It had been a couple of days since Miss Mystic Falls and Cherith could count the days to her birthday already.
Leslie had begged so desperately to throw a party for her, similarly Caroline as well, but Cherith wasn't budging and she knew it would only be a matter of time before they either heeded to her or they just did whatever they wanted.
All in all, she'd basically given up anyways… they could do whatever they wanted to.
Cherith, on the other hand though, was plagued with the need to fly.
It had been on her mind desperately for days now and though Sheila had warned her that flight wasn't possible for their kind, it didn't stop her from wanting to try.
Especially since she wasn't a 'normal witch' anyways.
And so, that morning as she ate her breakfast, Jenna and John in the kitchen with her, she turned to her aunt.
"Hey Jens, I won't be back for a while after school okay? I have somewhere to be."
"Oh? Got a date?"
Jenna smirked, wiggling her eyebrows and Cherith and John both snorted at the exact same time.
"I kid you not aunty but I'm actually going hunting."
She smirked an John looked at her.
"Hunting? What for? And where exactly?"
"Sheesh"
Cherith grunted, enjoying her bacon.
"You sound like an old man. Anyways, I'm just heading out with a friend. Nothing so dastardly."
She smirked, amused and Jenna chuckled.
"Alright kiddo. Just come back home with your body intact. Especially since we'll be ordering your… 'totally spectacular car' today so it can arrive a few days after your birthday."
Cherith beamed.
"Yes. I can definitely not forget that, aunty. I mean… I love it more than I love you guys… it's going to be my first love. I'm gonna name her Maria… or, no… no, Romeo! Rrrrr!"
She purred, hand out in a clawing motion as she thought of her car and John shook his head as she snapped out of fantasy land and stood up, grabbing her bag.
"See you later oldies!"
She chirped and walked out, her black boots clanking against the floor.
Woods…
Cherith decided to skip half a day of school, especially since she had no other classes left for the day, and since it was just noon, she'd decided to cut her journey short as well.
She dropped her bag on the floor once she got to a nice clearing in the woods.
It was quiet except for the rustling wind and chirping birds as well as the occasional animals she spotted in the trees.
She sighed, grinning excitedly as she walked around in a circle.
She understood that she couldn't fly innately and so, she could possibly use her energy blasts to do the job for herself.
Taking a deep breath, she stopped, lighting her hands up and looking up at the sky, wondering how exactly she should do it.
She could try to propel herself up into the air with the energy concentrated in her hands, but she'd need momentum.
She took a deep breath again, gathering energy in her hand, and with a loud shout, let out a huge amount of energy from her hand which lifted her off the ground and about 6 feet off the ground, one leg raised higher than the other.
It was a great moment for Cherith as she let out a happy gasp, which turned to horror as she found herself falling the other way and she found herself on the ground, groaning in slight pain.
She turned, staring at the sky, glad she hadn't decided to wear white today.
She'd dressed in a slightly off white jeans, black boots and a long sleeved loose cream cardigan tucked into the jeans.
She frowned, sitting up.
She'd known she wouldn't get it right immediately.
"No use feeling disappointed at the first try."
She muttered, standing to her feet again and lighting her hands again.
It was going to be a long ass day.
It was a few hours into the day already when Cherith could feel herself making progress.
She could propel herself a few feet up in the air and stay that way for close to a minute.
And it felt… glorious!
She hadn't mastered it.
Not by a long short… but she was getting somewhere.
She landed slightly sloppily and looked up into the slightly darkening sky and frowned.
What would it be like… to be closer to the moon?
How quiet would it be…
She wondered why superman himself used to do it in the comics she read and wondered if that had been the reason, apart from being able to ear better as well.
She wanted to feel it… needed to know how it felt like.
Bad mistake on her part.
She lit up her hands again, building up the energy she'd need to propel herself high up in the sky as it needed to be a very large amount on its own.
Staring up at the sky, resolve tightening up, she let out a sharp cry and propelled herself up with such speed and strength that the blast startled her, shooting her high up into the sky, high above even the tallest of the trees and to the extent that she could see parts of the town from up.
And that was when she realized her mistake, as she came crashing down from the sky, letting out a panicked cry.
