Fool Me Once - Part 2
"I had one simple rule. Try not to come back here. You did not even make it ten minutes."
"Yeah, yeah," Victoria grumbled, pushing herself up onto her elbows. She let out a grunt as she heaved herself up into a sitting position. She looked awkwardly in front of her to the man who looked less than pleased. "It wasn't exactly my fault."
Henri didn't look as though he believed any of that, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. He still had the same attire on as last time, black coat and all. The only thing that was different was...
"Why are you giving Vicki a piggyback ride?" Victoria couldn't help but question, her brow furrowing in confusion. She raised a hand and pointed towards the young woman, who was clinging to Henri's back like a koala. Vicki was dressed in skinny jeans, really cute black boots that Victoria swore were hers that she had lost a while back, and a maroon v-neck. The woman's spindly arms were wrapped tightly over Henri's shoulders, her legs around his waist with ankles hooked in front of him, but Henri just had his arms crossed in front of his chest.
His frown deepened and he stated sternly, "I am not giving this creature anything. She simply accosted me."
"Translation?" Victoria asked, looking towards Vicki.
The apparition shrugged her shoulders. "I got bored. He was trying to send me away because I was apparently annoying him. I jumped on him so he couldn't."
"This is supposed to be her place of peace," Henri huffed through gritted teeth, directing his words towards Vicki. "I have yet to discover how your presence brings anyone any peace."
"I am the embodiment of relaxation and peace, thank you very much!" Vicki retorted, squeezing her arms a little tighter in retaliation.
"Ladies, you're both pretty. Move on," Victoria grumbled, rising to her feet. She brushed herself off, shaking her head. She took a deep breath, wincing at how the movement pulled at sore and hurt muscles in her neck. Reaching up to rub her throat, Victoria continued, "Look, Henri, I'm sorry that I died within minutes of waking up last time. That was definitely never my intention. But in my defense," she added, noting the slight smug look in Henri's eyes, "you never told me that I would be on my death bed when I woke up!"
Now it was Henri's and Vicki's turn to be confused. Vicki sat up straighter on Henri's back, tilting her head to one side. "Tori, what happened?"
"I woke up in the motel where Anna was staying," Victoria explained, swallowing heavily. "It felt as though...like I was having an insane blood sugar crash. All I wanted to do was eat, but obviously, I couldn't do that because Anna was not in the mood to negotiate, it seems. My magic was draining me more than usual. That was the first time it happened. Oh! And it was black, not white like it's normally been."
Henri let out a large sigh. It was so big that Victoria could see the movement across his entire body, and then in Vicki the way she rose and fell. "That was something I did not bring up, for I believed that you would be in a position where it wouldn't be, as you say, 'a big deal'."
"Fess up, HenDawg. What mumbo-jumbo did you forget to tell Tori?"
"Call me that again, wraith, and I will send you back to the deep, dark hole I pulled you from," Henri growled, his voice low. "And get off of me!"
He shook his shoulders, a signal that Vicki was to leave or else. Vicki rolled her eyes, but complied. She hopped off and skipped over to Victoria. On instinct, Victoria lifted her arm and placed it on top of Vicki's shoulders. Vicki tucked her arm around Victoria's waist and plopped her head contentedly onto Victoria's shoulder. Vicki then gestured for Henri to start speaking.
Henri just took a deep breath and Victoria could faintly spot a little vein pop out angrily on his forehead, but he seemed to keep his cool. Victoria hadn't seen him so...not perky. It was rather odd, but at the same time, extremely amusing. "As you can imagine, dying takes a lot of a person. It's not an easy experience. Once we finish up here in the place of peace, your consciousness starts to return to your body, and your body begins to heal. When you wake up, your body begins to acknowledge all of the calories it needed to take in order to heal yourself. You need to replenish the calories in order to bring yourself, and your powers, back to their peak."
"You need food," Vicki translated once more. "Lots of it. Your metabolism is going to be a thing of legend itself."
Henri gave a groan of disapproval, and grumbled, "I stated it a little more eloquently, but the spirit is correct."
"Theoretically, you're a spirit too, Mister 'I'm-The-Immortalis-Keeper'," Vicki retorted, dropping her voice in a lousy impression of Henri.
Victoria snickered and gently pinched Vicki's shoulder. "I think you get the bad acting from me."
"Kelly was always better at it," Vicki sniffed, shrugging. "I just try my best."
Victoria could see Henri was about to bark out another retort to Vicki, so she quickly stepped in and said, "So just to confirm: my body heals while I'm here, or in transition from here to there, and so I need a lot of food. Without the food, my magic is a little faulty. Right?"
"That is correct," Henri said after a minute of glaring at Vicki. "I believed that the companion you were with would have taken care of you. Rather, you were kidnapped."
"Again," Vicki commented.
