Chapter Two
[ Not the Who, or the Why, but the What.]
Ximena spat upon awakening, a sick iron taste in her mouth, her head dizzy.
Which sucked for the woman standing just inches in front of her. An Asian, middle-aged, female wearing an upper-class dress who Ximena didn't immediately recognize. The walls are all cobblestone and some moisture collecting on the roof drops on Ximena's head.
She felt anger. Tired of being helpless and now waking up being tied to a chair took the last of her patience away. And as her breaths grew rapid, and she grew more anxious, the feeling of power began to enter her core. Ximena spat a second time, her ears still catching up with her head.
Pearl- she realized who it was- promptly smacked her.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
The next smack isn't a smack, but instead a punch.
"I'm not going to ask again. Who are you?"
What happened next could only have happened to her, a universe-jumping mess that just attracts trouble naturally.
Fearing for her life for a second time, with a leaking jugular, Ximena blacked out all over again.
Only her eyes stayed open, and the lights shut off.
By the time the door to the cellar busted open, Pearl's corpse had already desiccated and sat free of any marring. You wouldn't have known how she died. The only sign of harm to the body sat on either side of her head, bloody smears coming from her ears.
"Ximena?!" Stefan called her name, startled as fuck to see the new servant bloodied and tied to a chair in front of a dead body in the dark. A dead body he definitely recognized.
Ximena's head sagged. No response, officially out like a light. Leaving the youngest Salvatore to tend to her and dispose of the body. And because she wasn't awake- she couldn't warn him of the she-beast trailing after him- inquiring innocently about the mess as if she hadn't set it up herself (which she had.)
The next time she wakes up: she's officially safe.
Set up in Stefan's room, with an IV in her arm and actual fluids being provided.
"I do not love her, father. Lady Katherine simply insisted the woman get help and I wanted to keep up appearances like you always say."
"Be that as it may- I want her out of your quarters before I come back."
"Yes, that's arranged."
Ximena scoffed, vaguely contemplating just doing eeny-meeny-miny-moe and picking a brother to run away with ASAP.
Everything smelt like Stefan and due to the fact that he's already married to Caroline in her head, she didn't necessarily wanna stay. Especially knowing Katherine had arrived and literally ate her, night one. And not in a good way, like her dream.
Speaking of…
Ximena ran a hand through her tresses and sighed.
Those dreams weren't dreams, they were visions and she knew it. There was no other explanation for what she had seen, it had felt too real, too vivid for it to be anything else. But still… she couldn't help but wonder what the fuck was in store for her future.
Ximena questioned who, or what she exactly was, to end up in this universe, with these little incidents that made her feel like she was more than human. Before she could spiral any deeper into her thoughts, the younger Salvatore brother walked over to her side. Watching her with such genuine concern in his eyes. It reminded her of Miles, unfortunately. The little boy back home in her previous world that she considered her son. He often would gaze at her all worried, his eyes large and the same color as Stefan's. Her heart hurt for that moment.
"Are you alright?" He asked, speaking softly, sitting in a chair by her side.
Ximena was not okay, she was the farthest from being anything resembling okay, and she wanted to lash out those words but swallowed them down as quickly as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt someone who had been kind to her, probably kinder than half of the people she had met in her old universe.
So instead she nodded. But from what she could tell from his gaze, she would have a better chance convincing his father to let her run away with him and his brother. If only, she thought, holding in the urge to scoff at her thoughts.
"Somehow, with what I saw, I find that hard to believe," he said.
Ximena had nothing to say in rebuttal, and it wasn't long before he rose from his chair to leave her alone again with her chaos of thoughts. She hesitated to open her mouth, knowing she would feel like such a shithead if she let him leave like that.
"Thank you," she said, her voice scratchy from the screams she had unknowingly let out earlier. But still, he heard her well enough, nodding at her once with a kind, boyish smile on his youthful face, before leaving.
