Where Do Broken Hearts Go? - Part 1
Victoria was conscious to the moment when she woke up in her place of peace. But try as she might (which wasn't a lot of trying), she had no urge to open her eyes. To acknowledge any world. If she kept her eyes closed than maybe she wouldn't have to look upon the disappointed faces. The faces that condemned her. The ones who told her that she was a monster. Because that's what she was. She was a monster.
She killed Sheila Bennett. Who could do that? It wasn't as if she had used her magic and Sheila had gotten hurt some other way, no. Victoria had taken a knife and shoved it straight up into her heart. Deep into her ribcage, past flesh and bones that tickled Victoria's knuckles, right into the beating organ. Victoria could listen to the pumping organ as it began to fail and it scared Victoria.
It scared her how much she, in that moment, enjoyed it.
She felt like a monster.
There was a hand on her shoulder. Victoria tried her damnedest not to flinch. She didn't want Vicki or Henri to know she was awake. To them, she needed to appear as if she was still asleep, or unconscious, if even just for a few more minutes.
A voice spoke. Vicki's. She spoke gently and lowly, as if trying to not disturb Victoria, but there was a concerned hint in her words that led Victoria to the conclusion that she knew that Victoria was awake, "Tori."
"Please, no," Victoria whispered, squeezing her eyes shut even more than they already were. Her shoulders jerked as she tried hard not to cry. "P-Please..."
"Tori, it's okay. We're not upset with you."
"You should be," Victoria whimpered. Her voice cracked and she sucked in a shuddery breath. She was going to start crying real soon. Victoria could just feel it. "I-I...Vicki, I...oh my gosh -"
"- It was self-defense, Tori. Sheila was going to kill you. You defended yourself. You saved your friends."
Victoria cracked open an eye and looked up towards where she thought that Vicki's voice was. She was sitting right beside her, a warm, knowing, and forgiving smile on her face. Victoria's eyes watered and she bit her lower lip.
"It's okay, Tori," Vicki whispered, reaching over. She grabbed Victoria's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Victoria's fingers wrapped around Vicki's hand like an octopus. "Don't worry; we got you -"
Victoria's reawakening was abrupt. She hadn't expected such a sudden switch between the two worlds. One moment, she was listening to Vicki tell her it wasn't her fault (not that Victoria truly believed any of it, but the sentiment was nice) and the next, she was bolting upright on a comfortable bed, a scream ripping its way out of her throat. Unbelievable hunger tore at her stomach and she felt dizzy. Victoria tore at the blankets that seemed trapped around her ankles and her stomach flip-flopped at every move she did.
Two hands settled on her shoulders and Victoria flinched, hard.
Sheila was kneeling down beside Victoria. With a sharp jab, the knife was in her stomach and Victoria was letting out a pained cry, tears immediately jumping to her eyes. Sheila dragged the knife, still inches deep into Victoria's stomach, towards herself; the ripping of flesh and clothes filled the air and Victoria couldn't stop the scream that tore from her throat.
It wasn't until the hands on her shoulders shook her that she realized that she had started to scream, reliving every movement that had occurred with Sheila Bennett.
"Tori! Tori, it's okay, it's just me. It's just Stefan."
Stefan. Stefan Salvatore. Kind-hearted, steadfast, loyal Stefan. Victoria quieted down immediately and took several deep breaths. As she breathed, and just focused on breathing, the world started to make more sense. Victoria tried an old method for handling her panic, something she hadn't done in ages. She focused on each of the five senses on at a time.
Sight: She was in her bed (at least, the bed in the bedroom that had been assigned hers at the boarding house). There was no trace of blood on her body that she could see, and she had been changed out of her clothes into a delicate nightgown with beautiful lace designs. The lights were lowered, so as to be not too bright, but it was still brighter than the entrance to the tomb had been. Stefan was sitting right beside her, hands on her shoulders and a look of concern on his face.
Touch: Victoria could feel the soft covers under her fingertips and the way the comforter brushed against her bare legs. Stefan's touch on her shoulders was strong. His fingers were cold, and the cold made her shiver. For the first time since the kidnapping with Vicki (the real one, not the one who lived inside of Victoria's head), Victoria was glad Stefan's fingers were cold. Sheila's hadn't been cold. The warmth that a human provided versus a vampire was startling different, and now, Victoria wasn't sure she wanted anyone warm to touch her. Speaking of warm things, she felt physically warm, as though she had been wrapped up in blankets for a while. She also felt wet.