Victoria bumped her hip against Vicki, not trying to hold back any strength. "Watch it. Your namesake was the person who kidnapped me the last time. Or well, the time before last if you count the last time as being Logan."
Henri let out a little groan and reached out and used two fingers to massage the little bridge of his nose. He looked exhausted. Was it even possible for the Keeper of the Immortalis to get tired? "As for your magic, due to the fact that you are a Transitioning Immortalis, your magic will change color based on what you use it for. For more defensive magic, it is white. Pure. For offensive magic, it is black. Tainted."
"Well, if that's not just reassuring," Victoria mumbled.
Henri nodded sadly. "It does not affect how you transition into a fully-fledged Immortalis, so do not worry. It is more decoration than anything else. Now, I have the unfortunate feeling that I will be seeing you soon, given the apparent...skill you have. Until then, hopefully, the banshee will shut up. For once."
"You're just saying that to insult me," Vicki sniffed, taking her arm back from Victoria. She stepped forward and folded her arms across her chest. "I think you like me and you don't know how to handle these feelings."
"I would rather die again," Henri deadpanned. He turned to look back towards Victoria, blatantly ignoring the "Ow" that Vicki said in response to his statement. "Please, for the love of all things good, at least twenty minutes until your next visit. The creature only gets ancy when you are coming to the place of peace for rest. When you are gone, I might actually get some much needed work done."
"You're dead, Enrique. What work is there to be done?"
"That's it! You're are going to -!"
When Victoria woke up next, she actually kind of felt a little disappointed. She enjoyed the dynamic between Henri and Vicki. It almost felt like they were all siblings. Being an only child in her former world, when she was a Vanacore, and here, a LeBlanc, was all she had ever known. But being in her place of peace and listening to Henri and Vicki squabble together like an old married couple was a good source of entertainment and relaxation.
And then Victoria felt like her brain was going to explode from her head, so that was when the feeling of peace ended.
"Ow," Victoria grunted, twisting awkwardly in place. She was sitting up and she was...on the toilet? Oh, the bathroom. Did Anna seriously stash her dead body in the bathroom of the motel? Really? Victoria reached up wearily and rubbed her neck. "Damn it, Anna. You're on the bitch list now."
"T-Tori?"
It was like someone had thrown cold water on Victoria and she sat up straighter, blinking. Bonnie was lying in the bathtub, her wrists and ankles tied together crudely with some bedsheets. She looked paler than usual, and there was sweat dotting her brow. Her heart was pounding in Victoria's ears and her eyes...
They were so scared.
"Bonnie," Victoria whispered. She flew off of the toilet, ignoring the pang of hunger in her stomach that she knew would be there. She knelt down outside of the tub and started to untie Bonnie as much as she could. "I'm so sorry; I thought I would have been able to hold off Anna enough to have Elena get you out of here."
"I-I had to look at your dead body," Bonnie whispered, and Victoria froze. What? She looked up towards Bonnie and the teen girl's eyes were clouded with tears. "S-She forced me to sit here and just look at you or she would hurt you, and I-I -"
"Oh Bonnie," Victoria murmured, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
Victoria ripped at the restraints on her friend's arms with more vigor, trying to push down the rage that was starting to fill her up. Anna was sometimes ridiculous, as every person on the planet was granted, but to put her friend in an enclosed space and force her to stare at Victoria's dead body?
Victoria yanked a hand back and the bedsheets that tied her wrists fell apart. Victoria grabbed Bonnie's hands and waited for Bonnie to look up into her eyes. With deliberate moves, Victoria mouthed, "I will make her pay." Bonnie nodded her head hurriedly. Victoria stood up, tipping slightly as her legs shook underneath her. She grabbed onto the dingy little tap in the sink and turned it on full blast. Only once the water (which was tinged a little bit green) was spilling out did Victoria turn back to start taking apart the bonds around her ankles.
"Do you know what happened to Ben?" Bonnie asked, her voice shaky but stronger than it had been previously.
Victoria shook her head and she stuck her tongue out in concentration as she tried to undo the rather elaborate knot. "He showed up at the school. Snuck up on me when I wasn't expecting it. Apparently, there's this herb that really kicks the Immortalis' butt when it comes to their senses, and he accidentally went crawling through it on his way over. Snapped my neck, just like Anna did later."
"What number of...what number is it?"
Victoria paused and her grip on the bedsheets tightened a little. "Including my transition to this world...this last one would be number five."
"I'm sorry," Bonnie whispered.
Victoria shook her head and resumed trying to get Bonnie free. "Don't worry about it. It's something that I feel like I will have to deal with for the rest of my...life, I guess."
Bonnie flopped her head back against the shower wall and closed her eyes. Her hands tightened into fists and she brought them up to her face, pressing them against her closed eyes. "I'm so stupid!"
