Chapter 9 - Revelations
A/N: Hello everyone! Happy February and I hope everyone enjoyed their Super Bowl Sunday! So if you all haven't figured this out already, I'm obviously not updating every week. I recently went back to school so I'm not getting to my writing as often as I like. However, I am still going to be updating it's just going to be a little longer in between chapters. Anyways, here is chapter 9—this particular chapter focuses a lot on Celeste and some new information is discovered. It is also a little shorter than usual but I hope you enjoy it none-the-less. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries.
The first thing that Celeste registered as she woke up the next morning was that Damon was no longer in the bed with her. Rolling over to her back, she stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts swirling around in her head. She wondered what happened with Elena last night to make Damon drink himself into a stupor. Celeste felt bad for Damon; anyone with eyes could see that he had feelings for Elena. Perhaps he was even in love with her. She knew how painful it was to be in love with the wrong person…especially in Damon's case when it was his brother's girlfriend.
Shaking her head free from her thoughts, she got up and quietly gathered her things hoping to sneak out of the house without anyone seeing her. Carrying her shoes and tiptoeing through the house, she froze as she heard a voice speak to her.
"You're Celeste Morrison, aren't you?" Celeste turned around to see the woman who had kidnapped Elena standing there.
"Yes…what are you doing here?" Celeste asked suspiciously.
"Don't worry, I don't mean any harm," Rose reassured Celeste before continuing, "I spoke to Stefan last night and I want to help. I've heard about you Celeste, there are many things buzzing about you in the supernatural world."
Celeste narrowed her eyes at Rose. "What kind of things?"
"There's a lot of value being one of the last known half-angels." Rose stated vaguely.
"Well thanks for the information, but that doesn't really help me much. Please don't tell Stefan or Elena that I was here," Celeste said as she moved towards the front door.
"Celeste." Rose called as Celeste's hand was on the doorknob. Celeste turned slightly and looked at her with question in her eyes. "Go see my friend Slater in Richmond, Virginia. He will be at a café called 'Noon to Midnight.' Go in through the back entrance. He's a vampire and he has been going to college since he was turned in 74'. He has 18 college degrees, if anyone were to have information about half-angels it would be him."
Celeste gave her a small smile and nodded gratefully before slipping out of the house unnoticed. Celeste thought about what Rose said to her as she walked home. As much as she didn't want to trust her, Rose seemed genuine enough. If what Rose said was even a little bit true, Celeste didn't want to lose the chance of finding out more information about herself. Of course she couldn't tell Stefan or Damon where she was going they would talk her out of it or want to come with her; this was something she needed to do on her own.
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Currently on her way to Richmond, Celeste thought about what she would ask Slater. She honestly didn't even know where to begin.
After ignoring multiple calls from both Stefan and Damon, she decided to turn her phone completely off so she wouldn't have to continue to feel it buzz in her pocket.
She pulled into a remote parking garage and parked near the back entrance to the café. As she walked over to the entrance, she took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. As she walked in, there were large floor to ceiling windows that bathed the room in natural light. Glancing around, she could see that most of the people in the café were vampires. Hoping to remain unnoticed she sat on a bar stool that was in the corner so she wasn't directly by the door. A man from behind the counter walked up to her and asked her what she wanted to drink.
"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me if a man was here or not," Celeste smiled. After the man nodded and motioned her to continue, she asked in a low tone, "Is there a man named 'Slater' that is here?"
"Someone said my name?" Slater said as he appeared next to Celeste. Jumping slightly, Celeste looked at him. He had kind eyes and a somewhat nerdy look to him. She smiled inwardly to herself, he definitely looked like someone who would have 18 college degrees and dedicate his life of eternity to college.
Celeste said, "Yes, I was hoping you could provide me with some information. Rose sent me to you, my name is Celeste Mor..."
"Morrison. I know who you are," Slater finished for her. "Let's go somewhere we can talk without having ears listening in on our conversation." He motioned her to follow him as he walked behind the counter and through the kitchen until he arrived at an office door.
He held the door open for her then followed her inside, shutting the door behind him. "So, Celeste Morrison, I was hoping I would get to have the pleasure of meeting you someday. What can I do for you?" He asked with a smile peeking at the corners of his mouth.
"I was hoping you could give me some information about half-angels. Rose said that if anyone were to know anything, it would be you." Celeste explained.
After listening intently to her and nodding, Slater commented, "Well Rose is correct. I have done quite a bit of research on your species. I could give you copies of all the research that I did, and answer any questions that you have. We would have to go back to my apartment to access the research though."
"That would be fine, thank you so much." Celeste said gratefully.
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When they arrived at Slater's apartment, Celeste was surprised to see how nice it was. It was a penthouse and was very spacious. Not only that, but there were walls and walls of books. Being a book lover herself, Celeste had a difficult time restraining herself from pouring over the books.
After offering Celeste a cup of tea, Slater grabbed a large banker's box from his office that held all his research on half-angels. Celeste's eyes widened when she saw the box that Slater held.
