I don't own the Vampire Diaries or Twilight.
She crept through the shadows, covertly following the Hunter as he made his way across the Virginia state line. He was speeding like mad, his car taking the turns at a dangerous pace, but she had no trouble keeping up as she leaped from tree to tree. She didn't need the Hunter to tell her where he was going, there was only one place in Virginia a hunter would go: Mystic Falls. There always seemed to be some sort of supernatural trouble brewing there, and if she had to guess it had something to do with the Salvatore brothers.
She sighed in relief as the Hunter pulled into a Hotel parking lot just inside the town limits. She wasn't physically tired, but she needed to stop and think, she needed to plan, but most importantly she needed to figure out what the Hunter was up to. Why would he speed all the way across the country? She hadn't the slightest idea and there was nothing she hated most than being left out of the loop.
She watched as the Hunter walked into the hotel, he didn't take in any luggage or bags, so she assumed that he was not going to stay the night. And why would he when had an RV? She wasn't sure what he was doing going into a hotel in the middle of the afternoon, maybe he was meeting with someone. It was that thought, the idea that even more information was being kept from her that spurred her forward. She walked out of the tree line at a human pace; she made her way towards the hotel entrance, pausing only momentarily to check her reflection in a car window making sure she looked presentable. If she hadn't been distracted by such a mundane act she might have noticed the two men approaching slowly from behind, as it was she noticed them when they were on top of her, when they plunged a needle into her neck.
"Vervain." She whispered in shock. Of course she would find other Hunters in this town mere seconds after her arrival. She was silently cursing herself, if she hadn't taken the potion to make herself appear more human, the vervain would have no effect on her. She could feel the poison coursing through her body, her dead heart beating once more. Stupid potion she thought bitterly before she lost consciousness.
She jolted awake. She looked around the room; she appeared to be in a barn. Sun light filtered in through the windows. She was in some sort of cell, sitting on a dirt floor. She smirked as she rushed towards the bars; she firmly grasped them, and hissed in pain. They were coated with vervain! The people who captured her obviously were aware of vampires, but not her kind. If only she hadn't taken that potion she would have been out of there by now. She huffed in frustration as she placed her hands back on the bars, she could deal with a little pain. The pulled with all her might, the bars didn't budge even as he skin started to burn. Slowly she became aware of the vervain circulating in the air that would cause her to react in such a manner. The stupid little herb was the only thing that messed up her potion and made her susceptible to the weaknesses of traditional vampires. She wouldn't be getting out of the cell anytime soon, so she sat down where she was, in the middle of the room and contemplated how she could destroy the world's supply of vervain once she was out of her current predicament.
"Hello?" She heard someone ask in a weak voice, "Is anyone else here? I thought I heard them bring someone else in are you alright?"
"I'm alright," She answered, "How are you?"
"I've been better," the man replied with a bitter chuckle.
"I know what you mean." She replied.
"Do you know what they want?" He asked.
"Not a clue," she answered, "I just got into town and they ambushed me. They obviously know about vampires."
"I think they're with the Council," the man said, "although I'm not sure about that since Damon should have known if they were planning an attack."
She didn't know what the Council was, but something the man said sparked a memory. "Damon Salvatore?" She asked confused.
"Yes…" he answered hesitantly, "he's my brother."
"So you're Stefan?"
"I am. Who are you?" He asked confused as to how she knew his name.
"I'm-"
"Bella?" A voice asked from across the room.
She looked up to see the face of the girl who was once her best friend.
"Rebekah?" She asked with a smile.
"I thought you were dead." The Original said with a frown.
"I haven't been dead for a while now," Bella replied with a smile, but when she saw the other woman's face it dropped. "Didn't Elijah tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Rebekah asked at the same time Stefan said "You two know each other?"
"That, dear Stefan," Rebekah said with a smirk, "is my friend Isabella Petrova. I haven't seen her in over a thousand years. The night that her sister died." She finished sadly.
"Petrova? A thousand years?" Stefan asked shocked.
"I knew them before they were vampires." Bella replied softly.
"You knew them before they were vampires," he repeated dumbly, trying to wrap his mind around the idea. "How were they before…" He trailed off unsure how to finish the question.
"Before we all became monsters?" Bella whispered. Rebekah shot her a concerned look that didn't go unnoticed by Stefan.
"Yeah. How were you guys before you died?"