"Ben knew how to manipulate you," Victoria argued, shaking her head. "You're the victim, Bonnie. This was not your fault. You couldn't have known. If anything, it's my fault. It slipped past my mind and I should have told you about it sooner."
"What's going on?" Bonnie asked, bringing her hands away from her face. "Why are we here?"
"You? It has to do with the tomb and Emily's grimoire," Victoria explained. She grinned triumphantly as she was finally able to take apart the bonds. She pulled the bedsheets out of the tub and placed them down by her feet. They might come in handy later. "Me? I made the stupid decision to maybe put some faith that Anna wouldn't become chaotic, but that was obviously done in bad taste.
"Emily's grimoire?" Bonnie asked incredulously. "I-I don't know where that is."
"Damon knows," Victoria explained. "It can be used to open up the tomb because the grimoire was used to seal the tomb in the first place."
"Why didn't I know about any of this?"
"We were going to tell you today, but you had the date with Ben yesterday and everybody knew how excited you were," Victoria sighed, shaking her head. "Again, my bad. It wasn't...so much has happened and it's hard to keep it all straight, but that's not really a great excuse."
"So what does Anna want with me, really?"
"She needs a witch to break the spell around the tomb so the vampires will be let out," Victoria explained tentatively.
Bonnie's eyes widened in disbelief and she whispered in fear, "No way."
"Yeah," Victoria winced.
The door behind Victoria flew open and Victoria whipped around, moving directly to stand in front of Bonnie.
Anna stood in the doorway, her hands planted firmly on her hips. Her mouth was pressed tightly into a thin line and she was eyeing Victoria with disdain. She reached over and flipped the tap off, and the sound of rushing water fell away. The only sound that really filled the air was Bonnie's rapid heartbeat and Victoria's slower heartbeat.
"You're wasting your time," Bonnie growled. There was a fierceness in her voice that hadn't been there before, and Victoria gave her a subtle thumbs-up behind her back. "I'm not gonna help you."
Anna's face scrunched up and in a flash, Victoria was on the other side of the bathroom. She let out a strangled gasp as a strong arm wrapped its way around her throat, and Victoria's hands flashed up. She clawed at Anna's arm but it did little to persuade the vampiress. Victoria didn't trust that she had enough skill to attack Anna without potentially harming Bonnie.
"That's why this idiot is here," Anna growled, tightening her grip on Victoria's throat. Victoria let out a gurgle and she resisted the urge to badly struggle. If she moved the wrong way, she might end up snapping her neck. That would definitely piss Henri off. "Motivation for you to behave."
"You do realize by now that I can't stay dead, right?" Victoria choked out. Her senses and powers might be dulled, especially with the aggressive ache in her stomach, but that didn't mean she was completely powerless. Victoria grabbed onto Anna's wrist and elbow and began to slowly pull the arm forward. Not enough to get it off completely; she wasn't that strong just yet. But it was enough that she could breathe a little easier. "No matter what you do, I'll just always come back to haunt your little ass."
"Looking forward to it," Anna spat back.
"Bonnie's not gonna open the tomb," Victoria growled, jamming her shoulder back against Anna.
Anna just laughed at Victoria's feeble attempt. "Oh, I think she will."
"Doing this won't bring your mother back."
"And who are you, to think that you know everything?" Anna retorted, and Victoria rolled her eyes, knowing that Bonnie would be the only one to see it. Really, the vampires in this show were so cocky. "Well, did you know that Katherine couldn't help herself. She just had to toy around with both of the Salvatore brothers. And when she got caught, so did my mother. I watched Johnathan Gilbert take her away. Did you know that?" Her voice was near a yell by the time she was finished.
"I'm sorry, Anna, that you had to go through that," Bonnie began, keeping her voice gentle. Victoria was able to hear the little wobble at the end of her phrases and knew that while she was putting on a brave face, Bonnie was terrified. "I really am."
"You really mean that, don't you?" Anna snickered. "Yeah, I think we'll skip the bonding. We've got something else that needs more of our attention."
Anna shoved Victoria and the adult-turned-teen went stumbling forward. She fell to her knees and let out a hiss as her knees hit the tiles, hard. She was able to catch herself on the edge of the tub and Bonnie caught her around the shoulders.
"Shall we call a little friend now?" Anna snorted, whipping out a cell phone. Victoria's face turned into a deadly glare. That was her phone! Anna flipped through the contacts until she got to the contact and she clicked 'call'. She held it up to her ear and stuck her tongue out at Victoria.
Stefan's voice filled the bathroom air, and he sounded properly worried. "Victoria? Is that you? Are you okay?"
"She's fine. For now," Anna mused, a playful and killer smile on her lips. Victoria frowned. That was a total Katherine look. "Tell me you have the grimoire and she'll stay fine."
