Disclaimers: Elena Gilbert, Stefan Salvatore and friends, along with the Vampire Diaries I - IV belong to L.J. Smith. Everything else belongs to me. No harm intended or money made from this fic.
Notes:
~ Chapter ~
::Thoughts or telepathy::
_emphasis or italics_
Author's Notes: See Reviews section.
~ Fourteen ~
A young man who had a quiet air about him wandered from room to room. He and the other non-combatants were doing preliminary checks, taking stock, before beginning to arduous work of cleaning up.
The workers checked body after body for signs of life. The wounded were taken to a room that had been set up as a temporary infirmary. There, Jerrick and his witches and mystics were doing what they could.
One major casualty was Crystal Baron herself. Jerrick had worked for half an hour to revive her. She was still in bad shape, swathed practically from head to toe with gauze, and muzzy. And very, very mad.
If Nigel Emery had still been among the living, she would have demanded a rematch.
The young man moved to the upper floors. The Baron mansion had once been beautiful; if vampires accumulated wealth in their long lives – by whatever means – vampire hunters claimed their fortunes as spoils. And vampire-hunting had been going on in the Baron family for many generations.
Crystal's home would be beautiful again, he was sure.
He poked his head into the attic to evaluate the situation there. A girl was sitting on the floor, head resting beneath the windowsill. Long, silky blond hair fell in a wild mess about her shoulders. The man's eyes widened as he identified her.
"Milady Elena?"
She turned her head to him. When she was silent, he thought she still did not remember him. They had all been told that she would not recognize them but he had hoped that after tonight…
"I know you," she said softly. "Not Aaron... Eiran."
He nodded, a lump in his throat. _She was so beautiful._ She had changed tonight; no longer an ordinary pretty girl, there was a faint glow about her now. She looked like she had the first time he had seen her.
"I ... Turned you."
::If that's what you call it.:: He nodded again.
She turned her head away and her hair hid her face. "You wanted it. You're not sorry?"
"No. I'm not," he answered softly.
"There were others. Do they regret?" she said. Her words came out faint, as if she were exhausted or in a faraway place.
"I don't think so, milady."
"How did you get here?" Eiran paused to figure out what she was asking. "Jerrick approached me not long after I was...Turned. He told me that he was looking for you, to protect you from the vampire lords. Of course I joined him."
A short silence. "Tell me about Jerrick."
"He's a powerful witch, I suppose. He's been badly wounded by something in the past, which is why the limp; you should see the rest of his scars. He knows things. Crystal relies on his advice. He's the one who found you, milady. And he warned us that the vampires were about to take you."
"Why do you call me that?"
The question caught him off guard. "It is a title of respect. We – those of us have are Turned – we've been referring to you as that for a while now," he answered finally. "You gave us a second chance, Elena. You changed our lives, saved our sanity. And for that, we hold you in deepest regard."
Her silence was somehow resistant but she couldn't seem bring herself to speak. After a few moments of quiet, he cupped her elbow and urged her to stand by main force. "Come on, milady. It's been a long day. Let me find you a bed. Things will be better in the morning after some sleep. You'll see."
* * *
Feet pounded on hard pavement.
::Stop!:: Telepathy had the advantage of not sounding breathless, and Makoe was slightly out of breath, after having run helter-skelter from the chaos in the Baron mansion. Leon's eyes were fully open for once. Tristan bounced on the balls of his feet, seeming completely unaffected by their mad dash.
The spot where they had stopped was shadowed, between street lamps. The street was deserted, the night gone silent and peaceful again.
::Man, I was sure we weren't gonna make it! Did you see what she did? She _hugged_ Nigel Emery and he evaporated! And what she said–:: Tristan said wildly.
Makoe pinned him to the wall with one hand. ::D'Angelo. Calm. Down.::
::Calm down? You could sense the Power there every bit as well as I could. And then the universe threatens to take a spin? And I'm suppose to calm down? Hello!?:: Tristan screamed at him, on the brink of hysteria.
::Yes.:: Makoe 'zapped' him with a mild mental bolt, the vampiric equivalent to a slap. Unfortunately it only served to agitate him more _and_ make him touchy.
The three of them had regrouped and followed Nigel Emery up the stairs to the topmost floor of the house in time to see him toying with the hunter. They watched as he had finished the redhead off and went for the other girl, the 'promised one' – who had seemed disappointingly _un_Powerful – and then –
Madness had ensued. Tristan had shouted 'Run!'. Leon, the idiot, had stood there staring until Makoe grabbed his shirt and nearly dragged him down the first flight of stair backwards. After that, he had run as hard as the other two.
Tristan and Makoe faced each other squarely. Tristan looked about to channel his nervous energy into a swing at Aodhan when Leon recovered enough to speak.
::I know her.::
That got the other two's attention. ::What?:: they both asked. The effect of a telepathic unison was strange.