She knew that she needed to get the fuck out of his room before his father dragged her out by her hair. It seemed like something that he would do, the prick. But she sat for a few more moments, to rest her legs - just for one more moment, she promised herself.
There was a knock on the door before she could finish convincing herself to get the fuck out and find a hole big enough to crawl into so no vampire would ever find her again.
Ximena looked around the room, hoping someone would pop out of the fucking walls to open another dimension for her and relieve her from having to actually get up. Before her feet touched the cold, wood of the floor, the door swung open.
"Stefan!" Damon burst through the elaborate doors, a concerned look on his face that matched his brother.
She flinched at the loud sound of him calling his brother's name but ignored his concerned gaze towards her. She did not want to know what a pitiful sight she probably made, and instead tried to see if she could manage to stand on two feet.
"Please, let me," he said, coming closer to her when she attempted to yank the IV that she had nearly forgotten about out of her arm.
"Knock yourself out," she replied, shrugging because what could it hurt to let him try instead. He looked at her, confused by her turn of phrase for a moment, before turning his attention to her arm that was being held hostage. Ximena had been in and out of hospitals as a kid with a shit immune system, but she had never dared to touch her IV in fear of the intimidating nurses. She watched him curiously as he precisely and gently pulled the IV needle out of her arm.
"Thank you," she said, and fuck, she felt as though she was going to be saying those words to the Salvatore brothers a lot more than she had anticipated.
She rubbed her sore neck for a moment, before attempting to get up once more, this time she had the help of Damon, as he lent her his arm.
"Do I even want to know what happened for you to land yourself underneath my brother and Miss. Katherine's care?" He asked as they took small steps towards the door, and eventually out of the room and into the quiet halls.
Ximena thanked not only God, but whatever other fucking diety that was watching over her that Giuseppe was not lurking in the halls, ready to throw her out into the streets.
"No, you probably don't," she eventually replied, eyeing him curiously.
She wondered if he knew by now, what Katherine was, she wondered if he had already fallen into her perfectly manicured clutches. There was a brief panic that seized her when he led her past where the servants were working and towards a door farther back in the house that now seemed like a maze.
A horrible thought hit her, that maybe he was going to take her to her death. To Katherine. The woman who had almost ended her life here.
Her worries were soon calmed, if only by the cool breeze that hit her cheeks as he led her outside, and the bright sun that she soaked in like a flower.
Ximena needed a plan if she came across the vampire again, and briefly, images of what she had seen flashed in her memory as she entertained the thought of seducing Katherine. She questioned her mental state to even think about fucking someone who had nearly killed her not even a day before. But, well, it wasn't out of the question.
At this point she was willing to do just about anything to survive… plus it wasn't like Katherine wasn't her type.
Damon eventually saw whatever the fuck he was looking for, and led her over to what she assumed was the garden. He led her further into it until her feet started to burn once again. Thankfully, before she could start to really question where he was leading her too, he gently tugged her lagging self towards a gazebo of all things.
It sat on, not a hill but a stump. And while only medium-sized- it was clearly made beautifully and with care.
"My father had it built before he became not so nice for my mother when she fell ill. Somewhere for her to catch the sunlight's rays and get fresh air" Damon supplied an explanation and his large palm, forever helping her suddenly frail feeling form.
"Is there where you bring all the girls, Mr. Salvatore?" Ximena asked honestly.
He wiggled his eyebrows looking a little more like future-Damon at that moment.
"Yes…" a beat "Kidding. No, it's special. I just felt like she would have wanted you to see it. You remind me of her a little."
That's not creepy or anything, she thought even though she did feel flattered and appreciative of the gesture. She took a seat on a white-cushioned bar stool set up against the back of the gazebo, showing off the vast array of trees and an endless skyline.
"Damon?" Ximena called his attention, her voice no longer hoarse.
He took a seat in the chair beside her- his blue eyes never leaving her own brown ones.
"Yes?"
"Do you want to hear a story?"
