Living to Die
Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864
"Annabel?" Astra called as soon as she entered her home, hearing the human woman shuffling around inside the kitchen as the smell of warm tea floated through the house. Astra took a moment to inhale deeply, the familiar smell bringing a calming comfort to her that she dearly needed in that moment. She paused once to look in a mirror that hung at the entrance to the home, her face no longer red from crying, and continued on inside.
"Miss. Casca? You are back so soon," Annabel said as she appeared in the kitchen doorway, wiping her hands on a towel to make sure they were clean. She dipped into a slight curtsy at the sight of her mistress, but Astra only smiled sadly to her and moved along the halls, passing the kitchen and out to the back garden. Annabel had learned that for the past while—since Katherine had arrived—it was never a good thing when Astra decided to hole herself up in the back garden.
Frowning in sadness and looking to the floor, her heart ached for the woman. She had known Astra for only a handful of years, but she was different than any of the other vampires that she passed by. Her family had always worked for vampires, generation after generation stuck as slaves to them. This vampire had made the terrible mistake of crossing Astra, trying to kill her for the money that she had saved up through her centuries of walking the Earth.
It had been Annabel's mother, heavily pregnant, that was working for him at the time. When he was caught, Astra slaughtered him and returned to his estate to take what he owed her and nothing more. Inside, she found Elizabeth hiding away, fearful that her master may find out someone was in his house and she could do nothing.
Astra had felt so disgusted with the other vampire that she had given Elizabeth a choice; take whatever riches from the estate that she wanted and live her own life and raise her daughter, or she could go with the elder woman, continuing to work as a maid, but she would never be treated as a slave. Annabel had remembered hearing her mother tell her the story of when she first met Astra, how she had told her 'I have no need for a slave, but I dearly miss having a family'. She even promised Elizabeth that her daughter would be free do to as she pleased, even Elizabeth herself could leave whenever she wished. The woman had cried with so much joy.
Annabel had been raised around vampires, meeting many that were kind and many that had nearly been killed at Astra's hands for daring to try and bite or threaten her and her mother. Even though she had always called Astra 'mistress' or 'Miss. Casca' she would always view the older woman as an ageless grandmother, someone that was always there whenever you needed them.
It seemed that the tables had been turned.
Astra was the one that was in need of help, no matter how much she wished to hide away and refuse to admit to it, it was the truth.
The woman that had stood as a pillar of strength throughout Annabel's meagre life seemed to be crumbling before her very eyes, and she could not find it within herself to stand it. She wished to see the fire in Astra's eyes again, not the sad smiles or wistful looks. The laughs that Damon had brought her made Annabel so happy, but how that he was the cause of so much pain she almost wished she could gather Astra up in her arms like a child and carry her away from all of the pain and destruction that that one man was causing.
However there was also the man that was whispered by Astra in her sleep, while she was thinking throughout the day or just breathily and without recognition.
Elijah.
Astra sat at the bench that she and Mikael had taken up when he had visited, telling her of Elijah's thoughts on her. She looked down to the cobblestone pathway, seeing the messed prints that were left behind from her steps. Heavy. That was how she felt, heavy enough to leave the step behind, something she had once been so good at hiding.
Taking in a trembling breath, she wished that she could return to her bed and curl up under the covers, but she didn't have time to hesitate. It would be best to leave the town as soon as she could, packing her things away. Perhaps she would leave Annabel behind to take care of the building, maybe even giving it to her. She didn't think she'd have the heart to return to the damned place.
Astra's heard lurched when her eyes fell upon her hands, folded in her lap, and caught sight of the ring that Damon had slipped onto her finger so long before.
Rising from her seat, she darted up from where she was sitting in the garden to stand in her bedroom, leaving the doors open as she ran through them. She had probably startled Annabel, but the woman would more than likely have gotten used to her sudden movements by that time already. Violently pulling the ring off her finger, her eyes burned with tears.
Halting in her stride, she was tempted to move over to the window and chuck it out into the forest, never to be found. Forcing herself to stop and think, however, she instead turned toward her dresser and dropped it into the box of jewellery, closing the lid and giving in a few gentle shakes so that it wouldn't be sitting on top and the first thing she saw when she opened it.
