Chapter Eighteen: Tourniquet
I tried to kill my pain
But only brought more, so much more
I lay dying
And I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal
I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming
Am I too lost to be saved?
Am I too lost?
~Evanescence
Her heart started racing, and her hands were shaking.
Nilin reached in her pocket to grab her car keys, when her fingertips brushed a piece of paper. She immediately knew what it was; the piece of paper she had found on her seat, the one with Damon's words written on it. Be safe.
Suddenly, all Nilly wanted was Damon; for them to be sitting in the sun on their bench in the Common or downing drinks in the Grill or even fighting with him in Elena's kitchen. Instead she was in an underground parking garage, with no witnesses and possibly alone with him.
Nilin swallowed hard as she pulled her keys out and hit the unlock button. Her Jeep's lights flashed, she could see her car only a few rows down. She started for it again, shivers trembling down her spine when she heard the footsteps once more.
Nilly was almost there. She quickened her pace, almost running now. She heard the chuckling again, this time right behind her. She stopped dead, her body froze and a scream caught in her throat.
"Well, hello Nilin," his cold silver voice said right behind her. The scream never made it past her lips.
Bonnie was sitting in Mildred's apartment at the senior home. It was obvious no one was here very often. Everything looked unused and had a thin layer of dust on it. That's when she remembered Nilly telling her that Mildred stayed at her house most of the time, rarely coming here. Bonnie could see why, everything was so dull and colorless. There was no way someone like Mildred would fit in here.
Bonnie was waiting for Nilly to come pick her up to head back home to Mystic Falls, but she didn't mind it here. Mildred was showing her an old grimoire. She was flipping through the pages of the ancient book when Mildred came back into the living room and sat next to her.
"You can keep it, you know," she said. Bonnie looked up at her and shook her head.
"No, I can't take this," she replied.
Mildred chuckled slightly and placed her hand on Bonnie's knee. "Of course you can, I don't have much use for it now and if I do need it, I'll know where it is."
"What about your kids?" Bonnie asked. "Nilly told me you had some."
"Two," Mildred smiled. "A son and a daughter, both about to start a family of their own soon."
"Aren't they…"
"Magical?" she chuckled. "They are, but they never accepted their gift. It faded away over the years, sadly."
"What if they wanted their powers now? Could they get them back or are they gone for good?" Bonnie questioned.
"Well, they could try but who knows," Mildred shrugged. Bonnie had a new perspective on Mildred. Her kids weren't like Bonnie, they had a choice. To Bonnie it felt like she never had one. Maybe she could be Mildred's second chance at being a teacher.
Bonnie smiled, her fingers tracing down the yellow pages of the book, "Thank you for today. I know I must be a pain, but you've helped me a lot."
"Anything I can do to help you, Bonnie. I know what it's like to have no one around that really knows what you're going through. It's tough, sweetheart, but so are you."
Bonnie looked down. "My Grams has been trying to help me. Like I said, she's a witch, too. She's told me all she knows, but I still have so many things I don't understand yet," she said.
"And you might never understand it," Mildred said. "But many things will explain themselves as time goes on. One thing I must urge you," she continued, "Is that you must be aware of the power you are using. It can take a toll on your body and too much power might be enough to cause you great harm."
Bonnie listened to Mildred talk, her voice wise with age. "These powers we're given all have a balance," she explained. "We are usually forced to restore the balance of nature with other creatures of the supernatural. I'm sure you're aware of those?"
Bonnie nodded, "You mean vampires, right?"
"Vampires and other you're sure to come across. A new world will begin to open up for you, Bonnie, but you must realize the power you hold inside and your job as a witch. The lines of good and evil become easily blurred and that can lead you into a real mess," she said. Mildred squinted, "But I see something very good in you. Nilly's lucky to have a friend like you to have her back." Mildred stood up and walked over to the window. "God knows she'll need it," she mumbled.
Bonnie looked at her and then back down at the grimoire. There was something off about Mildred's voice. The elderly lady had been so cheerful all day, to hear it drop in a moment of concern cause Bonnie to grow uneasy.
