We were standing inside the Salvatore boarding house. My left arm hung limply by my side whilst my right hand loosely curled around the stem of my glass. Yet no alcohol could crave my emotional breakdown this time. Too much had happened in such a short space of time.
I could feel Rebekah's presence behind me. The original felt almost like a shadow looming over my head as I inwardly fought a mental battle within my mind. Contemplating on whether to divulge something which I would have preferred to keep to myself for the rest of my days.
But I needed someone just once to actually listen. To understand. To help me rationalise my disjointed thoughts.
I could almost feel the mating bond crashing through my mind as it broke down my walls, making me see clearly for the first time.
The reoccurring dream I had been having, the strange visions... it was all starting to finally make sense. Because the dream was not a dream anymore. It was a reality. The start of everything and the end of something which could have been. The visions were a reminder of the day I lost my childlike innocence. When I finally realised the true horrors which walked this world.
"My memories have been coming back in bits and pieces," I whispered, walking towards the fireplace and leaning against the hearth as I stared without seeing into the flames which crackled softly. Never once did I feel the heat on my face. I was too numb to even concentrate on the simple stimulation of my senses.
From behind me, I could hear the shifting fabric as Rebekah slowly got to her feet. She was paying attention.
"It was raining." My detached voice broke the silent atmosphere. Rebekah tilted her head up but didn't speak. I was glad. It made the words easier to fall out. "That is one of the things which I remember the most. The tiny details. The rest of it... I wish it was still all a blur... but life never lets us get it easy."
"Listen to me Alexandria! I need you to hide down there. Whatever happens, whatever you hear, do not come upstairs. Can you do that for me?"
The little girl with the dark curls and chubby cheeks watched on as her mother backed frantically away from the window, after shutting the blinds so tightly together that the room was engulfed in darkness. Not a slither of light could seep through.
Alex wanted to be brave as she tried her hardest to control her shaking hands but how could she be brave when she was this afraid? It was the first time she had ever felt the deafening surge of fear and she didn't like what it was doing to her.
"Have the bad people found us?" she whispered, trying to stop the clenching of her stomach, the sickness of paralysing terror which racked her insides.
A lump formed in Cassandra's throat at the sight of her daughter's reaction and she swallowed, blinking back tears. She felt her own terror engulfing her with an insurmountable strength but it was something she could live with.
Because the wolf inside was overpowering in the need to protect its own. Her child. Her cub. Alexandria was the only thing that mattered now.
Cassandra was never one for bravery but maybe just this once she could try.
The young mother crouched down low and gazed into Alexandria's wide hazel eyes, eyes so like her own... and when a small, pudgy hand reached out, desperately seeking comfort, she took it and squeezed it tight. "I love you my little miracle. Remember that for me. Remember that I love you."
Alex bobbed her head but no matter how hard she clutched at her mother's hand, she wasn't strong enough to maintain the grip. The warm feeling of warmth and security was ripped away as her mother's hand slowly slipped further away from her grasp.
And all Alex could do was watch with terrified eyes. The innocence within the depths of her pupils began to crack little by little as she watched the dark outline of her mother's form disappear from view. Leaving the young girl utterly alone and surrounded by the darkest of shadows.
The basement was cold and silent, almost eerily so and a shivering Alex backed into a corner, her eyes squeezing tightly shut as she slid down the hard brick wall. Her small body curled up into a tight little ball as she forced herself to do as she was told.
Never once did she move, not even as the screams from above tore apart her insides like the sharp edge of a carving knife. Her ears rang and her eyes burned from beneath the tight cover of her eyelids.
"We know who you are, wolf. We know you are from the Lockwood line."
She could still hear them. Still hear the ear-splitting screams. Her hands shot up to her head and she pressed her fingers hard into her ears. Her body rocked back and forth, over and over again. Trying to find any form of solace or comfort from within the never-ending feeling of her absolute helplessness.
In her hell.
Tears pooled in her eyes, saturating her eyelashes as she fought to contain them but they uncontrollably streamed down her cheeks. Gulping in a shuddering breath, she started to sing.
"Hush little baby don't say a word."
Drown out the voices. Drown out the screams. Over and over again she repeated the lullaby in her head, the melody pouring out of her lips without conscious thought.
