Where do I start? Well first things first. HAPPY NEW YEAR you amazing awesome people! I got so many PM's and requests to update the next chapter of this fic, and I was truly humbled when you left the request to update this fic in the review of other fics. I AM SORRY FOR THE TIME I TOOK, THE MUSE WAS ON A WORLD TRIP. Now when she is back, I have grabbed her by throat, and I am not letting her go until she complies with me for the future of this fic. I don't own the characters or story or Vampire Diaries.
So without further ado, I give you the next chapter of 'Burned Angel'.
:)
Chapter Nine
I never knew
I never knew that everything was falling through
That everyone I knew was waiting on a cue
To turn and run when all I needed was the truth
But that's how it's got to be
It's coming down to nothing more than apathy
I'd rather run the other way than stay and see
The smoke and who's still standing when it clears.
-Over my head by The Fray
Elena was wide awake, and she was counting the dust particles on the motel ceiling. This was the seventh one in two weeks. She had been running after she had left her house while carrying Mikaelson's millions in his handmade Italian leather bag.
Half hours away from home she had thought she was paying too much heed to her paranoia, and she had decided to turn around and call the number Mikaelson had left with her, but then she had spotted her tail. It was a black non-descript SUV and the driver had been wearing shades. In the night. He had kept his distance of two cars in between them all along the interstate. An hour of this chase had solidified her opinion of sick Mikaelson and his crazy games.
Years of driving like hellhound in training with Caroline Forbes had taught her a trick or two. She lost him on the interstate, and then had drove like a maniac for whole night and had clocked out at the first motel she could find come the morning.
She had existed like a person running away from something. She was a person running away from something. A crazed serial killer with overabundance of money for starters. She had slept in the morning, drove at night. The sun had irritated the goddamn shit out of her that first day when she had tried to drive in the morning.
Sun would rise in couple of hours, bringing headaches, itches and god knew what with it. It was time for her daily call to April Young. The phone was picked up after two full calls.
'Elena, is it morning yet?' the yawn made its way in her assistant's voice.
'No, but it will be. So did Dr. Sage send you the results of the slide shots that I had sent her?' she had to know what was happening to her.
'Well she says it's a weird ass new thing she has not encountered before. She says the cells show the symptoms of Septicemia and Leukemia, and yet it's not either of those. She says she is gonna need actual samples and marrow to make sure what this thing is, not only shots. She also emphasized that this is some kick-ass Noble material, so she would be glad to assist you on this thing.'
Bloody hell, she was going to die. Misery made a way in her defensive shields of survival and she wanted to fucking shout at the unfairness. Leukemia? Septicemia? What had Mikaelson infected her with? Well, if she was going to die then surely that depraved son-of-a bitch wasn't going to live longer. There was a bit comfort in that thought. Elena didn't want to be responsible for death of innumerable young women.
'Elena, are you okay?' there was concern in April's voice and it clawed at her heart. If she was going to die, did she not deserve the comfort of her home and support of her family and friends? She had not talked to Aunt Jenna, Jeremy or Caroline in months. She was going to die in some motel and become a Jane Doe. The barely leashed tears started leaking slowly from the corner of her eyes.
'Dr. Donovan came by again. He was really sad. Where are you, Elena?' April asked.
Where was she? She didn't know. Cities, states, towns they had all passed in blur as she had ran. Poor Matt. He would grieve, but it was better if she stayed far away from him and her family. She didn't want Elijah Mikaelson to have any ideas. All April found on Elena's end was silence.
'You know what you need?' There was an optimistic note in April's voice. 'A good hearty meal.'
When had she last eaten? The thought of food tied her stomach in knots. The mere image of burger and fries made her want to vomit. If she remembered correctly, her last meal had been a plate of Salad in the diner near her motel. That was one week ago. She must have eaten something in between. Scientifically it wasn't possible for her to even crawl after a week of hunger, and here she was doing her every day chores normally. Was she suffering from selective amnesia? That could explain not remembering if she had eaten in a week or not.
'Hey Elena?'
'What?'
'There is an opening for office manager in Dr. Donovan's clinic. His office manager is on pregnancy leave. So I was thinking; you don't need me around the office now, do you? So I could maybe take Dr. Donovan's offer.'
Now due to this stupid shit Mikaelson had dumped in her bloodstream, she was going to lose her trusted April Young. Life was a bitch.
'Yeah, you should. Don't tell Matt anything about me.'
'You got it. Take care, will you Elena?'
'Sure.' Yeah she was stuck on monosyllabic answers. Fucking tears were clogging her throat again.
'Hey Elena? Don't be a stranger.' And April Young was gone from her life, just like that.
Elena Gilbert needed to check her blood work to figure out what was going on in her body. She broke in a hospital laboratory in the night. Dear god, she was breaking and entering. If her condition had not been dire enough, she wouldn't have done this.
After four hours of back breaking peeking through holes and systematic analysis she found that she was no longer able to digest vitamins and the structure of her blood was bizarre. The red blood cells were going down in numbers while her white blood cell count was increasing rapidly.
She escaped the hospital near morning, making sure that none of her blood or results was around to stump the technicians in the morning.
She needed a laboratory for herself. She needed to lock herself in one to find what kinda shit Mikaelson had hooked her up with.
A possibility, a very farfetched one crossed her mind and she stumbled in her motel room with the first ray of sun. Had Mikaelson been right? Was there really a thing such as Vampirism?
