By Association
Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864
The sun poured down on Astra's face as she sat at the window of her bedroom, her heavy dress still hanging in her wardrobe. She sat in only her shift and corset, her hands holding a thick gold ring. She turned the ring around in her hand a couple of times, letting the sunlight catch the expensive piece of jewellery and reflect off the walls. She hated when she got nostalgic, it never ended well.
The wind picked up a moment and blew through her open window, pushing her hair back and away from her face. She closed her eyes a moment to enjoy the cool feeling as it ghosted over her skin, the fabric of her dress fluttering across her skin like the wings of a butterfly. She slipped the thick gold ring onto her thumb, feeling the weight of it and already knowing that it was grossly oversized on her hand. She longed to feel the hands that the ring fit on, where the gold belonged.
"Lady Casca, your guests would be arriving shortly. Do you require assistance in dressing this morning?" Annabel asked through the door, knocking gently on the wood before she had spoken. Astraea looked over to the door in silence for a moment before she stood from her place by the window and tucked the ring into the front of her corset, the familiar metal pressing against her breast.
"Yes, you may come in, Annabel," She called out as she moved over toward the large wood wardrobe, pulling it open and looking at the dresses inside. She soon selected a soft lilac coloured one that had lace overlapping and bringing a modest look to the dress. Annabel stepped inside the large room and immediately sought out her mistress with her gaze.
"They said all were coming together when they wrote back, did they not?" Astra asked as she looked over her shoulder at Annabel, the handmaid repressing a shiver at the look in her lady's eyes. Astra's eyes held a haunting gaze about them, a type of feral look that she had not seen since they had moved to Mystic Falls.
"Yes, Lady, they should be here within the hour."
"What will you do once they arrive?" Astra asked as she moved around her bed to stand before the full length mirror and allow Annabel to stand behind her and tighten the cords of the corset.
"I will go to the storage room in the basement and remain there until your come and retrieve me personally, Lady Casca," Annabel answered immediately, pulling at the cords until they were taught enough. Astra nodded to Annabel's reflection, her violet eyes catching in the sunlight. Annabel wondered why the soft colour looked so bold and deadly in that moment.
It didn't take long before Astra was dressed, her hair pulled up and away from her neck and a light sheen of makeup covered her features delicately. Annabel departed down for the basement as soon as Astra was finished getting ready, no longer needing her help and doing as she was told. Staying alive. Astra waited in the front foyer of the home, her hands at her sides as she waited with a deadly patience for her guests to arrive.
As the grandfather clock down the far hall chimed eleven, she could hear the carriages coming up the road, the heavy trot of the horses echoing through the forest surrounding her home. She stepped up to the door as waited until she was sure they were close enough to the home before stepping out onto the porch, holding her skirts in her hands and waiting. The carriage pulled right up to the steps, only a couple of yards off. She lifted her chin as the door opened and a fair skinned man emerged, looking up to her with striking blue eyes.
"Miss. Astraea," The man drawled out as he stepped from the small space and moved up to greet her. He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles once before stepping up to stand on the step before her, pressing another kiss to her forehead. "You are looking wonderful. I assume that Elijah and Nicklaus have yet to locate you?"
"If I may help it, they never will," She replied back easily, looking passed the man to where two others were emerging from the carriage, a third still shuffling about inside. "I am pleased to see that you have arrived without incident."
"It has been a long ride," A blond man standing outside the carriage said simply, his hands moving to clasp behind his back and provide him with a very serious look. "I hope there are…refreshments," He continued, looking at the door to the home as though he were expecting his meal and drink to come dancing out.
"Of course," Astra answered in a sharp tone, getting the man to suddenly jolt to attention. His gaze returned to her as he met her striking eyes, seeing the irritation within them. He looked at her with a type of recognition, as though he had forgotten that he was dealing with a vampire nearly a millennium older than he was. She did not look pleased and he quickly glanced away from her as shivers rode up his spine like insects crawling on his skin.
"Be nice, Astraea," The man before her said softly as he moved to loop her arm through his. "They will not step out of line. I assure you."
The third man finally emerged from the carriage, the smell of human lingering on his skin and assaulting the senses of all the vampires in the vicinity. Dark skin and short cut hair, he looked out of place among the pale men that he had come with. But Astra knew him well and nodded her head to him when he looked up to her briefly.
"Come inside, then. We must speak."
"Why thank you," The blonde man said as he moved up the steps, keeping his distance from Astra in a discrete, but still obvious, way. Astra looked over to the man that still held her arm, seeing the glimmer of understanding in his eyes as he looked down at her. She glanced away for a moment, over to the path that they had come up from. She wasn't expecting anyone that day, she only hoped no one paid any surprise visits to her house.
"We have much to catch up on, Mikael."
Roman Empire, Pompeii, 78 A.D.
"You must stop fidgeting!" Carina snapped quietly as she swatted at Astraea's hands, walking next to her down the streets toward the center of the city that was going to be holding the festival. Decorations littered the streets as they walked passed homes, children running around as they played with their friends but were still dressed in finer clothing.
"I am nervous," Astraea hissed back, swatting at her elder sister's hands in retaliation. Their mother took hold of their hands before they could start anything, looping all of their arms until they were walking in a chain link of three down the streets, the mother of the two separating her daughters as though they were still children.
"Calm down, the both of you. Carina, stop pestering her. If I remember correctly, you hid away in your room when you were courting," She said softly, getting a blush from Carina and an evil smile from Astraea as she heard of this new information to use against her sister.