She told him about her childhood. Her real childhood. And then cut to the first time she saw The Vampire Diaries, just leaving the character's names out. He didn't seem too confused, just enough. But by the time she got to her arrival in his town, in his world, those crystalline baby blues looked like they were seriously contemplating putting her in a mental ward.
"You don't have to believe me, but you can ask me anything and I will be honest. I know you've heard your father and the council discussing the vampire's but there's something you don't know…"
Worried, troubled, terrified. An array of emotions on her mind.
Damon gave her a hug- closing the distance between them and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"Whatever has you so scared- nothing bad is going to happen to you while you stay with us."
Ximena almost can't offer a response but she pulled down her collar and revealed the bandage on her collarbone/neck area.
"It already has" she mumbled.
Before the conversation could go on- someone interrupted. Someone whose voice sends chills up Ximena's spine. Her auntie Rose's voice rings in the back of her head. Beware of devil's who don't bother to hide their horns. She had been the queen of cryptic sayings but in the new world, she found herself a part of- Ximena related to them more.
"Oh, house-girl!" Katherine hollered, all demeaning.
Damon at least has the dignity to look ashamed of the idiotic yelling.
"House-girl!" She repeated making it clear there wouldn't be any stopping soon.
With courage she didn't know she had, Ximena rose from her seat to make her way towards Katherine. This time she'll be the shark and Katherine will be afraid. The only reason she lived was because she said her real name, and it scared her. The runaway vampire wanted to know if her secret was still safe. Or if the Originals had already been alerted. Probably assuming that Ximena worked for them and that's why Pearl is now dead.
When in reality Ximena was a just as scared, mostly human, nobody. But she wouldn't be that forever. And certainly not for long.
Not if the plan formulating in her mind at that moment worked out.
"Katerina!" Ximena greeted just as loudly, earning a venomous glare that nearly scared her bravery away.
"Why didn't you leave after you murdered Pearl?" The doppelganger hissed, snatching the arm the IV had been in almost knowingly and yanking her out of Damon's eyesight in order to pin her against the bricking of the gardening shed.
Typical Katherine.
Ximena froze then- remembering that second she felt those soft pink lips…
"I said" ouch, Katherine slammed her with force "why didn't you leave after you killed my friend?"
The wind began to pick up but if the vampire noticed, she didn't comment.
With fierceness- Ximena called upon that strange feeling inside of her and began to do exactly what she'd done earlier, or at least a guess at what she'd done. A guess she got right when Katherine released her. The woman dropped to the floor and grasped at her throat in pain as the water molecules began exiting her body.
Ximena ended it just in time to stop from killing her, getting lucky. Hashtag rookie things. Note to self: practice before usage or she could accidentally really fuck the storyline up more than she already had.
"Emily was right…" Katherine rasped "we know what you are, Elemental" she spat the word out just like Ximena had spat on her now-deceased friend previously.
I'm a...what?
"Huh?" Ximena slumped on the floor beside her- feeling fed up and sort of dumb.
Katherine scoffed and rolled her eyes, blowing a curl out of her face, but thankfully not making any more advances.
"An Elemental. Emily knows all about it. So why did you stay?"
Ximena grinned.
"That's easy. I'm here for Stefan and Damon, I'm supposed to protect them."
It was a half fib that felt more true than she wanted to admit. Something told her the timing of her arrival had been no accident. And that her interference, while not needed for the universe, was needed for her to help keep the balance.
But if what Katherine was saying was true- it would explain her sudden need to keep some metaphysical peace that never mattered to her before.
"If I promise to help you, will you promise to help me?" Ximena offered when her answer hadn't been met with a reply.
The deal felt like acid on her tongue. She didn't want to say it. But she also didn't want Katherine to ruin the lives of the Salvatore boys and if there was any way she could help them, and possibly get rid of Giuseppe, then so be it. Henceforth offering the snake an agreement. Besides- the boarding house isn't big enough for the two of them if they try to kill each other every day.
