Chapter 2 - Blood

It is her! It is really her! I can feel how my throat tightens and my eyes would've fill up with tears, if there were any fluid left in my body. I want to jump up and touch her, feel if she's real or if this all is just another dream; -a trick of my delusional brain. I try to raise a hand, but then I get reminded that I'm still chained. I wouldn't have had the energy anyway.

My eyes are still fixed on her. She is still as beautiful as I remembered, but her eyes are different. It's almost like they've been drained of their light. She looks like so many Vampires I've known, who lived too long, seen too much, suffered enough to loose their happiness. It's like seeing the Mona Lisa being ripped apart before your eyes. I never wanted that for her. I never wanted to see her get hurt by the curse of living for centuries. I wanted to be there to protect her from this. I couldn't protect her.

I wanna rip apart, the one who dared making her suffer like this!

Oh, look, he's awake! I thought I needed to drip the blood into his mouth, but that's much better. He looks grey and rotten. His clothes eroded from the decades. The chains around him also look corroded. The probably could be broken by a human hand. If he wasn't under the spell and drained of all blood and strength, he'd broken them easily centuries ago.

She looks down at me, raises an eyebrow and parts her lips. She's gonna talk! The first words I'm gonna hear since God know how long!

Then she says: "Well, you look like shit!"

...That's not how I wanted our reunion to go...

After stating this, I pulled my bag form my back, open it and pull out a bottle with fresh blood. I inspect it. Fortunately it didn't freeze. I have to give my complements to Vigor. His technology is really incredibly for the limited resources he has.

I rest the bottle on the still closed side of the casket and lean down to the chains. With a crocked snap they easily break, just like I predicted. I take a second to wait for him to move, but he doesn't.

When she freed me from the chains everything in me wants to raise up and devour the bottle of blood, but my body stays still. Everyone, who says mind over matter never had his body drained of ever life force.

Apparently I have to feed him after all. A feeling of gratitude, that I never had every blood drained from my body, rushes over me. I take the bottle, unscrew the cap and stop to think for a second. How are we gonna do this? Should I just spill it in his mouth? That'll be such a mess and I'm not sure if I could hold myself back with all that precious pure blood spilled everywhere. Also it could attract savage vampires. Those bastards are uncivilized idiot, who rather wan to roam the ruins of the world like beast then join the Colligatio. They're nasty bastards and I really don't wanna deal with them right now. So, how do I get this stuff in his mouth without spilling anything?

"Okay." she says monotone, "This is nothing sexual, so don't get any ideas! Look at it like CPR."

Then she took a big mouthful of blood from the bottle and leaned down to me. She opens my mouth with her fingers and presses her open mouth on mine, spilling the blood in my throat. That's more like it!

My body immediately reacts to the blood, swallowing it painfully, but greedy. I can feel it rushing through me, feel the numbness being washed away, making room for feeling; pain! The painful widening of my veins and arteries. My skins starts itching, my heart raising, craving for more! But then I feel another feeling: her lips on mine. After the blood reaches my lips, I can feel her soft mouth on mine. I try to raise my arm, wanting to hold her head right where it is. But I'm still too weak, so my arm is slower then her head removing herself from me.

His lips were cold and like sandpaper, but after the blood rushed in, they turned soft. I lingered on his lips for longer, then I should've. But then again, when was the last time someone kissed me? 20, 40 years ago? In all that fight for survival, I forgot, how good it feels to touch someone without the intention of killing them.

I pull back to keep myself from really kissing him. I see that his arm has moved up. Good, so he can drink the rest himself.

I wriggle my arm under his torso, helping him sit up and giving him the bottle in his hand.

I take the bottle and a sip. My vampire-instinct kicks in and I swallow hasty and greedy. "Careful! Don't spill it." I hear her warning, "I've been through hell to get this stuff." But I can't help it! It taste too good and I've been thirsty for too long. The bottle is empty in a blink of an eye. Meanwhile she had pulled out another bottle. My instincts get the better of me and I feel the animal in the back of my head, ready to take me over completely. When I want to rip the bottle out of her hand, she jumps up, holding the it away. I'm not yet strong enough to stand up. "Nahahah!" she says serious "Don't you dare turn hybrid on me! I have enough to get you back on your feet, but if you get all animal, I swear, I drink it all by myself. Would be my pleasure. So, behave!"

Uh, I like it when she takes control, but I don't like it, when I'm hungry. Normally I would fight to demonstrate my dominance, but I guess, right now I'm in no position to get cocky.

So, I swallow my pride and wait for her to give me the bottle.

I can see the blood running out of his eyes and the creepy yellow turning back to his normal blue-green. I wait a moment longer to see if he turns impatient, but he stays calm. It fills me with a bit of pride, to have tamed the beast to easily, but I quickly shake that feeling off. Nothing is more dangerous these days than arrogance and underestimating the situation. I give him the bottle and he drinks it like an actual civilized person. Who would've thought?

Soooo good! It's a little too cold for my taste, but after so many years it feels just so good! I finish the bottle with a deep sigh. Then I turn my eyes on her. There is something broken in her. Her joy didn't seemed to have survived the years. I fills me with incredible sadness. I wanted to be there for her. Wanted to show her the beauty of the world, but instead I was trapped and she learned the cruelty of the world all by herself. You can see it in her eyes. They turned so cold. Someone hurt her bad and it had never healed. I know that feeling all too well.

He swallows hard, then clears his throat and says with a hoarse voice: "What happened?"

"Well,... where to start?" I say.

- "How long... has it been?" he rattles.

"500 years. Give or take. I'm not sure, when we stuffed you in here."

He's shocked. He takes a moment to process that and with good reason. It's a lot to take in.

Bloody hell! 500! What the Fuck- How- I'm mean, what- Why- I can't-... That's what it must've felt like for Finn. It's really not a good feeling! All the things I've missed. I-...

He catches himself, trying to stay calm, but I can see, that it hit him hard. He swallows.

- "Rebekah-..." he says.

I cut him off, "Is alive and well."

He sighs, visibly relived.

"And so is Elijah." I add.

He looks at me with a hint of- Strange, but I think that's gratitude. But for what?

"And Kol?" he asks.

"I don't know. We can't find him. But he's alive. We have someone from his bloodline and he's well. We use him a bit as Kol-meter, to keep track. More or less."

His face darkens a bit. He's silent for a moment, then he asks,

his voice suddenly surprisingly soft, - "How are you?"

Something in my gut tightens. "That's a whole 'nother story." I say bitter.

I knew it! But I guess she's in no state of mind to tell me. Probably something about her mother. But then again, she should be dead for centuries. No need to cry over that spilled milk. Though I'm probably the wrong person to judge over family issues. I better change the subject.

"So, why free me? Why now? Not that I'm complaining, it's just- What could possibly have happened, to make you want to free me?"I say joking in hope, it could cheer her up, but her mimic only darkens more.

She stares on the ground. Hate and anger in her voice, when she answers: "Tyler. Tyler happened."