Smell: She smelled clean. That, combined with the feeling that she felt wet, made her wonder if someone had sponged off all the blood. Whoever did it (Victoria prayed that it had been Kelly or Caroline or Lexi; even Elena or Bonnie would be alright) must have known how much Victoria would appreciate not being a walking disaster. The smell was copper was long gone, and even Victoria's advanced scent couldn't pick up on the scent of her blood.
Hear: There was only one heartbeat in the entire house, and that belonged to Victoria. Hers was beating erratically, but it seemed to be calming down. Slowly, it went from sounding like a racehorse to a slow and lethargic cat. Using animals to describe her heartrate was never something that she thought she would do. You do new things everyday, huh?
Taste: Water. The first thing that Victoria knew she could taste was water. It was like someone had rinsed out her mouth too. That was awfully nice.
As if on cue, Victoria's stomach rumbled again and she wrapped an arm around it, wincing as another painful round of hunger hit her hard. She let out an agonized hiss and Stefan frowned. "Tori...?"
"I could really kill for a taco right now," Victoria sniffed, grunting as she tried to massage her stomach, hoping that would help ease the tension. Her eyes widened as the realization of what she had just said started to sink in. Paranoia hit her and she shook her head, rapidly stammering, "N-No! I-I didn't mean t-that!"
"Tori, Tori, Tori," Stefan cooed, tightening his grip on her shoulders. Stefan took an exaggerated deep breath and gave Victoria a pointed look that said she should follow him. She wanted to roll her eyes, but she consented, following his deep breaths and holding them when he did.
The panic that had been overwhelming a moment ago dissipated almost as quickly and she let out a sharp, harsh breath. "Geez. Thank you, Stefan."
"No problem at all, Tori. You're hungry, yeah? I think Zach went out to grab some more human food. Can you hang on for a little longer?"
"I-I think so," Victoria replied, shifting on her bed. Stefan helped gently guide her so she was leaning up against the headrest and she let her head fall back. As her head bumped into the wooden back, Victoria bit her lower lip. "Will you be honest with me, Stefan?"
"Of course." His response was immediate. That brought a warm smile to her face.
She flopped her head to the side, looking him in his beautiful green eyes. They locked onto her eyes and he gave her a reassuring smile, nodding his head to tell her to speak. She licked her lips and asked worriedly, "How bad is it?"
The smile dropped from Stefan's face and his whole aura just shifted to something darker. Sadder. His shoulders tightened and he leaned away from Victoria, dropping his gaze to look down at the bed. "It's...It's not good, Tori. According to Damon, Katherine wasn't in the tomb. He and Caroline didn't see any withered vampire who looked like her. He didn't take it too well, but I suspect it was better than what it could have been. Caroline took him to the Grill for some pool and drinks. Said she wanted to help him destress. It didn't help that you -" Stefan cut himself off and sent her an apologetic look. He did a hand gesture that silently meant "you almost dying permanently set Damon off". "- Uh, anyways. They found Pearl, though, and fed her some blood. Lee said that you gave him a very detailed description on how she looked and he was kind of surprised how well-written and accurate it was."
Victoria blushed in embarrassment and laughed awkwardly as she scratched the back of her neck. "What can I say? I really enjoyed Pearl's character."
"I'm sure she would enjoy hearing that," Stefan chuckled, shaking his head.
"Stefan," Victoria said, looking back at him with a stern, serious gaze. "I know you're trying to prolong it. Just rip the band-aid off. I need to know."
"Tori -"
"- No. I do not get to be let off easy," Victoria ordered, reaching up to jab a finger at Stefan's shoulder. "Tell me now, Stefan Salvatore: how bad is it?"
Stefan took one large, big breath and let it out slowly. The tension in his shoulders returned. "It's really bad. Elena's at Bonnie's right now trying to do her best and comfort her. Bonnie feels extremely guilty for her part in the entire process, but at the same time -"
"- I murdered her grandmother right in front of her eyes," Victoria murmured. Her eyes felt hot with tears and she glanced down at her lap. Her hands fidgeted towards each other and she began to rub her wrists. Huh. That was a habit she hadn't realized she'd been breaking until just then. How long had it been since she had last done that either? Time was rather peculiar in Mystic Falls. It felt as though an eternity had happened in those four-ish months and at the same time, no time had passed.
Victoria heard Stefan swallow heavily and she peeked back up at him. He nodded sadly. "You can't blame her, Tori."
"I don't. I blame myself."
"Tori..."
"Don't even try to deny it, Stefan," Victoria commanded, shaking her head. "Don't you dare. I held the knife, I chose to turn around and stab her. It was my decision. Mine. Not Bonnie's, not yours, nobody but my own."
"Sheila was going to kill you," Stefan argued, his expression hardening. A knowing look passed over his eyes and he added, "Do you blame Zach for killing Vicki?"
