Chapter 10
"You came." He croaked, but his words ended with a slight smirk.
He reached his arm for hers, gently entwining it with his. Luce was wearing a black dress that covered her down to her mid-thigh. The dress was laced with silk, something she had kept all these years. He had kept her belongings, and she felt very glad the he did.
"Of course. Tonight is a full moon, isn't it? I have taken your blood to suppress my werewolf side, so if anything goes wrong, kill me." She ensured.
"Ah, there they are." Their eyes laid on a group of two familiar people entering Mayor Lockwood's house, each dressed for the formal occasion. They approached the newly entered couple, hoping to discover information. "Where's my dear Luce?"
"Klaus." She said.
"Why is it every time we meet, you need to repeat my name? Dear Elena. I see Stefan has been taking good care of my doppelganger." He bowed before Elena, Keeping his eyes focused on Stefan, who was accompanying her. "Where's Luce?" He repeated.
"She's not well. That's why Damon isn't here either." Elena said calmly. Stefan was stood firmly behind her, proudly wearing his new black and white suit. Elena's dress was similar to Georgia's, only difference being that it covered Elena's knees, and was laces with a dim pink hue, which allowed her hair to shine within the florescent lights spread across the diameter of the room.
"Ah. So you were right, my love." He nodded at Georgia, turning away from Elena and Stefan, making his exit.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked, his brows furrowed.
"To my beautiful sister, of course."
Running around the corner of the hallway, where she thought she might run into Damon, Luce ran straight into Caroline. Both of them stumbled, but Caroline's sharp, vampire reflexes caught Luce and steadied them both. She was dressed in a gorgeous red dress, the end flailing within the breeze that was blasting through the house due to the door being wide open and the fire blazing up into the open skylight chimney. Luce was surprised how firm her grip was.
"Sorry Caroline. What are you doing here?" Luce mumbled, still dazed that Caroline had moved so fast.
"Hey Luce. What's the matter?" Caroline pressed a hand to Luce's forehead. "You don't look to well."
Luce swallowed hard, willing herself not to break down crying. "I'm not well." Was all she could manage to say.
"I knew it." Caroline said. "Once I had arrived at the founder's party, I only saw Elena and Stefan. They had said that you weren't there because after you fed on Klaus' blood that your healing powers disappeared, as well as the scent of your blood smelling delicious." Caroline sat Luce down next to the warm, open fire, where Luce tucked her knees up to her chest.
"How did you get here so fast?" Luce asked.
"I'm a vampire now." Luce's mouth gaped open at this. "I know, right? Although it has been several weeks. Thank god we've already broken up for the summer, otherwise I'd actually have killed everyone in this town by now." Caroline chuckled, Luce copying. "I knew I could get a smile from you." Caroline flitted down to the basement, where she saw Damon unpacking the freezer containing the blood.
"What's up, blondie." Damon smirked, downing another bag of blood.
"Damon, what's going on? Your girlfriend is up there feeling ill!"
"It's her fault. She drunk from that hybrids blood. I feel no sympathy." Damon spat, throwing another bag of blood on the floor. He turned and confronted Caroline, holding a glass of bourbon within his bloody hand.
"So you're going to drown your sorrows of non-sympathy in that? That's not right Damon." Damon was surprised at Caroline's outrage. Normally it was Elena being all high and mighty with him.
Damon's was cut off by a scream emanating from the lounge.
"Luce!" they both said at once, flitting up to see Klaus with his hands around her neck, Georgia facing them.
"Very nice of her to invite us in, don't you think?" Klaus smirked, throwing Luce into Damon's arms.
"Why are you here?" Damon confronted.
"I have a little- errand I need Luce to run for me, considering she's a human now." Luce darted towards Klaus, but her speed wasn't intense, it was human speed. Before she had a chance to even get close to him, Damon was in front of her. He was protecting her.
"Klaus. We need to take this outside. If you want to kill me, I at least want to have the dignity of dying where my parents lay." Luce coughed out, wheezing.
"Of course. We will meet you there in two minutes. Come, Georgia." Luce blinked to see the wreck Klaus and Georgia had made.
"What does he mean, your human?" Caroline asked.
"That would explain why your blood was…" Damon couldn't say it.
"Damon I want to do this alone." Luce blurted out, standing up straight.
"No, I won't let you get killed. I'll kill him, Luce."
"Your not strong enough." Luce placed a hand on his chest. "You know your not." She glanced into his eyes, before pulling him into a hug.
"I love you, Damon Salvatore." She whispered into his ear, tightening her grip around them.
"I love you too, Lucia Dawn." Damon knew this was his last goodbye. He had no way of stopping her. No way of stopping this brutal, un-called for murder. But he had to find a way.