"I don't even know your name" Katherine snarked, eyeing the offered hand snootily.
Ximena left it in the air for her to shake anyway.
"Ximena, Ximena Akkerman."
And like a traumatized cat that scratches anyone who tries it, Katherine smacked her hand away.
"Deal, house-girl."
Ximena clenched her jaw at the words that came out of her mouth once again, but she swallowed down her protests this time. She figured if she opened her mouth again she would break the deal and wring her neck. Or at least try.
She looked over at the Salvatore, so obviously attempting to catch a glimpse if not trying to listen in to their conversation.
"Follow me," Katherine demanded, turning on her heel before she could even manage to blink.
Ximena followed, no matter how reluctantly, her feet dragging behind the vampire. The sight of the two of them walking together gained them curious looks from onlooking servants. She sighed, hoping that they wouldn't question her about this later.
She was quickly led back into the house, the woman in front of her cruel in her fast pace walking. She didn't think to question where they were going, silly considering she'd nearly died not more than a few hours previous. Funny how much fluids and a hug from Damon could do for a girl. Katherine took her up the winding staircase and the duo got lucky enough to avoid Giuseppe and his business associates. Ximena assumed they were the source of the smoking room, its door ajar, and a chimney-like amount pouring from within.
Emily Bennett sat while threading a needle in a bonnet and didn't even turn when they entered.
"Did you bring her?" She asked, her voice sounding eerie as ever.
Katherine snorted as if it was never a question.
"No. It's her ghost. Yes, I brought her."
Ximena decided to ignore Katherine since the bitch, while fine, didn't have any answers that she wanted. Emily did. She proceeded forward with some trepidation but a minor amount, stopping to lean against the windowsill the Bennett stared out of.
"You did not know what you are because most of your kind do not. Until they activate their abilities and find out via trial and error" Emily sounded wistful as she spoke and Ximena didn't dare interrupt "I have a friend like you. He and I do not talk anymore" she cast the vampire in the room a shady look then as if it was her fault for the missing connection "but I will tell you what I know."
Ximena swallowed.
It felt like she could hear every heartbeat in the room as if time slowed down. But thankfully no pipes burst and no one died.
Emily finally made eye contact before continuing.
"Elementals are servants of nature, cousins of us with magic. Your magic is different though. It is drawn from the core of the earth and very powerful, very rare. The goal of your kinds' existence is to keep the peace between all sides of the universe that you touch. Your abilities activate when your life or someone you love's life is in danger. And they range from living to be two hundred, controlling one or more elements. Your kind sleep about half as much as a human and consume double your bodyweight a day. They can only be killed by time itself or their own element. They also are immune to things created by natural magic sources such as my kind or Katherine's, like compulsion, or curses."
"Said to be extinct but really just in hiding."
Ximena took a moment to swallow everything, thinking the speech was done only to be proven wrong. Katherine looked just as shocked- clearly having not asked enough questions before going through meeting the girl officially.
"And bad things happen to those few Elementals that activate their abilities and do wrong, causing chaos, not sewing treaties."
Well...damn.
"A lot of your kind die or end up disabled from attempting to learn to control their abilities" Emily shrugged "my friend Daniel, the Elemental I knew, only broke his hand while I knew him. But who would know if he still lives or how his quality of life is having gone through the training I'm sure you're speculating?"
Ximena swallowed once and then again, nodding when words failed to come to her. What the fuck could she say, the witch had rendered her speechless with her little monologue. She hadn't thought her life could get any fucking crazier, but here she was, being proven so wrong.
"Why?" She finally found some form of words, no matter how dumb they made her sound. She couldn't help but wonder, why her. Was her mother secretly one? An Elemental? Or her sweet father? Had he kept such big secrets from her?
Emily paused at her single question, but it was one that she either couldn't answer or did not want to answer as she didn't say anything in reply. Her eyes eventually went back to the quilt in her hands, quickly going back to her stitching.