"She doesn't have it. Track it down. We can't hear the call."
Never once did they hear her and never once did she question why. The tune fell from her lips long after the bad people left. Long enough for a new and more urgent set of footsteps to enter the house.
"We have a body," a crisp and detached voice stated. "White female, mid to late twenties. Features unrecognisable. Will need identification."
It could have been minutes or it could have been hours but in the end they found her. Alex could see a blinding light and could hear the sound of a figure approaching but she didn't care for whoever it was. She flinched back when they tried to take her hand.
"Kid what's your name?"
The voice was soft and kind. It meant her no harm but Alex wasn't willing to take that risk.
The tune continued to seep out of her mouth as a hoarse whisper. The lullaby which her mother used to sing to her every night. She had once told Alex that it would bring her good dreams and Alex could do with a good dream right now.
Because then she would wake up and everything would be okay again. This day would have never happened. She would go downstairs, her mother would be there and they would both be so happy. They would be safe.
Her mom had promised that they would be safe, that no one could ever get inside their house.
She lied.
"Get social services on the phone!"
"You saw your mother die," Rebekah whispered, her voice not bothering to conceal her horror.
"She was the first body I ever saw," I replied, taking on a lifeless tone. "I was taken away but they hadn't removed her. They just dispassionately dragged me past her broken and bloodied corpse."
I had blocked it for years and now I knew why. It hurt too much to remember. And now I remembered it all: the drawing drenched in blood as it peeked out of Cassandra's jacket pocket, her blank and unseeing hazel eyes, the raw expression of agony still etched across her distorted face.
No longer could I disconnect myself from the truth. Not when the truth was slapping me hard across the face, forcing me to come to the terms with the fact that all along, Alex had been me.
"I wanted to go to her, to close her eyes. Just do something to make her seem at peace..." I trailed off thoughtfully before letting out a single, sharp laugh, every emotion within me fuelled with bitter loathing and resentment for the people who had found me. "Instead they just threw me into the back of their police car and dumped me off at the first children's home they could find."
"Why tell me? Why not the doppelganger or the Salvatore?" Rebekah questioned and despite her demanding tone, I could sense the curiosity behind it.
My eyebrows lowered and I thought it over. Why was I telling her this? I hardly knew the original; I had called her Stefan's blonde hooker just over a week ago. But Damon hadn't been around much since the ghost fiasco and Elena was still preoccupied with her mission to teach Stefan the true meaning of feelings.
It was almost laughable since the humanity lacking Salvatore was also a vampire ripper who tore off heads for sport.
Elena would be in no mood for my sarcastic comments either. At one point I would probably drop a mention towards the doppelganger's passionate speeches about still having hope. And I would probably mention to her that those speeches would ultimately end up being yet another epic fail.
In the end, I was mainly alone at the boarding house with only Rebekah for company and all we had done since Conan was spend the nights drinking our troubles away.
In the beginning, the alcohol helped us tolerate one another and somewhere out of the blue, she had become my confidant. I knew why I was accepting the woman deep down but now was not the time to admit why.
And if I had any say in the matter, I never would.
I turned around then, scrutinising her expression before letting out a half-hearted shrug. "Because sometimes it's better to share your worst memories with a complete stranger than with somebody you already know."
"Because you don't care what strangers think," Rebekah assumed with a nod, like she understood all too well where I was coming from. She arched a blonde eyebrow, putting the words left unsaid together and stated, "And you care about them?"
Care is a subjective word," I responded without pause and a small smile curved at the edges of Rebekah's lips.
"That's what we like to believe," she murmured to herself and I didn't bother arguing. It seemed as though I couldn't deny what was true these days and Rebekah was telling the truth, no matter how much the two of us hated to admit it.
Placing down her glass, Rebekah looked towards the ancient clock on the mantelpiece with a large smile. "Well now, enough of all this chit-chat, we have to get going," she exclaimed, putting a halt on story time and our overbearing melancholy thoughts.
I was confused at first about what she was insinuating before I realised the time and the day. As Rebekah strode towards the door, I was just about putting two and two together. And then I inwardly groaned. Bloody Monday mornings.
When Rebekah realised I wasn't following, she spun round sharply on her heel to stare at me expectantly. "Well, aren't you coming?" she demanded.
