2.6 - The Fields Witches: A History
1864: Virginia
"Everything's set, Miss Katherine," a young woman spoke as she bowed her head politely to Katherine Pierce, who was propped up against a dainty stool as she primped her hair in the mirror and gazed admiringly at her reflection.
"Why thank you, Emily," Katherine replied without turning around, "After midnight, Damon, Stefan and I can finally be together, together forever." She muttered in her usual, distinctive sneer.
Emily Bennet raised her head at the sound of this statement, she wouldn't dare warn Miss Katherine against the dangers of messing with the two most noble gentlemen in Rosewood Falls. How could she tell Katherine that for Damon and Stefan to undergo their vampire transitions she would be violating a long-line of trust put forth by the rest of her witch ancestors and comrades who came before her?
"Miss Katherine, I must warn you, if this transition is complete, if I summon my powers to produce not one but two daylight rings for these boys, oversee their dual transitions, I'm not sure if I'll have enough, I don't know if I'll be able to live." Emily Bennet stopped. At the sound of her last few words, she had grabbed Katherine's attention.
Katherine zoomed towards Emily at vampire speed and tenderly stroked her cheek as if she were toying with a pet, "Emily, there's nothing to worry about. Everything should go accordingly. Now, if you would be so kind, make yourself useful and finish lacing my corset strings. I'm late to a date with Stefan Salvatore for this evening's summer festivities."
Reluctantly, Emily sighed to herself and obliged her 'friend's' orders. She knew that she couldn't summon the amount of power that Katherine Pierce was expecting her to. She needed help, and there was only one other witch that could help her: Rosella Fields.
"You have to tell her it can't be done, Emily. You can't keep sacrificing yourself and your powers for some vampire friend" Rosella Fields spoke through an angry, hushed, Southern tone. She had agreed to meet her witch friend, Emily Bennet in the woods - away from the prying, malicious eyes and ears of Katherine Pierce- to make one last effort that would convince Emily to betray her vampire 'friend' and re-join the supreme ranks of the Witches Council.
"That's why I need you to help me, Rosella." Emily replied through a pleading voice, "You're the only other witch I know who is powerful enough to help me with all of Katherine's schemes. I can't betray Katherine, Rosella. She knows too much about my past. About my family. The whole line of Bennet witches. Even your family."
Rosella rolled her eyes and cut Emily's sentence off. She couldn't take any more of her whining. "All right. I'll help you, but if anything happens to you, if you're content with risking your life, the lives of your family members and the rest of your little 'vampire' clan all because of one, selfish vampiress, I'll ensure that Katherine Pierce's whole entire line suffers and that, despite the amount of vampires that will prosper in this town for generations to come, there will always be a way, or a cure, to rid this world of that horrid species."
Fire engulfed the Salvatore mansion and the local church. After being exposed by Stefan Salvatore's father to the rest of the vampire hunters in Rosewood Falls, Katherine Pierce's plan had backfired completely and Emily Bennet's fears had come into fruition.
Emily Bennet and Rosella Fields stood in the middle of these two buildings, their arms and hands outstretched, their eyes completely white as they muttered continuous, ancient-like phrases under their breaths as they tried to contact generations of witches who could save them from this present chaos.
Suddenly, a young, pale-faced girl with raven-black hair ran between these two women, screaming in distress, "They've killed her! The men! They've killed my mother, Pearl!" she screamed, kneeling down towards these two witches as she tried to beg the two women for help, "Emily, Rosella, you have to stop this madness. You have to-"
Despite her screams, Emily could not rip herself away from the spell, she was now beginning to falter, she didn't know how long she could support herself through this dizzying spell madness.
"Hush child. There's no time for that now. You have to save yourself or those men will come for you next," Rosella whispered through a forceful tone to this crying young girl (or rather to the other young vampire, Annabelle - later known as Anna...).
Turning back towards Emily, she forced her friend to give up this magic, "Emily, go. Take Annabelle and go find the Salvatore Brothers. I won't allow you to lose your life over this, over these people."
Falling backwards from her previous stance, Emily lost complete control over the spell. Tearfully looking back at her friend, she grabbed Anna's hand and rushed hurriedly towards the woods without looking back. She couldn't bear to watch her friend die but she knew she would always be eternally grateful for her sacrifice.
Although she didn't look back, consumed by the obscene amount of magic around her, Rosella Fields slowly began to keel towards the ground until she eventually stopped moving.
1920: New Orleans, Louisiana
"My distant, distant ancestor, Rosella Fields created a spell that would protect our family from the existence of vampires. Legend has it the night she died tryin' to protect the Bennet witch, she used her last ounce of power to create a cure that would rid the world of vampires, and we are its sole protectors," Zerilda Fields muttered in her thick New Orleans, Creole accent.
"And what pray tell does my role play in all of this? I'm not a witch. I'm one of those vampires," Annabelle (or rather Anne) replied, as she crossed her arms defiantly over her chest.
Zerilda Fields smiled coyly at this naive yet precocious young girl, "Revenge, my dear girl." she whispered in a malicious tone, "Don't tell me you've really forgiven that selfish Katherine Pierce? Why, if it hadn't been for her actions to reunite with those Salvatore Brothers. Who knows? Maybe your dear mother would still be alive."