Ximena nearly stormed out of the room in her frustration with both the witch and the vampire in the room, but before she could decide if she wanted to risk facing Katherine again, the witch spoke up.
"I have told you all that I know, any remaining mysteries you will have to uncover yourself," Emily said, sounding all apathetic to her situation.
"Thank you, for telling me what you did," Ximena said, no matter how cold the woman was being, she didn't exactly have to tell her shit. She was sure that without the witch she would have been left, stumbling in the dark, probably dead, if not from her mysterious powers then from whatever the fuck this universe threw at her.
"Are we done here? I need to have another little conversation with you." Katherine spoke up, reminding her of her presence.
She turned towards the vampire, aiming a glare in her direction, but the vampire remained mostly unaffected by her attempt to seem more confident around her than she was.
"Yes, I believe that is all," Emily replied, humming and now overall dismissive of their very existence.
Katherine looked at her, obviously waiting for her to follow her out of the room, but she hesitated, walking slowly as she walked towards the vampire. Should she warn the witch? About Katherine, and later even Damon's betrayal of their deal to protect her family.
It felt like the least she could do, to repay her for the information that had been freely given. But whatever she decided to do, she couldn't say anything to Emily with the vampire staring at her expectantly and impatiently.
She sped up when she walked out the room, and followed the vampire as she walked around as though she owned the place. Though with both Salvatore brothers wrapped around her finger, it would hardly be a lie.
Ximena tried to stay aware of where the fuck she was being taken now, taking note the twisting hallways and anything that could tell her where they were going. She stopped when the vampire did, in front of doors just as beautiful as Stefan's, and watched as Katherine opened them without knocking or announcing herself.
It was her room.
Ximena felt as though she was entering the lion's den as she walked inside, but kept her head held up high and the look on her face filled with boredom.
"What did you want to talk about?" Ximena got the point, trying not to tense when the doors shut behind her. Fucking great, she was stuck in Katherine's room with Katherine, and her only exit were heavy doors that liked to betray her by closing on their own.
Katherine pulled her gloves off, throwing them on her bed, her brown eyes never leaving hers, a playful smile appeared on her face."Out of the goodness of my own heart, I took you to Emily," The more she spoke, the closer she became to her until Ximena could feel the surprising heat of her body. "You got what you wanted, now it's my turn." Her smile soon left her face as she whispered the last part.
"I can only use you somewhat and not for the fun I really want…" at that point, the vampires practically purring- actually rubbing her nose against Ximena's pulse point and going so far as to nibble on her ear "well there is one thing you're good for."
Soft, nimble, pianist fingers grab hold of her chest roughly and in an instant the servant's clothing is discarded leaving our heroine bare in all her glory thanks to the utter lack of pants/undergarments.
"I-I" Ximena made to admit that she'd never actually gone all the way with another girl, but instead decided to keep it a secret feeling as though it would just make Katherine wanna sink her claws in deeper and the heat of the moment proved they were already in too deep.
"How about you say nothing, and do as a good house-girl?" Katherine, all power, and pheromones, grabs an aggressive handful of Ximena's hair.
She forced her head lower and lower. Not that there was that much of a fight if any.
It's demeaning for a first time. But Ximena's fucked up and that kind of sounded right up her alley. Especially during a time like that. Maybe that one time she got into smutty maid shit was finally coming to bite her in the ass. But... When in the 1800's, fuck the wealthy...right? It's not slow or romantic- it's the opposite. Katherine's usage of her speed cuts the time in half and Ximena's wanton desire had the same effect.
Like a poor man in a desert getting his first glass of water, or spongebob in that one episode where Sandy didn't realize he couldn't breath air- a desperately horny Ximena dives in face first.
She could hardly think logically, or about anything but Katherine at the moment, and her warm and soft body.
"OH! MY HEAVENS!"
