Chapter 7: Teaching is Draining
December 1, 2009
The most extraordinary thing happened yesterday. Although, given what I've seen and experienced during my time as a vampire, 'extraordinary' might be stretching it quite a bit. Nevertheless, I happened upon quite a peculiar and rare creature: a Siphoner.
Now, while I may have seen Siphoners in the past, this one stuck out to me a bit more. She was pretty - for one. For another, she wasn't a homicidal sociopath like Parker and those Heretics from a hundred years ago. Perhaps this is due to the fact that she wasn't raised in a coven? Or that she had never seen magic in her life until I exposed her to it? Hopefully, closer study will lead to answers to these questions and more.
One such question I ask myself is: why the bloody hell did I agree to help teach her magic? I could very well have watched her struggle from afar - I have no need to directly involve myself in her life. A deep, somewhat darker part of me believes that perhaps she may be a useful tool - no doubt a stray thought left over from my time with Klaus and those years with my humanity turned off. Another part thinks that I'm doing it out of some need to settle a debt with Julia - or to make her happy from the beyond. That irks me quite a bit, considering I had long since buried and crushed any feelings I had once had for her.
Getting back on topic, this is Gabriel's influence, I'm sure. I wouldn't be the 'nice guy who has to help people in need' if it wasn't for him. Snarky feathered git.
Side note: Damon's still a dick.
Danny sat upon one of the fallen columns of the old church, absentmindedly twirling a vial of red liquid between the fingers of his left hand. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply and releasing it slowly, a small smile creeping onto his face as he enjoyed the peaceful serenity that surrounded him - for the moment anyway.
It wasn't often that the vampire got to enjoy quiet little moments like this. If he was perfectly honest with himself, the last time he could remember feeling like this was when he was at his beach house - though, given the magical, naturally calming aura of the place, he wasn't quite sure if it actually counted. Nevertheless, he relished in the serene quiet that permeated the mostly deserted forest.
The silence was broken, however, by the soft crunching of leaves underfoot. Judging by the sound, he was able to deduce that they were made by a female - most likely the girl who appeared to barely be of drinking age that he was supposed to be teaching. He had to admit, he never thought he'd be teaching a witch-especially a Siphoner- how to use magic. He opened his eyes, spotting the little witch making her way towards him, an angry yet wary expression on her face. As she got closer to him, she folded her arms, shooting daggers at him.
"You didn't tell me where this place was," she accused. "I had to ask Ric, and it was very hard trying to explain why exactly I wanted to spend my time in the ruins of an old church."
"Whoopsie," Danny replied with a raise of his eyebrows, smirking slightly as he suppressed a snicker of amusement.
"You said you're a vampire, right? Shouldn't you be burning to death or sparkling or something?" she said, traces of sarcasm and disbelief etched in her tone.
"Vampires don't sparkle, sweetheart. Sunlight does, however, kill us-unless we have nifty little pieces of jewelry that protect us," Danny replied, showing off the ring on the ring finger of his right hand.
Karen reached over to grab his hand, hoping to examine the ring closer. Danny pulled his hand away abruptly before pulling an amulet out of the pocket of his plaid flannel. It was a rather simple silver chain, attached to it was a small vial filled with…
"Is that blood?" Karen asked, recoiling slightly.
"Vampire blood, to be precise. Mine, actually. I didn't want you to draw directly from me-not just yet, anyway. We need to work on your control first before we do anything else."
"Riiight. Vampires are a thing. You know, you still haven't given me any proof of that. Or witches, for that matter," the Siphoner said, crossing her arms.
"You're right, I haven't."
Danny allowed the veins to appear beneath his eyes, and his fangs to show. He vamped over to the girl, stopping just in front of her. She gave a small scream of surprise before falling backward, prompting Danny to laugh. The veins and the fangs receded as he continued to laugh, whilst Karen scowled and stood up, dusting herself off.
"That's not funny, you ass," she said rather crossly, punching him in the arm.
"Y'know, I haven't met many people who would punch a vampire, especially when they just learned they exist," Danny smirked, sobering up.
"Yeah, well, I'm not most people."
"I take it that means you now believe in things that go bump in the night?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow as he took a step back.
Karen rolled her eyes, huffing slightly as she did so. There was a silence between the two-not an uncomfortable one, but it was filled with a certain kind of…tension. Danny smirked, rather amused by the girl's stubbornness. It was actually kind of adorable, in a way.
