Let It All Go

Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864

Katherine was gasping desperately as she was pressed harder against the wall, Astra's hand holding onto her throat in a python grip. Instead of risking damage to the wall she pulled her away from it, bringing the brunette's face right before hers and growling low, baring fangs and glaring with reddened eyes. There were very few that could evoke a physical fear from Katarina Petrova, but Astra had done so in a single glare before and Katherine briefly wondered if she had obtained the trait from the Original brothers.

"I never compelled Damon," Katherine choked out, looking up at the older vampire with a petrified stare. "I compelled Stefan, I only had to compel Damon to leave m-"

Astra realised the younger woman's throat so suddenly that Katherine fell to her knees, gasping in shock and relief as she took in deep drags of air. Her hands moved to the dark bruises that had formed and had already begun to heal on her neck, the soreness making it hard to breathe let alone talk. When she finally lifted her eyes, Astra looked more enraged than she had ever seen her in the time she had known the other woman, striking a sharp shiver of fear down her spine.

Before she could blink, it was gone. Her face was as complete mask of indifference, an emotionless shell of who she had been only a second before. Turning dark, lethal looking amethyst eyes down toward Katherine, the younger felt as though she was staring into the eyes of the dead. Vampires were not considered to be alive, and Astra made that fact chillingly accurate.

"Get up and fix yourself, we're going back in to meet the men," she ordered, Katherine immediately scrambling to do as she was told, fixing her dress and looking into a mirror on the wall to make sure that she didn't look as though her head and not nearly been taken off. The bruises were gone and her hair didn't look messed, so she turned to follow after Astra, trembling at the dead look that lingered in her violet eyes.

Katherine followed after the other woman like an obedient dog, looking every bit the poised woman she dared to act as, but on the inside she was trembling in fear with her tail tucked between her legs. The voices of the brothers carried through from the room they had been left in, both vampires hearing them flawlessly even from a distance and through a closed door.

Astra knocked for good measure before she let herself and Katherine back inside, flashing a false smile to the brothers.

"Damon, I was wondering if I could speak with you," Astra began softly, Katherine moving into the room like a hesitant shadow. Damon stepped forward immediately, sharing a quick parting word with his brother. Astra stepped out of Damon's reach, back into the hallway, before he had a chance to wrap his arm around her waist as he usually would, and moved back down to the room she and Katherine had occupied a minute before.

"Is something wrong, Astra?" Damon asked, final able to see the tension in her body as soon as the door closed.

"I feel as though you have disappeared, Damon," she whispered softly, her eyes falling to the floor. "Where have you gone?"

"I am right here," Damon said quietly, moving toward her again. She held up her hands, however, and stopped him in his tracks, his arms outstretched toward her with the intention of embracing her. "Astra?"

"How many women have you embraced in such a manner, Damon? How often have you whispered words to Miss. Pierce as you held her?" Damon's face drained of colour, just as Katherine's had, and Astra felt tears burn at her eyes. Ducking her head down, she clenched her hands into fists to reign in her anger toward Damon and Katherine, forcing down the demon inside of her that just wanted blood.

"Astra…I-"

"Silence," she snapped. "I do not want to hear you speak a single word if it be a lie."

Damon flinched and lowered his hands, looking lost and afraid for the first time since he had arrived back home from the war. Astra's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she looked into his sky blue eyes, a colour that she had found herself falling deeper and deeper in love with over the time she had known him. Now, however, they only brought her heartache.

"I love you, Damon, with all of my heart. I was ready to give you all of what I had to offer, and this is what you do in return?" Her voice cracked as she spoke, the same effect happening to Damon's heart as he looked into his fiancé's beautiful, godly eyes.

"I didn't plan for this to happen, Astra."

Shaking her head, tears dripped down her eyes as she rung her hands, the light catching her ring and making the silver flash. "I cannot do this, I just-" She cut off sharply and placed her hands over her mouth, hating herself for crying as she was.

"No, please," Damon begged softly, stepping forward and catching her hands before she had a chance to pull away from him again. "I can fix this, Astra, I can. Please, do not leave me, I love you!"

"And what of her? Am I supposed to just forget it all, Damon? This is not something that can be washed away, it's a permanent stain." Tears dripped down her cheeks and she took a deep breath, revelling in the clean scent of him one last time before she stepped forward and placed a hand to his cheek, offering the saddest smile that the man had ever seen, his heart shattering inside his chest. "I do love you, Damon. And it hurts to do this, but I must leave."

His eyes glistened with tears as he looked down at her, looking ready to continue begging her. "Astra-"

Placing her finger to his lips, his eyes closed at the feeling. Leaning forward, she pressed the lightest of kisses against his cheek one last time before stepped passed him and headed for the door. When Damon turned around, the door was open and she was gone. Rushing out of the room, he searched out for her desperately.

Like a gust of the cold autumn air, she was gone.

Roman Empire, Pompeii, 78 A.D.

Astraea curled herself down on Elijah's body, straddling his stomach as she peppered kisses along his face and chest. He rumbled softly at the touches, closing his eyes at the soft feel of her lips. She smiled as she kissed his eyelids gently, her fingertips tracing along his lips and down to the dimple in his chin. A flash of lightning lit up the darkened room, the fire that Elijah had lit already having burned down to nothing but embers.

"I should be getting home while the rain has stopped," she whispered reluctantly before resuming her affections, getting a smile from Elijah as he lay still beneath her, choosing not to encourage or deny her words. "Elijah," she drawled out, getting a chuckle from the man beneath her before he tipped his head and caught her lips with his.

