"They say that the loveliest angels make the cruelest demons
and my darling,
you were so kind and beautiful
before they dragged you to hell
your fall was not an accident.
You were chosen for the damned "
~C.K.~
Their trip to New York had been eventful, to say the least. To her utter relief Damon, Isadora, and Roman had all gotten along well enough. Which she was considering the best part of the whole trip. Marcella had been worried, those two were fiercely protective of her and not at all the biggest fan of vampires in general. Something about presumed arrogance, bloodshed, murder, yadda yadda, she usually stopped listening to their rants about the rest of the supernatural community after the first minute. Like she did to Caroline when her sister started ranting about Elena Gilbert. Which brought her to the next big revelation of their trip.
Damon was finally in the know. Niklaus told them both about the ritual of the sun and moon, -well the fake one about werewolves and not the real one about being a hybrid-, Marcella was just glad that Damon was aware and that she hadn't been the one to tell him. Trying to warn him about Katerina's deceit had proven to her that she wouldn't always be able to confront him straight on with her insight. She was crafty though and determined to make it work.
Niklaus promised to look into Katerina's sudden reappearance and had told them that he would be dropping in on them soon. Marcella had grinned, excited by the prospect of it all of change and things working out the way she wanted too. Damon had rolled his eyes at the declaration from the thousand year old original as if he didn't care. She could already tell that these two idiots were going to but heads constantly.
But they weren't enemies and at the end of the day that was the important thing.
After his declaration of impending doom -for the rest of the Mystic Fall crew that is, Niklaus would never harm her or those she considered hers- Marcella might have let it slip that he should probably look into way to keep the human doppelganger alive and human. She hadn't forgotten about the little piece of information, hadn't forgotten about that tiny detail, Marcella had remembered just how spiteful Ester had been. How vindictive the witches were in general, how blinded, and bound they were to the natures rules. Marcella hated rules.
Children never liked being told what to do.
He'd cocked a brow at her when she'd mentioned but nodded his head taking her seriously. Niklaus hadn't forgotten their first meeting. He had not forgotten the knowing, the haunted look in her gaze, how she seemed to know him. Klaus was well past the point of overlooking childish whims, and playful guise, he would not be fooled by them this time around. His brother wouldn't get the best of him again, he'd learned from those past mistakes.
They bid New York and Niklaus goodbye. Everything was going according to her whim, all was right in the world of Marcella Eden Forbes. She felt like nothing would ruin the triumph high she felt, nothing would dare. Marcella didn't like to be wrong.
She would have continued on with her high if none other than Elena Gilbert hadn't shown up on her doorstep a few days after they returned from their trip. The brunette looked flustered, like she really didn't want to be here, as if whatever she was about do irritated her. Marcella had opened the front door normally smiled at her sister's friend like she hadn't signed a death sentence for the teen and stepped out onto the front porch to greet her.
"Morning Elena, if you're looking for Caroline she's headed over to the Lockwoods to help get ready for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant." Marcella tells the taller girl, but Elena shakes her head.
"I'm not looking for Caroline, actually I was looking for you. Can we talk?" Elena asks, and Marcella just nods. Unsuspecting and slightly confused.
"Sure, everything okay? You look a little flustered." Marcella takes a step forward placing a hand on the older girl's arm. Trying her best to be empathetic, despite the fact that she really didn't like the Gilbert girl. Honey, not vinegar.
She'd been better off if she'd never opened that door.
Elena grins wickedly, lips curly slightly followed by inhuman speed and strength her hands are around the neck of the small blonde girl. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to mind your own business." She hisses, tightening her grip in spite of the fearful gaze in the girl's eyes and her desperate attempt to claw her way out of the brunette's grasp.
"Katherine." She manages to choke out, breathy from struggling.
The brunette grows bored of watching the little girl struggle, her amusement gone now it was time to end it. With a twist of her hands, and a fast turn the vampire snaps the meddling human's neck. Katherine grins lifts the lifeless blonde and strolls away from the Forbes front porch.
No one got the best of Katherine Pierce.
Especially stupid little girls.
…
Damon hadn't heard from her all day, which was only slightly unusual for his princess. He hadn't given it much thought other than she'd bother him later he was sure, probably to get dinner or something like that. It isn't until he gets a call from the sheriff late that evening that he even begins the feel a sense of panic for his princess.
"Liz, to what do I owe this pleasure?" He answers cockily as he picks up his cell and takes the call. All bravado is lost when Liz's panic is heard on the other end of the receiver.
"Is Marcella with you?" Damon drops the act when that particular question is asked. He can hear the fear in the woman's voice, the trembling on her tongue. Something is wrong, something is terribly wrong.
"No, she hasn't been over today. What's wrong Liz?" He asks, while reaching for his keys and pulling on his coat. Something has happened to his princess, and whoever is responsible is going to pay.
"Just get to the house quickly, Marcella's missing." Is the abrupt answer from the other end and then he's met by silence. Liz had hung up the phone. She didn't have to tell him twice, Damon would be irradiated by the apart lack of manners the Forbes women seemed to possess later.
Once whoever had dared to take what was drained of their blood. No one hurt what was his. Marcella was his. Had been for a long time. He wouldn't stop looking for her, he'd bathe the town in blood if he hand too. The world if he must. Someone was playing a dangerous game of poke the bear and they'd just awoken a feral beast.