"What can a vampire do, exactly?"
"Hmm? Oh, all sorts of things. Increased strength, speed, senses, durability, healing factor, immortality of course, enhanced emotions-if we choose to keep them-limited telepathy, and mind compulsion," Danny replied, ticking them off his fingers as he said them.
"Mind compulsion? You can compel people to do whatever you want?" Karen asked warily, taking a step back.
"There are a few exceptions, of course. We can't compel other vampires, witches-even Siphoners-pretty much any supernatural being is off-limits. Oh, and if you have ingested or are carrying vervain-we can't compel you either."
"What about telepathy? You mentioned you had it. Have you been reading my mind?" Karen accused.
"I try to avoid reading minds whenever possible. There is some dirty, kinky shit in peoples' minds, let me tell ya," Danny replied, rolling his eyes and smirking.
"How old are you?"
"Y'know, it's rude to ask someone their age. Because you're hot, though, I'll answer. I was born on September 13, 1836. I died September 15, 1861," Danny replied in an upbeat tone, a cheery smile on his face as he said this.
Karen's face heated up at his compliment before she frowned, mentally calculating before saying, "So, you're 173 years old? And you've been 25 for 148 years?"
Danny hesitated, fidgeting with the amulet for a moment before replying with, "Sure. Now, you can ask more questions later, sweetheart. For now, we need to get down to your training."
With that said, Danny tossed her the amulet, which she barely managed to catch. She immediately felt power surging through her veins, being pulled from the magical blood in the amulet. The wind picked up slightly, sending leaves whipping around their feet. Danny hesitated before stepping closer to her, walking around to stand right behind her.
"What are you feeling right now?" He questioned.
"Power," she said immediately.
No shit. The vampire suppressed an eye roll. "Describe it. Is it like a river? A volcano? Does it flow or is it like an eruption?"
"I- I suppose it's flowing - like a stream," she managed to reply after a moment of hesitation.
"Good, now I want you to focus on that feeling," Danny instructed, hoping he was doing this correctly and wishing once more that he hadn't agreed to this. "Imagine the river in your mind. Flowing, shimmering, dancing with light from the sun. Its edges sweeping over rocks and soil. Close your eyes and picture it." He paused for a moment, watching as she did as instructed. "Can you see it?"
She nodded slowly, brow furrowed in concentration, sweat beading on her face.
"Good. Now, I want you to imagine something blocking the flow - rocks, a beaver's dam, whatever floats your boat."
The wind died down, and Karen's eyes fluttered as she fell back into Danny's arms-weakened by the effort to pull back from the power. Danny held her tightly, brushing her hair from her face and giving her a proud smile. Karen smiled weakly in return, holding up the still magic-infused amulet of blood rather triumphantly. He helped her to her feet, taking the vial and turning it in his hands.
"Congratulations, you've learned how not to suck the magic out of everything," he grinned tossing her the vial again. "Now, do it five more times."
The woman's smile dropped and her face paled significantly at the vampire's words, prompting him to give an evil smirk in response.
The following night found Danny pouring over a book in his room, his fingers skimming over the words as his eyebrows knitted together thoughtfully. His mouth moved soundlessly as the corners turned down in a small frown.
A small knock on his door pulled him from his concentration as he lifted his head up curiously, wondering who it was. The door opened to reveal Damon, prompting the older vampire to frown once more and return to his reading. The younger Salvatore took this as an invitation to stride further into the room and flop onto his older brother's bed.
"How do you feel about a road trip?" Damon asked suddenly. "Little brotherly bonding time? Me and you, going out, kicking ass, drinking - reliving the glory days of two months ago."
Danny didn't even spare him a glance as he replaced the book in its proper place on the bookshelf before pulling out another one and skimming through it.
"Dude, c'mon, you can't still be mad at me, it's been a month," Damon rolled his eyes, pouting like a child. "And you call me immature. I mean, the whole 'silent treatment thing' is for little kids. I thought you were all about 'being the bigger man' and being 'a positive role model for your younger brothers to look up to' or whatever."
Danny suppressed the urge to glare at his younger brother, instead turning his back to him as he flipped another page in his book. He heard a small sigh from Damon, something that should have put him on his guard.
"Fine, have it your way then."
There was a flurry of movement behind him before Danny felt his neck snap in an unnatural direction. After that, everything went dark.