Remaining in front of her dresser, hands placed on the thick wooden lid of the box, Astra felt more miserable than she had since she first left Elijah years before. A muffled thud drew her attention away from her dark thoughts, a frown marring the woman's features as she looked forward her door. It had come from the bottom floor.
"Annabel?" Astra called loudly, knowing the small human's hearing wasn't as good as hers by far. When there was nothing in answer to her call, she grew worried and collected her skirts into her hands and rushed back through the halls, her heels tapping the wooden stairs as she rushed down them just over human speed. "Annabel? Are you alright?" she called again, her eyes searching, her ears straining for sound.
Her heart stopped in her chest for the second time in her life when she caught sight of Annabel lying on the ground, blood collecting around her form from a bite on her neck. Astra hiss venomously as she raced over to the other woman, simultaneously biting into her wrist and holding the gaping wound over the injury, allowing the healing liquid to drip down into the gushing bite.
Katherine.
Her mind hissed to her, but she wasn't completely sure. There was no distinct smell of Katherine, and Astra had become very aware of the other vampires smell since she had arrived in town. Inhaling deeply, there was a very different, but still strongly familiar, smell that caught her nose. A snarl erupted from her throat as recognition came to her.
Before she had a chance to move a set of hands took hold of her head and her head was turned sharply, snapping her neck and temporarily killing her, blackening her vision and numbing her body.
Elijah stood over her fallen form with a guilty frown on his face, his dark eyes looking down at the woman he loved, lying next to the healing form of Annabel. His heart hurt at the sight of her, the same as when he had last seen her, screaming that she hated him, and yet she was so different in the same moment. Times had changed, and she had changed with them.
He had been shocked when the woman, Annabel, had been able to resist his compulsion. Then again, he shouldn't have been completely surprised; Astra had learned years before how to resist the pull of compulsion and she had clearly taught the smaller female the trait as well. Falling to one knee, Elijah lifted his past lover in his arms with as much gentleness and care as a mother would her infant.
He would not break her again.
~ ᵻ ~
Roman Empire, Pompeii, 78 A.D.
Astraea woke alone, bundled up in the blankets that covered Elijah's grand bed. She rolled onto her side and cuddled up in the sheets, embracing the Egyptian cotton as she took in his smell. A smile graced her lips as she inhale deeply, thinking back to the night before. A moment of peace fell over her as she revelled in the memories of his hands on her body, the press of skin to skin and the unimaginable pleasure that he brought her. The peace only lasted a moment, however, because a second later she realized her parents are probably in a fit.
Bolting up in the bed, her curls bounced around her face and shoulders, the sheets falling away from her form and baring her tanned skin to the warm, Roman air.
Elijah was nowhere to be seen, and the sheets were cool beside her. Throwing her coverings away, Astraea lunged from the bed and quickly ran across the marble floors to where her dress was still hanging. A flush rose to her cheeks when she saw that Elijah had draped the red sash over it before he left, almost in a taunting sense because he just knew she would blush because of it.
Shaking her head, she pulled the red sash free and played with it in her hands for a moment before she remembered that she was standing, naked, in the middle of Elijah's bed chambers and quickly pulled her dress down and over her head. The material was nice and cool against her warmed skin, such a pleasant contract. Pressing the red sash against her hot cheeks, she couldn't suppress her smile even as her fear of her parents pressed down on her.
A blood curdling scream caused her to gasp in frozen shock, the sash clenched in her tensed hands. Whipping her head toward the open balcony doors, she found it hard to get her feet to move as her mind whispered for her to find out what had caused the sound. It was a woman, that was for sure, but why was someone screaming in such a way?
She forced her body to move, taking her to the balcony hesitantly, as she continued to clutch at the red sash in a deadly grip. When dozens more screams carried on after the first her feet had her racing for the balcony, desperate to know what was going on. Her heart kicked to a new pace in her chest, pounding like a fist against her ribs. Her hands trembled as she used them to catch her body when she ran into the railing surrounding the balcony. She was only standing there for a moment in confusion before her eyes were directed to the tremendous darkness in the sky that rising from the grand volcano that rose above the city.
