Hello, all! Apologies for the late update, but things have been a bit hectic, but I did use the time and inspiration and your wonderful reviews to write more chapters.
This chapter will feel like a bit of a filler, but I always put little clues and "easter eggs" of sorts for future plotlines. It's also meant to show some bonding between Gwen and Rebekah. So, I hope you guys will like it.
I am also very excited to see that the story reached past 10,000 views, which I owe all to you guys, so thank you all!
And now to reply to your amazing reviews:
-xenocanaan: Well, there's a lot of Rebekah in this chapter, so I hope you'll enjoy it!
-GhostGypsy: I am so happy to know that you're loving the story! I'm also going to include a few more flashbacks of Gwen's childhood with Klaus but don't know how many more. And sorry for the wait.
-Love . Fiction . 2020: I am so glad you liked it and hope you'll enjoy many more!
-Guest: Yes, Rebekah to the rescue!
-A fan: I am glad you found your way back here and hope you'll love this story. I am also close to writing the meeting between Gwen and Kol, so I am also excited for that, if a bit nervous about writing it (I am such a contradiction). I am so giddy to start writing them, you have no idea. I also hope I can do them and their relationship justice.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Vampire Diaries and claim no ownership over anything pertaining to it.
morning after
.
.
.
Fangs.
Blood.
Maniacal laughter.
Gwen gasped awake as her hands reached for her neck, her eyes wide and mouth agape as a scream got stuck on its way out. She began to pant after having escaped her nightmare that left her a bit out of breath, sucking in as much air as she could to try and steady her erratic heartbeat. Her body was unmoving with the sheets of the bed having been thrown in disarray due to her tossing and turning caused by the disturbing scenes she endured in her sleep. She looked around the darkened room she occupied in the boarding house, no light filtering in due to the curtains that had been drawn closed to keep the sun's rays out. Once she was sure she was the only one in the room and that nothing followed her from her nightmares, Gwen dropped her head back on her fluffy pillow and placed her hands on her abdomen as it rose and fell with every breath she took.
Feeling as if she was going to suffocate, Gwen pushed the duvet off her legs before swinging them over the edge of the bed before planting her bare feet on the cold floor that sent a shiver up her spine. Her body was very sore from the events of the night before–as if she had been put through the wringer. Her eyes fell to her hands that rested on her lap, her fingers tracing her bracelet, reminding her that she was never truly alone in the world. In the past, she always had Klaus to protect her. This time around, she managed to survive and protected herself…to some extent, given that Rebekah and the strange woman had helped her live to see another day.
The halfling struggled to climb to her feet before making her way toward the en suite bathroom, her feet dragging. Gwen stood in front of the sink's white granite countertop and her eyes trailed to her reflection on the mirror in front of her. Even after the long shower, she took last night, she felt like the remnants of the night before still clung onto her skin.
Gwen's eyes stared at her own body through the mirror and surveyed her wounds. There was a hand-sized bruise on her neck, which made her throat scratchy. She had also placed a band-aid large enough to cover the area where the gash on her temple was, still feeling it throb. Her wrists were still raw and red due to rope burn. And there were a handful of other scratches and bruises on her biceps, thighs, and legs that she hadn't paid mind to until after the adrenaline of being chased drained from her body, but they were small and would disappear in time.
The young hybrid picked at the bandage over the cut on her temple and peeled it off with a small hiss escaping her mouth, throwing away the band-aid in a trash can. She sighed heavily as she leaned on her hands that she placed on the countertop to look down into the vessel sink, turning on the faucet before cupping her hands beneath the cold water that she splashed on her face, wincing when her cut began to sting rather painfully. "Stupid," she reprimanded herself as she tried to massage the area around the wound to soothe the ache.
"I hope you don't mean me," said a cheery voice behind Gwen.
Gwen almost shrieked in fright, only to turn around to find Rebekah standing at the bathroom's entryway. The halfling released a heavy breath and calmed down. "Oh, you scared me," she exhaled as she leaned her back against the counter. She reached for a small towel that was folded near the sink, using it to dry her face. "Good morning, Bex."
Rebekah hummed, nodding. "Is it?"
"Is it what?" Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What I mean is…are you all right?" the blonde clarified as she pointed to her own temple in the place where Gwen's wound was. "Apart from that nasty thing you have there, of course."
