Chapter Seven

Trauma

Suspended from the ceiling… swaying side to side… wrists bound in chains as a pool of blood spread beneath her. The scent of copper and rust: it was her blood, dripping from her neck. Tatia was covered in puncture wounds—shoulders, thighs; he hadn't spared her from the lethal bite of his fangs.

"Answer me, slave!"

The stinging kiss of a whip cracked against her back, leaving welt marks that would bleed if he whipped her one more time.

Tatia's painful cries echoed in the dungeon when she felt the weight of his whip, ruthlessly flogging her over and over until her back was covered in a tree of blood. Crimson branches, dripping, marking her delicate skin. He had marked her, claimed her.

"Please," she begged. "Please, Master…"

He had broken her. She was beaten and battered, left to bleed out.

"I beg of you," Tatia sobbed.

All her strength escaped her as she went limp, bowing her head in surrender. Every muscle in her body ached. Her wrists were shackled in iron cuffs, stretched above her head to the ceiling. Those chains were the only thing supporting her weight, lest she collapsed.

Her cheeks were drenched in tears, spilling to the floor.

Elijah Mikaelson opened his grip and allowed the whip to fall. Like a dangerous predator he circled his prey as Tatia continued to beg for mercy. He stopped in front of her and clutched her throat.

"Such a pretty little thing." He flashed a wicked grin.

Tatia raised her heavy eyelids and stared into the eyes of the man she loved—except that man had disappeared. In that moment, the only thing she was staring at was a monster: a sinister being that hid behind the man she would have given her life for.

He reached for her throat and began to squeeze, cutting off the oxygen to her brain.

Another crystal tear betrayed her and spilled down her face, which only seemed to excite her Master more.

I'm going to die. He's going to kill me. I'm ready. I'm ready to be free.

Right before Death came to claim her, Elijah released his grip, taking pleasure in her distress as she gasped for air.

"You deserved this, Tatia." He invaded the space between her thighs and impaled her with two fingers.

She screamed.

The memory immediately evaporated from Davina's mind. She no longer had access to the horrors that Tatia had endured.

~oOo~

"Elijah?"

The Original's eyes snapped open. He glanced at his expensive Rolex: a quarter after three. She'd slept so long, he was worried she would never wake up. He couldn't leave her alone. Tatia was too volatile and posed a threat to Davina's physical safety.

You're the real threat, a voice whispered in his mind.

"Have you been watching me sleep?"

Surprised by her unexpected breakthrough to sanity, he stood up and carefully approached her.

"You're not afraid of me?" His gaze seemed nervous.

"Why would I be afraid you?" Davina's face lit up, but it wasn't her behind the wheel. "I knew you'd come for me. My father cannot keep us apart."

A knife twisted inside Elijah's heart as he quickly realized that her mind was still just as shattered as before. She was lost within a fragmented memory: a time in their tragic history that did not belong to the present.

"He's wrong about you." She abandoned the bed and rushed into his arms. "They're all wrong."

He couldn't tell if he was paralyzed by the contact or because she was no longer damaged by the onslaught of psychological torment. Elijah gently pulled her away and searched Davina's clear blue eyes. Somehow, the shadow of the woman he loved was inside.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked, fearing the answer.

Davina's lips morphed into a beaming smile. "Of course I know where I am!" She giggled. "You've brought me to your castle. I knew from the moment I saw you that I loved you. I knew you'd come for me." She leaned into his lips for a kiss, but Elijah stopped her.

"No, Tatia."

He noticed the hurt on her face and it killed him inside.

"What's wrong? Have you changed your mind? Do you not wish to marry me?"

"That's not the reason." He held her shoulders. "I need to explain something to you, and I need you to listen to me carefully." Elijah gently touched her face. "Please, my love."

He took her by the hand and guided Tatia toward the bay view window. He seated her in a wingback armchair and found a silver hand-mirror in the vanity drawer before pulling his chair closer. After he set the mirror face down on a table beside her, Elijah seated himself.

"Do you remember dying?" he dared to ask.

"Dying? What do you mean? How can I be dead if I'm right here?" She laughed.

The softest sigh escaped his lungs before he asked another question. "Do you remember the dungeon?"

Tatia blinked a few times. "You are confusing me, my darling."

Elijah rubbed his temples. He glanced at the mirror and asked her to pick it up.

"What is it?" she said with curiosity. "Is it a gift?"

"Pick it up and look through it." The Original was on edge, but he didn't show it.

She did as he instructed and raised the mirror to her face. Instead of screaming or panicking, she met his eyes, revealing Davina's pearly white smile. "It's me!"

Elijah frowned. That answer had not been what he expected. "What color are your eyes, Tatia?"

"Why, they're brown! I've never seen my reflection before. In water, yes—but…" She trailed off, fascinated by the mirrored glass.

He soon realized that she was not in touch with reality. Her perception of the world was entirely different from his.

"What sort of contraption is this?" she asked with excitement. "It's… it's like magic!" She giggled. "Now I know why you're in love me."

Elijah ignored her question and stood up. Mirrors had not yet been invented in the 10th century.

"Have I upset you, my love?"

He looked at her and clenched his jaw. How was he to help her realize the truth? He needed Freya. He couldn't do this alone.

"I beg of you," said Tatia, "what troubles your mind so?" She stood up and moved toward him. "If you are worried my father will—"

"No." Elijah shook his head. "That's not it."

"Then tell me." She cupped his face. "Is it because of Niklaus? Has he—"

"No, Tatia." He gently removed her hands.

"Why won't you let me touch you?"

"It's complicated, my love." It pained him to see her hurt by his lack of affection.

If memory served him correctly, she had no idea he was a vampire at that point in their relationship, when he'd taken her away from her family. Her mind was already broken, but was it wise to tell her the truth of the situation and send her spiraling to delirium again? Elijah contemplated this decision as he looked at her.

He finally stroked Davina's angelic face and said, "I fear that if I kiss you, I will not be able to restrain myself. I will not strip you of your virtue. We must find the strength to wait until we are married."

It was the only diversion he could think of, even though it was a lie. He loved Tatia. He wanted nothing more than to express that love to her in every way possible, but Elijah could not ignore the fact that the body Tatia possessed did not belong to her; it was Davina's. He had no right to gratify his desires and force himself on the poor girl. He couldn't allow himself to do that. Abstinence was the only way, no matter how badly Tatia yearned for intimacy, he was the one who was ultimately in control.

"Your passion for me never ceases to amaze me." She smiled, wrapping her arms around him.

A hug, Elijah thought. A harmless hug. This I will allow. But nothing more than that.

"I shall respect your request," Tatia added, "because I love you. If you are to be my husband then I must respect you, and I do, very much." She gazed up at him and kissed his cheek.

It warmed his heart to interact with her like this; to once again speak to the woman he knew before he'd broken her beyond repair. She used to be so full of life, hope, and happiness. She had been his beacon of light in eternal darkness. All he did was destroy her.

"You must be hungry," Elijah said. "Come. I'll feed you."

Something went terribly wrong.

She backed away from him, trembling in fear. Her hysteria had returned, infecting her mind as she slipped away from him.

Feed.

The word must have triggered her.

A/N: Please drop me a review if you'd like to see more chapters!