All three shook their heads to get rid of the odd resonance, then Leon explained. ::That girl – the blonde. I've seen her before. She's Stefan Salvatore's girlfriend.::
Author's Notes: Reviews are much, much cherished! =)
Notes:
~ Chapter ~
::Thoughts or telepathy::
_emphasis or italics_
Author's Notes: See Reviews section.
~ Fourteen ~
A young man who had a quiet air about him wandered from room to room. He and the other non-combatants were doing preliminary checks, taking stock, before beginning to arduous work of cleaning up.
The workers checked body after body for signs of life. The wounded were taken to a room that had been set up as a temporary infirmary. There, Jerrick and his witches and mystics were doing what they could.
One major casualty was Crystal Baron herself. Jerrick had worked for half an hour to revive her. She was still in bad shape, swathed practically from head to toe with gauze, and muzzy. And very, very mad.
If Nigel Emery had still been among the living, she would have demanded a rematch.
The young man moved to the upper floors. The Baron mansion had once been beautiful; if vampires accumulated wealth in their long lives – by whatever means – vampire hunters claimed their fortunes as spoils. And vampire-hunting had been going on in the Baron family for many generations.
Crystal's home would be beautiful again, he was sure.
He poked his head into the attic to evaluate the situation there. A girl was sitting on the floor, head resting beneath the windowsill. Long, silky blond hair fell in a wild mess about her shoulders. The man's eyes widened as he identified her.
"Milady Elena?"
She turned her head to him. When she was silent, he thought she still did not remember him. They had all been told that she would not recognize them but he had hoped that after tonight…
"I know you," she said softly. "Not Aaron... Eiran."
He nodded, a lump in his throat. _She was so beautiful._ She had changed tonight; no longer an ordinary pretty girl, there was a faint glow about her now. She looked like she had the first time he had seen her.
"I ... Turned you."
::If that's what you call it.:: He nodded again.
She turned her head away and her hair hid her face. "You wanted it. You're not sorry?"
"No. I'm not," he answered softly.
"There were others. Do they regret?" she said. Her words came out faint, as if she were exhausted or in a faraway place.
"I don't think so, milady."
"How did you get here?" Eiran paused to figure out what she was asking. "Jerrick approached me not long after I was...Turned. He told me that he was looking for you, to protect you from the vampire lords. Of course I joined him."
A short silence. "Tell me about Jerrick."
"He's a powerful witch, I suppose. He's been badly wounded by something in the past, which is why the limp; you should see the rest of his scars. He knows things. Crystal relies on his advice. He's the one who found you, milady. And he warned us that the vampires were about to take you."
"Why do you call me that?"
The question caught him off guard. "It is a title of respect. We – those of us have are Turned – we've been referring to you as that for a while now," he answered finally. "You gave us a second chance, Elena. You changed our lives, saved our sanity. And for that, we hold you in deepest regard."
Her silence was somehow resistant but she couldn't seem bring herself to speak. After a few moments of quiet, he cupped her elbow and urged her to stand by main force. "Come on, milady. It's been a long day. Let me find you a bed. Things will be better in the morning after some sleep. You'll see."
* * *
Feet pounded on hard pavement.
::Stop!:: Telepathy had the advantage of not sounding breathless, and Makoe was slightly out of breath, after having run helter-skelter from the chaos in the Baron mansion. Leon's eyes were fully open for once. Tristan bounced on the balls of his feet, seeming completely unaffected by their mad dash.
The spot where they had stopped was shadowed, between street lamps. The street was deserted, the night gone silent and peaceful again.
::Man, I was sure we weren't gonna make it! Did you see what she did? She _hugged_ Nigel Emery and he evaporated! And what she said–:: Tristan said wildly.
Makoe pinned him to the wall with one hand. ::D'Angelo. Calm. Down.::
::Calm down? You could sense the Power there every bit as well as I could. And then the universe threatens to take a spin? And I'm suppose to calm down? Hello!?:: Tristan screamed at him, on the brink of hysteria.
::Yes.:: Makoe 'zapped' him with a mild mental bolt, the vampiric equivalent to a slap. Unfortunately it only served to agitate him more _and_ make him touchy.
The three of them had regrouped and followed Nigel Emery up the stairs to the topmost floor of the house in time to see him toying with the hunter. They watched as he had finished the redhead off and went for the other girl, the 'promised one' – who had seemed disappointingly _un_Powerful – and then –
Madness had ensued. Tristan had shouted 'Run!'. Leon, the idiot, had stood there staring until Makoe grabbed his shirt and nearly dragged him down the first flight of stair backwards. After that, he had run as hard as the other two.
Tristan and Makoe faced each other squarely. Tristan looked about to channel his nervous energy into a swing at Aodhan when Leon recovered enough to speak.
::I know her.::
That got the other two's attention. ::What?:: they both asked. The effect of a telepathic unison was strange.
All three shook their heads to get rid of the odd resonance, then Leon explained. ::That girl – the blonde. I've seen her before. She's Stefan Salvatore's girlfriend.::
Author's Notes: Reviews are much, much cherished! =)