Knowing that she couldn't lie, Gwen decided to simply shrug and keep her eyes focused on the white, fluffy towel in her hands. "It'll heal."
"What about everything else?" asked Rebekah, her eyes narrowing when she noticed that Gwen was deflecting her.
"Don't you have school?" Gwen countered with a question of her own, trying to change the topic of the conversation.
"I already went to school," Rebekah said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You've slept all morning and afternoon."
"Oh," Gwen sighed.
"Weny?" Rebekah began, her voice having a bit of a warning to it.
Gwen raised an eyebrow at the vampire. "'Weny'?"
"What?" asked Rebekah, becoming worried that her nickname was not well received. "You don't like it?"
"No, I do," said Gwen, smiling at Rebekah. "I've just never heard that one before."
Rebekah clapped her hands once while smiling. "Even better. I'm unique, but you're not going to deflect my question." She gave Gwen a soft smile, watching the young girl exhale. "I'm worried about you, and me worrying about someone else hasn't happened for quite a while, so consider yourself special." If it were anyone else, Rebekah would have simply left them to deal with their issues on their own, but she couldn't seem to do that with Gwen. She couldn't turn her back on the teenager like she had done in the past to countless others without a care in the world. "And I know I should give you some space, but I feel like I shouldn't leave things as they are."
"You sound like June," Gwen mumbled, folding up the towel and putting it down near the sink.
"I'll take that as a compliment," said Rebekah.
Gwen playfully rolled her eyes before passing by Rebekah to go back into the bedroom to dive back into the bed and sit with her back leaning against the headboard. She frowned when she saw Rebekah sitting on the edge of the foot of the bed. "Why are you way over there?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Well, sweet thing," Rebekah began as she placed her hands on her lap, steadying her breathing and heartbeat. "The thing is that the scent of your blood is quite intoxicating. I may have a thousand years of practice, but I don't want to scare you by showing you my ugly side, not that I have any." She tried not to take deep breaths of the scent of Gwen's blood, so she cleared her throat while shaking her head. The mouthwatering smell was as addicting as she remembered, which played with her mind as she was tempted to drown in the blood that reminded her of her favorite drink.
"I can understand where you're coming from," Gwen said as she scooted closer to Rebekah to sit next to the vampire with her legs crisscrossed. She placed a hand over one of the blonde's and squeezed it. "But I trust you." And she really did, having yet to find any reason to not trust Rebekah. She also felt quite safe around the Original vampire, much like she did with Klaus.
The Original released a nervous chuckle as her grip on Gwen's hand tightened just a bit, feeling her body tingle due to how insecure she felt with her self-control, something that she thought she had mastered centuries ago. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too trusting, Weny?" she asked the halfling. "We barely know each other."
"It's come up," Gwen answered with a shrug of her shoulder, taking her hand back to place it on her lap. She was a bit peeved by the truth in Rebekah's words, about how they barely knew each other, but she wanted to change that. She wanted to get along with Klaus' sister, wanting to know more about who she was than what she was and who she was related to. "I'm still going to trust you."
Rebekah nodded before she took a deep breath before saying, "I hope I'm deserving enough of that trust for you to be able to speak freely with me." She gave Gwen a pointed look. "Now, you told me you didn't know the woman we saw, but are you going to tell me who those men were?"
Gwen sighed as her eyes became downcast, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "They were some vampires obsessed with making a sport out of feeding on people, so they formed their little group," she began to explain, finding it easy to speak about it after the years that had passed. She had only spoken about this to June since Klaus already knew everything and never pushed her to talk about it, something she was grateful for. "They got wind of me and what I was when I was ten, I think. Nik and I were in Philadelphia at the time." She paused as she frowned when memories she thought that still rattle her no longer affected her so much. "They took me and fed from me and hurt me for…" she trailed off as she tried to remember how long she had been kept in that house by the three vampires. "I think it was for two days or something." She shook her head to keep herself from thinking about the pain she had to endure. "It was so dark, and I was in so much pain that any sense of time was lost to me."
While a good amount of time had passed, Gwen's body still experienced an involuntary tremble when her mind brought forth the memory of their hands running over her skin as they drank and licked her blood. Such memories made her nauseated, wishing she didn't have to remember that in such vivid detail.