I honestly didn't understand this eagerness radiating off her and much to her dismay, I flung myself back into her vacated seat on the sofa. "Yeah, I think not."
"What could you possibly find more interesting than high school?" Rebekah questioned and I looked at her blankly.
The blonde's question seemed to be a hundred percent serious and quite honestly, it flabbergasted me. She actually liked going to that hell hole? She was insane. Now this friendship between us made a hell of a lot more sense.
After all, she wasn't the only one who seemed to be experiencing a slow loss of sanity these days.
I placed on a smirking mask to squash down my wandering thoughts before they dragged me to a place which I wouldn't be able to fully return from. Then I lounged back and swung my legs up onto the cushions before retrieving my glass. "Put it this way. Changing my hair to mimic Stefan Salvatore's styles through the ages would be more interesting than all the crap they spout up there."
"Your hunter teacher will not be pleased," Rebekah scolded lightly.
"Good thing I have been blessed with the tiny gift of hypnotic power then isn't it?" I retorted before taking a sip of my drink and muttering with a small grin, "Just let them try."
It sounded almost like I was daring my teachers to confront me, one in particular would be especially concerned with my absence but if it eventually came to force, a large part of me was not against the idea of ripping the vervain off my guardian just to save myself from that insanity.
I was dead set on graduating that school without even having to attend and it wasn't as if Elena's little gang could judge anyway. With all the crap going on in their lives, they hardly made it a full day without skipping at least one class.
Rebekah then tilted her head to the side. "They'll think I've killed you," she murmured thoughtfully before smiling slyly. "My day just got a whole lot better."
I rolled my eyes in response and with a parting smirk, the blonde original left the boarding house and I shrewdly watched her retreat until she was out of sight.
As she finally fell out of hearing range, my body involuntarily tensed and my hands balled into fists, tendons bulging out from beneath my wrists. The strain I had been dreading for the past few hours came rushing back now that I was alone. Alone with an endless amount of time to think.
I leapt to my feet. My eyes uncontrollably flashed gold as I whipped around. The glass went flying into the fireplace, smashing into small shards on impact. The fire roared in anger.
I sank to the floor and brought my knees up to my chest. My hands were quivering as I hesitantly wrapped my arms around my legs, pressing my fingertips hard against my denim jeans. It took everything I had inside me to stop my nails from elongating into claws. To prevent my inner wolf instinct from surfacing and it was surfacing strong.
It had been a week since Conan left, a week since my repressed memories had returned... a week since everything began to fully escalate into mental chaos.
I promised myself that this wasn't going to happen to me. That I wouldn't fall victim to the inevitable insanity and yet here I was, losing my grasp on reality. Falling apart like some helpless child.
And now I was clutching onto Rebekah like a lifeline and it wasn't just because she seemed like the only person who I could turn to these days. It was almost like an instinct. In some ways she was grounding me and I knew exactly why.
She was a link to her brother... to Klaus.
I shook my head, letting out a choked laugh although there was nothing funny about this in the slightest. How the hell did I accept this claim in the first place? Yes the man wasn't that bad to look at and yes his accent alone made every single women swoon, especially with all the love and the sweetheart endearments but apart from that, there was nothing appealing about him.
Nothing.
And yet I wanted to sink my teeth deep into his jugular, just below the pulse over his carotid artery. I craved to feel that same adrenaline lust rush which had been radiating between us during the night he had claimed me as his.
Squeezing my eyes shut and taking deep breaths in and out, I forced myself to calm down. When I felt somewhat in control once more, I got shakily to my feet.
Maybe school wouldn't have been a bad idea after all, I pondered as I wandered into the library, trailing an index finger over the ancient books on the shelves. I needed something else to focus my thoughts on... my fingertip hovered over a spinal column of a book before tugging it out with a slowly widening smile.
Backing away with the book in hand, I sank into a seat and crossed my legs. How quickly my boredom became replaced with anticipation as I flicked through the pages of his journal, scanning over the endless words of his torment.
'July 15, 1863.
I just had the strangest encounter outside the county fair. I met someone, a girl. We only spoke for a moment, but her name is Valerie, and she may be the most wonderful girl I ever met.'
"Scandalous," I muttered dryly before flipping over a few more pages rapidly before stopping.