She rented a laboratory with the money Mikaelson had dumped in her lap. Then she went to bank and opened a trust fund for Jeremy's education. She could at least do this for her baby brother.
And then she locked herself in the rented laboratory. She emerged after three weeks of rigorous research to call the number Mikaelson had given her.
'Have someone receive me at the airport.' She barked.
'Sure Dr. Gilbert.' The smooth voice sounded smug. It was that bastard Salvatore, that cocksucking bitch. She threw her phone across the room where it shattered in pieces.
To say Elijah was waiting for Elena would be an understatement. His eyes had been scanning the same lines of his book from over two hours. She had chosen to come to him this time. The subtle scent of lavender permeated his senses. She was finally at his door. He had instructed his vampires to not let Damon anywhere in her sight. But he should have known that Damon would find a way to circumvent his orders. The bell rang on his door, and to his utter misfortune it was Damon who opened it.
'Looking like a concentration camp refugee Dr. Gilbert, did you miss your meals?' Oh dear heavens, he would break Damon's neck for this. For once his advisor couldn't keep his mouth shut? Had he forgotten two weeks of desiccation Elijah had subjected him to for locking Elena with him after his surgery?
'You still look good, bitch. So I am assuming you must be draining cocks on regular basis?' Elijah choked. Elena had guts. From the frail beat of her heart, he concluded she had not transitioned yet.
'Take me to that bastard master of yours. We need to catch up, and Damon? She paused.
'Yes doctor?'
'You aren't invited.' And with that she made her way to the corridor that housed his study. She remembered the way. And why exactly did it make him happy?
He tried to appear busy, but the turn of knob attracted his attention automatically towards the door.
The woman who stood on his door was a far cry from the woman who had operated on him. Elena had lost a considerable amount of weight. She appeared gaunt, and haunted.
'It's not polite to stare. Didn't anyone ever teach you that Elijah?' she mocked as she came inside closing the door behind her. She took her seat opposite him nonchalantly as if they had met to discuss a trifle matter or two.
'Now you, Damon and me, we aren't the only ones, are we?'
'No.' he was lost in the strength of her eyes. She was braving whatever was eating her alone. He felt guilty at that thought. If only he hadn't been selfish enough to visit her again and make her remember.
'So vampire, huh? Like Bella Lugosi types, right? Sleeping in morning, drinking blood, hating garlic?'
'We are capable of going in sun. We just need more blood after that, and the smell of garlic is merely irritating, nothing else.'
'You guys don't sparkle, do you?'
'Beg your pardon?' Sparkle? What was she talking about?
'You know glitter, shine in sun, that kinda stuff? Edward Cullen is sparkly in Twilight, and he is a Vampire.' She pouted.
'We are a species and we are far different from what has been depicted in teenage romance novels.' He was dead serious in his answer.
'What have you been doing Elena?' he really wanted to know what she had been upto, to become this haggard.
'Well researching on me, and by an extension on you and that cunt who is listening with his ear pressed on the door. Fuck off Damon.' She shouted.
'Why are you researching?' What was she doing? And cunt? That was new.
'Well first things first, I have to know what is killing me. And then, is there a way to cure this disease that you have passed on to me?' she whispered.
'You are dying?' he was stupefied. Why had he thought she would be spared from the curse of his blood? It was just a matter of time. She too would die because of his blood.
'Well scientifically yes. My blood cells are being replaced by some cells that are like cancer cells but much more strong. They are gobbling up my original cells like burger and fries, and in turn changing me physiologically. I can't keep food down. My stomach has shriveled up like an old vagina, and I now need fresh blood to survive which I refuse to ingest. So long things short, I am dying.'
What? She refused to transition? So she was not dying by exposure to his blood, she was starving herself to death?
'Well even if you keep on trying Elena, you will rise after your death as Vampyras. It's entirely different thing that you have started to transition without dying. That has never happened before.' He looked deeply in her eyes, 'you are a miracle Elena.'
Well Mikaelson was a pro in acting. She would give him that. His eyes showed so much wonder and awe that had she been naïve Elena prior to this infection in her blood, she would have believed him. He wanted to be all buddy-buddy right now, didn't he? Well tough luck Psycho bastard, her friend list was full.
'Well I will have to make funeral arrangements for dying, won't I?' she joked. She would need to die if she rose as Vampire after her death. She would need help for that, just not his.
'So what more comes along with the package of this Vampire deal apart from instantaneous healing, good eyesight, audio range and night vision?' she queried.
'Well, you will be able to compel humans to do your bidding.' So that was what that bitch Damon had done to her.
'What about other Vampires?' Please say yes. She prayed silently. If she was able to make that weasel Damon wear a tutu and seduce random strangers, it would be the only perk of this bullshit deal.
'The compulsion doesn't work on other Vampyras. The Upir are only susceptible to the compulsion of an Original.' There went her dream in gutter. There were no perks of being a vampire.
'Original?' now what was this new species of fuckwit?
'Me.' he answered simply.
'So you aren't a vampire?' Was there a god who was smiling at her? Did this mean she was infected with just some rare strain of disease unknown to the known world?
'Oh I am the vampire, Dr. Gilbert. The very first one.'
'You are Judas?' what has she gotten herself into? There was still a small part of her brain that refused to accept this unscientific concept of Vampirism. On top of that she had got herself bitten by the very man who had betrayed Christ?
She was definitely going to hell…
So what do you think? Yay or nay? Review below and let me know what you thought of this chapter. Happy new year once again. Stay tuned for the next chapter of 'Burned Angel'.
