What Was Once...
Victoria let out a groan as she slowly came to again. She grunted, shaking a hand in the air and murmuring, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I said I wouldn't come back as soon again." She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, taking several deep breaths before opening her eyes. "But just so you know, it wasn't my intention to -"
She cut herself off when the images she was seeing with her eyes finally caught up to her brain.
Because she wasn't seeing green grass underneath her hands.
Oh, no.
She was seeing hard tiles.
Tiles she was rather familiar with.
"What the hell?" she murmured in confusion. She pushed herself up so she was standing up on her knees, glancing around the room.
She was in her bathroom; specifically, her bathroom at Kelly's house. Everything was exactly the same as the last time that Victoria had been there. Nothing had changed one bit, not even the really ugly shower curtain that Kelly had given Victoria as a gag gift in their Christmas stockings.
Victoria grabbed onto the countertop, pulling herself up onto shaky legs. "How did I get here?" She whipped herself around before her gaze settled onto the mirror. "Vicki! Do you know what's happening?"
Except, the person in the mirror wasn't Vicki, like she had become so accustomed to seeing.
It was her own reflection...
...or was it?
This Victoria's hair was lighter, less red. It was more like the hair color that Victoria had had before her transition to the Immortalis. More blonde then red. Her eyes were a brighter blue, less dark, and her hair was shorter, brushing the tops of her shoulders instead of being just underneath her shoulders like Victoria's was.
"H-Hello?" Victoria stammered, her brow furrowing in confusion.
The reflection gave a shy smile and a gentle wave at Victoria. "Hi, Victoria. It's nice to meet you face-to-face. Finally."
"You look and sound just like me," Victoria stated bluntly, still too confused to hide her words behind politeness.
The reflection gave a girlish giggle and she shook her head. "I think actually, if we're being technically correct, you look and sound just like me." She stuck her hand out, then frowned. "Well, we can't really shake hands, but nonetheless. Hi, I'm Victoria LeBlanc, White Witch and the Victoria from this world. If it helps with your mind, you can call me Vee."
Victoria's eyes widened in the shock of it and only because she was clenching hard to her countertop did she not stumble backwards in disbelief. She let out a gasp and it turned into a small burst of disbelieving laughter. "Oh my gosh. You're still alive!"
"Yeah, thankfully," Vee chuckled, nodding her head. "Since I was in the coma when my seventeenth birthday passed, my consciousness wasn't anywhere near the front. You came into my body and then took control. I was...lost, kind of? That's why you didn't have memories from before you came. I only recently started to realize what had happened and started to get stronger. That's why you started to remember more." She paused, then asked curiously, "You have started to remember of the 'before' time, right?"
"A little, yeah," Victoria admitted. "I remembered things from a sleepover I had...well, you had with the girls. Caroline wanted zesty ranch chips because she was on her period. And then we watched Gone With The Wind, The Notebook, and the Princess Bride -"
"- And Wesley was the only thing that kept me from murdering her," Vee finished with Victoria at the same time. The two girls paused for a moment and then giggled together.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Victoria hummed, taking a moment to study Vee. "Kelly is going to be so excited to hear this. She's missed you, a lot."
Vee paused at this and her eyes darkened a little, but she still gave Victoria a smile. "Thanks. I haven't seen Mom in forever...or Dad."
Victoria sucked in a sharp breath, swallowing heavily. "Were you...Were you awake enough to know what happened with Dad?"
Vee's eyes hardened and she nodded once. Just once, and that was enough for Victoria. She let out a large breath she didn't realize she was holding. Victoria had not wanted to be the one to explain to Vee that her mother had helped her father pass away.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more to stop her."
"It's not your fault," Vee stated, looking at Victoria but not really looking at her. Her eyes made it seem like her mind was a million miles away. "Not really."
Victoria decided that a topic switch was in order. She shook herself out and plastered on another large smile. "I can't wait for you to come back. There's so many people I want to introduce you to. We have a boyfriend, too! I mean, I guess. We haven't really established what our relationship is just yet -"
"- You mean I have a boyfriend," Vee giggled.
Victoria blinked back her surprise and gave a weak laugh, feeling confusion rise up in her some more. "No, I mean I have a boyfriend. Me. I'm dating Damon Salvatore."
"Damon Salvatore," Vee repeated, cocking her head to one side. Her lips twisted into a smirk and Victoria was struck with how twisted it looked. How much it reminded Victoria of the look that Vicki had given her the day after Noble's death. "That's a strong name. Sounds sexy. I'll definitely have to take a peek at him."
"Vee, what are you talking about?" Victoria questioned, studying her mirror counterpart. "Damon's not your boyfriend; he's mine."
"Oh, is he?" Vee commented dumbly, tilting her head some more. "I wasn't aware that monsters could have boyfriends."
You're a monster.
Why did Vee's words remind Victoria of that time with Vicki...?