A hooting and hollering (obnoxiously loud and familiar) from the doorway killed the moment for what it was the minute it began.
Ximena couldn't see Katherine's face and is too busy using her free hand to wipe her mouth of the vampire's arousal, the right arm having been taken hostage by the traumatized and irate head servant/savior Lily.
"You're supposed to help the missus….not sin with her! Do you know what Sir Salvatore would do, should he find out?"
Ximena shamelessly licked her lips and shrugged while descending down the stairway in Lily's grip somewhat resembling a ragdoll. She couldn't manage to feel anything but unsatisfied by their interruption.
"Me neither!" Lily shrilly yelled "and your second day! Is that where you were last night?"
That's when the Elemental noticed. Her bandage on her neck had fallen off in the process of being stripped- and where a gaping wound once sat...now unmarred perfectly healthy skin replaced it. No sign of the previous night's attack and Emily hadn't mentioned accelerated healing at all. After all her friend's hand had broke from training- she would have, Ximena thinks.
Another thing that doesn't add up follows as Ximena crashes for the night. Her hope of keeping her modern day clothes lost, and thankfulness for having survived another day in such a weird age replacing it. She sleeps like a log and for as long as she can- unlike the miniscule amount the witch had described.
With time...with time...Ximena thought with a yawn, her head hitting a pillow that felt more like a sock with how thin it was.
Her dreams were usually confusing, even in her old world, but things… had gotten even more confusing knowing that she was what she was now.
Ximena would sigh if she had the ability to while sleeping, but instead she tossed and turned as her dreams soon turned into visions.
"Hello? And who might you be?" A voice called out, and she turned towards it, curious as to who it was, but when she turned to face them, all the greeted her was blackness.
She walked towards the glimmer of light she saw in the distance, confused as to where she was until she bumped into something hard and unrelenting. A tree. It was a tree.
"Midnight stroll in the forest, never a good idea." A familiar voice said, but once again when she turned towards the voice, the person disappeared.
This time she was surrounded by light, no, not light, but fire. Wherever she turned her head, there was something burning. Ash fell from the sky because of the amount of smoke going up. From where? A building.
Ximena saw a path in front of her, somehow managing to be untouched by the hot, blazing fires. It was… strange, the way the fire moved, as though it had thought, or … she looked down at her hands, eyes widening at the sight of flames licking at her skin. But it did not burn her. She watched, horrified as the rest of the building quickly was engulfed in fire.
She blinked, and once again the image changed.
Ximena tilted her head, curious by the familiar house in front of her - but her attention quickly went towards the blurring figure heading straight towards her. It stopped before it could slam into her body. The blur was a fucking vampire, because of course it was, but.. It wasn't just any vampire, but Mikeal himself.
Blood leaked out of his ears, and his clothes were in tatters. Looking down she saw that she herself was not unscathed from whatever fight they had gotten into. She was covered in scars that healed before her eyes.
Seeing herself holding her own against him was odd, but she pushed past it when the little shit advanced on her once again. This time he did not stop, a cruel and cold look on his face before he ran towards her at full speed.
Ximena woke up to the feeling of a hand on her shoulder and couldn't help but flinch back, her defenses up high as she struggled to leave the vision still clinging to her mind. For a moment she thought it was Mikeal in the flesh, coming to rip her apart like he had been ready to moments ago in her mind.
"Ow," the sound of a familiar voice made her focus back on her more unfortunate reality.
She hurriedly let go of her grip on the other woman's arm, but was quickly pulled up from her only place of comfort.
"I'll be putting you with the other girls today, you're all on washing duty," Lily said, barely giving her time to wake up before she shoved her into more fucking work.
Ximena yawned, smoothing her hair as best she could with her fingers. Fuck she missed shampoo and condintor and warm water. Lily barely looked at her, probably afraid to catch her sins or whatever the fuck people thought about women who kissed other women. Who knew- there could even been myths about catching actual diseases from such depraved people (the gays.)