"Goodnight." Luce said, running out of the door.
"Wait!" Damon yelled, flitting in front of her and slamming his lips into hers for their last kiss.
Although their passionate kiss felt like it could go on forever, Luce knew that she would have to gather all of her strength to run as fast as her human legs would carry her to the cemetery. She pulled away too fast, to see herself whizzed around before facing a horrified Caroline.
"Damon no!" The taste of a sweet, metallic tasting liquid came into contact with her mouth. She grappled onto Damon's wrist, attempting to pull it away.
When Luce couldn't hold her breath any longer, she swallowed it. She had swallowed Damon's blood. "Damon!" Caroline flitted over to Luce and Damon, shoving him off her.
"Thank you, Caroline." Luce said, pulling her into her last hug. "I haven't known you very long, but thank you." She pulled away, tears welling from her eyes, running down to her blood stained mouth, turning it pink.
Luce took one look at the shadowy figures at the base of the cemetery and started to race towards it. After saying goodbye to Caroline, Luce had enough strength to run away from her and Damon, leaving them with their last memory of her. She hurtled across the broken gravestones within the cemetery, not worrying about the sharp, twisting branches from the dead trees scratching her arms and bare feet as she ran.
She had to get there before Klaus came to her, that way she had some chance of a deal.
The dim silver moon offered little light, but with her now human eyes that didn't matter. Having gone through life and death, her systems were failing her. The only way that she could hope to live was the chance that Damon's blood turned her back into a vampire if she got killed.
Her lungs burned, but Luce was driven by the sheer force by having a chance to see Caroline, Stefan, Bonnie, Elena, Alaric, and most of all Damon again. She wouldn't stop running until she reached Klaus- because she'd been coming to find him anyway. Once she knew she had turned back into a human, she had wanted Klaus to kill her, without saying goodbyes.
Luce wasn't very good at goodbyes. That's why she was glad when Damon had said that her family thought she was dead. Yes, she was in shock, but the concept of saying goodbye- Luce couldn't bear it. That's why tears had been flooding her eyes throughout the majority of this long- dark journey to find her killer. That's why she hadn't gone any further with the kiss, and tried to pull away. That's why she needed Damon's blood to work. She needed to return to his arms.
"Finally. You took your time." Luce stopped in her tracks, peering over her shoulder to see Georgia carefully walking among the dead, careful not to disturb them.
"Where's Klaus." Luce sternly said, hearing a faint noise in front of her.
"I'm right here, darling sister." He smiled, caressing Luce's soft cheek. His touch always managed to comfort Luce, but this time it was sending shivers up her spine.
With the adrenaline pumping, she closed her eyes and slowly inhaled, holding it for a moment before releasing the air. She opened her eyes to a wrenching pain in her stomach. A stake, which had been driven up to narrowly miss her heart. But that didn't matter. Because she was human. Luce grabbed Klaus' arm, slowly leaning her head into his shoulders. As Klaus' followed her movements, he pushed the stake further, feeling her heart stop. She slowly leaned away from Klaus, smirking at him before curling over and her body becoming limp.
"The bitch is finally dead." Georgia spat.
"I took no pleasure in doing that, Georgia. You better hope you are right about Luce not being the ultimate hybrid. If you are not, then I swear I will watch you burn." Klaus stood up, licking Luce's blood from his hands.
"Not if you don't get a chance." A voice said from the shadows. The comedic sense within his voice was familiar, but with the trees gradually getting angrier and causing a gale force wind, it was heard to hear- even for an original.
The British blonde turned to his witch and saw her on the ground, a stake straight through her neck. "You know I do not take lightly to games, Damon." He swirled around to the elder Salvatore, seeing Luce in his arms. Her body limp, but still with some faint distinct color. "You killed her." A woman's voice began to grow louder behind Damon, a flame encircling Klaus and Georgia.
"No. You are meant to be dead, witch." Klaus backed to Georgia, tearing the stake out and slapping Georgia across the face. She drew in a large breath, jerking up to Klaus.
"Let's just say that Bonnie's ancestors weren't too happy about you killing the newest member of the family." Damon was the only one that could draw humor at this time, and Klaus somewhat respected that.
"And now, Klaus. Die." Bonnie flew her hand towards Klaus, sending the power of 100 lost souls into Klaus' hybrid body.
"NO!" Georgia yelled, pressing her bloody hand against his back and absorbing in the souls. As the sous passed through Klaus, Bonnie knew that her job was done, and stumbled back to Damon.
"You owe me, big time." She said, breathless.
"I know, but right now I need to get Luce back home."
"Damon, she's dead."