"Mother!"
"Look, we are almost there. We will be with the men again soon and you both need to begin acting your age, am I clear?"
The two girls look at one another as they received their verbal spanking before nodding their heads and said a quiet 'yes, mother'. Astraea's stomach was in knots as she looked forward to where the fires from the festival were glowing brightly through the streets, drawing citizens forward like moths. Her hand clutched at her mother's arm for a moment before she slipped free. If she was going to arrive for Elijah, she would do so independently.
"I wish you luck, my child."
Astraea stepped into the flame lit circle of buildings silently, her hands gripping at the skirts she was wearing with the pretext of keeping the ends away from her feet so that she did not trip. She could see many familiar faces, mothers that played with the children or girls that stood with their families as they looked at the men that were around. Astraea knew that if she had been like them at her age, she would already have been married off.
There were couples that were dancing near the large fires, moving through the motions of the different dances that were learned for the holidays of different gods. She could feel the warmth of the fire on her skin as she walked passed a couple of brightly burning touches, glancing over at the dancing flames for a moment.
A hand slipped into hers, loosening her hold on the skirt fabric, and she was spun around abruptly, startling her a moment. She came face to face with a blonde man of whom she did not know, his bright blue eyes looking at her with a mischievous glint. She recognized the position of their hands and arms and began to move in the steps of the dance that the other couples were doing, giving him a curious look.
"I do not believe I have seen you around here before," She said softly, glancing around the space. She had been hoping to see Elijah, but he was an elusive shadow thus far.
"I have come to visit my brother," He said easily, drawing her attention back immediately when she heard the familiar accent in his voice. His pitch was higher than Elijah's, but the accent that he had was clear as a bell. It came through strong in his Latin tongue, showing that he was not from around Pompeii. He pronounced the words quite well, but not as expertly as Elijah could.
"Elijah?" She asked curiously, watching as his face lit up.
"Yes! My elder brother, you have met?"
"He is a friend; he is also negotiating with my father," Astraea explained, pausing briefly when they were forced to turn, facing the same direction with Astraea standing to his left and her arm stretched out across his chest, her hand still in his. "Elijah has told me of his family," She continued on softly, noticing the tensing of his posture before he relaxed slightly when she added on, "You are Nicklaus, are you not?"
"Yes, and who might you be?"
"Astraea."
Both parties stopped moving to look over to where the new voice that had joined them, revealing Elijah. A blush rose to the blonde's cheeks as she stepped away from the younger sibling to greet Elijah. His lips brushed against her cheek as she kissed his, something that he had not done before. Was he jealous of his brother?
"I was beginning to wonder if you had come at all," She whispered against his skin before drawing away, staying an appropriate distance away from him.
"I see that you have met my brother. I hope he has been treating you well," Elijah said as he looked over to where Nicklaus was still standing, looking highly amused as he clasped his hands behind his back and watched the interaction between his brother and the new woman he had met. She did look delectable in her exposing attire, but he could almost smell the sickness on her skin.
"Wonderfully. We were just getting to know one another," Astraea began as she looked over to the younger Englishman. "Nicklaus was kind enough to…invite me to dance."
"I could use some practice," Nicklaus added on in a humorous tone, looking between Elijah and the woman. "You dance wonderfully, though. You must have been to many of these festivals. You have lived here all your life, have you not?"
"Yes."
Nicklaus was silent for a moment as he looked into her eyes, wondering about their colour. She seemed to notice the prolonged staring and turned to look over to Elijah, noticing that he was watching his brother critically. He had told her that his entire family was the same as him and that they fed off of blood. Was he trying to keep the younger away for her safety or simply because he wished to keep her by his side instead?
"If you two wish to speak, I will-"
"That's quite alright," Nicklaus interrupted, smiling to her. "I can see that I'm the one who is in the way. I will depart and let you two…talk. There are many people that I have yet to get to know. It was wonderful meeting you, Lady Astraea." Nicklaus took hold of her hand and kissed her knuckles gently, a gesture that Elijah had done many times in the past as well. "Until next time."
The plot thickens…. :3
My god, the show is depriving fans of Elijah! What is this madness! And an emotional Damon? That's just cruel torture! I hope that you all loved this chapter! I thank all of the people that reviewed the last chapter and replied to my little rant, it's wonderful to know that you all love the way that I write. For those who don't, how was this flashback chapter for pointless? Huh?
Chapter 22 – Revival
"You need blood," Elijah said after he sat her down on her bed, letting her lean against the post to keep herself up. She didn't disagree, groaning at the inviting sound of the one thing that could bring her back to herself. She twitched when she heard the ruffling of fabric and allowed her eyes to open. Elijah was pulling back his black dress shirt, revealing the perfect skin of his torso beneath, stained with her blood.
"What are you doing?" She asked quietly, her face drawing into a frown.
"As I said, you need blood," He repeated, tossing the shirt onto a chair before stepping up to where she was still sitting, her eyes becoming wider with each step. Elijah sat on the bed beside her and turned her until she was facing him, taking her face gently in his hands. "Take mine," he ordered, revealing his neck to her. She groaned in near pain as the temptation of his offer pulled her forward, gently taking his neck in her hands.
"Elijah…" She whispered against the skin, leaning heavily in the crook of his throat and shoulder.
"Take all you need, Astraea," Elijah whispered, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to keep her close.