Bella opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it when the door to the barn opened and two men entered carrying an unconscious girl between them.
Stefan was on his feet in an instant, his hands wrapped the bars as he shouted to the girl.
"Elena? Elena! Are you alright?" When she didn't answer he punched the wall of his cell, "Damn it!"
Bella had sat in silence watching the scene unfold, Rebekah watched her old friend carefully, curious as to her reaction. When the guards carried Elena past Bella's cell she caught a glimpse of the girl's face and if possible Bella became even paler.
"Tatia?" She whispered threw numb lips.
She was on her feet in an instant, her arm shot out from between the bars as she griped the neck of one of the guards. She pulled the man close to her, her face an inch from his. She looked into the man's fear filled eyes and took little satisfaction in the fact she could frighten him even from behind bars.
"What did you do?" She snarled as her grip tightened around the man's neck.
"W-what are you talking about?" He asked frightened.
"What did you do to her?" She growled through clenched teeth as she nodded towards the girl known as Elena who the other guard roughly pushed into the cell next to hers.
"We d-didn't do anything," the man stammered, "She was already a vampire when we found her."
"How is she here?" Her voice broke on the last word. When the man looked at her in confusion she tightened her grip on his neck, "How?" She yelled.
"Bella!" Rebekah shouted trying to get her friend's attention. She knew that Bella would hate herself later is she killed that man.
"What?" She snapped, her eyes not leaving the man.
"That's not her." She said sadly. She watched as the other guard pointed a gun at Bella and said something to her. Probably something along the lines of 'let him go or I'll shoot', but Bella just ignored the man.
"She died, remember?" Rebekah said quietly, "You were there, you saw it happen." Bella was silently crying now, and even though she wanted to stop her friend from hurting Rebekah knew she had to finish this or Bella would hurt the human.
"That's Elena, she's a doppelganger like Katarina." She took a deep breath and whispered "Tatia's dead, and she's not coming back."
Bella let out a strangled sound as she pushed the man away just as the other guard pulled the trigger on his gun. The bullet struck Bella in the abdomen, but she made no move to show she had been shot. She stood where she was staring into space, lost in a memory as blood slowly trickled down her body and the two guards rushed out of the barn.
She stood there in shock, she could think of nothing to say or do to fix this situation. She had helped in creating this potion, she had helped in creating monsters…she had helped in her sister's murder. For that is what this was, murder. She was a murderer. It was her potion that combined with Ester's magic created immortality for her children, it was her potion that needed Tatia's blood to work. It was her potion that caused all of her problems.
She could do nothing but watch as Mikael held her and Ester slit her sister's throat. Her screams echoed off the cave walls as she watched her sister fall to the cave floor, dead. She tried to rush forward, she had to do something-anything to help her sister, maybe if she applied pressure to the wound, maybe if she could make a potion she could heal her sister. Isabella might not be a witch but she had her own magic in her potions. She didn't need to rely on nature and maintaining the balance, to hell with the balance; she was going to bring her sister back.
"Let me go!" She shouted as her struggling increased and Mikael's grip tightened. "I have to help her-I can still save her." She said with tears streaming down her face, "You have to let me help her." She whispered the last part in defeat. Realistically she knew her sister was dead and not coming back.
"She's dead." Ester said simply as she bent down by Tatia's body to collect her blood.
"You said you were trying to give him immortality, how does my sister's death accomplish that?" She shouted.
"Why my dear, you potion itself cannot grant immortality," Ester said shaking her head, "Your sister's blood acts as a catalyst, and before this night is over my family will be together forever." She looked up at the sky, the moon had almost reached its apex. "Come Mikael let us go help the children."
Ester turned to leave as Mikael released Isabella and shoved her hard towards the wall, where she cut her hand against the stone. When she regained her balance she rushed to her sister's side, but she was too late, her sister was dead. She turned toward the cave entrance where Ester and Mikael had just exited. Anger and fury coursed through her veins as she ran to the entrance only to be stopped short by some invisible force. She pounded against the force and glared hatefully at Ester.
"I cannot have you ruining my plans Isabella. Surely you understand, after all it is your potion and your sister that make immortality possible in the first place." The witch said looking at the girl with pity in her eyes.
"You were just using me?" Isabella asked, "Everything you said about us being a family, it was a lie?"