"You snapped my neck because I tried to help Elena and Bonnie leave after being kidnapped by you, you psycho," Victoria retorted, loudly. "I don't think that qualifies as being 'fine'."
"Tori? Are you okay?" she heard Stefan ask over the phone.
"Get me the grimoire or I'll keep killing Victoria over and over again," Anna threatened, her eyes narrowing. "Now."
"I don't have the grimoire."
"Which means Damon does. And Damon is on his way here. If he gets here, I will kill Victoria and I'll even throw harming the little witch in too." Bonnie let out a terrified squeak and Victoria reached over, grabbing her hand reassuringly. No one would touch Bonnie. Not while Victoria was still alive. Well, breathing. Victoria wasn't as alive as much as she should be. "Once you've guaranteed that he and every member of his group won't arrive at my doorstep, then one of you should meet me in the very public town square in thirty minutes so we can safely discuss how fun it's gonna be to work together."
"I can't control Damon, Anna. He does what he wants to, and trust me when I say he will kill you based on what you've done to Victoria."
"Aw, cute, a crush," Anna snickered and Victoria's face scrunched up in confusion. A crush? There was no way in hell that Damon had a crush on her. His one and true love, besides Elena and himself, obviously, was Katherine. "Convince him, Stefan. Or he can watch as I rip her pretty little throat out. Jeremy did say she was a singer."
"How the hell does Jeremy Gilbert know that?" Victoria couldn't help but blurt out.
"What?" Damon growled, his hands tightening into fists. He, Lee, and Zach were pulled over on the side of the road. Damon was outside of the car, Lee and Zach residing awkwardly inside of the cab. The motel where Damon knew Victoria and Bonnie was in his direct line of sight, and he could be there in a heartbeat. Grab Victoria and Bonnie in the second heartbeat, and out on the third, and yet his brother... "I am not going to back down!"
"Damon, you keep charging in head first, Anna is going to kill Victoria!" Stefan shot back.
"Oh, so now you care?"
"Damn it, Damon, you can be pissed off at me all you want, but don't let your need to show me up cause Victoria any more harm than it already has in the past," Stefan argued. "Listen, Anna is willing to talk, to negotiate, for both Bonnie and Victoria's safety. She wants in the tomb as badly as you do, or so I gather. For once in your miserable afterlife, compromise. Find a way that you can both win, or Anna will hurt Victoria."
"So glad you have Victoria's best interests in mind," Damon hissed, slamming his fist angrily onto the hood of his car. It made a rather large dent and Damon growled. He was going to have to bang that out later. "Not like you cared any other time."
"Damon, we will hash this out later!" Stefan shouted, his voice filled with anger. "Right now, all that matters is that the two girls who can die in that motel stay alive through the end of this night! So stuff it, keep it together as much as you freaking can, and meet Anna later today."
"Screw that," Damon snapped. "We're finishing this right now."
Damon hung on his brother, not bothering to listen as Stefan tried to protest. He clicked up to Victoria's contact and slammed his finger down on the button. He waited until the phone clicked before he spat out, "We're finishing this now, bitch. You want a deal? Speak now or forever hold your peace."
"I-I'm not sure how I should feel about you calling me a bitch."
Ice water washed over Damon and he spluttered, "M-Mama Bear?" He whipped around and caught Zach's incredulous look through the windshield. Zach mouthed a 'What?' and Damon just pathetically shrugged his shoulders. He turned back around and looked towards the motel. "How the hell are you on the phone?"
"Anna left it. She went out to the park already. She's waiting for you there."
"How come you and little witch didn't skedaddle already?" Damon questioned. Lee slipped out of the car and gave Damon a pointed look. Damon rolled his eyes, but pulled his phone away and clicked the speakerphone option. He set the phone down on the hood of the car, right in the dent he had made with his fist. "You're on speaker with Lee, Zach, and I."
"Oooh, proper grammar," Victoria mumbled, and there was a rustling sound from over the phone. "We can't leave the motel. Not only has Anna threatened both of lives, but she's done something to the door. Let's say it gives us quite the shock if we try to touch it."
Lee let out a sharp breath and he brought up a hand to massage his temple. "Please don't tell me you've died, again."
"Nah, just knocked unconscious for a solid ten seconds," Victoria responded. "Scared the hell out of Bonnie. Oh, wait!" There was some more rustling and then Victoria spoke again, "Okay, you're on speaker with the two of us now."
"Hey Bonnie," Zach said, slipping out of the car to stand across from Damon and Lee. "You doing alright?"
"As well as a girl can be after she was kidnapped from her date," Bonnie sniffed, and Damon heard Victoria mumble something to the teen. "How are we supposed to get out of here?"