Rebekah sighed through her nose, knowing that this was a story that she did not need to prod Gwen for more details. "Was it only those two?" she asked, needing to know if there were any other living vampires out for revenge.
"There was another," Gwen told her, not wanting to say the name of the vampire for fear of him suddenly materializing at the mere mention of his name. "Nik said he tortured them for a bit before leaving them to burn inside the house that they kept me in. He stayed there until the place was nothing but ashes."
"Good riddance," Rebekah sighed before she placed a hand on top of Gwen's, rubbing her thumb over the girl's knuckles. "I'm so sorry that happened to you," she told the halfling, her eyes sympathetic as they locked with Gwen's. "Your kind is always suffering at the hands of others, but rest assured that you have nothing to worry about with me."
"Thanks, Bex," Gwen said, smiling. "It's a bit disturbing, knowing that they might be watching me right now from beyond the grave."
"Don't even think about that. It's over now," said Rebekah, raising an eyebrow. "Let's just put yesterday's dreadful night and everything else related to it behind us."
Gwen took another deep breath and concentrated on releasing all the tension in her body with her exhale. "You're right," she sighed. "I'm just a little bummed we didn't get to see the light show. It would have been our first time hanging out."
"There are more spectacular ones around the world that we could go to, so don't be gloomy about that," Rebekah said with a wave of her hand in dismissal. "Also, we have many other days to hang out and have fun."
"Promise?" Gwen asked as she lifted a pinky for Rebekah to take with her own.
"Promise," Rebekah said, intertwining her pinky with Gwen's to seal their promise. She huffed, hating herself for what she was about to say. "I despise the words that are going to come out of my mouth, but I think you should stay holed up in this place until that wound of yours heals." She didn't want to make Gwen feel like she was a prisoner, but she couldn't trust the local vampires who were much younger and could lose control of themselves.
"Well, if you can get me some herbs, I'll be able to speed up the healing process," Gwen suggested, catching Rebekah's attention. "I can make a salve with my magic."
"What do you need?" Rebekah immediately asked, wanting to help Gwen in any way she could after she failed to keep the girl from getting hurt.
"Some yarrow and arnica," Gwen told her. "I can make the same ointment that I used after you choked me." A teasing grin grew on Gwen's face. "You know…when we met."
Rebekah chuckled before giving Gwen a sheepish smile, now remembering how the halfling used a paste for her neck on the trip from Chicago to Mystic Falls, which helped speed up the healing process. "Have I apologized for that?"
Gwen nodded. "I believe so."
"I'm apologizing again, and I mean it this time." Rebekah stood up and looked down at Gwen with a stern gaze. "Now, while I'm gone, I need you to stay in this house, preferably this room. I don't want to take any risks, since the resident vampires are still babies and could have little to no control over themselves." She then placed her hands on the halfling's shoulders and bent at the waist to lock eyes with the younger girl. "Promise me that you'll do as I ask."
"I promise," said Gwen, smiling at Rebekah as she recognized the concern swimming in the blonde's light blue eyes.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, so stay put," Rebekah said as she straightened up.
Gwen chuckled. "You're starting to sound like June."
"Again, I will be taking that as a compliment," Rebekah said before pointing at Gwen's head with a wave of her hand. "And cover that up. We don't need you stinking up the place."
"Yes, mother dearest," Gwen teased with a grin.
"You're lucky I like you," Rebekah said with a roll of her eyes. She went to leave the room but stopped at the doorway to glance at the green-eyed girl one more time. "Yarrow and arnica, correct?"
Gwen's answer was an affirmative nod, watching the vampire leave with a flick of her hair over her shoulder. Now that she was alone, the half-fae slumped back and fell on the plush bed, staring up at the ceiling with her arms spread on either side of her. She was hungry, but she was too sluggish to get up, even though she needed to do a few things as she waited for Rebekah to get back. She also wondered how Rebekah would find the plants she needed but decided to trust in the Original's skills, opting to take a short nap.
.
Damon groaned as he pushed against the invisible wall keeping him from entering the small cavern that Mason had led him to the night before. He released a frustrated sigh under his breath when he was pushed back, cursing witches and their magic in his mind. While Alaric was helping him and keeping him posted about what was in the cave, it wasn't the same as him being able to go inside and taking a look around with his own eyes. And it didn't matter what he tried to get a better look of what Mason and Alaric had seen, he couldn't catch more than a glimpse of a few figures on the wall, and this only served to irritate him more than he already was.