"What the fuck are you talking about -" Victoria began to ask in shock, just when the door to her bathroom flew open.
Victoria whipped around to see Vicki standing in front of her.
Vicki.
Not in a mirror, not just a piece of a reflection.
Vicki.
She was right there, right in front of her, wearing that purple tank top and black jeans that Victoria was used to seeing on her.
And she looked livid.
Her eyes were a mirror image to Victoria's whenever she used her powers: black and white and looking like they were oozing with powers.
Vicki lunged for the mirror, moving to punch the glass. Vee took a single step backwards just as Vicki's fist hit the mirror...
...and then her fist bounced off the mirror as if it were made of rubber.
"Sorry, Vicki," Vee purred, smiling maliciously at Vicki. "Those little tricks don't work on me anymore."
"How did you escape?" Vicki demanded. "You were locked inside of here for a reason!"
"It helps when you have friends on the outside who are willing to do anything for their girlfriends," Vee laughed.
"Vicki?" Victoria asked tentatively, drawing the attention of her away from the mirror. Vicki's face fell, if that was even possible, more than it had been previously. "H-How are you here on this side? S-Shouldn't you be...?"
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Vicki screamed. She flipped back around to the mirror. "What did you do, Vee? What did you do?"
"I did what I had to," Vee snarled. She glanced at Victoria and gave her a smirk. She leaned forward and knocked against the mirror. A loud banging noise echoed through Victoria's bathroom and it was so loud that Victoria had to slap her hands over her ears to try and block out the noise. "Enjoy being the one on the other side, Victoria."
Damon was standing in the doorway to one of the cells underneath the boarding house, watching Liz as she stood across from him (in the cell), on the phone. She was pacing back and forth, her face noticeably paler than what was usual. "A stomach bug." She paused, listening to the person on the other side of the line chatter back to her (Damon was blocking it out; the receptionist or whoever Liz was speaking to had the most annoying voice ever and he just did not have the mental willpower to deal with it). "Yeah, it came on fast. I'll definitely be out tomorrow -"
"- Tsk, tsk, tsk -" Damon grunted, giving Liz a very pointed look when she looked over at him.
Her eyes widened a little as she understood the hidden message behind Damon's noises. She added, a bit weaker than before, "Or longer. I'll text you." More nonsense through the phone line. "Yeah. Goodnight."
Liz hung up the phone and then handed the phone back over to Damon, who snatched it up and slipped it into his pocket where she couldn't reach.
"Thank you," Damon said, giving Liz a nod that she hadn't attempted to keep the phone hidden on her person. He gently elbowed the wall of the cell and looked around it. "It's not exactly the Ritz, but it's secure." He bent down, reaching just out of sight of Liz, and pulled out the blanket that Ms. Gibbons had given him when he had entered the house with Liz. He tossed it to her, and she caught it easily. "Brought you a good thread count." He swallowed once, and then moved on before the emotions could catch up to him. "And once the vervain's worked its way out of your system, I will compel you. You will forget everything and you will be a free woman."
The sound of footsteps cuts him off and he leaned backwards just enough to note Caroline, Stefan, and Elena have made their way downstairs. Caroline had a rolling suitcase with her that looked like it was on the brim of erupting, but was keeping itself together.
"Can you keep Caroline far away from me, please?" Liz requested, and Damon could see in real time just how those words broke Caroline. The girl stopped in the middle of the hallway, her feet frozen to the floor. Her eyes looked blank, like all emotion had been ripped away from her. "I don't want to see her."
A single tear dripped down from her eye and Damon tore his eyes away from the younger Forbes to look at the older Forbes. When he spoke, he could feel how tense his own words were. "She's your daughter, Liz."
"Not anymore," Liz whispered brokenly, tears beginning to fill into her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away, not even when a couple of them leaked out. "My daughter's gone."
Damon grunted and shook his head, giving Liz the best glare that he could. "You have no idea how wrong you are about that."
Damon stepped out of the room, shutting the cell door behind him. Just as he had suspected, Caroline was gone, the suitcase still left by the door. Elena and Stefan weren't around either, but Damon could faintly hear them starting some sort of argument in a different room. He just sighed and positioned the suitcase so it wasn't in tripping range of anybody. He jogged out of the cellar, up the stairs, and into the living room.
It still shocked him to see Zach sitting on the living room couch, alive and intact. Lee was plastered to one side, having refused to leave his side ever since Zach had helped him out of the basement. Tears had been shed between the two men and they were basically attached at the hip once more, as they had been before Zach's "death". Pearl was seated on Zach's other side, sitting much closer to the Salvatore than Damon ever remembered her sitting before. Zach had explained hurriedly that Pearl had brought him back to Mystic Falls from the airport and that she was still on their side, but Damon still had a hard time believing that.