"With great perseverance," Lee chuckled, shaking his head in exasperation. "Sugar, did that TV show of yours show you how you are supposed to escape?"
It seemed to take Victoria a minute to realize that she was the one that Lee was addressing. "Oh! No, unfortunately. Ben McKittrick is supposed to be here, guarding Elena and Bonnie, the two who are originally supposed to be here. Except that I helped Elena to escape and I haven't seen Ben since he snapped my neck last night."
"Yeah, can't give you any idea where Ben might be," Damon admitted. "I haven't seen him since the bar the night you were revived, the first time. Second time?"
"Second time," Victoria confirmed.
"Okay, you can't leave through the front door. Is there a window of any kind, one that you might be able to slip out of?" Zach brought up.
"We checked those. Still a no-go," Bonnie explained. "I don't know enough magic to figure out how to get out of here."
"Yeah, and I need more calories from having my neck snapped before my magic will really work," Victoria added in. There was a sudden slapping noise and Damon raised an eyebrow in question. "We have stupid idiots. All of us. Just one big pile of idioticness."
"Use English, Mama Bear."
"Call Kelly."
Victoria let out a breath of relief when the door to the motel swung open and revealed Kelly and the vampire boys on the other side. Kelly's hands were planted firmly on her hips and she was looking at Bonnie and Victoria with exasperation. "You two, I swear. What would you do if I wasn't here?"
"Die, probably," Victoria said honestly. She stepped forward, sighing with relief when she was able to pass through the door with no bad side effect. She wrapped her arms tightly around her mother's torso and Kelly returned the hug just as eagerly. "Thank you, Mom. Having electrical abilities apparently comes in handy."
"Of course, baby girl," Kelly murmured, plopping a big kiss onto Victoria's brow. "Now, we have lots to do and so little time. Damon, take Victoria and Bonnie to Shelia Bennett's house. She's already been brought up to date on everything regarding Bonnie. Zach and Lee, go grab Elena, Stefan, and Lexi."
"What about Caroline?" Bonnie questioned as Victoria stepped out of Kelly's grasp. The mother reached over and nabbed Bonnie, pulling the younger teen into a strong, tight hug. Bonnie sunk into Kelly's grip, and her eyes even watered a little.
"Caroline's going to be busy partying it up," Kelly explained gently, her voice a soft whisper. "She'll be fine. We'll bring her up to speed later. Right now, what's about to happen tonight, we don't need any humans in the vicinity. Elena's only coming because she's Elena."
"That...doesn't make sense," Lee commented.
"Nothing ever does in this weird town," Kelly shot back playfully. "I'll catch up with you at Shelia's house soon. I need to send Anna a little message first."
"Stay safe, okay?" Damon demanded, pointing a finger towards Kelly as he grabbed Victoria's wrist. He pulled her tight to his side, which Victoria was getting used to. She wrapped an arm reassuringly around his waist and he seemed to relax marginally. "I don't want to go on another rescue mission."
"Puh-lease," Kelly sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not a maiden in distress that needs saving. Leave that to others, thank you very much." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Now, go!"
Damon nimbly grabbed Bonnie, pulling her to his other side. She let out a yelp of shock and she swallowed heavily. Victoria huffed and elbowed Damon in the stomach.
"What?" he asked, looking down at her in exasperation.
"You are such an idiot," Victoria stated. She tore herself away from Damon's side and stood in front of Bonnie, holding her hands out. Bonnie took them gratefully, stepping far away from Damon. Victoria sent Damon a teasing look and stuck her tongue out at him. "We'll see you at Shelia's. Try to keep up."
Victoria stepped forward and grabbed Bonnie's side and took off running.
They reached the front of Shelia's yard in only a minute or two (much faster than if they had just drove there). Victoria had a silly, stupid grin on her face at the feeling of exhilaration she got from running; meanwhile, Bonnie was looking like she was trying not to throw up. The witch staggered out of Victoria's hold and put her hands on her knees, breathing deeply through her nose. The triumphant smile fell from Victoria's lips and she rushed to Bonnie's side, placing a comforting hand on her back. "Sorry, Bon. I just figured you would rather do that with me than Damon."
"Just a little warning next time would be great," Bonnie said breathily. "Or, you know, maybe no next time?"
"The thought has been taken into account," Victoria agreed.
Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, spotting a text from Damon.
DAMON:
I brought the car. Was just going to take you two to it. See you in seven minutes.
Victoria winced. "Whoops. Damon brought a car."
"I feel like I would get more sick riding in a car with him than speeding down the streets with you," Bonnie sniffed, shaking her head. She pushed herself up, standing tall, and took a deep breath in through her nose. "Okay, I think I'm good now."
"You better be. I don't want to see you throwing up on my hard-earned lawn."
