Bloody Vengeance

"Please tell me we can leave," Astra whispered desperately in Elijah's ear as she leaned against him heavily, her arm wrapped arm his torso to make it appear that she was simply holding onto him in a loving way. In truth, her insides still stung from the vervain and the harassment of Damon's army hadn't stopped even when she was standing with Elijah. She could tell by the tenseness of his muscles that he, too, was losing his patience with the people in the room.

"Yes, we've lingered long enough," he assured, his hot breath touching her skin as he spoke into the hair atop her head. Astra let out a sigh of relief and straightened herself up so allow him to walk on his own. At least Damon had already left and she didn't need to concern herself with avoiding him and his faker than Barbie girlfriend. Honestly, that poor woman's brain had completely turned to paste with the amount of compulsion he had used on her.

She's not Andy Star anymore. Now, she is Damon's bitch.

He always seemed to need one.

Astra sneered to herself for a moment before correcting her features and moving over to where Elijah was appearing again, offering her his arm. He seemed to catch on to her dampened moon and leaned down to press a kiss against her temple. The gesture was soothing and she nearly immediately relaxed against him and continued on with a much more confident and determined stride.

"I forgot what it was like to go to a tea party," she commented as they made their way down the steps and to where they had parked Astra's car. "Can't say I missed it, though," she added on after a moment. Elijah chuckled nearly inaudibly as he thought back to the time they had spent in France and the tea parties they had been forced to endure were long, numerous and painful to endure.

"I'm sure that this particular tea party was far more…eventful than any other in our long past," Elijah teased back calmly, the seriousness actually making it more amusing and causing her to shake her head. "You held yourself very well, I'm proud of you."

Astra smiled and let her head fall to his shoulder. "You kept me going. Thank you for giving me your blood; I wouldn't have been able to linger this long if it had been any other way." There was malice hidden in her voice as she thought back to when John had had the audacity to stab her with a needle in the middle of a crowded party. Elijah's arm tightening around her waist as he too remembered the strong smell of vervain and blood when he had entered the powder room with her.

"We must stop by to see Jonas before we head back to the house," Elijah informed as the car came into view, still in perfect condition. Astra only nodded along and moved off to approach that passenger side of the car, still not too happy to know that she wasn't allowed to drive it. It felt good to get off her feet though, and she sighed happily as she fell into the leather seat of her Camaro.

"Demon, hm?" Elijah asked once he was inside as well, causing Astra to cough as she disguised a laugh and looked out her window as she tried to mask her blush and act innocent. Elijah's fingers ghosted along her neck to try and coax her into looking back at him, but he knew that he would not be able to break her and instead started the car to head back into the main part of town to meet with Jonas at his apartment.

"So what did you and Damon talk about?" she asked curiously after a moment, keeping her eyes directed out the window.

"Just making sure that he continued to uphold his end of the deal; Elena's protection falls to him and his brother, unfortunately," Elijah explained discretely, more than likely because he felt that he needed to protect her from any subject that involved her ex-fiancé. Astra knew that he meant well, but that didn't mean that he was right. She didn't want him to baby her from Damon for the remainder of time they would spend around him and knew that he wished that to be how things were.

"Stop avoiding him when we talk; I'm not going to break down crying again. I've had my time to get over things and I spoke to him today perfectly fine. Please, Elijah," she begged faintly as her hand searched out his and she looked to his face. The Original vampire didn't look to her because he was still driving, but his fingers closed around hers in answer. "I want to help you, but I can't do that if you feel that you need to protect me from Damon all the time as well. We can't avoid him and work with him at the same time."

Elijah didn't have time to reply before the phone inside his suit jacket began to vibrate, drawing both of their attentions. He didn't take his eyes from the road as he pulled the device from his jacket and hit the accept button.

"Jonas," Elijah greeted the warlock, easily holding the phone in place and turning the car in a turn to continue on to that exact man's home. Astra gasped in shock when Elijah suddenly slammed on the breaks and spun the car into the nearest parking lot. Her hands grasped the dashboard and looked over to him with shock filled eyes, her heart thrumming inside her chest. "We have a problem," Elijah said calmly as he ended the call.