She began to wring her hands together, glancing at the clock as they waited for Nilly.
Nilin couldn't see straight as she stumbled for her car. The keys in her one hand were slick with blood. She cradled them tightly, pressing her other hand to her neck, trying to keep the pressure. Despite her best efforts she could feel the wetness squishing through her fingers and running down her arm.
He had left her lying there for dead and she didn't move until she thought she was dead herself. Something kept poking her in the back of her mind, telling her to get up and get into her car. It was enough to get her on her feet.
She needed to get to the house. She couldn't go back into the hospital. If they saw her like this they'd never let her leave, she'd end up in a hospital bed again. She'd be stuck in this town with him watching her, never making it out of Hopesville. There was a burning pain on her wrist and neck, the most delicate areas of skin. His fangs had ripped at them, breaking skin and piercing veins.
Once Nilin made it to her Jeep, she fumbled with the door, her fingers numb and wet. Finally she got it open and pulled herself in. Her hand was shaking so bad that she could barely get the key into the ignition and turn it. When she heard the engine come to life, she let out a sob of relief. Nilly had to get out of there while she still could, she was getting very tired, very fast.
She could feel the blood dripping on to her lap from the gash on her cheek. Nilly desperately looked around for something to staunch the bleeding, coming from her neck. Reaching into the back seat, her adrenaline pumping, she pulled open her duffle bag. She grabbed a flannel shirt that she had brought with her and tried to rip it with her teeth. She couldn't even put a tear in it. Giving up she used one of the sleeves to wipe her cheek and then held it to the wound on her neck.
After a failed attempt to control her breathing, she managed to back out of the parking space and make her way back on the street. Trying her best to keep the car from swerving on the road, she drove as fast as she could. The drive felt like it took hours when in reality it was minutes. She squealed into her driveway and threw open the car door, falling onto the gravel driveway. Her knees were shaking as she tried to stand up and make them work properly. Nilly managed it though, because the next thing she knew she was in the house, locking the door behind her and falling to the floor.
She pulled herself into the kitchen, where the phone was. She used the counter to pull herself to her knees. Flicking on the lights, Nilly's stomach heaved. She could see the extent of her injuries now. Both hands were stained red; her black tank top seemed to be seeping with blood. She reached her arm out, struggling to get a hold of the phone. Her fingers grasped around it as she fell back on the floor.
Her hands were shaking violently as she urgently tried to punch in the numbers. She hit the call button and held the phone to her ear.
The pain was becoming unbearable as the adrenaline began to where off and drowsiness set in. Nilly tried to focus on the call tone, counting the number of times it rang. 1… 2… 3…
"Hello?" Mildred's voice came from the phone.
She managed to get three words out. "He found me." Nilin mumbled, then she lost her grip on the phone.
Bonnie took a sip of the herbal tea Mildred had made her. It helped calm her worries. Nilly was late, she shouldn't have been gone this long. Bonnie didn't know what would cause Nilin to not be here by now. When she had asked Mildred, the older women had just told her not to fuss, so Bonnie was trying not to fuss.
The phone rang in the kitchen and Bonnie heard Mildred answer it. "Hello?"
There was a clatter as something fell to the floor, Bonnie's head snapped up. She stood and asked quietly, "Mildred, are you okay?" There wasn't an answer.
Suddenly, she appeared in the doorway. Her dark face was unusually pale looking. She was gripping the doorframe as she looked up at Bonnie and spoke.
"I have to go help Nilly with something," she said, her tongue thick with an accent. "I think you'll be staying the night here, you should call your folks and Elena." Mildred began moving, snapping out over whatever shock she was in. She went into the back room and Bonnie could hear her fumbling with something.
"What happened? What do I tell them?" Bonnie asked.
Mildred came out of the room holding a black leather bag. "Tell them there was a change of plans, that Nilly wasn't comfortable with leaving her daddy, yet. I'll be back late, make yourself at home but don't leave the apartment," she said heading towards the door.
