09: Nowhere to Hide From All of this Madness.
"My mother traveled to Greece where the Travelers were," Daciana continued. "She knew they would have some sort of great magic to benefit herself and possibly something to break the spell on Cassia and I. To insert herself into their lives kindly she annihilated a group of people attacking the Travelers. Proved her worth to Silas and Qetsiyah. They took her in and took pity on her which is exactly how she was so easily able to destroy them from the inside out once she got the immortality elixir from Qetsiyah. However, by time she returned to where she left her daughters, our frozen little bodies were long gone."
"What the bloody hell do you mean your bodies were long gone?" Rebekah interjected.
"Our father took them. He discovered all she had done and what she still intended to do and whisked us away leaving the Mark engraved in a nearby tree just so she would know."
"That's ballsy as fuck," Lethia muttered.
"It gets worse." Daciana shrugged. "He then hid for centuries from his former wife's wrath. Only once he felt it was safe, he finally went through with the only plan he could possibly concoct to save his daughters. The only person he knew would have enough power to break a witch's spell no matter how powerful."
Zina's breath caught in her chest. At that moment Daciana met her eye and could see just about everything. They both had a similar connection. A link straight to the same person. "Lucifer," she breathed.
The Original vampire Vasile nodded stiffly. "I could not begin to tell you why he did it, but he did. But by time he returned back to the surface, back to Earth, it had been approximately 70 years up here. He sent Cassia and I to Lithuania under protection, but I would have preferred being raised by Cain honestly."
Zina opened her mouth to speak when she felt her phone vibrating in the surprise pocket the dress had. How modern times excited her. She debated on ignoring it, but who actually had her number? Surprising them all, she took out the device and furrowed her brows at the unknown number. Curious as well, Daciana told her to answer it. Before she could get out a questioning 'hello', the person on the other line spoke fast and afraid. Zina recognized the voice immediately. Her face paled.
"Whitmore!" Katia just about sobbed as she screamed into her phone. "Zarya… Nova… Whitmore; please help! I can't-" She was cut off suddenly, the phone falling from her hand as she was ripped off of the ground screaming.
Zina's body froze with the phone to her ear, black eyes widened with fear and rage. Her breathing steadily increased. The line was silent for a minute after Katia's scream of terror filled the air before the call dropped. Still, Zina did not move. She couldn't move. Whitmore took Nova and Zarya, and someone else just took Katia.
"Who was that?" Klaus resisted the urge to demand because of how urgent it sounded.
Finally her hand fell from her ear to her side with the device still clutched tightly. She swallowed a lump in her dry throat. Her voice started to crack as a weight grew heavier on her chest. "My daughter…" Her empty hand went to her mouth as the four before her realized just how critical the situation had become. They could see the panic and sheer fury rising up within her. "Someone just took my dhampir daughter…"
Daciana's countenance had turned disturbingly serious. With her eyes still locked on the nearly frantic mother, she held a hand out to her brother. "Nik, I'm going to need the keys to the Mustang."
His eyes widened as Rebekah grinned. "Absolutely not. If you're so bloody desperate to help then you can take-"
"The Mustang." She glared up at him with malice. "In case you haven't noticed, we do not have all the time in the world whether we are immortal or not. I know how to drive; I do things in my free time."
Even in her barely conscious and coherent state, Nova could see Zarya strapped down on a table beside the one they were putting her on. She had heard some sort of commotion who knew how long ago but couldn't make out a damn thing. Zarya must have been trying to rescue her. Nova nearly scoffed at the thought until she realized the extent of what had already been done to Zarya. An IV came out of her arm with a yellowy-gold and white liquid dripping into it. Leather straps kept her bound to the metal table. Wires were stuck to her forehead and temples leading somewhere Nova couldn't see. She would twitch from time to time but otherwise clearly put under by likely whatever was going into her vein. A heart monitor was also attached to her showing anytime her vitals dropped or rose beyond a certain point. As Nova was thrown down on a table of her own she realized that Zarya's (rather familiar looking) shirt was lifted a few inches. Standing out clear as day against her pale flesh on her side Nova focused as hard as she could and saw them; the scarred lines engraved on the girl.
What the hell happened to you, kid…? She thought warily as her head lolled to stare up at the bright light above her. And why the hell did you end up here…?