"Already?" she deadpanned.

"I need you to do me a favour; go to the lake house that Elena Gilbert is staying at with Stefan. It seems that the werewolves have found out about the fake curse and all of the components they need. I need for you to make sure that Elena Gilbert is safe while I stop Damon Salvatore from getting himself killed because of the moonstone that he does not have."

"What about Jonas?"

"Bonnie Bennett is up to something with Luka." A growl rose inside of Astra's chest at the thought of Luka being hurt by the witch but regressed. Elijah waited until the growl faded away and reached out to place a hand at the base of her skull, forcing her to look to him. "Jonas will handle the Bennett witch. You take the car to the lake house, he'll be texting you the address. Get there as soon as you can, alright?"

"Yea." Opening her door, Elijah did the same and they circled around to the front of the car. Before she could walk passed him he wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her to a halt and up against his body. "I'll be fine," she assured. "Got a bit of a score to settle with the wolves."

"I understand," he agreed before bending slightly to capture her lips. The heels she was still wearing allowed for him to remain mostly straight to kiss her, something that was uncommon because of his height. She smiled against his lips and lifted a hand to run her fingers through his hair, returning the kiss briefly before they both pulled away.

Elijah had disappeared before she even got into the car.

Getting out of town was what took the longest amount of time, but as soon as she got to the forest roads she was able to fly down the dirt path at top speed. She winced at the sounds of the rocks flying up into the wheel wells, but didn't slow down as she glanced back down at the text that she had been sent. She didn't know how Jonas had gotten the information, but it didn't exactly come as a bad thing when she turned sharply down the road that the lake house was on. Darkness had fallen quickly on the way over and she found herself wondering it Elijah had already saved Damon.

Her stomach knotted as her mind brought up the image of him that day, dressed darkly in a leather jacket and black shirt and jeans, giving off the bad boy persona he had lacked when he was human. The vibrant blue of his eyes were the same colour, but they didn't have the life in them that they did before. There was no longer human innocence.

Pulling her car to the side of the road, she could easily see the lights of the house through the trees and darted from the car, leaving the keys inside. The strong smell of blood was in the air, both Stefan's and a werewolf. Inhaling deeply, a malicious grin spread along her lips as she caught the scent of the werewolf that had kept her chained inside the cage, shooting and torturing her and Caroline.

The main door flew open and Elena emerged, panicked and looking behind herself in fear. Before she had a chance to realize what was happening Astra had moved her behind the red car that belonged to Stefan and had returned to seize the werewolf by the throat. He choked in shock and lifted the stake in his hand to try and stab her, but she effectively twisting his arm until the elbow broke and the shoulder joint dislocated.

"Astra," Elena breathed in surprise behind her.

"You," the werewolf gasped out around the hand that was crushing his throat in an iron grasp. Astra's red and violet eyes looked over the pain that was on his face as he screamed out in agony from the broken joints. It was so riveting, seeing the pain that she was putting him through. "Bitch," he spat out. She sneered in his face before releasing his throat and punching him in the chest hard enough to break his sternum inward and puncture his lungs.

"I know that things are starting to get dark," she began in a dark voice, looking down at his face. He gasped for air, unable to breathe in without agony rippling through his insides. She continued easily, ignoring as his hands grasped at her arm and dress desperately, "But please, don't die just yet."

"Astra," Stefan called out carefully, moving toward her hesitantly.

"Stefan, shut up," she said back calmly. "Was it worth it?" she asked the wolf, looking down at him again. Blood was beginning to pour forth from his lips, an unsightly thing. "Was the time you spent torturing me and Caroline inside that cage really worth it? You're going to die for what you did; is that really a price that you had been ready to pay?"

He choked on his blood, trying to speak but unable to do so.

Astra was not as messy as Elijah was, punching into someone's chest and ripping out their heart. She didn't like that amount of blood that was included as well as having to collect the organs afterword along with a body. Instead, she released the body and—before he had the chance to fall—directed the ball of her palm against his chest and exploded his heart inside his chest cavity. Much less clean up. The dead werewolf fell to the floor and Astra let her face relax back into her human façade.