What?
"Excuse me?" Victoria retorted, her eyes narrowing dangerously towards Stefan. "Of course I don't! He was just -"
"- doing it to protect you?" Stefan finished for her. A smug grin appeared on his face and he leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. Victoria's eyes widened in realization. The little snake had tricked her. Completely duped her. It was...rather impressive, actually. "If you can't blame Zach for killing Vicki to protect you, then how can you blame yourself for killing Sheila to protect yourself? It was self-defense."
"I could have done something else," Victoria shot back, albeit her voice weaker than before as she slowly lost her conviction. "Knocked her out, disabled her powers..."
"You were bleeding out, just managing to hold your guts inside of your body, and you had just performed a counterspell with action and blood alone, while dying, against a spell that was over a hundred and forty-five years old," Stefan defended. "I daresay you did the only thing you were capable of while you were dying."
That brought up a question in Victoria's mind. "D-Did someone try to feed me blood? I remember someone saying something about it, but Zach stopped them. H-He...snapped my neck, yeah? The memories get a little foggy around then."
"As soon as the spell dropped and Sheila was...and you were on the ground, Damon was right there," Stefan explained slowly, letting Victoria wrap her mind around the concept. "He wanted to feed you blood, make it so you didn't have to die. Zach just swooped in and shoved him out of the way. He snapped your neck."
"How long ago was this?"
"Four, maybe five hours?" Stefan guessed, shrugging his shoulders. "Lexi spent some time watching you and I switched off with her about two hours ago so she could go help Lee with Pearl and Anna."
"Are they okay?" Victoria asked tentatively.
"Lexi texted me about an hour ago and said that Pearl was very interested in meeting you. It seemed that she heard of the Immortalis and was curious as to why you would risk your life dealing with witches to save her," Stefan stated.
There was a little bubble of excitement in the pit of Victoria's stomach. Pearl wanted to meet her. The Pearl wanted to meet her. Victoria had done a pretty good job at keeping the fangirl hidden deep inside of her, but hot damn, that made her excited. She couldn't help but nod like a frantic puppy gifted with caffeine. "I would love that!"
"I'll be sure to tell Lexi that so she can pass it along," Stefan promised her.
"So, back to the subject at hand, do you know why Zach didn't want me drinking Damon's blood?"
"Zach didn't give much details into the 'how he knew', but he said that vampire blood is lethal to the Immortalis. Like, permanently. No redoes," Stefan said slowly, keeping an eye on her. Probably to gauge her reaction.
To be honest, there was a small part of Victoria that felt like she already knew. She hadn't drunk vampire blood in the days that she had been a Transitioning Immortalis (not like she had had the time to do so). Just the thought of drinking someone's blood made her feel sick, even more so than it usually did.
Stefan was quick to add, "He kept repeating this one phrase, over and over again."
"What?" Victoria asked, curious as to the answer.
"'An immortal plus an immortal creates a mortal'," Stefan quoted, scrunching his face up in concentration. "Zach just said it was important to remember and he made all of us, humans and witches included, say it twice before he allowed any of us to even touch you after you had passed."
Victoria bit her tongue as she nodded slowly, processing that information. Honestly...none of that made sense. Then again, Zach could almost be called the King of Information Gathering, so if he believed that it was true, Victoria didn't have any reasons not to believe him. He was usually right too, so that definitely was a plus in his favor.
A sharp pain raced through Victoria's head and she hissed, bringing up a hand to cradle her aching temple. Stefan's reaction was quick, and he was closer to her than before. His fingers brushed up against her hairline and he searched her eyes quick before he moved his gaze to her head. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"
"I-I'm fine," Victoria stammered, in part from the pain and from how close Stefan was suddenly to her. "I wasn't with Henri for long. Something happened and I got dragged back to this world real quick."
"That's odd," Stefan sniffed, moving back away from Victoria once he had realized there was no physical place of injury on her head. "You were out of it longer you have been before; at least, that I've seen."
"I think my death when Ben snapped my neck at the school might have been longer," Victoria admitted, gulping heavily. "You didn't run in to him while getting gasoline, did you?" Stefan shook his head. "Huh. That's weird."
"Was he supposed to show up?"
"Yeah," Victoria drawled, biting her lower lip as she tried to think. "At least, I think he was. I haven't really had much time to think about the show from a Seer-like perspective, so some information that is not as important has gotten a little hazy."
Stefan hummed in acknowledgement and nodded. The two of them fell into a dulled silence as they just sat. It had an awkward twinge to it and it made Victoria want to shift in the idleness. Her stomach's pain had lessened somewhat, but it was still prominent. How long did it take a vampire to get some groceries? Honestly...
