4x22
Sorry for the wait, but I was taking a break from writing ( more commonly called writer block, on another story )
One world apart, part 18: Ghosts
Alaric was keeping an eye on his cousin when it happened.
Magdalena turned around, and saw him. There was no question as to why she had frozen on the spot, staring at him as if he shouldn't be there, because he wasn't supposed to be there and visible. Ric felt it, too. It wasn't the same anymore.
He was present again. Not only a presence, but here. If he reached out to his cousin, and tried to touch her, he just knew he could feel her skin under his fingers. If he spoke, everyone would hear him. If Elizabeth Forbes, who was currently speaking with one of her deputies on the phone, looked in his direction, she would see him. Just as Magdalena was seeing him right now.
Mag tried to speak, but only a strangled sound passed her lips. The noise of the tempest outside covered that sound, and the sheriff didn't think of turning around, as she hadn't heard it.
A knot untied itself in Alaric's throat, and the ghost laughed nervously, but quietly.
"The Veil has been dropped..."
Bonnie had done it. The ghost wasn't sure why she had done it, but she had managed to do it... And it meant... It meant that all the vengeful spirits around Mystic Falls could wreck havoc however they wanted. It also meant that Silas had gotten what he wanted, or part of it at least.
Alaric gritted his teeth, as he came to a decision.
Gesturing for Magdalena to follow him, he found a discreet place where no one would notice that Alaric Saltzman was back in town, or worse, where no deputies would notice that a dead vampire was walking around again. He couldn't afford to be stopped now. Not right away, if anything.
The redhead followed her deceased cousin without hesitation, but as soon as they were out of sight, she allowed herself to freak out.
"What the hell is going on here?! I thought you were dead!"
Ric hissed an answer between his teeth.
"Of course I am. Eight times, if you want to be precise. I am a ghost, remember!"
Residual anger crept up his spin, and before he knew it, the veins under his eyes had gone black, while his sclerae turned to red without his consent. Magdalena took a step back, not exactly scared by the vampire before her, but pretty shaken to see it happen to her cousin of all people. Alaric felt the change, and witnessed her reaction, so he forced himself to take a deep breath. His vampire features went back to their human state.
"Right. Sorry for that. Now listen carefully: the Veil that stopped the dead on the Other Side to interact with the living fell down just a few minutes ago, that's why you can see me. And it's very bad news. I want you to speak with the sheriff, and the two of you to coordinate the sheriff department's actions. You will have a lot of dead supernatural beings in town, and not all of them will be kind. If one acts, kill them, and take the body to the clearing out of town, a few kilometers from the road. Liz will know. Someone will have to stay there, tie them up, and kill them again, and again, and again, because ghosts can't die."
Mag blinked as she processed what he had just told her, but soon enough she was nodding. Killing dead people. Sure. No problem. She could do that.
"I'll take the first shift, then. Do you know how long it will take to have things back in order?"
Alaric's expression fell a bit, as he realized he would soon be back into ghostland, but he didn't let it affect him.
"Not too long, I hope. That's why I can't take care of it myself: I have to see how to put the Veil back into place with the others."
Magdalena understood that, but just as she was going to speak, the door of the empty room opened, revealing the sheriff. Liz Forbes' eyes zeroed on Alaric, and she almost choked out of surprise. Mag prevented that by patting her on the back and closing the door again behind the sheriff.
Ric gave the both of them an apologetic smile.
"I trust you to do what needs to be done, Mag. And remember, no hesitation."
He headed for the door, but turned one last time to look at the sheriff.
"About what happened..."
Elizabeth managed a smile, and waved him off. She hoped she was doing the right thing by letting him go, but she was being realistic; not only was the history teacher a ghost, and so impossible to kill, but he was also an enhanced Original vampire. He could kill her in a single move if he wanted, and unless she soaked him with a full basket of vervain, there was no point in even trying to stop him. Even the sunlight was absent that day, courtesy of the supernatural storm above their heads.
"Damon explained what happened. It wasn't really you."
"Sort of, I guess, but I am still sorry."
The ghost left the two women together, knowing he couldn't have found two humans more qualified for the job if he had had the time to search. He only hoped they would suffice, given the enormity of the task he had just given them.
He and the others needed to focus on the Silas problem, they didn't have much of a choice...
As he left the hospital, he crossed path with two nurses hurrying from an ambulance which had just arrived. A teenager had apparently been unlucky, and a tree, weakened by the storm, had fallen right upon his leg. The boy looked at him through the mist of pain.
"Mr. Saltzman...? You're back in town..."
The ghost stopped, eyes fixed on the blood he could see, and smell, dripping off the boy's leg. Strangely, he wasn't feeling the thirst and the need to feed, but he guessed it was because he was still a ghost, even if he was corporeal.
"Yeah, Samuel, I'm back."
Ric frowned, wondering what exactly it meant about his abilities right now, as both a ghost and a vampire. He knew he couldn't teleport anymore, surely because he was corporeal as long as the Veil stayed down, or else he'd already be where Damon was. He could feel the unnatural strength his vampiric nature gave him, and he had a feeling he still had the superhuman speed, but the rest...