Now this was much more entertaining.
"Oh Stefan Salvatore" I tsked to myself with a slowly widening smirk as my gaze scrutinised over the photo. Now that hair had a life of its own. "You really shouldn't leave stuff like this lying around."
The younger Salvatore should have been more careful. After all, he could never predict whose hands they could fall into.
'September 9, 2009.
I am awake. For the first time in a long time, I feel completely and undeniably awake. I welcome the day. Because I know I will see her again.'
"Oh hell, what has become of my life," I muttered, staring at the writing in disgust.
Romantic relationships... I either admired or envied them. When it came to Caroline and Tyler's, it was both. They had the type of romance which everyone would attempt to aspire to. Now I had never observed the full dynamic which used to be the Stefan and Elena ship but all that love in one written sentence was just nauseating. I shuddered.
A slam of the front door caught my attention but I didn't pay it too much attention as my eyes stayed on the page I was on with Stefan's innermost thoughts swirling around in my head.
'I know the risk, but I have no choice... I have to know her.'
And I wanted to wipe my memory. There was too much cheesiness on this one side of paper alone.
"You compelled your own private runway show?"
"I need a Homecoming dress. So, what do you think? Pick one."
The words drifted through from the foyer and recognising the tones, I snapped the book shut, not desiring to read on any further and leapt to my feet. My attention was suddenly on high alert. Because those two voices were not a good combination when mixed together.
Flashing through the boarding house, I appeared at the entrance and observed the scene, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
My focus drifted from the music playing through the speakers, to the six women posed in a line as they each sported colourful dresses. I finally watched Rebekah's face merge into full vampire mode as she poised her fangs over one of female's necks and glared at a horrified Elena.
"I said pick one, Elena," the blonde original snarled.
"What the fuck is this? Supernatural Mean Girls?" I demanded, making my appearance known as I switched my attention back and forth between the bitchy cheerleader vs the preppy popular brunette. "Please don't turn the rest of my day into a superficial teen movie; I've experienced too many soap operas in Stefan's journals alone to last me a lifetime."
"Ah Ria, there you are," Rebekah stated cheerfully and her fangs retracted before she flashed over to me. "Pick one for me and while you're at it, get one for yourself."
"I'm not going to Homecoming - did you not hear my superficial teen movie speech?" I asked her incredulously but Rebekah just grinned as she walked towards the girls. When I recognised the cunning look on her face, I added darkly, "You dare pick one out for me and I will burn it."
Rebekah stopped and it was my turn to grin. She wasn't the type to let something that expensive go to waste.
"You weren't in school," Elena said, turning to me and I just let out a small, exaggerated cough.
"I was ill, very contagious but I'm all better now." When Elena rolled her eyes, I straightened up and demanded, "What the hell are you doing here anyway?" At the confused look I got sent in response, I added, "I thought you were on still trying to liberate Stefan for the good of all humankind?" Her expression descended into a frown and it was my turn to stare at her. "Don't tell me you've finally given up on him? He'll attempt to eat the whole town after all the shit which you and that Lexi ghost put him through."
"I left him with Damon, he thinks he can get through to him," Elena finally said but her tone told me that she didn't have much faith in the older Salvatore.
"Fair enough, they have been brothers for over a century so maybe Damon might stand a tiny chance," I replied and made my way towards Rebekah who was watching our conversation with keen interest.
When I reached her side, she followed my gaze and instantly poured another glass of champagne before handing it over.
Nodding in thanks, I took a sip and added vaguely, "Also before I forget, tell Stefan's prick of an older brother to give me a heads up before he suddenly decides to go MIA."
"He hasn't been back to the house?" Elena wondered, shocked as I shook my head.
"Not since the ghost thing. Vampire gigolo has been avoiding me ever since..." I trailed off and fell silent. If Elena didn't know the reason for Damon's recent actions, that meant he hadn't mentioned it and I should be worried.
What had I done? Had my dead uncle's spirit said something to keep him away? My thoughts whirred around in my head and when a new one crossed my mind, I paled considerably. Had I said something during a drunken encounter? I couldn't exactly ask the narcissistic older Salvatore brother for an explanation either since he hadn't been around.