…
When Marcella came too everything hurt. Her limbs felt like they'd been in a blender, then thrown on a pyre. She felt fatigued, drained, and more alive than she ever had. Must be fading adrenaline, her fight or flight senses in a frenzy tangled together unceremoniously as if uncertain of what they wanted. The pinging at the back of her head didn't help either, the pounding headache and the burning feeling in her throat starting in her longs.
In that moment she felt as if her body was doing everything in its power not to combust. Fire and ice catching in her limbs. Burning to move but frozen completely in place. She forces her eyes to open, only to see nothing but the dark of the forest around her. Her hand dug into the wet
cold leaves around her as she pulls herself off the forest floor.
Once standing, when her senses are fully aware does the memory come flooding back. The dull ache in her neck more prominent than just phantom pains. There was suddenly a completely different reason for the burning sensation in her throat. Marcella was going ripped Katerina's heart from her chest the next time she saw the bitch.
Because this, this had never been apart of the plan.
Marcella does a quick pat down of her person, dislodging the stuck wet leaves as she goes, trying to find her phone. She sighs in relief once she discovers its location is still stashed in her bra. Quickly she pulls it out of the fabric trap, half full battery life, she smiles at the fact trying to ignore the pang in her heart when she sees all the missed calls from her mother. From her sister and from Damon. Tries to ignore the fear in her core of how they'll react to the news.
Instead she does the only logical thing in that moment, she calls Damon to come pick her up. It rings once before it's picked up and a brash where are you can be heard from the other end before she can even get two words in. Marcella pushes back the laugh that wants to roll off her tongue at that reaction.
"I need you to come get me, and you need to bring a blood bag." She tells him sharply. The whirring noise in her skull growing louder and more annoying by the minute, the pounding, the burning getting more aggressive.
The hunger rearing its ugly head like a ferocious beast. She needed to complete the transition and she needed to complete it soon. Marcella presses her back into the tree she'd woken up under. Phone still pressed to her ear she can hear the sharp intake of Damon's breathing even from over the phone, she supposed that was the heightened hearing.
"No. Dammit!" He growls from his end of the device, she shakes her head even though she knows he can't see it. Damon asks where she is again this time it's not as desperate, it's soft with the hint of resigned melancholy.
Marcella takes that second to try and determine her location. She curses when she realizes just how close she is to the Salvatore property line, if the vague marking of the old crypt in the distance is anything to go by. It's then that she realizes what Katerina's plan had been.
That bitch had wanted her body to be found. She'd wanted Damon to see.
"The old crypt on your property line I can see it. I'm going to walk towards it, meet me there." She tells him and then hangs up the phone. Tucking it back into place and ambling in the direction of home.
She tries not the think about how long her body would have stayed under that tree if she hadn't turned. She tries not to think of the agony her mother and sister would feel over her loss, of what would become of Damon with her disappearance. What Niklaus would do once he discovered that Damon had let her disappear on him. Or what Roman and Isadora would do once word got to her. Marcella knows better to torment herself with the what ifs and tries her best to forget them.
Instead she thinks about how lucky she is to have had Damon's blood in her system. That accidently cutting herself while chopping vegetables had been a blessing in disguise. Being a vampire wasn't the end of the world, it didn't' have to be. About how being frozen at sixteen wasn't the worst year to be stuck at.
"Thank god." She looks up, Damon's bright blue eyes illuminating in the darkness. Marcella can't help but to smirk slightly at his choice of words as she crashes into his taller frame.
He wraps his arms around her, she breathes in the strong scent of bourbon and blood wafting off of him. Stronger now than it's ever been. Damon pulls her close squeezing her tightly, before pulling away and holding out a bag of dark liquid. She can't help the frenzy she feels when her senses register what it is. What her body has been screaming for since she woke.
Blood.
Marcella rips into the bag fervently. Drinking the contents to the last sip and then she's throwing it at the ground as the reality finally settles in. Tears well in the corner of her eyes and she sobs. Damon's arms are around her again, he's catching her as the weight of it all gets the best of her and her knees buckle. Her humanity tears at her heart, crawls under her skin pulling her down.
"Shh.." He tries to sooth, running his hand through her tangled hair. Lifting her easily into his arms. Damon's heart aches at the sound of the sobs pouring from her lips. Marcella's grip on him tightens past what had been previously possible.
His best friend falls apart in his arms and there's nothing he can do. Her cries resonated deep within him the entire trek back to the boarding house. Determined to fix this as best as he could, but first he needed to get her inside before the sun came up.
Damon wouldn't let her turn to ash, not before she could set fire to their world. He had a promise to keep.
XOXOX
Bet you weren't expecting that…
Just want to say thank you again for all your kind words and warm thoughts. Over a hundred reviews on this story is just so bizzare to me! I never expected it to be liked this much, so thank you, thank you guys so much!
I hope that you all keep letting me know your thoughts and how you feel about how the story is going. It really does help me keep writing this, because then I know that you are all looking forward to the next chapter. Anticipating the next step, next bit of written word. Thank you so much!
The quote at the beginning belongs to a tumblr user.
Thank you for reading!
Have a wonderful day!
Sincerely, La'Rae