"Curious about your friend there?" Maxfield practically taunted her as he hooked her up to a Deadly Nightshade IV. "I mean, I assume she's a friend of sorts since she came here under a very powerful spell looking like you just to try and break you out."
"She knows better," Nova forced out with her hoarse voice.
"Mm, apparently not. Quite fortunate for me, really. You see, I have this running theory that certain plants that are supposed to be 'deadly' generally to the public is vervain to the Vasiles. So far I have been right on point. You two are going to help me figure out why deadly plants don't kill you, even when human, but instead weakens you horribly. Just like the atropa belladonna is doing keeping you sedated and useless, datura inoxia has incapacitated Zarya and put her in this… almost dream-like state. Vivid hallucinations it seems while completely anesthetized. While I'm not sure what's going on yet in her mind, I know she can't hear a damn thing out here and she can't move past a few uncontrollable twitches. I thought I would take a break from testing her since she is still actually human even with that dark Mark on her arm. Let's begin, Nova."
Damon's phone rang as they pulled up to Joe's Bar. He didn't recognize the number and was hesitant to answer. "You've reached Damon; how do you care to ruin my day further?"
On the other end, Dean Winchester chuckled. "Oh, don't worry pal, it's about to get a lot worse."
While Elena's eyes widened at the hunter's voice, Damon's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Considering it's you calling me, I'm going to have to agree. What do you want? Because you're going to have to put off staking me and Mystic Falls a while longer."
"Unfortunately I know that. And even worse…" He half groaned and half sighed. "Sam and I… we need your help."
The vampires got out of the car, leaving Katherine asleep in the back seat. Before the conversation could continue, Elena mouthed to Damon, "Are we really just gonna leave her in the car?"
"The only time she shuts up is when she's sleeping and we've clearly got more to deal with than her mouth," he replied with the phone a bit away from his mouth. "What's so big and bad that you're calling monsters for help?"
Dean was quiet for a moment that told Damon the situation had to be urgent. "It's Zare," he finally answered. Elena's hand flew to her mouth. "She found out where Nova was taken and her and Katia tried to do their own rescue mission. We haven't heard from her in about three days now."
Damon's face was cold and unreadable but painfully determined. "Where are they, Winchester?"
"The last we heard from Zare some under the radar shit is happening at Whitmore. They were in Virginia. We've got a case in North Carolina that needs to be taken care of and hopefully quickly, but we're coming to Virginia for Zare."
His brain immediately started processing everything and thinking of plans. Though the hunters couldn't see, he nodded. "Alright. We're checking something out right now too but we're only about an hour out from Whitmore."
Once the call ended, Elena let out the gasp she had been so desperately holding. "Whitmore?!" She exclaimed. "Nova has been at Whitmore this whole time and we…"
He held his hand up to quiet her. "We don't have time for that, Elena. We need to check this possible lead on Stefan and go find out what creepy Dr. Maxfield is up to."
"How do you know it's him?"
"Call it a hunch, but it's that guy."
Inside, they found out the bartender had been attacked and told to run before a woman shoved her attacker into a truck and took off. She didn't know the woman, but she knew the truck was taken from a cabin in the area. After telling him what he asked, she poured Damon a shot. He took it without question when his mouth and throat started to burn.
"Vervain!" He exclaimed hoarsely.
"What did you do?" Elena gasped at the bartender.
"I told her to pour him a drink or I'd kill her," came a new, accented woman's voice.
"Who the hell are you?" Damon's head was spinning, rage increasing. He knew where Nova could be at last and some random woman was trying to play villain.
The woman raised a gun at the two vampires. Ironically enough, Katherine had awoken and walked into the bar, not realizing what was going on inside. The gun was turned onto her, forcing the new human to stop with her hands up. "Which one of you is Katherine Pierce?" She demanded.
Katherine instinctively pointed to Elena. "She is!"
"Katherine is a compulsive liar… but I need her alive if I want someone I care about back."
Elena's eyes darted around to each of them around her. She was still reeling under the thought that Nova was somewhere at Whitmore. She looked up to Damon who was clearly searching for an exit. A fire sparked in the doe eyed vampire as she thought about her sire. Adrenaline increased in her veins, prompting the young vampire to rush ahead and tackle the stranger to a table. "Katherine, run!" She yelled as loud as she could while using all of her strength to hold the woman down.