All this time, Damon thought that there was no hope of ever getting rid of Klaus after their search for Mikael led nowhere, but then this little place no living person was aware it existed suddenly appeared with the help of a ghost. He couldn't help but be a bit ecstatic that there could be a small chance to get Klaus out of their lives for good, but then he was still skeptical about it all, finding that it was best not to get his hopes up too high.
"I never catch a break, do I?" the raven-haired vampire muttered to himself, desperate to know the secrets within the cavern.
"Damon?" Alaric's voice echoed throughout the tunnels, alerting said vampire to the arrival of the man who was his friend once more after they hatched things out.
"Still here, just as you left me," Damon responded without turning around, still fighting the invisible barrier.
The history teacher appeared behind Damon with a flashlight to light his way and a few cases in hand with Bonnie helping him carry his things behind him with her own flashlight. "Have you been standing here since I left?" Alaric asked, frowning at the vampire.
Damon sighed heavily. "I have a problem, Ric. It's an invincible ass of a hybrid who can't be killed and wants to harvest the blood of Elena to make himself an army of adorable but lethal hybrid puppies," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "But, as luck will have it, there might be a solution to such a conundrum in there," he added as he pointed at the cave he couldn't get into with his index finger. "So, excuse me for being a little bit obsessed with this place."
"So, no luck getting in?" Alaric mocked as he walked past Damon to enter the cavern that was blocked to vampires.
"None whatsoever," Damon huffed, turning to Bonnie. "Thanks for the helping hand, witchy," he greeted the teenage girl. "Anything you can do about this?" he asked as he tried to stick his hand through the barrier keeping him out, groaning when he was repelled for the umpteenth time. "It's incredibly annoying."
Bonnie shook her head as she entered the cave behind Alaric while lighting her path with a flashlight, being mindful of her steps to keep herself from tripping on anything. "I don't even know who the caster is," she said to Damon. "It's a waste of time trying to figure out the spell and its mechanics to be able to reverse it."
"Great," huffed Damon.
"Stop pouting," Alaric scolded the vampire, putting down his flashlight and cases that had lighting stands he would be able to place around the cave to light up the walls. He pulled out a lantern from a bag he had unstrapped from his back to illuminate the place in the meantime. "Be grateful we're here," he said as he got to work on assembling one of the lighting stands.
"Oh, do you have something better to do than to get vengeance on the hybrid prick?" asked Damon.
Alaric rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Bonnie looked around the dim cave while pointing at different parts with her light, letting Alaric set up his equipment as she scrutinized the drawings on the walls, not paying too much attention to the details of each symbol. "So," she began as she put down the bags holding Alaric's equipment next to him, "what am I doing here?" She frowned when she felt something odd about the place, which prompted her to approach a wall where some drawings were.
"We need you to check something out for us since you might have a spiritual vision or something," Damon answered Bonnie's question. "It's mostly wishful thinking."
"I don't know how I can help in the state I'm in," Bonnie said with pursed lips. "The Spirits have made it pretty clear how they feel about me by cutting me off, so my connection to them and magic is a bit rocky at the moment." Though she did feel more confident in herself after seeing Grams, the latter's last words from last night resounding in her mind.
"Yeah, well, screw them." Damon's eyes then turned to the teacher and jerked his head. "Show her, Ric."
"Well, Damon kept insisting that this place had a peculiar scent, like blood," Alaric began as he stopped trying to put together a stand. He turned off the lantern and motioned for Bonnie to turn off her own light, allowing darkness to engulf the cave. He then picked up a different flashlight from his bag before he approached Bonnie. "I didn't see blood anywhere at first glance, so I thought to have a better look around." He turned on the flashlight to reveal that it was a blacklight, pointing it at the wall that Bonnie stood in front of. "Now, see how some of these images glow?"
Bonnie frowned when she saw that Alaric was right. While some pictures were hard to see in the dark with the blacklight on them, others glowed. "Were those made with blood?" she asked, pointing at the gleaming drawings.
"Apparently so," said Alaric.