"Aren't you to having fun down here," she said toward Stefan where he was standing protectively before Elena. She repressed the urge to scoff and instead looked over to where the pup was standing just off the deck, staring down at the body of the man that he had followed there. "You've been a very disobedient dog," she hissed at him, causing him to step back in surprise.

Instead of continuing on with her annoyance, she turned and made her way back toward the road where her car was. She really wanted to get home and take off her heels, soak in a bath with some wine and perhaps even interrogate Elijah a bit more about the things he hadn't told her from her own past. Stefan had other plans, though, and took a hold of her arm.

"Why are you with him, Astra?" he asked in a low voice, the undertone showing his desperation and lack of understanding. "Why are you helping an Original vampire?"

"You seem to be under the belief that he's the bad guy. Understand this, Stefan, he has no desire to see people die that do not need to. Instead of taking Elena away and locking her up he let her remain with you. Why do you see him as someone so heartless?"

"Rose-"

"Took Elena of her own will. She and Trevor had a debt to pay and they chose for Elena to be penance for their disloyalty. I will warn you this; Elijah holds loyalty in very high regards. Crossing him is signing for your own death," she warned morbidly. Trying to pull her arm away, however, was stopped when the younger vampire moved before her instead.

"What changed, Astra? You never used to be this way. What about Damon?"

Astra's eyes darkened to red at the name and Stefan quickly drew backward and released her arm. Knowing that it would not do to attack Stefan while on such short patience—since it would be both bad for Elijah's deal and would surely make her feel guilty later on—she took a deep breath to calm herself down and straightened her posture.

"Your brother is a selfish, conceited, hypocritical man whore that does not even deserve a second thought. I loved Damon, I did. Would you remain in love with someone when they take your heart and break it simply because they enjoy sex so much they feel the need to sleep around months before getting married? Believe me, I understand Katarina's involvement and she will learn how very foolish her little compulsion uses were. It is not that I have changed, Stefan, you just never provoked me and saw this side."

He found that he couldn't say anything as the pain and rage danced in her abnormally coloured eyes. The Astra that he had known was always so delicate and sweet, unable to stand up for herself against anything. She was also so protected with Damon that she had never needed to hold her own head high. "I'm sorry for what they did to you, Astra, but you can't get revenge this way."

"Revenge?" she asked in surprise, before laughing harshly, flashing fangs. "Revenge! That's hilarious! You think that I'm with Elijah to get revenge? Stefan, how old do you think I am?" She continued to laugh to herself as she shook her head, watching his shocked face. "Believe me, Stefan, I wouldn't need Elijah to get revenge. No, that's beneath me now." She looked ready to leave, but paused and met his eyes once more.

The red faded away and revealed her natural, human appearance. She looked into his face calmly for a moment, holding his gaze before she stepped forward and gently cupped his cheek in one hand, leaning in on the other side to whisper in his ear. "I never blamed you, Stefan. This has nothing to do with you. Believe me, you are still a friend that I hold close to my heart." As she pressed a soft kiss against his cheek, Stefan felt his heart ache.

Before he had a chance to say more she had completely disappeared from before him, her car pulling off down the road.

The bodies of werewolves in human form littered the floor and furniture of the living room within the Salvatore Boarding House, blood seeping into the rug beneath them and staining the material beyond salvaging. Elijah didn't seem fazed at the lives that he had just taken, leaving the mess behind as he approached the final remaining werewolf. The boy had ducked down as soon as he saw the others fall and covered his head with his coat. Elijah felt disgusted at the sight of someone cowering so pathetically on the floor.

"What about you, sweetheart?" he asked mockingly, looking down at the boy as blood dripped from his fingers. He didn't give the kid a chance and picked him up from the floor by the back of his collar, not even allowing his feet to touch the ground. The boy went limp in fear, trembling and immobile. "Want to take a shot? No? Yes? No?" Elijah continued to taunt, watching the kid shake his head as his face distorted with fear. "Where's the girl?" He asked Damon, looking away from his prey.