"You really do look exactly alike," the woman commented before tossing Elena into a wall and speeding out of the building.
Maxfield had to have taken at least twenty vials of Nova's blood in a row. He cut her arm with a scalpel and watched the wound heal without a trace but slowly because of the Deadly Nightshade. He would hold her eyelids open and take samples, still watching as she healed slowly. He matched it to the rate of the cut healing. No matter what he did Nova could no longer feel. She stared up at the ceiling past the light with her thoughts focused on Zarya.
Why the hell did was treating Nova like a hunter's case? Trying to rescue her from Whitmore; what a joke. Though even she had to admit that the kid had guts. She was always rushing right into the fire ready for a fight. What had to have been a few days went by and still the hunter remained sedated. It angered Nova; made her blood boil deep down the longer she seethed. She tried at one point to find that switch to turn back on. Maybe it would do something so she could get gods damn Zarya out of there.
She wanted to, if at least for the kid's safety, but it just wasn't there anymore.
They hauled Nova back to Whitmore's testing room from her cell one day a little earlier than usual; he wasn't quite done with the subject before her. When Nova got a look at the person, she figured on why. The girl couldn't have been even 18 yet with hair as dark as the night and empty eyes that made her think of her sister. She had to be a Vasile, and a twin like Zina. How long had they had her? Who was she? Did they have other Vasiles? Nova's mind was reeling as they strapped her back down to the table and stuck the IV in her arms. She watched them haul the girl just a few rooms down the hall through the still open door.
Maxfield got right to slicing her up. Her eyes flashed to Zarya's steadily beeping heart monitor and she almost chuckled; if only Maxfield had done the same to her. In that moment, as she continued to seethe slowly, her heartbeat was increasing steadily. He did note that her temperature was dropping at a mildly rapid pace. She could feel that in her blood. When a cut he gave her healed quicker than it had been under the atropa belladonna he made a note and turned his back to grab another bag. Maxfield was reeling over his revelation that even what weakened them would have to be modified for a long term result that he actually turned his back to her.
Nova's pupils dilated to the max as they still stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't even feel her body anymore. It was barely her voice to come from her lips. "Odnauk een euk-zaabu fre'aazh Urshtoeth Shenesh zahomblar. Odnauk een amad en Nebratron sproshkata ratsni wosser khur terei ointso. Etsoo latwen ibibgordak en bezhdirfi yak esee roidakh euk-erahu mebaaken. Etsi hunak non kareenkhe dünasse. Ye eni. Ye enis."
Maxfield quickly whirled around and sped up the injection process but it didn't reach her until she finished. She let out a snicker with her smirk before her head lolled to the side, vision going blurry. Maxfield tried desperately to search even a couple of words that came out of Nova's mouth but could find nothing. What he hadn't realized was the beeping of Zarya's heart monitor steadily increasing. And down the way the girl Nova had seen was laying on the floor of a small room when her eyes snapped open.
Her hand twitched on the cold floor, seeming to jolt life into the rest of her. Slowly, she was able to sit up. As her black hair fell out of her pale face, her onyx eyes ignited a blue-violet hue. She had never felt such a way before, not that she was ever given the opportunity to. Power surged through her chilling blood that brought her to her feet for the first time in decades. She could hear each individual heartbeat and breath of the guards and staff around her. Each ventricle, each atrium, each vein and artery that passed blood around their bodies she could hear it.
As fangs extended from her normal, small size, the iris hue ignited in her eyes bled until they were blood red. She rushed at the metal door and broke it off its hinges.
When he heard the commotion down the way, Maxfield immediately locked his doors containing Nova, Zarya, and himself. People started screaming in the hall but his attention turned to Zarya's furiously beeping heart monitor. He gasped a little when her hand twitched and head rolled to the side. What the hell was going on? He turned and typed rapidly on his computer, hoping for some sort of scientific explanation. Everything he had been working on began to fall apart.
Nova's eyes fluttered open even against all of the atropa belladonna pumping into her system. Time and time again she had tried to search for that switch that could turn her humanity back on. Zarya had busted in as a mere human willing to take whatever came her way to rescue Nova. Maybe there was some worthiness behind humanity. Yet even as she finally had even the consideration of doing good, Nova could no longer find the switch. Everywhere she searched within herself was black and dripping with blood. Deeming herself too late for redemption, Nova focused everything on her rage and desire to survive. There was nothing human left of Nova Vasile.