"Grams!" Bonnie shouted with delight, looking towards the house. Shelia Bennett was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed against her chest lightly and a smile plastered on her face. Bonnie took off running towards her grandmother, looking ecstatic to see her. "I am so glad to see you!"
"Right back at you, sweetheart," Shelia replied, opening her arms wide to catch her granddaughter with a large hug. She looked pointedly over Bonnie's shoulder and gave Victoria a look. "And are you just going to stand there and do nothing?"
"Of course not," Victoria laughed. She jogged lightly down the front walk to the porch of the Bennett matriarch's house and hopped up the steps. Bonnie stepped out of the way and Victoria wrapped the eldest Bennett witch up in a hug.
However, the moment that Victoria touched Shelia Bennett, something happened.
The woman let out a strangled gasp and her two hands shoved Victoria back. Victoria stumbled, not expecting the wild reaction, and only barely caught herself from falling flat onto her ass. She looked up towards Shelia, who was looking towards her with a wild, helpless expression.
"No," Shelia whispered, shaking her head frantically. "No, no, no, no!"
"Grams, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked worriedly, looking from Shelia to Victoria, and then back to her grandmother. "Grams, what happened? Did you see something?"
"Did you not feel it, child?" Shelia demanded, flipping around to look at her granddaughter. Shelia grabbed Bonnie's shoulders tightly and Bonnie let out a yelp of pain. Shelia flipped Bonnie around and freed a hand to point it at Victoria. Victoria's eyes widened with distress. What the hell was happening? "Did you not feel the pain of death and darkness when you touched her?"
"Grams, this is Victoria LeBlanc we are talking about!" Bonnie hissed, struggling to pull herself away from her grandmother's iron-tight grip. "Of course not!"
"Grams, you're starting to scare me," Victoria whispered, not knowing who to look at. Bonnie, who was struggling to free herself, or Shelia Bennett, who looked like she was about to lose her shit, and not in an emotional sobby way; more like a 'I'm-about-to-murder-someone' way. "W-What's wrong? What did I do?"
"Did you not enjoy the light?" Shelia shrieked, gesturing wildly towards Victoria. Victoria took a step back and swallowed heavily, not knowing what she should do. "Did you despise us so much that you would turn to darkness to be your companion?"
"Grams! You're not making sense!" Bonnie yelled, finally able to pull herself away from her grandmother. She stomped away, giving a good amount of distance between her and Shelia, before she flipped around to glare at her. "What the hell is going on?"
"You are the vilest creature known to mankind!" Shelia continued, her eyes wide and crazed. "If vampires are considered to be devils among men, then you are their leader!"
Victoria felt like she got punched in the gut and she staggered back even more, her eyes instantly watering up with tears. "G-Grams, please!"
"Leave this place!" Shelia ordered, pointing roughly away from her house. "I will have no Immortalis step foot in my home. Blood-traitor!"
"Victoria is not a blood-traitor!" Bonnie defended, launching herself to stand in between Shelia and Victoria.
With Shelia out of Victoria's line of sight, Victoria felt safe enough to let a strangled sob escape her lips. What the hell had happened? Had she done something? Broken some age-old tradition that she hadn't known about...?
"I wish I knew more, but witches and the Immortalis have never been what people would consider 'friends'," Kelly admitted, using quotation marks around the word 'friends'. "All that has been written in witches' grimoires is how to defeat a Transitioning Immortalis..."
Victoria's eyes widened as the thought sunk in. Kelly had been understating the truth when she had said that. She was trying to make Victoria feel safe and secure. To show Victoria that she had nothing to fear from her mother, but that wasn't necessarily the case, was it?
Witches were the Immortalis' enemy.
Shelia was her enemy.
Bonnie was her enemy.
Kelly was, supposedly, her enemy.
It all made sense.
"It's because I'm the Immortalis," Victoria whispered, and the whisper silenced Bonnie and Shelia. Bonnie turned over her shoulder, looking towards Victoria with confusion and empathy. Victoria hastily wiped her tears from her face and tried to look more presentable. "You suddenly hate me because I'm the Immortalis. There's a feud between our two kinds. Witches and me."
"The powers of a witch with the abilities of a vampire. A creature death can not hold," Shelia growled. She reached forward and grabbed Bonnie's wrist, yanking the younger Bennett through the doorway and into the house. Shelia then stood tall, as tall as she could stand, and glared down at Victoria. She looked powerful, and she looked dangerous. And it took everything in Victoria not to shiver at the cold look in her eyes. It was so different from the last time Victoria had come over. "You are the universal mistake, one that nature has been trying to defeat for centuries."
"Because I died one day and suddenly was able to come back?" Victoria demanded, feeling a surge of anger and righteousness deep inside her stomach. She stood up taller, her hands balled into fists at her side. "I didn't choose this fate!"