"No my child," Ester said as she stepped forward to touch the girl's cheek, "Everything I said was true, you are a part of my family, and now because of you they will be immortal. They will be together forever." When Isabella still glared angrily at her Ester continued, "Elijah will live forever. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Isabella brought her hand forward gently pulling Ester's hand from her cheek. "I understand" she said softly. She firmly grasped the woman's hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze before she continued, "But know this Ester, I will kill you like you killed my sister. Your family may be together forever, but you will never live to see it, you will never get to enjoy their presence. I will steal you away from your family, just like you have stolen my family from me." Isabella released the woman's hand with a smirk, she lifted her hand to Ester's gaze and smiled when the woman's eyes widened at the sight of blood, "I promise you, if it's the last thing I do."
The wind picked up outside the cave, blowing Ester's hair around her face. The witch's face was one of anger as she realized what Isabella had just done.
"You just tried to place a curse on me. Me?" She said angrily, "A shame you are a potion mixer while I am a real witch, no matter what you do Isabella you will never be able to summon real magic. You are dependent on external forces; you have no power from within."
"True, I'm not a witch," the girl said with a smile, "but I know all about blood oaths Ester. And I know what happens when a blood oath is made with a magical being. Tell me Ester, why did you need my potion to grant your family immortality? Something about the balance, correct? Well, I wonder how the balance will be restored. You took my family from me, it only seems fitting I take your family from you."
"I don't see how," Mikael said from behind the witch, "We'll have all eternity, while you've got forty years of life left. Please Isabella do not make idle threats."
"It's not a threat it's a promise."
"We do not have time for this," Ester said as she tossed her hands up in the air, "let us leave. We must do this tonight, otherwise the spell will not work." She turned toward her husband and the two quickly made their way back to their house. That night Tatia's life was ended, and the vampire was born.
"Bella!" Rebekah shouted for what seemed to be the eighth time.
"What's wrong with her?" Stefan asked quietly.
"I don't know, I think she's remembering her sister."
"And what's wrong with that?" Stefan asked confused.
"Her sister is the original doppelganger; Bella was there when my mother killed her."
"Oh…don't get me wrong that's horrible and everything, but why such an extreme reaction?"
"Because it was Bella's potion that Ester used to make us vampires. It was Bella's potion and Bella's sister that created vampires. Bella blames herself for her sister's death." Rebekah said with a frown.
"So how is she a vampire? I mean who turned her, I'm sure she didn't drink her own potion with her sister's blood in it."
"That I do not know," Rebekah said, her brows furrowing in confusion, "I thought she died only a few nights later. Elijah said the wolves killed her during the night of the next full moon."
"The wolves did kill me" Bella said with a slight chuckle, "I just didn't stay dead."
"So how did you become a vampire?" Rebekah asked.
"A potion."
"Rebekah said something about a potion," Stefan mused, "are you a witch?"
"Hardly," Rebekah said waving her hand in dismissal.
"Then what is she?"
"Well, Ester always called me a potion mixer, but in the middle ages they called me an alchemist." Bella answered.
"An alchemist? Like the people who tried to turn base metals into gold."
"Similar, but not the same. My potions are sort of like magic, their properties are heightened by magic and a few of them I've passed on to witches over the years. I'm sure they're in quite a few grimoires. But no, unlike the alchemists of medieval times, I can actually turn a base metal into gold. I can turn humans into vampires…well a type of vampire anyway."
"What do you mean a type of vampire?" Stefan asked confused.
"A cold one." Rebekah said, "You created the cold ones?" She asked her friend.
Bella nodded in answer.
"Damn," the blonde vampire whispered in awe.
"What's a cold one?" Stefan asked.
Rebekah was about to answer, but a noise from Elena's cell made everyone freeze.
"Stefan?" A weak voice asked, "Are you there?" The girl asked before she coughed.
"I'm here Elena." Stefan answered urgently, "What's wrong?"
"I-I didn't do it," she took a shuttering breath, "I couldn't do it," she rambled, "but Stefan I don't want to die."
"What is she talking about?" Bella asked Rebekah. The blonde just shrugged in answer.
"You mean you didn't go through transition?" Stefan asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I couldn't" Came a weak reply.
"Shit." Bella mumbled, as she imagined Tatia dying all over again.
I promise to those who read my other stories, I will update soon. (I know it sounds like a broken record, but I mean it). The college semester finally eneded so now I have more free time to work on these stories. So be on the look out, with in the month I will update both Dark Shadows and A Haven for the Supernatural.