Omg is it really; yes it is! The plot! Thanks for reading! Now things get interesting. Ahead lies fear, uncertainty, mistrust, betrayal, and all kinds of confusion. Again, I'm grateful for any and all comments, and thanks so much to those that have shown interest in my writing! So, without further adieu... oh, and the poem thing isn't mine, it's snippets from the Ripley Scroll, which is absolutely fascinating and well worth the read!
Trial by Fire
Words. A constant barrage of twisted messages and warnings and prophesies. Inescapable. My body tried to run, to fly, but the letters lashed out and captured me. Burning into my skin. Terrible tales of monsters. And fire. Fire. Burning. Everywhere! No!
My eyes flew open and I shot up, panting hard. Sunlight flooded in through the window. Birds chirped in the distant trees. I knew this room. Safe. It was safe. I was in Damon's room. And beside me, Damon. He wasn't moving. My heart stuttered for a painful moment. I tried to call his name, but terror muted me. How could he be so still? He wasn't breathing. But he was a vampire. He didn't need to breathe… right? If he were… if he were actually dead, then his skin would turn black with decay… wouldn't he?
With my heart racing wildly in my chest, I reached a trembling hand toward him, silently begging whoever was listening that he would respond. My hand touched his shoulder. Cold. He was cold. Panic.
"Damon?" I breathed. He didn't move. I fought to breathe through the tight ball of tears choking me. "Damon." I called louder, shaking him. Please; I'm scared. Don't make me go down there alone. Where I had to face the consequences of last night. The words burnt into the floor. Don't make me read them alone. "Damon!" I sobbed.
He suddenly shot up, drawing a violent breath into his lungs; eyes black; fangs bared. For a second he merely stared at me, confused, but recognition dawned on him and his arms locked around my shaking body. After a few deep gasps, he leaned back, eyes again that marvelous icy blue.
"What the hell happened?" he breathed, but I had no answers. "Are you alright?" he asked after a second's silence.
"Yeah," I nodded. "What about you? Why are you so cold?" I asked. He started to dismiss it, but I could feel the sudden, overpowering thirst raging within him. A thirst only I could sate. Now reassured that he was safe, I wanted to get downstairs to learn what had happened, but with each passing second his thirst grew. I swallowed hard, but offered him my wrist. He scoffed, hesitating. Finally, he wet his lips and met my gaze.
"You sure?" he asked. I nodded, knowing that, whatever awaited us, he would need be strong. He looked almost troubled for a moment, but then his eyes went black and his fangs lengthened. He kissed the sensitive skin tenderly before piercing the flesh with a quick, icy bite. My heart thundered in my chest as I felt the overwhelming pleasure of feeding fill him. My hand seemed to tighten on its own to send a surge of blood spilling from the cut artery. A quiet growl ripped from his chest as the sweet fluid washed over his tongue. Too soon, he pulled back with a final lick over the small pinpricks.
Without a word, he brought his wrist to his lips and dug his fangs through the pale skin and offered it to me. At first, part of me started to decline, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the sweet crimson dripping from the wounds. My hands gently held his arm and I locked my lips around his wrist. He moaned deeply as I pulled the blood into my mouth, savoring how it coated my tongue like hot caramel. Just a few, tantalizing gulps, and I pulled back. My entire body seemed to tingle as his blood flowed through me, but I forced myself under control.
"We can't keep doing this." Damon scoffed as the black faded from his eyes. I could feel his desire to attack me; to take everything, my body, my blood; and how I wanted to give it to him. But not yet. This was just a feeding. Something frightening awaited us downstairs, and it was time to go and meet it. We would deal think more on his addiction to my blood later. He sighed, but nodded and got to his feet; carefully pulling me with him. The room seemed to spin and dip violently around me for a few hazardous seconds before stilling. Damon said nothing as he held me steady until the vertigo passed.
"You ready?" he asked once my mind cleared. With a weak smile, I nodded, pulling my wings firmly against me. With Damon's hand resting on the small of my back, we left his room and headed for the main entrance.
"Stephen and Bonnie are gone." Damon informed me. Again, I distantly felt his senses; heard the numerous minute life forms about the house and forest, but nothing big enough to warrant concern. What are the limits to this? He wondered curiously upon realizing my ability to feel and hear things through him. I had no idea.
"We should test it when things quiet down." He said aloud. I looked up at him, hesitant at first, but nodded. Frightening as it was, this telepathy could come in handy.
The thoughts and theories of our link immediately vanished as my eyes fell on the scarred wood. I remembered how my body burned when the letters were made. And Bonnie. Where was she? Was she okay?
"Stephen must have taken her back home after we passed out." Damon guessed, watching the marred floor suspiciously. "I'm sure he'll be back to bother us some more in a few minutes." I chuckled at his desire to leave before then.
"Then let's just read it and get out of here." I almost whispered, "I'd like to stretch my wings a bit." He nodded. Still, neither of us moved for a while; we just stared at the floor, as though half expecting it to rear some ugly head and attack us. With a hard swallow, I forced my legs to work and we crossed the room to see the blackened words.
On the ground there is a hill
Also a serpent within a well
Repair the well fast about
That thy serpent pass not out
For if that he be there a gone
Thou lose the virtue of the stone
And water with fire washed shall be
The earth on fire shall be put
And water with air shall be knit
Thus ye shall go to purification
And bring the serpent to redemption
First he shall be black as a crow
And down in his den shall lie low
And let him drink a little and a light
And that shall make him fair and white
The which whiteness be abiding
Of the white stone and the red
Take the father that Phoebus so high
With his beams that shine so bright
For he is salve to every sore
Take good head what I do say
Divide thou Phoebus in many part
With his beams that be so bright
And this with nature him convert
To which is mirror of all light
In the sea without lees
Standeth the bird of Hermes
Eating his wings variable
And maketh himself yet full stable
When all his feathers be from him gone
He standeth still here as a stone
And all so the stone to quicken the dead
That sometime was both wood and wild
And now I am both meek and mild
The Sun and the Moon with their might
Have chastised me that was so light
My wings that me brought
Hither and thither where I thought
Now with their might they down me pull
And bring me where they will
The Blood of mine heart I wish
Now causeth both joy and bliss
And dissolveth the very Stone
And causeth him to be fix
Of my blood and water I wish
Therefore know ere thou begin
What he is and all his kin
"What the hell does that mean?" Damon scoffed. Goose-flesh rose on my arms and legs, and my heart pounded within my ribs.
"I don't know." I whispered. He was silent a while, his mind racing with theories, born and murdered before I had the chance to comprehend them. Finally, he scribbled the words on a piece of paper and shoved in it his pocket.
"Come on; we'll figure it out later." He said, heading toward the front door. Somehow, he knew Stephen was coming. He smiled and nodded. "Besides, you need to eat; you're getting too skinny." He insulted. I pouted and glared. What are you going to do about it? I couldn't help but balk at the blatant challenge before charging after him. He laughed as he ran out of the house. By the time I reached the front door, the giant raven was soaring high above me.
With a laugh, I leapt into the sky; grateful for his nonchalance that could so quickly ease my worry; grateful that I could fly freely with another; grateful that, if only for a few minutes, I could lose myself in the wind's loving embrace.