"How did you find out all this?" Celeste asked in surprise as she fingered through the different folders in the box.
"You figure out ways when you've been going to college since 1974," Slater smiled wryly.
As she looked through the information, Celeste saw that there was a death certificate of her mother, but there was no death certificate of her father anywhere. "Do you know if my father is still alive?" She asked somewhat hopefully.
"I don't know for sure, I'm sorry. The last chatter I heard about him was before your mother was killed. I met your mother once, of course at the time I didn't know she was a half-angel but she was beautiful none the less." Slater answered her with a faraway look in his eyes.
Celeste found a folder about Isobel's experiments on half-angels. Hesitantly opening it, she began reading parts of it. She did her best not to let the bad memories resurface. Turning to Slater, she asked, "What do you know about Isobel's project with half-angels?"
Slater's eyes darkened for a moment before he quickly covered it up. "Isobel's lab experiments on half-angels were frowned upon by many in the vampire community. She tortured not only half-angels but also vampires, which you probably already know." He said with sympathy in his eyes. "She was trying to determine how to control half-angels and why their blood either killed or enhanced vampires."
Changing the subject he said, "Celeste, there is something you should know about your parents. Your father as you know is a full angel, but we have reason to believe that he is, in fact, Michael the archangel."
Celeste sat back on the couch in surprise. This was too much overwhelming information. Her mother had lied to her, she had told Celeste that her father was a human that he had left them. She wondered what other information her mother had kept from her. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
"Who else knows about my father?" Celeste asked, her voice devoid of emotion.
"I'm not sure, I guess anyone who does enough research would figure it out. I'm sorry," Slater said gently.
Deciding it was best to change the subject Celeste said, "Slater, vampires drink blood and that restores their strength, while Vervain is their weakness. Angel's Tears is my version of Vervain but do you know if there is something that can restore my strength?"
This was a question that had been plaguing her for a while now. She knew that if she were to continue being involved in the world of vampires she needed to find something that could help her recover from wounds faster.
Slater shook his head. "I don't remember finding anything of that sort, but there might be some information in those files about that." Slater excused himself when his phone started to ring.
When he returned, he said apologetically, "I'm sorry but I need to go back to the café. I am expecting some people there, stay as long as you want. You can keep the box of files as well."
"Thank you, Slater. I really appreciate all your help." Celeste stood up and gave Slater a hug. Slater hesitated slightly before he relaxed and returned the hug. Smiling, he grabbed his book bag and disappeared out of the apartment.
Sitting back down, Celeste lingered in the apartment continuing to look through the files. So far she hadn't found anything that even remotely resembled "blood" for half-angels. She continued to search through the documents looking for any sort of clue. Although she didn't find out what could restore her, she did find out a lot of other useful information.
In fact, all the records of Isobel's research in these particular files contained much more information about her lab experiments than Isobel's actual journal had. One of the more interesting things was that Isobel had had multiple half-angels she was experimenting on and she had executed almost every one of them. There were a few who had survived though, including Celeste herself. It was a comfort to know that there were still some of her species left in the world.
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Celeste hadn't realized how much time had passed before she glanced at her watch and realized that quite a few hours had passed. Cursing silently to herself, she began to pack up the box of files. Standing up with the box in her hands, she began to walk towards the door.
Suddenly, she heard a key being turned in the front door. Panicking, she opened the nearest door which led into a closet and hid in there as she heard the door open and close. Hearing voices, she concentrated trying to hear who they were and what they were saying. She immediately recognized Slater's voice. The other voice was another man, probably a vampire; his voice seemed weirdly familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly where she had heard it before.
As Celeste listened, she realized Slater was making a phone call to someone. They were talking about the moonstone and the curse. Who would Slater be talking to about that? Celeste tried to breathe quietly so the other vampire wouldn't hear her. Suddenly, the light bulb went off in her head. She realized who the voice was. It was Elijah, the Original who was going to snatch Elena from Rose. She clamped a hand over her mouth as she continued to listen in on their conversation.
"Hmm, now I want you take this and drive it through your heart," Elijah said nonchalantly to Slater. Celeste shook her head and closed her eyes. She wished she didn't have to hear this, she liked Slater, he seemed like a decent guy.
"But that would kill me forever," Slater said with a tremor of fear in his voice.
"I know, but it's necessary." Elijah stated totally uncaring.
Celeste wondered why Slater wouldn't just run and why he was even listening to this Original. It was almost like he was being compelled. She winced as she heard the sound of the stake piercing Slater and his body falling on the floor with a thud.
"Was it, really?" Celeste frowned as she heard the new voice seemingly appearing out of thin air.
"It had to be done. He delivered the message, it won't be long now." Celeste imagined that Elijah was brushing his hands in satisfaction. "Oh and Celeste, dear? You can come out of that closet now."
Celeste's eyes widened in fear as she realized she had nowhere to run, and there was no one who knew where she was there. There would be no one coming to help her.
A/N: Oops, looks like I left a cliffhanger. Hope you all liked it. Please please review! Have a great day wherever you are.