Bonnie called to her, "Is what I'm telling them the truth? Is that true?"
Mildred turned around. "Just make your voice sound believable," she said and then shut the door, leaving Bonnie standing there, fear and confusion running through her veins. She sat back down on the couch slowly.
There was something wrong, very, very wrong. What? Bonnie didn't know. One thing she knew for sure was that she wasn't going home tonight.
Nilly heard banging, but she was too tired to get up and see what was making the sound. She didn't want to move. She just wanted to go to sleep and make the pain stop, but the banging was persistent. Someone was shouting at her somewhere, it sounded like Mil's voice.
The banging stopped, but it sounded like something was slammed open. A weak shudder of fear ran through her when she wondered if it was him trying to get into the house. Nilly tried, unsuccessfully, to lift her head up, but everything felt heavy. The slightest movement caused pain to run through her entire body.
It hurt too much. Nilin gave up on trying to lift her head as the darkness began to edge around her. Suddenly, someone was flicking the lights on, and touching her. She felt a warm slim hand grabbing hers.
"Nilly? Nilly, stay with me if you know what's good for you." Mil's voice warned. Nilly's eyes popped open as relief washed through her. Nilin squeezed her hand slightly. "There's my girl," Mildred said.
Nilly felt her lips move but no sound came out. "You know you're going to have to speak up, my hearing ain't what it used to be." Mildred spoke calmly.
Nilin tried again. "Christian," she said with a shudder. "Christian was there, he was there."
"Shh, shh, shh. I know, peaches. You're safe now, calm down. Getting yourself all worked up isn't going to help anybody." Mil hushed her. Nilly let out a breath and closed her eyes again, just to feel Mildred slap her cheek. Not hard, but enough to make Nilly force her eyes back open.
"None of that now," Mildred said. "Keep them sparkly blues on me." Nilly did, she watched Mil's face as she worked her way over her body. Mildred removed the soaked flannel from her neck, cleaning the wound, and held something over her cheek to stop the cut from bleeding there. The sharp sent of herbs and roots hit Nilin's nose as she watched Mildred work.
Mil closed her eyes and held her hands over Nilly, as she began mumbling something. Nilly couldn't make out what she was saying, but she could feel the warmth returning to her body and the pain receding. Mildred's eyes opened and she looked Nilly over once more.
"I'm sorry baby, that's all I could do this time," she said, helping her sit up. Nilly's hair was matted to her head from sweat and blood and she was seeing double vision, but at least she could sit up. She looked down at her wrist. She saw the three ugly crescent shaped gashes there still bleeding, but not excessively. Even though it still stung it wasn't an unbearable pain. Her neck hurt much worse, when she went to touch it Mildred smacked her hand away.
"Leave that be, it's the worst of your injuries," she said, reaching in her black bag and pulling out more herbs in small containers and a load of white bandages. Nilly dropped her hand to her lap as Mildred bandaged her neck. She winced every time Mil put too much pressure on it. Nilly looked at the red stained ground and that's when she broke down. Sobs shook her body as tears poured down her cheek.
The realization that she let Christian do this to her again and the fact that he left her barely alive was too much for her. She knew he was just playing with her now. He'd known she would survive that attack and that he'd be able to do it again to her. Nilly was just his play toy he'll abuse until there was no longer a way of repairing it.
She was getting herself worked up again. Feeling her heart speed up, she tried to control her ragged breathing. That's when Mildred put her hands on either side of Nilly's face. "Look at me, peaches," she said, staring straight at Nilly. "You will be fine. You will make it through this. You are the strongest girl I have ever met, and I know for a fact you are stronger than this. You can't give into it now, not when you are so close to happiness. We knew there was a chance this would happen if you came back, that that boy would get a hold of you. He did, but you lived through it again. You're alive."
Nilly looked at Mildred, her chest calming down. "Yeah, but how much longer do I have to live? What if the next time this happens you're not around and you can't perform some spell to magically help me?" Nilly asked.