"Victoria," Stefan said a few moments of horrendous silence. Victoria looked at him. He seemed uncomfortable, tense, but for entirely different reasons than before. Her heart panged and she reached up, gently massaging it. What was going on? "Can I ask you something, and can you answer it honestly?"
"Of course," Victoria said, echoing Stefan's words from minutes ago when she had asked him the same question.
Stefan shifted on the bed so he was looking directly at her and for some reason, Victoria's comfortable level dropped. She felt awkward at the intense, yet nervous expression on Stefan's face and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She settled for her hands fidgeting nervously on her lap.
"Damon mentioned something yesterday morning, when you and Elena and Bonnie were kidnapped by Anna," Stefan began. He was choosing his words carefully; she could tell based on the way his eyes kept flashing. If Victoria could hear his heart beating, she would have guessed it was racing. "Just a random statement out of the blue, and I wanted to see if you could confirm or deny it."
"Oooh, you need some hints?" Victoria teased, hoping that would help quell the awkwardness that had invaded the room.
It didn't. Stefan just frowned and shook his head sadly. "No, no hints." He licked his lips and Victoria found her eyes drawn to the movement. She stiffened at that realization and her eyes shot back up to Stefan's. He didn't see her action, thank goodness, as he was too busy looking at his hands right then. "This is much harder than I expected to ask."
"Stefan, it's alright," Victoria tried to reassure him. She scooted forward a little and placed a hand on his shoulder. That brought his eyes back up and connecting with hers. She did her hardest not to react, but she felt herself blush the tiniest bit. "Just ask me. Rip it off."
"Victoria, are you in love with me?"
She couldn't breathe.
Oh my gosh, she couldn't breathe.
That question. He had asked her that question. How was she supposed to respond? No, yes, maybe? She didn't know?
Victoria hadn't ever been in a romantic relationship before. She didn't know what feelings were supposed to be associated with it or what she was supposed to do in a situation like this. Everything she had ever learned about relationships came from TV, such as the Vampire Diaries (although, they were not necessarily the best example when it came to dating; even Victoria knew that).
But the real question on the table:
Was Victoria LeBlanc in love with Stefan Salvatore?
She had to think. What were the emotions one felt when they fell in love?
Wait, she had had a conversation with Kelly about that months ago. Kelly had been ranting about Jenna going out with Logan Fell again back at the Founder's Ball and she had brought up an old tabloid article that had talked about the twelve signs that proved you had fallen in love. Victoria only remembered them because Kelly had given pretty funny reasons as to why Jenna was not experiencing any of them for Logan.
1. Thinking someone's special. Well, that one was obvious. Stefan was special. He was an amazing guy who was very sweet with everyone he met, always giving them the benefit of the doubt. Not to mention, he too was also a doppelgänger for the first living immortal.
2. Focusing on the positive. Well, Victoria didn't necessarily focus on the positive when it came to Stefan, but that was because she knew he still had humanity (she couldn't say "because he was still a human" because obviously he wasn't). Stefan was going to mess up, but Victoria didn't give up on people. She knew that even when he was a jerk or when he focused on the wrong thing (i.e. person), he still had her back. Stefan was a good man despite all of his flaws.
3. Emotional instability. Yeah, Victoria could concede to that one. She was usually a super level-headed person, but some of her worst reactions had come out when speaking to him. They usually involved whenever he mentioned Elena. But, on the defense of that, some of her best emotional outbursts had been because of him. He believed in her when Damon had just laughed and scoffed, and he wanted to get to know her well before he knew her as a Wanderer or the Immortalis.
4. Intensifying attraction. Victoria wasn't so sure about that one. Sure, she had always thought that Stefan was attractive. He was a very put-together man and it didn't hurt that his hair was always on point, or that he looked like he had been sculpted by the Greeks or that his tattoo looked beautiful enough to trace. And yeah, obviously, he was more attractive than Damon. Didn't everyone think that...?
5. Intrusive thinking. That had happened quite a bit, actually. Wondering if their cuddling after her safe return from the kidnapping with Vicki was strictly platonic, everyone mentioning their close connection...hell, even Vicki asking if she really thought of Stefan as just a friend. If that didn't qualify as intrusive thoughts, Victoria didn't know what did!
6. Emotional dependency. Not necessarily. She wasn't dependent on Stefan for her emotions, right? Sure, she didn't enjoy it when Stefan always thought of Elena over her. Victoria knew more about him than Elena did, and Victoria knew about the hula-hooping incident. Did Elena know about that? No, so why was he always going to her...alrighty, so maybe she was a little emotionally dependent. Not much. Just a little.