She pushed out small energy blast before she could hit a tree as she came down but that propelled her into another tree which she hit strongly and she fell dangerously, landing on a couple of branches before hitting the floor with a mighty thud.
Cherith bit her lip so as not to let out cries of pain as she hunched into herself, feeling the pain wracking through her body.
It felt like her whole nerves were on fire as she whimpered, staying that way for a few minutes, tears licking through her eyes.
She breathed in and out after a few minutes before turning to stare at the sky, coughing slightly and wincing when it hurt her rib area.
"Jenna's gonna kill me."
She groaned out, moving a hand to her right thigh that hurt a lot and winced slightly when she felt something wet and brought it to the little light that remained of the evening.
Yep. Blood.
She sighed, thinking of what to do.
If she went home like this… if she could, anyways… they'd take her to the hospital.
It was better if she took herself so if there was no lasting injury and it wasn't as serious as she felt, then no one would need to know.
She still remembered some nurses from when her father worked there, and she knew a doctor or two as well.
Letting out a shout, she sat up and grasped at her ribs, hoping none had broken and stared at her right outer thigh and grimaced.
There was a slightly long gash that tore through her trousers and into her skin and she had no idea if it was deep or not as blood stain covered a large part of her trouser.
She hoped it wasn't.
She was turning 16 soon, she didn't need to be nursing any wounds right now.
Forcing herself to her feet, she limped painfully to where her bag was and forced her way out of the forest, which took about 30 or so minutes of her time and the sky was dark out already.
She knew she'd look hideous to anyone who wondered into her right now.
Her hair was in disarray with leaves and tiny stick branches, her trouser was dirty and soaked in blood and she was clutching at her sided, bag on one hand.
She finally wondered into the street and thankfully there were some people around.
She counted her blessings then and there.
"Sorry…"
She croaked out in pain.
"Excuse me!"
2 people turned to her and they gasped, alerting others to what they'd seen and some rushed over to her.
"Oh my God! Are you okay young lady?"
A middle aged woman asked her softly and Cherith was just about to snap at the woman if she looked okay when she stumbled over a pavement and someone ran to help her.
"Someone call the ambulance!"
She heard a shout and she sighed, hoping this wouldn't be blown too out of proportion.
Mystic Falls General.
Cherith laid on a hospital bed, changed out of her dirty and bloodied clothes and in a hospital gown which brought back memories she didn't want nor need.
Her left wrist was bandaged up as well as part of her fingers.
Thankfully her ribs hadn't broken, just a bunch of them had been sprained so she was super sore there and a couple of bruises were appearing.
As for her right thigh, it hadn't been a deep cut—Halleluyah!
But It had been quite long and a bit wide so they stitched it.
They had told her no scar would be left when it healed completely and she was glad.
She was already a pale ass ruby haired. She didn't need another distinction like 'Oh, it's the pale red haired with that hideous scar on her leg.'
Now though… she was just waiting for Jenna and the gang to rush in and skewer her for landing in the hospital.
And just in time, the door to her hospital room slammed open, startling her as in came Jenna and Jeremy, looking as worried as ever.
Jenna gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth and Cherith rolled her eyes.
"Don't be so dramatic Jenna, I'm fine! Sheesh!"
Jeremy sighed, seeing she was okay and in one piece and flopped down on the chair by the bed, placing a hand to his chest.
"Cherith Gilbert! How the hell can I calm down?! Especially when I got a call from a freaking doctor telling me you had been brought in by an ambulance and to hurry over to Mystic Falls General!"
Cherith looked away, slightly guilty.
"I'm sorry Jenna."
Jenna cleaned slight tears from her eyes.
"What the hell happened anyways… how did… this, happen?"
Cherith bit her lip slightly, fiddling with her fingers.
"I fell in the woods."
Jenna's eyes widened.
"In the woods?! What the hell were you doing in the freaking woods?!"
Jenna sighed, rolling her eyes as Jeremy stared at his sister suspiciously.
"You know what? I should just go find the doctor or something. Here's the new clothes I brought for you from home. I'll be right back."
She dropped a small bag and left, Jeremy immediately rounding on his sister with an intimidating look that did nothing to her.