Damon grinned and said, "It can also be–"
"Shut up," Alaric silenced the smirking vampire.
"Look, I can tell that it's not just any blood, so I need you to check who or what it belonged to," said Damon, turning Bonnie's and Alaric's attention to where he was leaning against the entrance to the cave with his arms crossed over his chest. "You can say that I'm just a bit curious to confirm my suspicions."
Bonnie looked to the drawings and approached them, taking careful steps with only the blacklight to light her way. It was odd, but she did feel the strong presence of magic coming from the glowing figures that pulled her in, and she could tell that it was ancient. She lifted a hand and brushed her fingertips over a symbol that appeared to be a star with seven points when she noticed that the glow of the drawings was a mixture between green and gold, but this action resulted in the young witch's eyes snapping closed as her face scrunched up due to being assaulted with images that flashed through her mind.
The first image the Bennett witch saw was a forest as if she were running through it. The air was so refreshing as if her whole body was being purified. The image changed like mist being cleared, and then Bonnie saw what she assumed was a settlement with many people walking about, and among them was smiling Klaus talking with Elijah, Rebekah, another man who looked quite a bit like Elijah and a young boy before they were joined by a blonde woman. The image changed once more to that of a beautiful girl with long, flaming hair that had flowers weaved into the tresses, and she was running in the forest with a wide smile while throwing glances over her shoulder at the blonde girl with long hair as golden as the sun running behind the redhead with a big smile of her own. And then it was nighttime over the settlement, and she could hear such joyous laughter that slowly turned into horrified screams before seeing fire engulfing many homes.
Gasping as her eyes sprung wide open, Bonnie retracted her fingers from the wall as if it had burned her hand and hurriedly stepped backward, which had her stumbling before falling on her behind. She blinked away the haziness in her vision, shaking her head as her mind worked to process that she was back to the present and not lost in some visions.
"Bonnie!" Alaric turned off the blacklight he dropped and went to turn on the lantern before kneeling beside a panting Bonnie, placing his hands on her shoulders from behind.
"What happened?" Damon asked, his voice echoing.
Alaric sat beside Bonnie. "You okay?"
Unable to find her voice just yet, Bonnie nodded at Alaric as she tried to process what she saw and perceived from the magic still engraved in the walls. It had been a weird experience. She felt like her body came alive with an electrifying jolt waking up every inch of her body just by touching the dried blood.
"How about it, oracle?" asked Damon, his words causing Alaric and Bonnie to frown at him.
Bonnie shook her head. "I think you should exercise some patience."
Damon scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Spare me. I'm the one stuck outside of the cave of wonders."
"What help would you be?" scoffed Alaric.
"I resent that," Damon argued, feigning hurt as he placed a hand over the spot on his chest where his heart was situated. "You wound my undead heart."
"Didn't know you had one," Bonnie hummed, unconvinced.
"Can we get on with it?" Damon asked, becoming irritated.
"You mind giving her a break?" Alaric argued as he glanced at the oldest Salvatore.
"I think I know what it is," Bonnie said as she stood up with Alaric's help. She took a few steps to be in Damon's line of sight. "It is blood, but it's as if it was made of magic," she confirmed, earning a nod from Damon. She glanced between the two men. "It seems like some of these images were simply carved on the wall, but others were carved with…" she trailed off as she tried to come up with a word that would best describe what she wanted to communicate.
"Magical blood?" Damon supplied.
"Yeah, let's go with that," Bonnie said while nodding.
"That can mean that we have different stories or different authors." Alaric wondered aloud as he looked around the walls, his eyes roaming over the pictures. "Now, the tricky thing is figuring out what it all means."
Bonnie nodded. "This is going to take a while. There are a lot of pictures." She looked at Damon. "I can tell you that the blood and magic belonged to a faerie."
Alaric turned to Bonnie with a raised eyebrow. "A faerie was here?" He looked back at the symbols. "There were faeries in Mystic Falls?"
"Thought so," said Damon. "The scent of the blood is too strong, more so than the half-breed taking residence in my house." He closed his eyes as a whine left him while throwing his head back. "This isn't going to be a picnic, is it?"
Alaric shook his head with a hum as he and Bonnie looked at the walls around them.
.