Exhaling a low breath, I put on a smile and turned to Rebekah. "So, Homecoming dress. Go for the red," I said.
Rebekah examined it before her head whipped round to face Elena "Well Elena, do you think the red?" Elena rapidly nodded, shrinking back slightly at the intimidating glare sent in her direction and Rebekah leered. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" She approached the compelled girls and commanded, "Go away. Remember nothing."
When the six of them turned around and left, Rebekah waited until the front door closed with a soft click before swiping up her own champagne glass and striding towards the fearful doppelganger.
She stopped when they were almost nose to nose and hissed, "Remember that I am an original. You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?"
Elena dropped her head and averted her gaze, her lips pressed tightly together.
Rebekah nodded in approval and I furrowed my eyebrows. The blonde original noticed my apparent loss in the turn of the conversation and asked, "So what about you, sweet? You want to hear about my brother's treacherous and dastardly deeds?"
I froze, pushing down my rearing instincts at the mere mention of him and placed my glass slowly back down. "I'm on a Klaus free day today," I answered before turning around and making my way back into the library.
I only just caught Rebekah's reply of, "Suit yourself," before I began to browse through the books once more.
I was going to spend the day reading with no reminders of Klaus or mating or anything associated with the two. Then my finger paused on the book it had automatically landed on and my eyes widened at the title before I growled, "For fucks sake."
Speeding back into the living room, I flopped onto the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. Wondering once again if some divine entity was watching over my life and laughing at all the hell it put in my path.
"Yeah, screw you too," I uttered before closing my eyes and mentally coming up with multiple ways to murder whatever idiotic being had thought it would be would be fun to write a book on supernatural mating lore.
"How fun is this...?"
One of my eyes opened, irritated as Rebekah's voice drifted down from upstairs. The vampire's tone was filled with excitement which was followed by Elena's more reserved tone as she fearfully cautioned, "We shouldn't be here..."
"Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop," Rebekah encouraged her, causing my head to loll further back.
My other eye opened so I could roll them both as I heard the sound of drawers opening. "Can't you find someone more interesting to obsess over?" I complained loudly, knowing that Rebekah would be listening. "Literally anybody," I pleaded.
Rebekah paused before slowly reminiscing, "There was this one other man; Nik's prodigy. We had a blast in New Orleans but he's long gone now."
"Shame," I muttered.
"You're one to talk, what with all your snooping through Stefan's private diaries."
"Mine was out of boredom not sexual satisfaction," I whispered and almost instantly I heard her yell out aghast.
"Oi, I heard that!"
"You were meant to!" I shouted back and for a moment, all was silent. Feeling serene, I let my eyes flutter closed once more and simply revelled in the peace.
"Boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."
My face instantly screwed up as I attempted with the best of my capabilities to zone out, even though I knew Rebekah was being intentionally louder than needed. She was deliberately attempting to increase my aggravation and she was succeeding.
I let out a low, calming exhale. This was going to be a long afternoon for sure.
It must have been around an hour or two later when the doppelganger and the original vampire finally descended the stairs. "So, vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena questioned and I raised my head to listen in.
"What else would it be?" the blonde original enquired with an incredulous eyebrow raise.
"A curse?" Elena suggested.
"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive."
"Well they did a stellar job on that," I uttered, sitting up and making space for the approaching girls.
Rebekah immediately took a seat beside me and I could hear her amusement in her voice as she replied, "They certainly did underestimate the consequences of their actions."
"Yeah, but why stay, if they were so afraid of the werewolves?" Elena asked, baffled as she attempted to make sense of Rebekah's words. "Why not...leave?"
I snorted causing them both to look at me. "Isn't it obvious?" I enquired and Elena stared at me astounded. I let out a sigh and muttered, "Arrogance seems to be a reoccurring trait in the original family."
"Has anyone told you that it's rude to eavesdrop?" Rebekah pondered and I smirked.
"You should have talked quieter then."
Rebekah grinned and nodded. "Well, not that it matters but you're right, my father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses..."
She slowly trailed off thoughtfully before turning to face me. I watched her warily as she hesitantly raised her hand towards my temple. "Want to see?"
"See what?" I demanded, flinching ever so slightly back as I eyed her with caution but she just let out an aggravated huff.