7. Planning a future. Yeah. That was a big, fat NO. Victoria hadn't had time to think about a future with Stefan. She was too busy dying then coming back to life and dealing with all the shit that came down on Mystic Falls to think much past what she was going to have for dinner. Sure, she thought about the big things that would impact the whole group, such as the arrival of the Mikaelsons, Silas, and hell, even Enzo's arrival, but that was all so far in the distance.
8. Feelings of empathy. Hell, when did Victoria not have empathy? Next.
9. Aligning interests. Victoria wasn't sure that she was as wholeheartedly devoted to "I Must Protect Elena Gilbert" as Stefan was...oh hell, what was she kidding? She was so freaking hypocritical. She had jumped on a vampire from a table in a cafeteria in a dress to help protect Elena, but in her defense, she had done so at her own expense rather than the expense of others. Moving on from Elena topics, Stefan did enjoy dancing with her (she knew for sure that she enjoyed dancing with him). History was a subject that both liked, seeing as Stefan lived quite a bit of it himself.
10. Possessive feelings. Was she possessive? Victoria didn't know. She thought back to some of the other points. Yeaaaaaaah...she was showing some possessiveness, but that was just because she knew more about Stefan and she knew what Elena's ridiculous actions would cause. Was it really possessive if she just wanted the best for Stefan? Maybe...
11. Craving an emotional union. Ummmmmm...next question.
12. Feeling out of control. Yes. All the time. But Victoria had a feeling that had a little more to do with the fact that she was now an immortal creature who could die all the time and come back and there was another group of supernatural creature who wanted nothing more than to kill her rather than her feelings for Stefan.
So, in the end, what had she learned?
She was screwed.
The true realization hit Victoria and in that moment, she knew. She knew that Stefan knew. She knew that Stefan knew that she knew. There was a lot of knowledge going around the two of them.
Victoria LeBlanc, a Wanderer, a former White Witch, the Immortalis, was in love with Stefan Salvatore.
She. Was. So. Screwed.
"Stefan..." she murmured. She couldn't bring her voice higher than a whisper. Her voice cracked and it felt rough. Stefan's face fell and he pushed himself to his feet. Victoria felt like her stomach was rising up to get stuck in her throat. "S-Stefan, please..."
"When?"
When? He wanted to know the freaking when? Victoria didn't know. She didn't even know that she had fallen head over heels for him.
"I-I don't know," she answered honestly. Her body was shaking from adrenaline. Victoria felt on the brink of passing out and flying up in the sky. The first time she had ever fallen in love with someone and of course, it had to be Stefan. "I-It just happened, I guess."
"Why didn't you ever say something about how you were feeling?" Stefan asked, beginning to pace back and forth at the foot of her bed.
Victoria watched him as he moved, her hands moving to grip the blanket around her legs. "You are in a relationship with Elena. I see how much she makes you happy and how much you make her happy. I-I guess I just thought all these weird feelings were...I don't know, Stefan. I-I just don't know." He reached up, his hands clasping against the back of his neck and he shook his head, gritting his teeth. Victoria sat up straighter and felt her panic begin to reach higher. "Stefan, please, you don't have to respond at all. W-We can just ignore this and pretend this never happened at all. I-I don't want this to affect our friendship."
"How can this not affect our friendship?" Stefan asked incredulously, flipping around to face her. "I am asking honestly. I just found out that one of my closest friends who I think of as a sister is actually in love with me! How would you react to that?"
Sister.
Stefan thought of her as a sister.
All the looks.
The way he comforted her from nightmares and when they held each other the morning after her death.
The forehead touches.
Handholds.
Hugs.
Everything...
Sister.
Sister.
Sister.
Victoria knew she was not the first to ever fall in love. But she would be willing to bet large amounts of money that she was the first to realize she was in love and have her heart broken in the span of thirty seconds.
"S-Sister...?" Victoria croaked, blinking her eyes in disbelief. That couldn't be true. No...it couldn't be.
Stefan didn't see the way that Victoria's heart was literally breaking right in front of him. "I think you are an amazing, wonderful woman who is going to make some man very, very happy one day, but...that's not me, Tori. For me, it's going to be Elena. It will always be Elena."
Cue her heart splitting in two.
Victoria didn't know when the tears started to fall, but she knew they were pouring down her cheeks when the door to her room flew open to reveal a vampire.
A specific vampire.
Victoria had never seen Lexi Branson look so deadly as she did in that moment, glaring at Stefan. Not when she was facing down Raphael at the Grill, not when she pissed off at Kelly. No, Lexi Branson looked ready to kill someone. And her gaze was locked onto Stefan.