The chains that Damon bound to the chair rang together as he lifted his hands slightly and shrugged in an indifferent manner. "I don't know."

Elijah looked around briefly in annoyance before his eyes returned to the werewolf hanging by his hand. "It doesn't really matter," he rumbled out before dropping the wolf and throwing a punch at his jaw, snapping his neck in the process. He didn't feel the point in getting his hands any dirtier for Damon Salvatore.

Proceeding to pull at the chains that were wrapped around Damon, they snapped in his grasp with one simple pull while Damon glowered up at him, clearly displeased at his form of rescue. Even having his brother save him would have been less degrading than Elijah.

"You do realize," Elijah started as he stepped away from Damon's temporary confinement. "This is the third time I've saved your life now?" The younger said nothing in return but kept his eyes on the man before him, knowing better than to do anything stupid at that moment. Elijah was prepared to leave when he caught sight of something past the metal collar that the wolves had put around the blue eyed vampire's throat. Stepping forward, Damon looked fearful for all of a moment before he continued to glare at Elijah.

Not caring what he thought, Elijah slipping his finger beneath the—bloodied, but familiar—silver chain that hung around Damon's neck and brought it up into his line of sight. A ring appeared at the end that nearly drew a growl from the older man. He looked to Damon with darkened eyes, but kept himself composed and—only briefly thinking on it—dropped the ring back down onto his chest and turned to leave, collecting the moonstone on his way past.

Astra had not returned when he got back to the house but there was a text waiting on his phone that told him of Elena's continued existence and safety. Knowing that she would probably be in not such a good mood after having to play the hero to Elena and her past friend that she had been pretending to be dead to, Elijah opened a bottle of the wine she loved and began to run a bath in her grand tub. As he was waiting for the bath to fill he lit the fireplace in her bedroom, hearing her car pulling in a couple of minutes after the flames grew.

She appeared in the doorway, barefoot, a moment later with a soft smile on her face as she observed him sitting before her fireplace. The sound of running water still carried through from the bathroom, the bath still half way to be filled, and the smell of cherries filled the air from the oils that he put into the water.

"You are a wonderful man," she cooed from the place. Elijah smirked and held out a glass of wine to her. She tossed her shoes aside and immediately moved to sit on his lap, letting him wrap an arm around her waist and lean again him as she took a sip from the blood infused wine. "A wonderful, wonderful man," she continued, pressing a kiss against his lips. "I trust all went well on your end?" she asked conversationally, taking another drink from her glass.

"Damon lives and many werewolves do not. They were, of course, in search of the moonstone." Astra hummed in understanding, nodding her head.

"Jules must be running very low on minions. I killed her lover boy at the lake house," she said as a small smile came to her lips. Elijah raised an eyebrow at the tone of her voice and looked to her curiously. It took him a moment before he remembered the one that had been close to the female wolf. It was the same male that had been torturing Astra and Caroline inside the RV they had in the woods.

Leaning his head against her throat, he inhaled her scent deeply. She didn't smell of any blood, as she didn't usually when she was dispatching someone, and instead had a sharp smell of adrenaline about her. "There were no difficulties?"

"None," Astra confirmed, turning her face to press a kiss against Elijah's cheek. After a moment she hummed softly and slid from his lap. "I think the bath is ready," she said in explanation, bending to place a kiss against his lips before she wandered away and into the bathroom, closing the door but not bothering to lock it. He knew that it meant she trusted him, but that it wasn't an open invitation to join her.

Instead, Elijah leaned back in the chair and looked to the dancing flames as he thought back to the ring that hung around Damon Salvatore's throat. The same ring that Astra had been wearing when he first met up with her after decades, heartbroken and enraged.

I want to try and get a lot of chapters out before the new season starts, so I promise I'll be working as hard as I can. I will also be going back for my last year of school soon, so things will be getting hectic and I want to make sure I leave you all on a positive note because I don't know how frequent I'll be able to update.

Please review, I always love reading them, as you know! :)