"Alright Cherith Gilbert. Spill. How did this happen?"
Cherith looked away.
"You don't scare me."
She mumbled and Jeremy groaned, frustrated.
"Just tell me Cherry! You're clearly super hurt! I know about your other witchy life, now tell me!"
Cherith snorted and winced, holding her stomach and his face softened.
"Fine… I was… I waslrninghwtfly."
Jeremy frowned, bringing his face forward.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I was learning how to fly! Sheesh! There! I said it!"
Jeremy's eyes widened as he sat up, closer to her.
"You were learning how to fly?! Wait… scratch that, you can fly?!"
He questioned her, slight excitement in his eyes and Cherith smirked.
"Heck yeah! I can… it's not as easy as It seems too, mind you! My ribs fucking hurt…"
She groaned pitifully and Jeremy calmed down, seeing how weak she looked on the bed and memories of the car crash played in his mind and he swallowed painfully.
"Just… please be careful Cherith… I get that you want to master your powers and all, but… please… I can't loose you too."
He added, a slightly desperate twinge to his voice and Cherith's face softened, guilt eating at her again.
"Alright. I promise."
She nodded.
"I'll be super careful from now on. Protective gears only."
"Cherith!"
She chuckled as softly as she could and a smile grew on Jeremy's face before he frowned, remembering something he had been meaning to question her about for over a week now.
"Hey Cherith…"
"Yeah?"
"… Do you know how Vick—"
The door slammed open again, startling the two in the room as John Gilbert rushed in, a slightly desperate look in his eyes which calmed as he saw Cherith seemingly okay, except for the bandage on her wrist and the one wrapped around her thigh to just above her knee from what he could see as she laid on the bed, covers shifted to one side.
"What the hell happened here?"
He questioned, walking over to the two and Cherith sighed.
"I fell in the woods."
"You fell. In the woods."
He repeated fully and she gave him an irritating glare.
"What the hell were you doing in the—"
He suddenly realized something.
"Wait… were you actually serious about going hunting?!"
Cherith looked away and he looked at her frustrated.
"You didn't even carry any hunting rifle! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
"Is it working?"
She chirped at him brightly, looking all innocent and porcelain like and Jeremy snickered behind his hand.
"Cherith!"
John reprimanded her and she sighed.
"Fine, whatever. I'll borrow a gun from you when next I'm going on my hunting expedition."
John gave her a look, breathing in and out, frustrated.
"How are you? What did the doctor say?"
This time Jeremy spoke up.
"Jenna went to go ask. She went that way."
He pointed a direction for John who nodded and began walking out.
"I'll be right back… and after all this… you and I are going to discuss why it's bad for you entering the woods when multiple animal attacks are still being reported."
He pointed sternly at her and left.
"Ugh! Glad that's over. So much adults… it's annoying."
Jeremy smirked.
"You do realize Elena is also going to rant right?"
Cherith groaned.
"Damn! I should have just learnt to heal myself instead of focusing on my flight abilities."
Jeremy raised an eyebrow.
"Healing?! You have healing powers too?! What are you, low budget Jesus?!"
Cherith glared at him and huffed.
"Shut up, you ass!"
A few minutes later, Cherith had been cleared to leave, as long as she went with a pair of crutches so as not to disturb her stitches.
She changed into a pair of loose jeans and a light pink top, John excusing himself as he had some, business, to do.
Jeremy helped her into Jenna's car and they were soon back home, Cherith laying on her bed.
She idly wondered where Elena was and felt slightly disappointed that she hadn't even seemed that worried about her.
As much of a dick as John was, he'd still found the time to check up on her in the hospital.
"Well! It let's you know where one's loyalty lay."
She sighed out, finally in her PJs, as she raised her shirt up, staring at the slight bruises on her sides.
She brushed her hand around it lightly.
They were bruised, just like her face had been before when that dick Lockwood had punched her.
That meant it should be possible for her to heal herself up again.
She slowly channeled some magic into the tips of her fingers, watching as crimson mist emanated from it and brought her hand down on her ribs and the crimson mist seemed to seep out of her hand and into her bruised skin, and like time went back, the bruises disappeared as well as her pain and she let out a soft laugh, grinning at her job well done.