"But it chose you," Shelia spat back. "The Immortalis was created in a realm of darkness; it is filled with pain and treachery. It was only through witch intervention that your disease has not spread."
"Excuse me? What the hell does that even mean?" Victoria demanded. Faintly, behind her, Victoria could hear the sound of approaching footsteps (she recognized the thudding heartbeat of Elena Gilbert among those footsteps). The sound of a car roaring also caught her ear and Victoria knew that it was Damon. She hoped that they weren't close enough to hear their discussion. Oh, who the hell was she trying to kid? They would hear and it would only cause more problems than solutions.
"It is every witch's duty, as it has been written into their very DNA, to exterminate the Immortalis before they are allowed to reach their peak. No Immortalis has lived past the Transitioning. None."
A/N: Howdy-hoo, that was a dramatic chapter. All over the place, too. I really wanted to make the actual tomb bit its own chapter, which is why this episode is gonna be a 3-parter instead of a 2-parter, like I had originally intended.
Also, apologies for any mini typos you might spot throughout the story. I have no Beta and sometimes I'm rushing to finish up these chapters the day they are supposed to be out, so I think after the next chapter, I'm going to go back, re-read through everything I've written, and make sure everything is edited and looks good!
Also, y'all might not like Shelia Bennett in my story. Just a heads-up.
THE SHIPPING WARS! (feel free to keep on voting (you can vote for more than one ship!); 1 full point for if you choose one ship, two half points for two separate ships, more than 2, smaller decimals. Anything that is not a full point will be italicized. This will not decide the final pairing; I already know who Victoria will end up with, I just want you all to be able to guess):
ROMANTIC:
Team Stetoria {Victoria/Stefan} (17.5): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Lime, herewegoagain, K, emma, just another guest, BookwormStrawberry, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6), Guest (9), guest (1), theappleseed, Anaidiana, Hayden, Takinginspiration1, Serena Salvatore, Prometo, Lolita
Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (38.5): Sciave, Guest, ArganRose, CrystalAris, Marine76, Assenavira, CarlaPA, Guest (1), Maistryia, emma, just another guest, Freeshavacahdoh, Guest (3), Guest (4), Guest (6), sabrinaannpierson, Guest (7), Guest (8), Guest (9), guest (1), hfgfgfrdr, lillen20, Yolo, theappleseed, Guest (10), Juko, Bulma, Ellay, V, Ghest, charlievini, Guest (13), Guest (14), Guest (15), TrembleB4DietCoke, dhariti, Hayden, Guest (17), Elyse1821, Dannn, Yukihino-Sama, Dede, 4day, jazica
Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (38.5): guest, Guest, SoraLover987142, insert name here XD, sammyleann, Orange keys 25, LoyalElijahFangirl, Hinata Megumi, A. G Herz, Aryabloodlust, ferallahey, AngelColdHeart, BlueDragibus, dreamwalkerlisa, Guest, Stachelbeere, Guest (1), jocillyria, Guest (2), BookwormStrawberry, Ieviheichu, Teghan-Potter1370, karenc0r, Hachiko33200, Guest (11), Anaidiana, Dalia2009, wolfcorgi, Nia, Rory, Teghan-Potter1370, Guest (12), Shiro7, alessandra92, Guest (16), Guest (18), Karina, Serena Salvatore, xrysatsan, Lolita, jazica, Guest (19)
Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (6): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9), Mythology216 the Beard King, thisIsNotATest, Guest (10), Tris Hart
Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2.5): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar, Guest (11)
Team Vinn {Victoria/Finn} (1): silentmayhem
PLATONIC:
Vinn {Victoria/Finn) (1.9): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, silentmayhem, Prometo
Varcel {Victoria/Marcel) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, jocillyria
Zinn {Zach/Finn} (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, karenc0r, Prometo
Jol {Jenna/Kol} (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Lime, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Kelas {Silas/Kelly L.} (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (1.2): Orange keys 25, Serena Salvatore
Kennett {Kol/Bonnie} (.5): Lime
Autoria {Aurora/Victoria} (1.2): LoyalElijahFangirl, hfgfgfrdr
Vonnie {Victoria/Bonnie} (1): bpopa7110
Vibekah {Victoria/Rebekah} (1): BookwormStrawberry
Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (1): Guest (10)
New Followers!: Megan Tucker, Anonymous XX-XX, , .75
New Favoriters!: Anonymous XX-XX, Megan Tucker, .75
Onto reviews!:
Guest: I agree! Everyone needs someone who can call them on their BS, and for Stefan, that just so happens to be Damon. I'm putting your vote for Elijah, if that's alright. You're Guest (19) if you ever want to change your vote. I understand that. One reviewer once said that they think Victoria is better suited for Elijah just because he acts like an adult, and that she just needs someone mature. I understand that viewpoint really well.