"Actually" a stern male voice that made every woman in the servant's quarters freeze cut in "Miss Akkerman is needed elsewhere today and every other day."
The gaze of every individual turned to Ximena then- each one filled with curiosity, humor, and jealousy. None of which Ximena understood.
Giuseppe, in the outfit they'd picked out yesterday, led the Elemental out of the room and upwards. He didn't stop until they got to Katherine's room and it felt like she was being taken back to the scene of a crime. Had Lily snitched?
The door swung open revealing none other than Emily, not the vampire Ximena expected.
"Miss Pierce is with your youngest, Sir" Emily replied, "I'm meant to watch over Miss Akkerman while we await her return."
Fear spiked in Ximena's veins even though she now knew that the horrible human toad before her couldn't hurt her. He could certainly put his porkchop of a foot in the way of her plans though since according to magic- she could only do innocent acts and all of her bad ones would be punished. Speaking of...she'd probably be punished for accidentally taking the hearing out of Giuseppe's left ear. The doctor declared it a 75% loss on that side of his head.
"No problem" Giuseppe said cheerfully, "have a nice morning."
And just like that he retreated.
Ximena had a sickening thought then, wondering if Katherine sucked his dick or something.
Inside of the bedroom- Emily greeted her with something she never thought she'd get her hands on. A pair of pants. Actual tears began to well up in Ximena's eyes and the excited, depraved of all things modern, girl hugged the witch while jumping up and down.
"I don't know or care how you knew I wanted these- but thank you, thank you!"
Emily, quick as ever, quipped "I had a dream."
It was harrowing the way she said it and Ximena paused in her affections to side eye her. She just dismissed the issue momentarily and ran straight for the outfit laid out on the bed. The item in question must've belonged to Stefan since Damon's would've been laughably long on her, olive green and paired with a belt that looked unfamiliar and average. A simple pirate looking blouse lays beside it- pure white. Ximena is just glad there's no blood stains on it. There was even a pair of socks and shoes. Mary Janes even though she preferred boots, not that she could pick and choose.
She was sure Giuseppe would have a fit when he saw and it would accelerate Katherine's leaving of town which only aided in the long term goal of establishing peace in Mystic Falls.
"I have dreams too" Ximena decided to say to Emily.
Emily looked at her curiously, not surprised by her admission, but just curious. "Oh? And what do you dream of?" She asked the Elemental, watching and waiting.
There was just something about the Bennett witch, that made her want to spill her fucking guts out because before she could think it over, she was telling her. Just not everything. It wasn't the same connection she felt with Damon. With Damon- the universe just screamed that they would be friends for an immortal amount of time. Whereas Emily seemed to be more of a soul that would never truly die, an omniscient passive being someday.
"Burning buildings, a baby on my lap, The Original Hybrid, Oreos….uh...roller coasters? Your future relatives...that kinda thing…"
Half of the things she spoke of seemed to confuse Emily, but her eyes lit up as she caught glimpses of a future she would probably never live to see.
"Your dreams…" The way Emily said it made it very clear to her that she knew that it was not just a dream, "did you happen to ever use your powers in them?"
Now it was Ximena's turn to watch her curiously, but she nodded all the same, wondering where the hell this was going.
"In your dreams, you have the potential to become more powerful in the waking," she said, and then further explained herself when the other woman just stared at her blankly.
"There's a little trick that my friend learned. He told me of it years ago I had almost forgotten. Your dreams can offer you a source of power if you choose to revisit them. The feeling of using them can remain with you outside of your dreams, if you focus on them."
Ximena listened, enraptured by what she was saying, and for a moment she let herself feel relief that there was a way for her to gain some control of this situation.
"How can I control that though? All of my dreams haven't accidently given me a choice on where I wanna Uber." She was stared at oddly for her foreign choice of words, but the witch simply shrugged.
"It is different for witches and Elementals, trial and error I suppose," Emily replied, shrugging helplessly.