Gwen had to admit that the Salvatore Boarding House was grand and oddly cozy for such a big place, having arrived at this conclusion after touring the entire home from the attic to the basement in a pair of dark gray skinny sweatpants that she matched with a cropped, red t-shirt and a pair of fluffy, pink socks. She needed a way to stretch her limbs, so she set about to explore every room after making sure that her cut was bandaged and there was no one else in the house, not wanting to test if Rebekah could match Klaus's overprotectiveness.
While the house had an atmosphere that was a bit dark and stuffy for her liking when it had windows to solve those faults, she liked that the rooms were big with large windows that showed a nice view of the forest surrounding the house and allowed natural light to brighten up any room when the blinds weren't closed. It was a nice place, but she did find that it could be a bit lonely for only two brothers in such a big house, which was something she could relate to, given how she had mostly lived in big homes with Klaus or no one else whenever he had business to take care of.
Now, the room that she enjoyed the most was the library for the substantial amount of books it had, which was where she now found herself in as she held onto a mug of vanilla tea that she had prepared for herself in the kitchen. She walked along the shelves that lined the walls, her big eyes surveying the many options she had to pick out from, looking for a book to delve into to pass the time.
Gwen finally settled on Anna Karenina, her fingers grasping the book's smooth spine and pulling it out from where it was wedged between books. Her chocolate-colored eyes looked over the words on the back, the summary further piquing her interest. She loved how someone could live a completely different life by reading about another, diving into another world her imagination helped create and bring to life in her mind's eye.
And so, with a book in hand, Gwen headed for the kitchen to wash her mug and leave it to dry before heading back to her room. Just as she was passing by the foyer, the front door was opened and Elena stepped inside, closing the door behind her. The doppelgänger slightly faltered when her eyes landed on Gwen. It took a moment for Elena to realize that she was just staring at the halfling, so she approached Gwen with a smile that the half-fae knew was forced.
"Hello," Gwen greeted, deciding to be the polite one as she hugged her book to her chest with one arm.
"Hey," Elena returned the greeting a bit awkwardly as she gripped the strap of her purse that was over her shoulder. She frowned when she saw the bandage on Gwen's forehead, the marks on the neck and wrists, and the few bruises here and there. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"
Gwen shrugged with pursed lips. "Some ghosts from my past still had a beef with me."
"Yeah, Bonnie said that the Other Side was cracked open," Elena explained to the shorter girl.
"They kind of mentioned something about that," said Gwen.
"But she closed it," Elena reassured Gwen.
"That's good," Gwen sighed in relief, glad that she would not have to see Cassian or Evan anytime soon, let alone Al. "Vengeful vampires are not a good way to spend the night."
Elena nodded with a huff. "Tell me about it." She cleared her throat and remembered why she had come by. "Have you seen Damon anywhere?" she asked, brows slightly furrowed.
"No." Gwen shook her head. "Other than Rebekah, there's no one else in the house." Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen Stefan either.
"Of course," Elena said with a groan as she fished her phone out of her purse to check if she had missed a call or if her messages got a response, getting irritated with the oldest Salvatore for dodging her for some reason. She put away her phone and turned to Gwen, not liking how beaten up the young girl was. "Do you need something?" she asked, wanting to offer some help. "I can take you to see a doctor or something."
"No, thanks," Gwen said, perking up when she saw that the front door was silently opened behind Elena. "I've got it covered."
"Are you sure?" asked Elena.
"I think she's made herself quite clear that your services are not needed," said the accented voice that belonged to Rebekah, which startled Elena. The doppelgänger turned on her heel to face the Original vampire who was carrying a brown paper bag in one hand. "If you're looking for either of your boyfriends, go search for them elsewhere," said the blonde, walking toward Elena with slow steps and an imposing aura.
Gwen tilted her head at Rebekah. "She wasn't doing any harm, Bex."
Rebekah glanced at Gwen before her eyes returned to Elena. "I find that hard to believe. Her ancestors have always been nothing but trouble, and this one seems to be no different."
"I'm right here," Elena huffed as she gave Rebekah a halfhearted glare.
"I'm very aware of that," Rebekah told Elena with a tone that said that she did not care how her words affected the doppelgänger. "It begs the question as to why you're still here."
"I was looking for Damon," Elena said, deciding to swallow any remark she had for the Original and go straight to the point.
