you'll only cause yourself more agony if you don't."

Eric nodded but didn't oblige. He couldn't. He feared the moment that should he close off their bond, he would miss something. He needed to feel the pain, to feel her pain. It was the only thing tying him to her, the only thing assuring him that she was even alive still. He would go the entire length of the day through this pain as long as he knew that she was still there, hanging on by even a dangling thread.

Something was very wrong.

That was my first thought the very moment I found myself alone in a long hallway dressed in only a hospital gown. I had no recollection of how I could have possibly gotten here, wherever this was. As I slowly padded my way down the hallway, glancing into rooms, I came to the realization that I was in a hospital. I tried to enter the rooms, to call to the patients inside, but I found that I was voiceless. There seemed to be an invisible force field, keeping me from entering any room, trapping me in the long endless hallway. As a nurse exited one of the rooms, I went to grab her arm, to try and communicate that I needed help, but my hand went right through her. My eyes grew wide and I jumped back in surprise, only to find an older patient walking behind me, who I just fell right through. I opened my mouth to scream in fright, but not a single sound emitted. My body began shaking as I slid down a wall, curling my legs up to my chest.

What was going on? Why couldn't I speak? Why couldn't I touch anyone?

I wrapped my arms around myself, eyes looking every which way. A yell soon came from one of the closer rooms, an alarm going off. Something inside of me told me to go see what was going on and I quickly pulled myself up to my feet. I held onto the wall as I slowly made my way down the hallway to the door and peered in. I had to grip onto the doorway tightly in order to not collapse when I saw the woman lying in the bed, a group of doctors and nurses surrounding her. The dark hair, the bright green eyes, they were too familiar to be anyone else's.

It was me.

I tried to run into the room, to tell them I was right there, that I was fine, but I couldn't. The invisible wall kept me trapped out in the hallway, watching as the doctors used the defibrillators on my chest. IVs were stuck on my arms, wires connecting to machines that were beeping wildly. I was in tears as I watched the scene before me, trying with all my might to enter the room, to yell at them. But nothing worked, no matter how hard I tried to get their attention. I was completely invisible to them, like I was a ghost.

But that couldn't be possible.

Unless I was dead.

No. No, I couldn't be dead. This had to be some cruel joke. I was dreaming and would wake up in a heartbeat. I was a Phoenix; I couldn't die, not like this.

"Ellie..."

I whipped around at the sound of my name. When I saw the familiar girl before me, I sighed in relief.

"Kyra?" I tried to force out, and was gleeful that my voice finally cooperated.

"Hello Ellie." She offered a sympathetic smile as she stepped forward. "I'm sorry."

"Am I dead? How can I be dead? This can't be happening." I blurted out, my panic rising.

"You are currently in what we call the 'in-between'. You are neither alive nor dead. You just simply are." She explained.

My face paled. "How is this possible?"

"I don't have time. You only have a few minutes before the decision has to be made."

"Decision? What decision?" I grabbed onto her shoulders. "Kyra, please tell me what's going on. What happened? I was driving one minute and the next I'm here. Please, just tell me what's going on."

"I'm sorry. This was never supposed to happen." She took my hands into hers and squeezed them softly.

"What was never supposed to happen? Kyra, tell me what..."

"I'm being called away." She tensed, her eyes closing for a brief moment.

"I don't want to die, Kyra. Please." I begged.

"I need to brand you now, Ellie." She dropped my hands and raised a hand.

"Brand me? What do you mean brand..." I never finished however as her hand lightly touched the middle of my forehead.

I let out a scream in agony as a white hot flash of pain shot through my entire body. My legs collapsed underneath me and I fell onto my knees, tears streaming down my cheeks. I had never experienced anything so painful before in my life, and I had thought I had endured many painful experiences during the past year.

"I'm sorry Ellie; it's the only way to ensure that you live." She apologized but I barely heard her, the pain growing stronger with every passing second. "I need to leave you now. Do not fear, you will wake up soon."

I tried to force out her name, to will her to stay, but I couldn't speak. My body fell onto its side on the floor, withering in pain there in the middle of the hallway. No one noticed, no one knew I was even there. The last thing I remembered was letting out one last ear piercing scream before blacking out.

The hospital floor was almost completely quiet except for the soft tapping of sneakers as a single nurse made the rounds. It was the middle of the night, most patients asleep in their beds. Those who weren't, the nurse peeked in for a few moments to chat before moving on to the next. She smiled sympathetically at each one of them, sad to see the state some of them were in. When she came to the door to the newest addition to the ward, her heart nearly broke. The girl was in her early twenties, the same age as the nurse's oldest daughter. It always struck her straight in the heart when she saw patients in such a state when they were so young. She had been just starting her shift earlier that evening when her heart had stopped. They had thought she was dead, heart not beating for minutes. But before the doctor in charge of her case could mutter out the time of death, the heart monitor emitted the softest beep, alerting them all to the beating heart. The nurse, praying with all her might that she would live, let out a sigh of relief when she had left that room earlier, glad that the girl might just make it.

But now, as the nurse paused by the young girl's door and peeked in, she was surprised to find the girl sitting up on her own, eyes wide in fright. She was shocked to see the girl, who they all thought would be in a coma for a few good days at least, was wide awake.

"Sweetheart, how are you feeling?" the nurse slipped into the room, wanting to check on her well being before searching out the doctor.

The girl jumped, her legs pulling up to her chest as she curled into a ball.

"W-where am I?"

"You're in the hospital." The nurse explained gently. It wasn't unusual for patients to be unaware of their surroundings, especially when in a horrific car crash like this girl had been. "You were in a car accident."

"I-I was?" she sounded so fragile, like she would break at any moment.

"You were. We thought you weren't going to make it." the nurse reached the hospital bed, laying a hand on the girl's, patting it softly. "But you seem to be a strong one."

The girl didn't respond as her eyes darted around the room. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders, tangled and in complete disarray. Her eyes were a bright green, brighter than the nurse had ever seen before. She was pale, which was unusual for someone residing in Louisiana. The girl appeared sickly, but that was usual for patients in her condition. What was unusual however, was the darkness that appeared on the edge of her neck, nearly being hidden by her hair. The nurse frowned as she leaned forward, the girl not noticing a thing as she lifted her dark hair off her neck and stared at the tattoo that had suddenly appeared. The nurse hadn't noticed such a tattoo earlier; it was like it had just suddenly appeared out of thin air. She marvelled at it, the tattoo in the form of a large bird, wings outstretched from the back of her neck just to the sides ever so slightly, mostly to be hidden by her long hair.

"E-Excuse?" the girl turned her head back, her eyes still wide as she tried to take everything in.

"Yes, sweetheart?" the nurse let the girl's hair fall back against her neck. "Are you in any pain?"

The girl shook her head. "N-no. I...I was just wondering..."

"Yes?" the nurse nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"Do you...do you know who I am?"

A/N: and here it is, the third installment to the Make This Go On Forever/Half of My heart series...I told you all I wouldn't make you wait too long for this. For any of you who are reading this you havent read the other stories, I would suggest doing so or else none of this will really make any sense lol. this first chapter picks up right after the accident that Half of My heart ended with, though the next chapter zips into the future a bit. I hope you all enjoy this story as much as the others. I promise drama, jerk Eric moments, sweet Eric moments, hot Eric moments, (just a lot of Eric moments), witches, old and new friends and enemies, witches, werewolves, and everything else that my take on the fourth season will include...I may just write my own hot shower scene ;)