"Because I have a feeling that if this happens again, you're not going to need me." Mildred said, wiping the tears off Nilly's cheeks.
She looked up at the aging woman. "What do you know, Mil?" Nilly asked her.
"Not a lot, but enough," she replied. Nilin sighed. She hated knowing Mildred had a magical connection to see what was coming, when Nilly was clueless to her future. Mil stood up and helped her get off the floor. Nilin staggered, leaning on the counter and Mildred for support. Mildred managed to get her to the upstairs bathroom and sit her down on the edge of the tub.
"Will you be able to wash yourself up?" she asked. Nilly nodded her head as she started to take her shoes off. "I'm going to go get Bonnie and bring her back here. I left her at the senior home. I don't want you alone anymore until you leave. Will you be okay by yourself for a few?" Mildred asked, pulling out towels from the cabinet.
"I'll be fine, Christian can't get in the house anymore, remember?" Nilly said.
"Of course," she said, smiling. "Get cleaned up, I'll be back as fast as I can. Don't leave this house, don't even leave this floor." Mildred kissed Nilly on the forehead and left the bathroom.
Nilin stood up, leaning on the bathroom sink for support. She looked in the mirror. Her neck was bandaged, the gash on her cheek was scabbing, her lip was swollen and her eyes were bloodshot. Her wrist looked worse, they both had purpling swollen bruises around them, from where he had grabbed her and the one arm had the three identical bite marks on it. When she turned her arms a certain way in the florescent light she could see pale scars running up and down her arms, in the same shape of the bite marks she had now. They were all from him, each one of them on her arms and neck.
They were easy to hide once they healed. The scars were hard to see in the sunlight and Nilly would put cover up on the bad ones, hiding them completely. She covered them so well no one ever noticed, which is good because Nilin could never figure out what to tell people if they asked about them. Each one had a nightmare that came with it that only Nilly knew about.
She wanted to keep this all a secret, but how much longer could she do that? She didn't know what she'd tell Bonnie about what happened, she was hoping Mildred would come up with something to tell her before they got back to her house. It was too much to think about. A pain hummed in Nilin's chest as she looked away from the mirror.
She went back over to the bathtub and turned the nozzle to get the water flowing. She stripped off her sodden shirt and threw it in the corner with a splat. She did the same with her shorts, then she took a washcloth and began to wash away the drying blood gently. She did it until her skin was spotless, her wounds were raw and the bathwater held a red tinged to it, making it look pink.
Then she carefully rinsed her hair out, running her fingers through it and combing out the many snags. When she was done, the water in the tub was a dark red, like wine. Nilly drained the water and went in to her bedroom.
It was the same as she had left it. With its dark navy blue walls, its white trim and king sized bed with her old iron head and foot board that looked like white vines. She had hand strung white lights around her bed, woven through the metal vines. She plugged them in, getting light headed when she bent down. She steadied herself on the bed post as the lights illuminated her room. Pictures hung on every wall, books and CD's littered her floor as she stepped around them to turn on her stereo, a song began playing. She turned it up, filling the silence with guitar riffs and the sound of a bass.
Her home even smelled the same. Like the hydrangeas that grew outside, the lavender freshener that was sprayed throughout the house and the slight smell of fried food that Mildred was always cooking up. It was surreal how everything could be exactly the same but at the same time completely different.
She walked over to her dresser in the corner of the room and pulled on her favorite sweatpants and a grey tank top. Nilly fell on to her bed. She snuggled under the covers, piling her pillows around her and tucking the sheets under her. Her entire body was still sore, where he had bit her stung with the slightest pressure, but the cool sheets felt good on her abused skin. Her head pounded and her eyes burned, how she survived this one Nilly will never know. She sank into sleep, finding memories of Christian haunting her there, but her body was so beaten it refused to let her wake from them.
Author's Notes:
A new villian, a twisted, dark, screwed up one and I love it. He is going to create A LOT of problems to come. Tell me what you guys think. Favorite, Follow & Review.
RLS