Lexi strode into the room like she owned it and she tore her gaze from Stefan, her eyes softening exponentially when she looked to Victoria. As Lexi moved to Victoria's bedside, she shoulder-checked Stefan, hard enough that an audible crack filled the room and Stefan grabbed his shoulders, hissing out a curse in Italian. Lexi pretended not to notice. She leaned over Victoria and immediately began taking off Victoria's blankets. She grabbed Victoria's hands and Victoria let Lexi lead her. She didn't trust herself not to lose it.
Lexi pulled Victoria up to her feet and began to lead her to the door to the hallway. Stefan stepped in front of them, blocking them. "Lexi, what are you doing? She needs her rest."
"No," Lexi snapped back, her line of sight locking onto Stefan's eyes. "What she needs is to be away from you."
"Lexi -"
"- Stefan, as your best friend, I am warning you: if you don't shut up, I will do something that will result in you with large amounts of pain," Lexi hissed. From the corner of her eye and through the tears, Victoria saw Lexi's vampire eyes and fangs appear. Stefan had truly pissed her off. That wasn't smart, considering Lexi's status as the elder vampire. And the fact that she did drink human blood (blood bags; she had said that she didn't suit the bunny rabbit diet). "You are the biggest idiot I have ever met in my entire life, and trust me, the guy who turned me wasn't the smartest bulb in the box."
"Alexia!"
"Stefan!" Lexi growled. "I mean it. Shut. The. Hell. Up. Now, get out of our way before I make you."
"You can't seriously blame me for how I feel!"
"No, but I blame you and your idiotic timing!" Lexi shouted. Her grip tightened on Victoria's side, where one of Lexi's hands were residing. Victoria let out a little squeak and Lexi loosened, just a bit. "She just died. Again. Protecting all of us, hurting someone who used to mean so much to her. She just had her first aware and conscious kill; she needed time to process that and you just jumped straight into the 'do you love me?' questions? The hell, man!"
"How long have you been here?"
"Long enough," Lexi stated vaguely. "Now, move, or you will see that there is more than one reason that Lee calls me a cougar." The growl that rumbled out of her chest sent shivers down Victoria's spine.
In the end, Stefan did move.
Victoria didn't recall much of what happened next. At one point, Lexi was shoving a handful of snacks and chips into her hand, apologizing and promising to get more food when they got to the place they would be staying. According to Lexi, it was someplace that "Stefan hadn't been invited into" so he couldn't come. Then, they were inside of Lee's SUV, the man in question sitting behind the wheel. He was gripping the steering wheel so tight that Victoria thought he might snap the metal. He made some creative threats towards Stefan, but Lexi told him to drop it and drive.
Once they were on the open road, Lexi whipped out a cell phone (Victoria recognized it as her own; it must have fallen out of her pocket when Lexi was taking care of her). She dialed a number, ignoring the way that Lee was glowering at her from the driver's seat. With a flourish, Lexi hit the call button and passed the phone back to Victoria. She grabbed it semi-helplessly, looking towards Lexi with tears in her eyes. Her voice croaked as she asked, "What is this?"
"Probably the only person who can even help you feel marginally better."
Victoria let out a depressed snort. She doubted that. She held the phone up to her ear nonetheless.
"Who is this and how have you received this number?"
Scottish. It was a Scottish voice.
Victoria slapped her hand over her mouth as a sob tore its way out of her mouth. It was his voice. His. Victoria thought he had just left. A part of her had thought he had abandoned her.
"N-Noble?" she stammered, more tears falling from her face.
"Victoria," Noble breathed and there was a hint of relief and disbelief painting his words. "You're alive?"
"I-I'm alive?" Victoria spluttered, her face scrunching up in confusion. "Of course I'm alive! I-I thought you left for good."
"I was told you had died. No one told me that you were...still here."
"I am," Victoria cried, sniffling pathetically. "I am alive."
"What happened to you? Are you alright? You sound like you've been crying."
"You've missed so much, Noble," Victoria whimpered, shaking her head. She took a deep breath, trying hard not to start crying again. She was so sick of crying! "So freaking much."
"Tell me all of it, one at a time. You may start with why you are crying, who did this to you, and how you would like me to slowly bring them large amounts of pain."
"You are not hurting him!" Victoria spat out, her jaw clenching. Yeah, she was heartbroken and everything in her hurt in an emotional way (a nice tie-in considering she had just been in so much physical pain. Yay for symmetry), but Stefan had been right in one instance: Victoria couldn't fault him for having his own feelings. If he didn't feel the same way about her, there was nothing Victoria could do. That didn't mean that his words didn't hurt like a bitch, because they did. Like, more than a Katherine Pierce-sized bitch.