"Not here, and neither is Stefan," said Rebekah, stepping aside and gesturing to the front door that she had left open. "Now scram. We're quite busy and we have no time to entertain any pointless shenanigans you and your friends might be up to."
Elena resisted the urge to scoff and roll her eyes in annoyance, choosing to nod before leaving, since getting into an argument with a girl who was a thousand times stronger than her with a fiery temper was not a good idea. The doppelgänger had no intention of testing Rebekah's patience, having had a glimpse of what the blonde was capable of while in a bad mood.
After Elena left and closed the front door behind her, Rebekah turned to Gwen and lifted the bag in her hand. "I got what you asked," she said as she handed over the bag to the young hybrid. "And let me just say that it was no easy task. The apothecaries of modern times have pills to spare but nothing original," she said with a huff.
"Well, thank you very much. I'll get right on this," Gwen said before leaving the foyer with Rebekah following behind her.
"You're very welcome," said the thousand-year-old vampire.
"If you don't mind," Gwen began as they entered the kitchen, "can you tell me why you don't like Elena?" She placed the book and bag on the island's countertop as she looked at Rebekah, who stood with her hip leaning against the island. "I mean, it's not that I like her or anything myself, but…" she paused as she cleared her throat, not knowing how to phrase her thoughts. She just wanted to get to know the vampire better and understand her perspective, and she had to start somewhere. "I don't know." The halfling shook her head. "I feel like there's more as to why you don't like her, and I was just being the curious cat." She headed to some cabinets in search of a bowl.
Rebekah sighed, "You're not wrong." Her eyes fell on her nails, looking them over for any imperfection. "It's staggering how much she looks like Tatia." She huffed as she looked around the kitchen. "I also despised that woman."
"Tatia?" Gwen frowned as she looked at Rebekah with a bowl in hand.
"Yes, the original tramp," Rebekah scoffed as she folded her arms over her chest. "Before we became what we are…" she began but paused and looked at Gwen. "You know that story, right?"
Gwen nodded, familiar with the tale about how and why the Original family became vampires. "Yeah, Nik told me about it."
"Well, before we became what we are, Nik and Elijah were in love with the same girl. While she was a kind woman and a devoted mother, I never warmed up to her, not with how she strung along both of my brothers," Rebekah said as she recalled memories from centuries past. "Their silly infatuation with a woman who couldn't decide on who to choose resulted in my brothers becoming estranged for a time, even coming to blows." She looked at Gwen. "I hated her for that." She released a sarcastic chuckle. "I never got the chance to meet her, but I hear that Katerina was no different by coming between my brothers."
"History likes to repeat itself," Gwen stated, given that Elena was also in a love triangle with two brothers who were in love with her. "Is that their thing?" she jokingly asked, hugging the bowl to her abdomen. "Having brothers fall for them?"
"Probably a love curse of some sort," Rebekah supplied. "And I may be projecting things from the past onto the doppelgänger of this era, but she seems to be walking the same path as her ancestors. She's just as fake as the rest of them." Her brows furrowed. "I mean, how hard is it to choose the person you cannot live without?"
"I completely agree. One should know who their greatest love is," Gwen supplied with a shrug of her shoulders. "And it's not that I'm making excuses, but Elena probably doesn't want to lose one by choosing the other."
Rebekah deadpanned. "Someone is still going to suffer. And it is a rather miserable life she must lead if she can't come to terms with what she feels, which wastes everyone's time and causes more pain."
"It's a good thing we don't have that problem," Gwen said as she went over to the sink, filling up the bowl with some water.
"Thank goodness for that," Rebekah breathed out a chuckle. "Are you a fellow hopeless romantic?"
"I like to think I am," Gwen chuckled and walked to the island, placing the bowl on the countertop. "I have my own love curse, Bex, and its name is Niklaus." She picked up the brown bag and took out the yarrow and arnica that were inside small plastic bags. "I highly doubt I'll be able to experience true love with the way things are now." She released a heavy exhale, her shoulders sagging in defeat. "Nik wouldn't allow it."
"You're preaching to the choir, my sweet. My brother will always have the tendency of destroying any happiness we might find without him, his paranoia and fear of being alone won't stand for such a thing to happen." Rebekah sat on a stool at the island before her eyes landed on the book Gwen had picked out to read. "What have we here?" she hummed as she grabbed the book, recognizing the title. "If it isn't Tolstoy," she sighed as she opened the book to leaf through it. "Good choice, but I hope you have no problem with tragedy. This story is no fairy tale, Weny."