Please, no, she prayed silently, fear reflecting in her eyes as she looked up at the ominous cloud of ash, rock and debris. Squinting her eyes, she watched as the smoke began to rise over the city, a seemingly never-ending flow coming from the great mountain. She gasped in shock, jumping in surprise, when something hit the railing beside her and broke into pieces.
A rock. It had been a small rock.
Looking back up toward the sky, her own scream joined the others of the city when she saw more of the fist sized rocks beginning to race down toward them at an injuring pace. Ducking back into the bed chamber, she made sure that she was far away from the threat of the stone as they began to pelt down steadily on the ground. How had she slept through the eruption?
Her body flinched as the pace of falling rocks began to increase, soon covering the balcony.
"Elijah!" Astraea screamed before she even realized she had inhaled to do so. In a panic, she threw the heavy curtains on either side of the archway closed, blocking out the sight and bathing the room in black, shading her away. The red sash lay abandoned on the floor as her nails bit into the material of the curtains, refusing to give up her hold on them.
She was terrified. It was as simple as that.
"What is happening?" she gasped out, squeezing her eyes shut as she pressed her forehead against the soft material in her fists. "Please, gods above, tell me what this is," she begged in a raw voice. Was this because she had gone against her family and bedded with Elijah before she was married? Was she tainted now, and this was her punishment. "I am so sorry, I beg your forgiveness!"
Would they hear her? Would they forgive her? She prayed that when she opened the curtains again, the rocks would have stopped falling and the ominous cloud of black would no longer hang above her city. Her entire body had begun to tremble as she parted the material slowly, hesitantly. A deep frown pressed on her face when no sunlight streamed in, nor was there any light at all. It was as though it was night again.
Ripping the curtains wide open, a sob of despair left her lips when the rocks continued to pelt down, now several inches layering the ground and homes. People were screaming and rushing about in the streets, trying to find cover from the pain of the heavy debris and anger of the gods. The sob turned into a deep cough that started in the depths of her chest, pushing up her throat and spilling blood onto her lips.
The entire city was bathed in the darkness of the cloud, blocking out their light of day.
Panic set in as Astraea stumbled to close the curtains again, holding her breath in an attempt to push down the coughs. It seemed futile, though, as more blood spilled from her mouth. She couldn't breathe, the liquid choking her as the air was locked within her lungs. The world was dark, she couldn't breathe and she had no idea what it was that she was going to do. Grasping the curtains, she felt that they were her own anchor and refused to let go.
A sudden rush to her head, foreign to her, caused her to tip and fall, unable to regain her balance in time. The sound of the metal rings holding the curtain was all she could hear, snapping from the sudden weight of her body, and she fell to the ground with the thick red draping down across her legs. Even with the curtains opened again, there was barely any more light then there had been before.
Her shoulder and hip should have throbbed, but she felt nothing as she lay on the ground, her cheek pressed against the fallen sash of blood red material.
Elijah.
Where are you?
A drop of blood, a dying breath, the final beat of a heart.
I'm sorry that this one wasn't out on the weekend, I tried my best but I'm a day late. Anyway, the chapter has arrived and the next should be out very shortly. I've kind of freaking out over the new season because they keep showing commercials and I'm enthralled in what's going to happen how that she finally…
I'm not going to say anything in case I'm telling someone something they don't know.
Anyway! Hope you enjoyed, next chapter should be out very soon and please review!
Chapter 36 – Dying to Live
Taking a deep inhale, the cursed woman looked to him for a moment more before raising the knife and turning it in her hand, changing it from pointing outward to instead aim at her stomach. That move alone brought some doubt to the man, but not enough to act. Not a moment later, however, he was racing for the door as Elena plunged the knife into her stomach, the scent of her blood rushing around him.
"No!"
Tugging the knife free, Elena let it fall to the floor as Elijah was forced to stop at the doorway, his hands slamming against the wood. She groaned in clear agony as Elijah sought through his mind to think of any way that he could get to her, but he knew that she would not invite him inside under any circumstances unless it was that he agreed.
"Yes," he growled out, giving in. "Yes, you can have your deal!" She hissed in pain again as her hands covered the bleeding wound, doubled over in agony from stabbing herself. "Let me heal you."
"Give me your word!" she demanded, still fighting until the very end.
"I give you my word," he said immediately.