When it became obvious that Katherine wasn't going to show herself any time soon, she made herself comfortable in a nearby chair that felt more comfortable than what she had been sleeping on.
"There are a few things however… that I could teach you, if you would be willing," Emily offered casually, quietly waiting for her reply.
The help from the witch was honestly confusing her, she kept expecting the woman to want something from her. But she wasn't going to turn down a free lesson from one of the most powerful witches in the universe.
"Sure," she replied, hesitantly agreeing.
"Close your eyes," Emily said, her eyes on her until she closed them. "Relax, things won't go well for either of us if you're nervous."
Last thing she wanted to do was accidently kill someone, so she tried to do as told. She rolled her shoulders, relaxing back further into the chair until she was more comfortable.
"Now think back to those small moments, before you realized that something was not quite human about you."
She thought of the horses that had nearly killed her, the way that she had felt when she barely escaped. The adrenaline that had filled her veins. It was easier to recall the memory, now that she knew that she actually had felt the very blood and water in their bodies, and even their hearts pumping away.
A curious feeling welled up inside her, as she felt inside of her untangle.
She tried to breath in and out slowly when the overwhelming feeling of everything washed over her, from the blood and water in Emily's body to the water that surrounded them. It was a little terrifying honestly, how much water there was in the universe and that she could control it.
Ximena felt both like a giant for being in control of that much power, but the feeling of water rushing around her oddly enough made her feel like a fucking ant compared to the universe.
"Now what?" she asked- holding onto that feeling. It was like keeping a rubber band in the grip of a pair of chopsticks.
Emily seemed to hesitate.
"Do something good."
Funnily enough- the Elemental drew inspiration from a different series she'd been a fan of in her previous world. Naruto. There had been a character that could grow trees and shit and he built a whole ass village. Ximena wouldn't do that.
Instead she went a bit smaller. Extending her sense of things made her feel seasick and she was certain she would puke after, but she continued feeling her way all the way towards the gazebo on the property. She imagined the roots being woven intricately and a massive oak tree rising from the earth beside it. Like a monument to the memory of Lily Salvatore. A gift for the boys and the fact that they hadn't thrown her to the wolves when they literally could have (the wolf being Katherine.)
Ximena pictured it over and over again until she actually did puke, and Emily being an actual psychic had a bin at the ready to catch the nearly empty contents of her stomach. She didn't need to wonder if it worked because she felt so drained. Like she had when Katherine sucked the life out of her jugular.
Of course while Ximena tried to get her bearings- the completely unphased Bennett witch rambled on having noticed the lack of food and the amount of bile in her vomit. While clarity came back into focus, someone not-Katherine entered the room.
Marian.
Ximena blinked wondering what was going on for the thousandth time.
"Miss Pierce requested brunch to be brought to her bedroom today," Emily lied through her teeth.
Eggs. Bacon. Milk. Her stomach growled at the thought and the amount of saliva that pooled washed the taste of puke away as she hucked one last unlady like loogie into the trash.
The chef stared at Ximena for a moment longer than she probably should have before retreating with a 'Yes, Mam.'
Time passed.
It felt so fucking weird.
Everything.
From the insane powers, to the treatment she was receiving, but she wasn't gonna complain about the food. She hesitantly looked at Emily in askance, but the witch was too busy back to looking out the window.
She shrugged, unconcerned if it pissed off Katherine and dug into the tempting food. She bit into the eggs first, and washed it down with milk. She just barely stopped herself from devouring the whole plate of food and started to chew slowly. It had been days since she had last eaten this much, best not tempt her stomach anymore today she thought, eyeing the bacon leftover.
"There's something you should know," Emily said, looking away from the window and back towards her.
"Hmm?" she said, her focus still on eating, no matter how slowly.
"Katherine. She bought you."
….
Ximena looked up the witch slowly, her eyes wide and an outraged look on her face because - what the fuck did she just hear?