4day: I love Team Datoria fans. Y'all are so cute when you try to persuade Team Stetoria to abandon their ship in favor of yours XD. Your vote has been added!
DBZFAN45: Yeah, I'm slowly learning that I can't please everyone. Still, it hurts sometimes, you know? (I do find it entertaining that they said all of that on Chapter 2 XD. Like the first episode? Really?) Oh my gosh, there are whole categories of MILFs we could come up with for our lovely TVD moms. I do think that Damon and Elena have some good moments together, whether they are romantic or platonic, and so I wanted to start mending their relationship a little. I think that Victoria's influence over Damon would have definitely made that more possible. Oh heck yeah. I also think that Victoria has never been in a relationship before, and she talks about it in Haunted Part 1 to Zach that she doesn't understand the feelings she gets around Stefan. She honestly doesn't know what it's like to fall in love, so it's all confusing for her. She's friendzoning herself without realizing it, yeah. Good point about Elena. I just really enjoyed the way that Nina played Katherine more than Elena; maybe it's because Katherine knows her flaws and recognizes them, while Elena just doesn't acknowledges hers. (Also, you've totally influenced others to start calling me Author-san and it makes me smile :D).
dhariti: Your vote has been added!
grapejuice101: I'm glad! A few more original bits scattered throughout, but it'll all make sense soon, I promise! Thank you! I'll be sure to keep that in mind.
Prometo: Thank you. I love how you just knew that Victoria would come back XD. I'm a huge Scarlet Witch fan; Elizabeth Olsen slays her in the movie. Yes, Victoria is a Transitioning (or Transitional) Immortalis. No, Victoria's immortality is not connected to Silas and Amara, and neither is Henri. Their immortality comes from something else. There have been multiple Immortali (that'll be my plural for more than one Immortalis) throughout the years, but we only know of Henri and Victoria right now. I don't think that Victoria totally forgot about Silas, but more like she just didn't think about him because the Phoenix powers were more closely related to her Immortalis powers. It is very similar to the Heretics, but she is not a Heretic, just to clarify. They would find out if they looked into the comics who Scarlet Witch is, that is correct (I was thinking MCU but totally forgot about the comics XD). Lee's actor does look like Stefan a little. Thank you! Lee was only in one episode, for only a brief moment, so sometimes he feels more like an OC of mine rather than an actual character. I've had to make so much up about him because there's not much details. For Zach, and the daughter question, that will be brought up later, so hang tight. Stefan's obsession with Elena feels very present to me when I watch the series, but it's a different kind of obsession that Damon's obsession with Elena. Elena's death by Klaus is considered to be a traumatic event, and it will be dealt as such. Yeah, Klaus was not a great dude in Season 2. Good point, on the Klaroline front. That does make sense. I think that Team Mystic Falls was always a little too much when it came to dealing with Klaus. They always made it seem like everything was the Mikaelsons' fault when they were just trying to live in peace in their hometown. Oooooh, I like your theory about the Crucifix group. As for the fun fact, I did not know that! I chose Walters to be Carol Lockwood's maiden name because that was the last name of the actress who plays Carol, but that's still cool to learn!
jazica: Thank you so much! I've placed your votes down.
Lime: Slime-a-bean, welcome back. Aww, look at us; just a couple of internet besties XD. Whenever I nap, I always feel like I've just been hit by a bus when I wake up. Or hungover (which I don't know how that feels because I've never drunk a sip of alcohol ever). Yeaaaah, Anna's turning out a little bit more bad girl than she probably is in the TV show. Whoops. Thank you! I'm glad you liked that Zach moment. I hoped someone would comment on that. Everyone in that association has a semblance of politeness. Raphael, Noble, and Markus all seem to be rather polite. Lee and Jeanine are like the wild cards XD. Lee was almost like Noble's right hand man, because Noble trusted Lee enough to let him watch Victoria multiple years. Anna will be more receptive of Victoria in the next chapter, and you'll see why then. I'm glad I've coined the Elena blinders term in this fanfiction community. Oh just wait...when Stefan confronts Tori about those feelings, it'll be aaaaaawkward. And yeah, the VPS will knock Anna flat on her butt for hurting Tori. We are all feeling better, thank you!
That's all for now. Can't wait to see everyone in the next chapter (and we hit 50k+ views! That's awesome!). Also, we got into another community, and the tagline is like "Self Insert stories from Doctor Who, Harry Potter, True Blood, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries/The Originals Universe, Game of Thrones/ASOIAF, The Avengers, and the Walking Dead. Some are great, some very good, and some not so good. But definitely some worth reading." First off, to be politically correct, this is not a self-insert. I wish I was as talented as Tori, but alas. Secondly, where does Immortalis fall in this list of great, very good, and not so good? Lemme know what you think!
Until next time,
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F