An idea came to him, and he grabbed the arm of the nearest nurse. The woman turned to look at him, about to lash out if needed, but he didn't let her go so far. Her eyes fell right into his, and she relaxed.
"You won't remember what I'm about to do. In fact, you haven't seen me at all."
The nurse repeated his orders with a dull tone, and Alaric knew he had successfully compelled her. That, at least, was still possible.
The other nurse looked up from her patient, to call her colleague for help, but she only stared into the ghost's eyes. He told her the very same thing, before turning to the teenager who was looking at him with big eyes. In an instant, Alaric compelled him too. Only then did he bite his left wrist and forced some blood down the boy's throat.
The effects were quick. Ric held Samuel's leg into the right position, forcing the bones back in place, while his blood healed the other damages. The teenager strangled a scream, as he had been ordered to, for it hurt a lot, but before long he wasn't feeling as bad anymore. Completely dumbfounded, the boy stood up, and tried to walk.
He couldn't refrain a small cry when he leaned onto his formerly-broken leg.
"Careful, Samuel. Your leg is still weak, so you'd rather not force on it like that. Go inside, and stay there until the storm ends, alright?"
"I won't go out until the end of the storm."
Alaric winced at the dull tone, no less convinced compulsion wasn't the right way to do it, but he ignored the slightly guilty feeling in his chest.
The ghost turned to look at the street, and smiled grimly.
"So compulsion works, and my blood is efficient, eh? I guess I have all my vampiric powers, and weaknesses too. The only ghostly point being, I can't be killed definitely..."
Not that it changed anything, considering he wasn't a regular vampire, and the ways to kill him definitely were surely scarce and difficult to find. But at least, he still didn't need to feed... That was a plus.
And he left the hospital in a blur. Two nurses and a teenager were wondering what exactly had happened during the last minutes, but they would not find an answer anytime soon.
Of course, things didn't go so simply, even after he left the hospital.
As running at high speed could easily become disconcerting, especially for a vampire like him, who hadn't had much time to get used to it, Ric stopped here and there, to get a clearer look at his current location. He knew Damon and the others had left for the high school, and it almost made him laugh, how everything seemed to remind him of his life, even the place where Bonnie was doing her witchy things. It wouldn't take him long to get to the school, but even with vampire speed, it'd take a few minutes.
About halfway there, the ghost stopped at a crossroad...
And three ghosts were there, almost snarling at him. The teacher rolled his eyes, recognizing them to be some of the vampires he had slain since he had taken the mantle of vampire hunter, arriving in Mystic Falls. Sure, they were dead, so he couldn't ask if they had a death wish, but still... They had to know he could take them on easily, right?
"You are not getting away, hunter!"
Maybe they were a bit slow on the uptake. Maybe they hadn't been around when his alter-ego had gotten himself, meaning, him too, transformed into a super vampire. Maybe they simply didn't care.
"Do we really have to do this?"
A female vampire sneered at him, and the two others followed her lead.
"Oh yes, we have to! None of us appreciated being staked, you know, and we will make you regret it."
Ric muttered under his breath.
"Believe me, I already do..."
One of the ghosts blurred to him, fist ready for impact, but the enhanced Original simply took a step back. Then he punched the attacker so hard the guy's head almost flew off his neck. What was certain, was that his neck broke, but since a broken neck didn't take that much time to get back into place, the hunter decided to do more.
In the blink of an eye, Ric was right before the still-flying / not-completely-fallen-yet body, one hand on the head, the other on the ghost's neck. He twisted hard, and the head fell on the ground... but not in the same place as the rest of the body.
The ghost of the hunter rubbed his hands, a pleased smile on his lips. One ghost out of three, now out for some time.
...Even if Alaric had no idea how much time it actually was. No ghost-friendly manual in sight.
If he was lucky, it could be for a few hours. After all, getting one's head back had to be longer than simply undoing a twisted, but still attached, neck.
Then he turned to look at the two others ghosts, who didn't disappoint him in the least. Not a second later, the two of them were at his throat...
Or tried to be at his throat.
Ric swept their legs off the ground with a sigh. They fell hard, head against the ground, and the female one bled a bit from the head, even if it healed right away. They were still conscious, though.
He ripped out the male's heart, and pressed a foot against the female's throat.
"How the freaking hell did you..."
She couldn't finish her sentence, the pressure on her windpipe getting stronger the moment she began to speak. Alaric smiled, but it looked more like a grimace, truth be told.
"News update, Sweetie, only supernatural beings go to the Other Side after their death. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been a vampire when I died. Moreover, I was already a cursed man, with the best killing instincts on the market, before that, and I was turned by the Original witch, who made me even stronger than the other Originals. You are waaaay out of your league, going after me..."
He drawled that last part, feeling the anger he had kept at bay during his time as a ghost about to break out. Now that he could actually interact with the world, the hunter didn't feel like keeping it in anymore.
"Besides, I'm pissed off right now."
And he crushed her neck savagely.
Ric watched the bodies with contempt for a time, but finally decided he'd better call Magdalena. If he was lucky, the Sheriff's Office could come and collect the bodies before the ghosts came back to themselves. He wasn't fancying having to deal with them, again.
"So, back to business. I'm pretty sure Damon needs someone to save his ass, right now..."