"I told you before that our kind is superior. My family have this ability to enter minds and share our thoughts, our memories." She shrugged it off and I just stared at her, my mouth slightly agape as I attempted to process. "So how about it?"
"I'd rather not have a visual Klaus cinema in my mind thank you very much," I finally managed reply with only a subtle stammer which no one in the room would have caught. I didn't want anything to do with any memory concerning Klaus. I was barely keeping a hold on my nonchalant reactions as it was.
Rebekah conceded, albeit reluctantly as she withdrew her hand and I fought an inward surge of relief.
"How did you turn?" Elena asked and Rebekah froze before turning to her. I could feel the atmosphere suddenly become tense and I slowly straightened up. From Rebekah's neutral face, the girl was fighting between two forms of indecisiveness. Rage at the question but there was also a hint of sadness.
When the blonde original suddenly got to her feet, I leaned forwards, preparing to intervene in case she decided to attack but instead she just turned away from us. She stared out of the window and replied, "My mother called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."
I slowly rose to my feet, my heart pounding faster in shock, unable to comprehend what she had just been forced to relive.
"Where do they keep their best vintage?" Rebekah suddenly asked and I didn't hesitate with my reply.
"Corner left floorboard in the library."
She nodded before flouncing off with Elena following quickly at her heels. I could hear her stunned whisper. "He killed you?"
And I heard Rebekah's hard response. "And he wasn't delicate about it either."
I didn't follow them. I just stood there, thinking about all the pain which her family had suffered. And then my thoughts drifted towards him and for a moment I let them because I couldn't bring myself to fight it right now.
Klaus' abuse and torment at the hands of his father; the man he fought to prove himself to. Just imagining it made me feel sick to my stomach.
Without warning and without my realisation, my eyes flared a vicious gold.
"Two more!" Damon Salvatore declared, holding up the designated fingers at the bartender who instantly began to fill up the drinks. Family Day at Vampire Rehab was about to turn into one hell of a party.
Stefan leant against the counter, one elbow propped up as he rested his chin on his curled hand. "Alright! Tell me what's up," he asked, feigning interest. "What's the point of the jailbreak, hmm?"
This whole brother bonding thing? The whole Damon going behind Elena's back to release him just because he felt like it? Stefan wasn't buying it. Damon was so obsessed with his ex that he was literally the definition of pussy-whipped; seemed to be a perpetual theme between his brother and the two doppelgangers.
Stefan was over both of them now. Katherine and Elena were so high maintenance... and that was still an under exaggeration.
"I thought you could use a hug, Stefan," Damon consoled although behind his sad and reassuring mask, there was a large smirk. Upping his antics, he placed a gentle hand on Stefan's arm. "And what kind of big brother would I be if I wasn't there for my baby bro when he needs comfort?" He momentarily exaggerated in widening his ice blue eyes to convey his mocking surprise.
Although the raven haired vampire had freed his brother out of guilt, he was allowing that guilt to overflow him so he could drown it in drink. To distract himself from the bombshell of impending fatherhood duties which he would much rather avoid at the time being.
Especially when his daughter was as sardonic and as sarcastic as they came. And he inwardly admitted that part was all his fault. He was never one to believe in karma but it was biting him on the ass hard right now.
"Come on, Damon. You know Elena is gonna hate you for letting me out," Stefan jeered as he accepted his shot glass and sent a cheers gesture in his big brother's direction. "And we both know that you care about what she thinks..." he downed the glass in one.
"Maybe I wanted to remind you what freedom was like before Klaus took it from you," Damon retorted snidely, snarling inwardly as his guilt rose once more.
The raven-haired vampire needed to remind Stefan of what that freedom had once felt like before all the chaos... before he had gotten himself bitten by Tyler Lockwood, before Stefan had decided that he was worth saving, before his little brother had turned himself over to the big bad hybrid in a pathetic decision to save his life.
Damon hadn't asked for any of it and yet he had still managed to inadvertently ruin his brother's life.
And he would eventually do the exact same to Ria's.
"As long as Klaus is alive, I do what he says," Stefan repeated, his voice bored and Damon seethed.
"That's my point, Stefan. You've given up! Now you could sit around and be his little bitch, or you get mad enough and you can do something about it."