Even when it seemed like she wasn't going far knowledge wise with what she was, she seemed to be developing her powers little by little, after all, any progress was still progress on its own.
With a yawn, she turned slightly on her bed, knowing she also couldn't do anything with her left wrist yet so as not to make people suspicious, getting ready to fall asleep when she heard a knock on her door.
Thinking it was Elena, she turned slightly.
"It's open!"
She called out and Jeremy walked in instead, making her feel slightly disappointed.
"Oh. Hey bro, what brings you to my humble abode?"
"Alright, I need to talk to you."
He said, looking serious as he sat at the edge of her bed and Cherith frowned, sitting up slowly.
"What's wrong?"
"I need to ask you something. Something important… and you need to be one hundred percent honest with me Cherry. I won't be happy if you also lie to me."
Cherith frowned, now more confused.
"Uh, sure! Fire away!"
"Do you know how Vicki died?"
He questioned her lowly, looking into her eyes for any sign of deceit and she frowned, looking at him oddly.
"What? Vicki?... She OD'd. Isn't that it?"
"Are you lying to me? Cause, I swear to God—"
"Jeremy! What the hell is wrong with you?? How else could she have died and how the hell would I know?!"
She spat out, now angry as she glared at her brother and Jeremy realized she had no idea about it and sighed with relief.
"You don't know."
Cherith frowned at him.
"Know what exactly? Jeremy, I swear—"
"She was killed. Stake to the heart."
That silenced Cherith as she stared at him, speechless.
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out.
"H-how… what… stake?... What happened?"
She asked him, looking confused.
"I read Elena's diary."
Cherith looked at him incredulously.
"Really?! Geez! Thank God I don't pour my heart out to a snitching ass book!"
She mumbled.
"Apparently, she had been changed… into a freaking Vampire. And she'd tried to attack me, and Elena… and she was killed… murdered!"
He spat out and Cherith's insides turned cold.
How had she not known about this?!
Why hadn't Elena even told her?!
"I thought you knew and I was pretty much angry with you for a time."
Cherith turned to him, slight betrayal in her eyes.
"Really? After I told you what I was do you think I wouldn't reveal something this… horrific to you??"
He looked at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry I just… I had hoped I could trust you to tell me whatever I need to know, and I'm glad I can. I just… things have been rather hectic and at the end of the day, it just means Elena lied to the both of us and took away my memory. I'm… sort of glad that I don't have the memory of Vicki being a… monster, it still doesn't change the fact that she took away my right to choose. To make my own decisions. Because at the end of the day, even if I don't remember her face that night... there's still this... feeling, of loss I've always felt, this darkness... I never knew why it was there, but anytime I thought about Vicki, it washed over me."
Cherith swallowed, suddenly feeling only bitterness for her sister.
As the days were passing by, it seemed Elena was slowly making her two siblings lose their trust in her, and it would be really difficult for her to ever gain it back.
Mystic Grill.
Late that night, Alaric is at the Grill, drinking as he had quite a lot on his mind, including his once thought dead wife, who was apparently now a vampire, and also his students mother.
A student whose aunt he was also dating.
He sighed, taking a shot, thinking when his life had gotten so much like an opera.
He heard the seat next to him by the bar get occupied but didn't bother looking up as it wasn't his business.
"Hello Ric…"
A soft and very familiar voice brought him out of his thoughts as he dropped his drink, looking down slightly for a minute, before turning to the woman whose death had plagued his dream for a long time now.
"Isobel…"
He greeted her and she smiled sweetly at him, a smirk threatening to break free.
She was in town again.
HI guys!So I decided to make our dearest Cherith start learning flight like she'd always wanted to do.Sadly for her, she realized it wasn't as easy as the comic books and movies she'd watched put it.Then again when superman was learning how to fly he rammed into mountains and the like. Cherith is not as durable though.Poor girl, lol.And damn you Elena!Stop putting vamps over your family, sheesh!Don't worry, Cherith has learnt the basis already. It'll take her a while to actively try it out though, after what she just went through... But we now know, the queen acquired flight skills!