"It's a him. Has some fool broken your heart? Vampire or human? I am familiar with quite a few male vampires in your area."
"Oh my gosh," Victoria moaned, reaching up to thread a hand into her hair. "Really? This is how I'm going to end my night, convincing you not to hurt the guy who confessed to me just minutes ago, minutes after I realized I was in love with him, that he only has viewed me as a sister?"
There was silence over the phone and Victoria worried for a moment that her words had scared Noble into hanging up. Instead, his voice came back, softer and gentler than before, in a manner that really spoke of his character with her, "You are right. I apologize. I should have realized how my words and actions must have sounded. I ask for your forgiveness."
"I-It's alright, Noble," Victoria sighed, shaking her head.
"No, it is not," Noble argued. There was rustling on the other side of the phone as Lee turned down a road that Victoria wasn't familiar with. "You have been through so much and it was wrong of me to push you when you did not feel well. Please, the blame is no one's but my own."
"W-When you put it like that, then yes, I forgive you."
"Thank you. I take your forgiveness with the highest honor and I strive to make you never regret it."
"I think I've missed the way you spoke," Victoria admitted, flopping her head back against the headrest of the car seat. "It feels like it's been forever since I've last seen or spoke to you. Sorry I never texted sooner."
"The fault also lies with me. I made no attempts to try and contact your companions or Alexander. What if you had died truly and they held a funeral? I would have missed it while wallowing in my own grief."
"Well, just know that I would and or will forgive you if you miss out on my funeral," Victoria chuckled to him weakly. "I'm sure you'd find some way to make it up to me."
"Never joke about your death. However, know that that is the truth, Victoria. Never, for one second, doubt that. But...if I may ask..."
"Go for it."
"How are you still alive? You are not...?"
Victoria was shaking her head as soon as he asked. Then realizing he couldn't see her, she said verbally, "I'm not a vampire, no. It was...something else." A lightbulb fizzled to life above Victoria's head and a rush of thoughts hit her. She asked slowly, licking her lips before speaking, "Noble...what do you know about the Immortalis?"
A/N: Not the direction I originally had intended for this chapter, but I dig it! I actually really enjoyed writing it all, including all the angsty bits! I also wrote this in like three hours yesterday, so high-five to me! Team Datoria has broken 40 votes! They are currently in the lead!
I also meant to mention this a couple of chapters ago, but I had a person favorite and follow every single one of my stories on this site...except for Immortalis XD. It just made me laugh that the story I am most of proud of right now didn't get any reaction. Just a funny moment.
A MESSAGE TO STETORIA SHIPPERS!: Just because of the events that happened in this chapter, do not believe that your ship is over. While I am not saying that Stetoria will or will not happen, this is not the end. It will become obvious if and/or when a ship in the Shipping Wars ends, should that be in the cards. I will directly state it in the Author's Note if a ship ever officially sinks. No one likes a relationship that is all easy-going and a ride down perfect street. We like tension! Also, I hate in the show how easily Stefan and Elena click because to me, that's not realistic. Yeah, that does happen to people sometime, but not often enough to really qualify as "real" to me, you know? People fight, they argue, they start not in love and then fall in love. We want tension. We crave tension.
Also, I read a fanfic the other day, an Elijah/OC one, where the main character was a phoenix and kept reincarnating throughout the years and the first version of herself was back in the 1100s with the Originals and her name back then was Viktoria. Also, she had a "transitioning" phase before she became a full-fledged phoenix. It was crazy similar to this one, and I just had to mention how crazy that was! It hasn't been finished, and it stopped updating years ago (big sad) but it's still a good read. I believe it is "Take Back The Stolen Time" by MaygenLynn. Go check it out!
In addition to that, I was reading Doctor Who/OC fanfic and I decided to peek at the author's note and saw that our own resident grapejuice101 helped to plan out some of the chapters. How crazy is that? That one is called "An Eternity Among The Stars" by seasidewriter1. Also not completed (another big sad) but really good!
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} (18): 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, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime
Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (41): 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, Guest (20), Unnisa, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime
Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (39): 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), MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime
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!: Kookiey99, xYasaminax, wiktorkanykiel1407,
New Favoriters!: Kookiey99, zwhiteone, xYasaminax (you're the 250th Favoriter! Congrats!), wiktorkanykiel1407
Onto reviews!:
Unnisa: Your vote has been added! You helped Team Datoria hit 40 votes! Congrats!
Guest: You can't deny it, cuz it's true! XD. I can promise that no matter what happens, Damon will end up happy. You will enjoy the fluffy ending I have planned for him, that much I do know for sure.