As her blood turned practically to ice, a chill fell over the room. Maxfield's breath came out in a fog. He turned slowly and saw Nova staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression. "Considering that I would enjoy to make your death slow and drawn out," her voice was still hoarse but the dark regality was still thick in her slight accent, "I will allow you a five minute head start out of here. Though I don't recommend that door over there. You might want to try the latter." A cold smirk crept on her pale face as she turned to look at him with malice in her emerald eyes.
At first Maxfield was frozen in place. His eyes flashed quickly to the Deadly Nightshade still dripping into both of her arms. He did a double take because the liquid began to solidify until it was a block of ice. A shaky breath escaped his lips, eyes darting to the datura inoxia dripping into Zarya only to find the same. He ripped a flash drive from his computer, ran to the back door, throwing it open, and took off down the hall.
An icy fog grew thicker slowly in the room before Nova ripped the IVs from her arms and sat up on the table. Only for a moment was she dizzy. While people screamed for mercy outside, Nova made her way to Zarya and took the IVs from her arms as well. She looked up to the monitor, seeing the girl's heart rate at nearly 150 beats per minute. Nova hovered above her and started tapping her cheeks lightly. "Come on kid," she tried to clear her throat to no avail. "Come on, it's time to wake up. Zarya! Zarya listen to me and wake the hell up!"
The beeping dropped rapidly then to barely 50 beats per minute. Nova's eyes widened, actually uncertain of what to do. She bit her lip before deciding to rip the heart monitor tags off and put one of Zarya's arms around her shoulder to just haul her out. "Come on, Zarya," she muttered as she dragged them both towards the front door. "I'm really going to need you to wake up at some point here, kid…" They made it out the door and Nova saw the young Vasile girl tearing apart staff and guards mercilessly. Looking around at the corpses it almost looked like some were soaked with just water. "Hey!" She called as loud as she could to the other assumed vampire. The girl looked up with blood dripping from her chin and blood red eyes that made Nova pause for a second. She muttered a couple of curses first. "Let's get the hell out of here, yeah?"
The guard in her hands fell to the ground with a thud while the red drained from her eyes, leaving them pitch black. Her fangs retreated but not fully. Hopping over the bodies she dropped, she caught up to Nova and Zarya. She slipped under Zarya's open arm, not being much taller than the human hunter, and helped Nova drag her down the blood splattered hallway. Anytime someone would try and stop them, the girl would swiftly lash out and end their life. Nova couldn't help but wonder who the hell she was but they had to get to safety first. At one point when they had to stop so the girl could clear the pathway, Nova listened to Zarya's heartbeat and found that it was steadily becoming more regular.
"We're gonna make it out of here Zarya," she told the hunter before grabbing her and walking through corpses again. That was when she heard a small gasp from Zarya. Looking up, the exit was at the end of the hall they made it to. Someone rushed at them before the girl could notice, but Nova saw him immediately. With her arm not under Zarya, she held out her hand. She wasn't positive if she was strong enough, but her will to survive persevered. The guard started to cough and turn blue until he was frozen inside out and on the floor.
"So you two are one of us," the girl finally commented in a soft voice as they continued onward toward the door. Even she smiled when Zarya finally began to stir. She and Nova pushed the steel door open and bright moonlight beamed down on the three of them.
"Wh-what happened…?" came Zarya's groggy voice. "What's going on…?"
"Hush, kid," Nova told her as they kept moving. "Save your energy for walking as best as you can."
It took them a good amount of time, but they finally made it a safe distance away from Whitmore and into the woods. All three slumped against trees around one another. They had to take a break. Zarya was practically wheezing and Nova was coughing because her throat was so dry.
"What the hell happened?" Zarya broke the silence. "And where's Katia?"
Nova's brows furrowed. "Katia was with you?"
"She was supposed to get you while I distracted the guards. When they caught me I told her to bail and as far as I saw she did." She then turned to their mystery survivor. "And you are…?"
The girl smiled softly with her knees to her chest. "Clara Vasile. Augustine took me in 1907 after my sister tried to kill me and I returned."
"Do you by chance know who your sire is?" Nova asked.
Clara blinked a couple of times. "Oh, you misunderstand. I'm… I'm not a full blood. I'm only a dhampir."