"Indeed, you parents would not appreciate me keeping you through the night as well," he finally admitted, moving up to sit as Astraea slid off onto her side, her eyes roaming over his pale skin. Lifting her hand, she smiled faintly as she placed her palm against his defined pectoral muscle, marvelling over the difference in skin tone. She was a dark bronze against his stark white, reminding her of tales she was told about snow.

"You are so pale," she mumbled to herself, tracing her fingers along his skin. Elijah looked down to see what she was watching, the feel of her hand gliding along his skin relaxing his body.

"You are very dark, spending so long in the sun," Elijah replied, his hand catching hers and holding it against his chest, where his heart was beating beneath her palm. Her eyes fell down to the tangle of their fingers and leaned forward to press another kiss against his lips, feeling him smile against her lips as his free hand lifted to tangle in her already messed blonde locks.

"It is the colour of my birth, you have already realized that," she whispered back slyly, getting a surprised but pleased look from Elijah. It was true, there were no pale marks on her skin that would suggest she was especially light toned when she was born. The visible areas of her skin had darkened over the years, and Elijah had spent much time making note of each change in tone.

He was forced to draw back sharply, however, when the strong smell of her blood flushing her cheeks drew forth his fangs, nearly cutting her lip as he snapped backward quickly. She jumped in surprise at the sudden and speedy withdrawal, Elijah's hands on her sides tightening to a nearly painful force. A gasp passed her lips at the pressure, immediately drawing a surge of guilt from Elijah that had his hands loosening on her sides. He had to turn his face away from her in order to compose himself, taking in a deep breath.

Her scent was filling the room, however, and he found it hard to repress the urge to bite her. Her blood called to his baser side, taunting him and just singing for his teeth to sink into her skin and let it flow.

"You…you can, if you wish it," she finally whispered, fear lacing her tone even as she offered him the choice. He groaned audibly and clenched his teeth in an attempt to keep himself from attacking her accidentally. "I trust you, Elijah."

"You fear me."

"I feared you. When I first saw that side of you it was under very different circumstances," she explained softly, reaching forward to guide his face around so that he was facing her again, the demonic red of his eyes sending a momentary jolt of fear through her. She refused to cower in fear however, never again hiding in the corner of her room behind a set of curtains like as child. She was a grown woman and she would face all her fears as such.

Offering a small smile, her thumb stroked Elijah's cheek before she got herself comfortable on her knees and pulled her long hair away from one side of her neck, her hands and arms shaking with each movement. Elijah's mouth flooded with saliva at the sweet smell that came off of her as his mind began to play with the images of biting her, drinking her blood again. Would she taste as she had before? Would the tang of death cling to her even after he had so recently given her his blood to heal her temporarily?

"I do trust you," she assured one last time, closing her eyes.

Sitting back on his hunches, Elijah slipped an arm around her waist in a surprisingly gentle motion and drew her up against his body, leaving her to straddle his thighs as she kept herself up on her knees. Hiding his face in her neck, she forced her body to relax as she waited for the pain that she knew was to come. A kiss fell upon her skin instead of the sting she was expecting, leaving her confused.

Not a moment later, deadly canines tore into her throat and drew a strangled prayer from her lips as her fingers tangled in Elijah's hair.

The demon that bit at her throat couldn't help but to groan in ecstasy as he tasted her blood once again. As he had thought, the bitterness of death didn't cling to her blood as it had before, and he could distinctly taste some of his own blood in her system because of the amount he had given to her. Pulling her more tightly against him, he was not so far gone as to forget that he needed to treat her gently, lest he hurt her too badly.

"Elijah," she gasped out, a mixture of discomfort and pain lacing her tone.

Taking another deep gulp of her hot blood, he allowed his fingers to glide along her spine soothingly, drawing a shiver from her in return. It was not like the last time, when he had been greedily taking and taking with no concern for whether or not he was hurting her. Now, however, he wished for her to enjoy the moment; perhaps not as much as he was, but to still feel the connection that he did.

No matter how much he wished to continue to drink down the hot liquid that gave her life, he pulled away and cut his tongue on one of his fangs, gliding the bleeding appendage over the bite mark so that it would heal. A moan vibrated Astraea's chest as he continued to lick at her skin, removing all of the blood that stained the crook of her neck.

"I…do not think I can walk home now," she finally mumbled, drawing a deep laugh from Elijah as he kept a sturdy hold on her as he laved at her neck, drawing forth shivers and whimpers. She didn't have much energy to do anything anymore, but he didn't seem to care as he forced her body temperature up once more. "You are not being fair," she whined, slowing being laid back down on the bed as Elijah smirked against her collar.

I really did try to get this one out when I had said, but things were just way to hectic and I apologize. I finished writing this up last night and made sure to start on the next chapter so that I could give you all the preview that I know you love at the end. I'll do my best to get the next chapter out before the weekend is over! It amazes me how many people are looking forward to the daggering scene at the same time that they hate it…

Chapter 34 – Dark Times

"No, nothing-nothing dishonourable. Just a…getting to know you." His eyes fell to Astra's the bright blue holding her violet orbs for a moment before her blank stare was too much and he directed his eyes back toward the enemy he had made.

Elijah huffed a laugh from beside her, his fingers threading in her hair. "Well that's good, because…you know, even though Elena and I have this deal if you make a move to cross me I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house." Astra wondered if that meant Jenna as well, but decided it best not to interrupt his process of putting Damon in his place and instead turned her attention to where she could hear high heeled shoes making their way toward the front door. "Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Damon agreed faintly.

"Jenna!" Astra called happily in excitement, feeling Elijah nudge her on in silent permission that she could go and speak with the other woman. "We match!" she observed, looking from Jenna's flowing purple shirt to her own blouse, getting a laugh from the other woman.

"You both look incredible," Elijah complimented as he moved to join them, "It's wonderful to see you again, Jenna."