"I admit that I have a preference for happy endings," Gwen said as she dropped the plants in the bowl, watching them float.
"I knew it," Rebekah said with a knowing grin.
"But I think that there is a bit of beauty in tragedy," Gwen said, but then added, "sometimes."
"I thought you'd prefer something like Pride and Prejudice," Rebekah remarked, placing the book down to look up at Gwen. "You're like Jane Bennet in both beauty and how you prefer to see the good in others, much like you do with my brother." Her eyes narrowed on the halfling. "And much like you're doing with me. Are my assumptions correct?"
"Maybe." Gwen shrugged with a smile. "And, if you must know, Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites."
"I knew it," Rebekah chuckled.
Rebekah watched as Gwen closed her eyes and had her hands hover over the bowl. The young hybrid focused on the plants in the bowl and her hands began to glow green before small particles of light fell into the bowl, which caused the ingredients to react as the plants spun with the swirling water.
The Original vampire was amazed by what she was seeing, given that it had been a long time since she last saw faerie magic.
After Gwen opened her eyes, she looked down at the bowl where the mixed ingredients had turned into a liquid paste that turned into a light green.
"What did you do?" Rebekah asked with raised eyebrows as she tried to peek into the bowl, genuinely curious as to what Gwen had done.
"I activated the healing properties of the plants with my magic and mixed them in the water to make an ointment to apply to my wounds. I could have made it to be consumed orally, but it just tastes too bad," Gwen explained, her face scrunching up when she recalled the unsettling flavor of pastes that she had made in the past. "The yarrow will help with the cut and the arnica is for the pain and bruising. With my magic, I speed up the healing process a bit." She shook the bowl a bit to move the contents, inspecting it. "I'll just apply it before taking a shower."
Rebekah hummed as she nodded, placing her chin on her right hand that was propped up with an elbow on the island's counter. "I am aware that it doesn't work on pureblood faeries but are you sure that vampire blood does nothing for you?" she asked, preferring to help Gwen with a faster method. She lifted her left hand and showed her wrist to the younger girl. "I have lots of it to spare."
"Nik's tried before," Gwen said, remembering the couple of times Klaus had fed her his blood in hopes that a wound would heal faster, but it never worked. "If it were a small amount, it wouldn't do anything except make me feel a bit off." She remembered the effects vampire blood had on her as if she were coming down with the flu. "If I ingest a large amount, I get sick and throw it up."
"Oh." Rebekah pouted. "That sucks, but I guess I understand. Faerie blood is such a rare and powerful thing."
"June said that it has to do with the blood keeping itself and the faerie pure," Gwen explained. "She's still trying to understand faerie blood, so I give her a bit now and then to let her tinker with it."
"Good to know," Rebekah exhaled. "So, let's get to know each other better."
Gwen smiled at Rebekah. "Now?"
Rebekah nodded. "How do you want to start?"
"Well," Gwen hummed, "we can start by watching movies. It's kind of a good way to bond and stuff in modern times. It also helps break the ice."
"Let's do that!" Rebekah clapped with an excited smile. "What do you recommend?"
"I love musicals and comedy and some action and romance." She laughed at Rebekah's raised eyebrow. "Okay, so I like a bit of everything, but one of my favorites is The Princess Bride," said Gwen, smiling. "Nik gave me both the novel and the movie as a gift for my fourth birthday." Her mind goes to her book that was safely stored in her suitcase upstairs.
Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "The Princess Bride?"
Gwen stared at Rebekah with furrowed brows. "Right, you've been in a coffin for ninety years or so, which means you've missed out on a lot of things, but we're going to fix that," she said as she picked up both the bowl with the paste and her book in one hand. "Let's make today a movie day."
"Movie day?" Rebekah said, grinning.
"Yes," Gwen said as she grabbed Rebekah by her wrist to pull her along behind her to lead them to her bedroom to use her laptop to watch movies. "I am going to introduce you to the wonders of motion pictures you've missed, starting with The Princess Bride and a few classics."
End of chapter!
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. We're finally getting close to some action, so stay tuned.
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