DBZFAN45: Aww thank you! I was actually really worried about the action sequences because they are a pain in my behind to write, so I'm glad they came across well. Yes, Klaus and Victoria will be able to connect because of their "one-of-a-kind"-ness. Elena surprised me too, to be honest, which is funny considering I'm the writer. But yeah, for all her faults, Elena is still a good person. A bit of a brat, but she's our brat, you know? I know that Sheila is typically a more understanding person, but I thought with her "overreaction" I could really sell how bad the relations was between the Immortalis and witches. Yeah, Caroline and Damon are the drinking buddies for now. I can't reveal when but we will be having some badass Tori scenes, and a different sense of fashion will be making an appearance, if you know what I mean ;). 2nd Amendment: It was self-defense on Tori's part. Damon would be more than willing to kill for Tori, I am convinced of this. I know! Just a handful more episodes and we're on Season Two! Can you believe that? Gosh, how the time flies. Aww thank you! Yeah, Steroline and Klaroline does seem to be more debated over rather than Stelena and Delena, at least in my area. As for Rayna Cruz, Victoria will be having some stern words with her. I don't like her either.
grapejuice101: Um...tomb needs blood. Tori bleeds. Sheila betrays. Emily possesses Bonnie. They cut Tori. She bleeds more. Angst. Trauma. Sadness. Tori embraces her power. Cue Scarlet Witch-like explosion. Tori grabs knife. Tori knifes Sheila. Self-defense. Tori passes out. Zach snaps her neck before someone can feed her blood. Basically what happened last chapter in a short blurb. At least, the important parts.
Teghan-Potter1370: Awwww thank you! It's funny cuz I read your review when I was at work XD. It's totally Wanda's explosion of power at the end of Age of Ultron; that's basically the picture I had painted in my mind, only with black-and-white. Vilijah's trailing a little, that's true.
MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime: Your votes have been added!
AngelColdHeart: No problem! I don't know when I might update One Itsy-Bitsy Spiderling next. I've been focusing a lot on Immortalis because the feedback I get on this story is much more in-depth. I'll let you know when I update the next chapter! I'm so glad you like both of these stories. I think the only person any of us have to worry about turning against Victoria might be Bonnie, but everyone else is very understanding. Jeremy will be in the story more, I promise. I meant for him to be in this chapter but I had to rearrange a few things. He'll show up next chapter! Thank you again!
theappleseed: Hey you! I was actually thinking about you the other day. Yeah, I didn't expect it from Sheila either.
Lime: My bracelet would definitely have blood-red, Persian blue, and emerald green. Those three are my favorite colors. I'm a hard-core romantic (if you can believe it given the amount of angst I've written), but it's got to be realistic. I once read this story where the main character went from having sex with a young 20s male ghost to having sex with a 50 year old man that she, a 20ish old something, had been crushing on for years, and then to sleeping with her best female friend, also 20s, even after professing she was strictly straight, all in three chapters. That's a big no from me. It's got to be realistic and plausible; that's the only way I vibe with it. There's this good series called Men Of Haven that is very well-written if you like romance. The first two books in the series are my favorite. I think that Bonnie will be more open-minded to everything that happened because of the possession and how she knows Victoria, but she still has to deal with her grief. The blood-draining would have killed her if every single drop of her blood was extracted from her body. Not a single drop can remain, otherwise she'll come back. Zach snapped her neck before someone could feed her blood because as Stefan mentions in this chapter "Vampire blood can kill the Immortalis". Permanently. Aww thanks again! Yeah, just enough Elena to prove that she's still a good person. She's a brat, but she's our brat, as I mentioned earlier to someone else. I love writing Carebear. She's so protective of Victoria and I can't imagine how that might double if/when she becomes a vampire. Oh yeah, more trauma for Bon-Bon. We'll have some good moments with Anna and Pearl coming up that involves Kelly and Tori. I hope I haven't destroyed your Stefan and Tori happy vibes XD. I honestly think a lot of this word count is the author's notes because I like to add my two cents a lot (the Shipping Wars also take a lot). Happy Valentine's Day to you too! And oh my gosh, I just realized I totally have been spelling Sheila wrong this entire time. I fixed it for this chapter and I'm planning on going back through and editing every chapter until this one so that will be fixed!
Don't expect a chapter for Friday everyone! I will be going back and editing all the chapters up until now so that anyone new will understand things better. I'm also making a hardcore list of Victoria's quirks so I don't ever write something that contradicts something that I added in about her last minute in a previous chapter.
Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you enjoy the day with your loved ones or your beautiful single self!
Until next time,
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F