Stefan sighed heavily. "Damon, he can't be killed."
"Maybe I can help with that."
The two Salvatore brothers spun around simultaneously and cautiously scrutinised the imposing figure who was regarding them coolly. Like he was studying pests beneath a microscope. The silent yet clear insinuation was enough to make Damon shudder.
Supreme, Aristocracy? Check. Egotistical arrogance? Check. Nefarious superiority? Check. This man standing before them was an original vampire.
"The Salvatore boys, I presume?" the man acknowledged. Without emotion. Because, it was just a simple fact. He already knew the answer.
There was finally a spark of recognition in Stefan's green eyes as the metaphorical penny hit the ground and Damon tensed, waiting for the inevitable reveal.
Stefan placed his empty shot glass back down on the counter and stepped forwards. The lines on his forehead pronounced a large frown. And then he affirmed the name of the legendary man who Klaus had been running from for over a thousand years.
This man standing before him was the only immortal capable of killing the monstrous hybrid once and for all...
"Mikael."
I finally updated! And Mikael has finally arrived!
I was literally blown away by the response to the last chapter! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
So this episode ended up being quite a bit longer than the last chapter I posted so the second update will be up later this week to make up for you all waiting :D
In the meantime, let me know what you thought!
Reviews
Addie552: I'm so glad you liked it! Damon is definitely struggling through this chapter and the next. I'm writing the Homecoming episode now! Can't wait to share it :D
pmann1: I'm so happy you liked the twist! Ria is definitely beginning to struggle when it concerns Klaus and Rebekah will noticing that in the next chapter. How much she is noticing, you will find out very soon! Damon is definitely going to have to make a decision soon too on whether he tells Ria.
NotMyNameAnyway: Thank you so much! It means a lot!
CrystalVixen93: Thank you! Hope you liked the update! :D
Atlafan1286: Haha, it was so intense to write too! I've already drafted most of the Homecoming scenes with Klaus and Ria, can't wait to share them!
WickedlyMinx: Hope you liked this chapter! :D
speedy-skye: Damon will find out about Ria's connection to Klaus very soon! Ria will find out but it is all a matter of when!
Arianna Le Fay: I'm glad you liked it! Damon will at one point struggle between Ria and Elena and it will come to a head towards the end of season 3.
time-twilight: At the moment Damon is definitely worried about how to deal with being a father but there will be some great scenes with him and Ria coming up in future chapters! I'm so glad you liked the twist! If Ria became pregnant, it will definitely be funny to see Damon's reactions to that! Damon will definitely be finding out Klaus and Ria's connection very soon.
amrawo: I've updated, hope you liked it! The next chapter will be up this week too :D
salvatoresister887: It made me quite emotional writing it. Hope you liked this chapter!
RRachelle2000: The scenes with Ria and Klaus at homecoming are already roughly drafted out! Can't wait to share them with you soon!
Amazeballs: I'm so glad you like it! Ria and Klaus will come face to face very soon, I'm writing the homecoming episode right now!
jynxieminxie: Thanks again for letting me know! Klaus will be back soon! Hope you likedthe chapter! :D
ThePerfectLostGirl87: I'm so sorry I left it like that! Next chapter is this week though so don't worry :D
Guest: I'm so glad you liked the twist! Hope you liked this chapter!
Kari10: It's here and the next update will be this week! Hope you liked the chapter!
Serelena: I'm so glad you like it! Thank you so much :D
Darkness Queen: I'm so glad you liked the twist! He may or may not tell her but Ria will definitely find out at one point! I'm still deciding on the Elena and Damon front so we'll see. I can't wait to share the upcoming Klaus and Ria scenes with you. Hope you liked the bonding with Ria and Rebekah, more to come regarding that this week!
Richie98: Aww, I'm so glad you liked it :D
AugustRrush: Thank you! Hope you liked this one too!
jessisthebestduh: They are very alike! Hope you liked the chapter!
Dark-Supernatural-Angel: I'm glad you liked the twist! Damon and Cassandra definitely needed that scene too, Cassandra had been on her own watching Ria on the other side for far too long. Ria will find out but how it happens remains to be seen. Aww, I loved writing Conan and Ria and he will show up in another flashback. Hope you liked the next chapter and the next update will be this week!