Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Caroline," Ella whispered weakly. She struggled, but managed to drag herself over to her friend.

Ella shrugged off the cardigan she wore and used it to carefully wipe away the blood forming on her friend's head. Usually Caroline's injury would have healed by now, but with the vervain in the room it was still bleeding profusely.

Finally she began to stir and Ella let out a sound of relief. With as much strength as she could muster, Ella pulled Caroline up so that her head was cradled in her lap. She was still dabbing at the gash when Caroline's eyes finally fluttered open.

"Thank God," Ella breathed. "Are you all right?"

"Ella?" Caroline moaned as she tried to sit up. Her hand flew to her head and she began coughing. "What happened? Why does it feel like I just fell down the stairs?"

"Thrown down the stairs is a more accurate description of what happened," Ella explained, handing Caroline her cardigan to hold against the still bleeding cut. "I'm so sorry Caroline, this is all my fault."

"You text me," Caroline said, trying to remember what had happened. Her voice was hoarse and she coughed between words. "You said your father was gone and you wanted to talk. When I got here your Dad answered the door and…that's it. That's all I remember. What the hell is going on Ella?"

"He's a hunter," Ella sobbed, guilt and fear and pain ripping at her chest. "He came to Mystic Falls to get rid of the Vampire's, he's going to use me to get to all of you. He's going to kill everyone I love Caroline and then he's going to kill me."

"What? Why? You're his daughter!"

"No," Ella shook her head. "I'm not, Marcus isn't my real father, he told me last night."

Ella told Caroline everything that had happened when they'd returned home. How Marcus had been lying, how her father was a Vampire. Caroline listened silently, her expression becoming steadily more disgusted. She was still coughing and Ella explained it was because of the vervain.

"I can't believe he'd do this to you!" Caroline raged. "Even if he's not your father if he truly loved your mother he'd never be able to hurt you!"

"Well he is and everyone I care about too," Ella sighed.

"Chained in a chilly basement aside, are you all right?" Caroline asked, wrapping a comforting arm around her friend's shaking shoulders.

"No," Ella shook her head. "Not really."

"It was a lot of information to get dumped on you like that," Caroline sympathised. "Did Marcus tell you who your biological father is?"

"He said he didn't know and even thought he's a pathological liar I believe him. I don't think he'd have passed up an opportunity to hurt me more and I get the feeling that if he'd already found him he'd already be dead. I just can't believe my while life has been a lie."

"Oh Ella," Caroline cried, tears streaming down her face.

Ella laughed unconsciously. "We're locked in a basement, chained to the wall and about to die and you're upset because I don't know who my biological father was?"

"I'm not worried about our current situation; I've been in worse, trust me. The others will figure it out and save us," Caroline explained. "I'm sad for you because your whole world has just been turned upside down."

"I love your optimism Caroline," Ella smiled through her tears, clutching Caroline's hand. "I promise I will get us out of this, I won't let him hurt you."

"Aw, how very touching."

Both girls jumped, they hadn't heard the door open. The sedative and vervain dulled their senses. They looked up to see Marcus standing at the top of the stairs. He was smiling coldly down at them.

"You won't hurt her," Ella growled, her eyes narrowed.

"Ella you're in no position to be making threats," Marcus informed her, coming down the stairs. He was cocky, he thought he had them and Ella knew that'd be his downfall. He was expecting his plan to work perfectly. "I hope you don't mind Caroline, but I used your phone to contact Mr Lockwood. I thought he'd be more inclined to come for you."

"Don't you dare," Caroline growled, her anger impressive even through the vervain haze. "If you touch him…"

Marcus laughed. "Another who is in no state to be making threats. Oh and Mr Gilbert should be on his way also."

"No!" Ella choked. "Please! He's innocent, he's human!"

"He consorts with Vampires and Werewolves and filth," Marcus spat at her. "He wanted to become one of them!"

"How did you know that?" Ella snapped. Her voice was becoming stronger, she was getting stronger, feeding off of the anger pulsing in the room, spiking her blood with adrenaline. It burned through her veins clearing the effects of the sedative. Ella could almost feel the power pulsing through her.

"I read your diary," he shrugged, looking as if it should have been obvious. "You made it almost too easy to find, hiding it in your mother's old guitar case."

"When I get out of here…" Ella snarled dangerously.

"You'll what?" Marcus laughed. "You're a Fae sweetheart, you can't take a human life, it'll drive you insane."

"Half Fae," Ella corrected. "Half Vampire. A Fae can't take an innocent life and you Marcus are as far from innocent as someone can get. You're a liar, a murderer and just plain evil, I feel perfectly justified in killing you, but since you were my father for nearly eighteen years I'll offer you a choice."

Marcus glared at Ella, his expression cold and hard, but he didn't speak. Ella took that as an invitation to continue.

"If you let us go now, I'll allow you to live. You can leave Mystic Falls and never return, never contact me again. I'll forget you ever existed, I'll never think of you and I'll never try to find you," she told him, her tone deadly calm. "Or if you don't let us go…when I get free, and I will get free, I'll torture you. I'll show you things that'll make you cry like a little girl, things you'd never even dreamed could exist. I'll plague you with unspeakable horrors until finally you snap and beg for me to end your life. The choice is yours, what will it be?"

Instead of answering, Marcus turned his back on them and left the room. With him out of sight Ella's anger ebbed slightly and she slumped back against the wall. Caroline was gapping at her.

"Can you really do that?" she asked.

"No idea," Ella shrugged. A small hysterical laugh bubbled past her lips and she closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall.

"What do you think he's going to do?"

"Honestly? I don't know, he's very good at controlling his emotions around me. He gave nothing away during my little speech. I know one thing though, he isn't letting us go and I really hope the guys figure out that something's wrong before we're all trapped down here."

Just as the words had left her mouth there was a creak from above them. Ella looked up, frowning and saw a shadow cross the small, now open, window set in the wall just below the ceiling to her right. Using the wall as leverage, Ella scrambled to her feet and moved caustiously forward. Caroline was too far away, her chain wouldn't quite reach.

"Ella!"

TBC…