At the mention of her mother's name, Annabelle snarled her long teeth and prepared to pounce in attack on Zerilda.
However, in anticipation of her rushed actions, Zerilda moved her finger and brought Annabelle to her knees by simulating a pain that would rush through her entire brain and skull.
"Don't test me child. I need you to be on your best behavior. No one must know that the cure exists yet. When the time is right we will find that cure and destroy that Katherine Pierce once and for all. That selfish woman who stole our family and friends away from us for absolutely no reason. She will pay. And, if you agree to this, I may be able to bring your mother back to you. Just maybe."
1980: Chicago
"Hello Katherine," Anna spoke through a stone cold expression. After centuries of searching for the woman who was responsible for her mother's death, she had to restrain herself from ripping this vampiress' body open and letting her die right there on the floor of this (no doubt compelled) luxurious New York penthouse apartment.
Rolling her eyes, Katherine turned towards this young girl, "Wow, two old visitors in one week? How ever did I deserve to be so fortunate?" she replied sarcastically, referring to her former meeting with Stefan Salvatore.
"Oh stop with the nice act, Katherine." Annabelle snapped at her, "You betrayed us vampires and witches for those pathetic, love sick Salvatore Brothers. It's because of you that my mother is dead. My whole life in 1864 was ruined because of you -"
Looking smugly at Annabelle, Katherine sprinted towards her at vampire speed and pinned her to the ground, "Don't you dare! Your mother was my dearest, closest friend. I would never ever betray her. If you want someone to blame, blame the Salvatore family, or even that insane Jonathan GIlbert who was in love with your mother, because they're to blame for all of this, not m-"
Suddenly, Katherine stopped talking. As she stared at Anna who was struggling and wiggling underneath her vice grip, she had a brilliant idea come over her.
"Actually, there is a way that you could help me." Katherine whispered with a malicious, calculating grin on her face.
"Why would I help you?" Anna muttered, glaring back at Katherine, "What do you want?"
"Let's just say I have some unfinished business with the Salvatore brothers and I'm looking for some help to take them down, or more specifically, to destroy them,"
Anna stopped struggling and stood up hesitatingly, "I'll never help you, Katherine, even if you didn't cause the fire, your selfish actions put us all at risk in 1864, and I will never forgive you for that."
Bolting towards Katherine, Anna rushed towards her and snapped her neck. With a thud, Katherine fell to the ground in a temporary unconscious state. Then, nodding in approval of her actions, Anna smile confidently to herself, "Yeah, sleep now, bitch. I think I'm going rogue on this one."
Present Day: Rosewood Falls
"So let me get this straight, my great-great-ancestor, one of the founding witches in 1864 and your great great whatever ancestor were somehow best friends. Mine sacrificed her life for yours and..." Emily said to Bonnie, scratching her head as if she were trying to wrap her mind around all of this new information and history about her family.
"And Rosella and Zerilda Fields, two of the greatest witches in your clan were the protectors of the cure that could extinguish all vampires from the earth. When Rosella Fields died, Zerilda swore to take revenge on all vampires, whatever the cost." Bonnie muttered, as she gazed directly into Emily's confused and worried eyes. This had been the first time that she had seen Bonnie since the Halloween Dance and she couldn't help but feel guilty by unloading all of this new information on her.
"So, what does that make me?" Emily replied, her voice began to shake. Despite only learning about her witch powers last year when she was dating Bonnie, she hadn't found the courage to explore them after Bonnie had left town.
"As one of the protectors of this unknown cure, you are the only living witch who could unlock its location and the cure itself. That's why all of these new vampires are back in town. Also why I think that this insane -A person is here as well. That's what I called to warn you about Emily." Bonnie whispered hurriedly, as she started to reach out for Emily's hand.
Looking downwards ashamedly at her feet, Emily had a sudden flashback to Bonnie's old voicemail that she had deleted when she considering dating Jeremy.
Even though she couldn't read minds, Bonnie knew Emily never listened to her message, "Em. I know that this is hard."
Emily rolled her eyes, "Ugh. I'm tired of having this same conversation. First Jeremy, then you, then all this -A crap and now all of this witch insaneness, I can't take it!," she yelled, slamming both her hands to her face in exasperation.
Moving cautiously towards Emily, Bonnie placed her hands gently on her shoulders, "I know it's hard, Em. You don't have to make any decisions, even though I want you too, but in the meantime. I'm going to be here to help you. We can't let what happened to you at the Halloween Dance happen again. You can do this, Emily. For both our ancestor's sakes. You need to protect the cure away from all of the rest of the vampires who are after it at this present moment."
Emily looked towards Bonnie. Every time she looked at her, she felt an overwhelming sense of guilt: for Jeremy, for breaking up with Bonnie. She felt an aching pain in her heart every time she thought of any of this. She didn't know how to be herself nevertheless how to be a freaking witch, but all of this was bigger than her present situation, "Okay," she said with a slight sense of reluctance, "I'll do it. I can do it. Just teach me how to be a witch then."