Zach turned and caught sight of Damon, raising a hand and signaling Damon to come over. Damon followed his commands, moving to take a seat on the couch across from the trio. Victoria had been placed there for the time being, since nobody really wanted to let her out of their sights (also, she deserved to see Zach the most out of everybody). Damon took a seat and readjusted Victoria so she was resting with her head on his lap. They had wrapped a little bandana that they had found lying around in the boarding house around Victoria's forehead so not everybody needed to look at the bullet hole constantly.
Zach cleared his throat, drawing Damon's attention away from Victoria and back onto him. His smile was warm and kind of teasing as he nodded his head at the woman on Damon's lap. "Lee was filling me in on what I missed. Glad you took the jump, Uncle Damon."
Damon reached down and grabbed Victoria's hand, interlacing their fingers together. It made him feel better and helped him breathe easier. "I'm glad I did too." He looked back to Zach and just breathed, "How are you alive?"
"I'm going to be honest, Damon," Zach sighed, shaking his head. "I don't really know for sure, but...I have a hunch."
"What's your hunch?"
Zach just nodded towards Victoria again.
"Ah," Damon chuckled. He nodded. "Makes sense."
"I'll have to study some more to really nail down what caused it, but I'm going to start off with Immortalis powers and move from there. Maybe Noble's book will tell me more," Zach explained, and Damon could already see the gears in Zach's mind starting to twirl.
"I can't even begin to tell you how much I've missed you ranting about researching," Damon laughed.
"I'm glad to be able to rant and rave about researching," Zach replied.
Damon nodded his head, his chuckles dying down slowly as he turned to look at Pearl (who was looking down at her lap and not at Damon; a very not-Pearl thing to do). Damon sighed and shook his head. "Alright, I'm going to address the elephant in the room: why are you so buddy-buddy with Pearl? It's starting to mess up my mojo a little."
Pearl stiffened at the mention of her name and Damon's not-so-subtle description. She scooted herself so she was a few inches farther from Zach than she had been before. Zach, without missing a beat, threw his arm around her shoulders and yanked the smaller woman back against him. She flopped against his chest, her cheeks coloring red with embarrassment.
Zach just gave Damon a look that said they would not continue their discussion of said subject. Damon narrowed his eyes a little, glaring at Zach for a minute, before he consented to let the topic lie...at least for now. "Alright, alright. Backing off."
Victoria shifted in his lap, her brow scrunching up and a little sleepy noise of distress leaving her throat. Damon frowned softly and brought his hand over to her hair. He gently ran his fingers through her ruddy locks, and her face softened at the motion, settling back down into a neutral posture.
"You're really good with her," Zach murmured, and when Damon snuck a look at his nephew, he couldn't really read the emotion that was hiding behind Zach's expression. "It's kind of weird, considering where we all came from."
Damon nodded, before clearing his throat a little. "Sorry, by the way...for killing you, all those months ago."
"I don't forgive you," Zach stated immediately afterwards, "because there's nothing to forgive. I'm glad to be a vampire. Maybe not in the beginning, but I needed this. Becoming this has opened up more opportunities for me than being a human ever did. I remembered my childhood high school sweetheart, I remembered I had a daughter, I -" Zach cut himself off and his brow furrowed up in confusion. "- There's definitely something that is a little fuzzy still. Details that don't match up. I'll have to talk to Kelly about it some more."
"So we're on speaking terms with her now?" Damon snorted, rolling his eyes.
Zach gave him a not-impressed look. "Her racism toward vampires are to be expected, growing up as a witch. Plus, she left her house when she was sick with a fever to help save you, Stefan, and Victoria."
"Just Victoria," Damon corrected with a huff. "If she hadn't been betrayed by Mason Lockwood, then Kelly wouldn't have come." He paused as a thought strolled around in his mind, and he let out a groan before asking through gritted teeth, "Was Kelly a part of the whole earthquake scenario?"
"Had the same thought and asked her," Lee commented, inserting himself back into the conversation. He folded his arms across his chest and his face took on a thoughtful look. "Not even a little flutter in her heartbeat when she said that she had been asleep and then getting hot chocolate when she had a terrible feeling in her heart. Bonnie even called her because she felt something too. Whatever Mason did, he did without the consent of Kelly."
"And without the consent of me, which really pisses me off."
Damon just sucked in a sharp breath and closed his eyes. Lord, give me the strength. When he opened them, Katherine Pierce was plopping down on the far end of the couch Damon and Victoria were sitting on. She pulled Victoria's feet onto her lap and then gave Pearl a lazy smile from across the way. "Evening, Pearl. Good to see you again."
Pearl looked ready to faint, if that was at all possible for vampires.
Lee and Zach looked confused, unsure of why she was there.
"Why would Mason need your consent, Elena?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow.
Damon let out another breath. That was right. Lee, Lexi, and Amber had been MIA for almost as long as Katherine had been present, and Zach had died before they could really tell him that Katherine was around and about. "Right, we haven't done introductions." He gestured weakly towards Katherine, who waved at the two men with a little finger-wave. "Zach, Lee, this bitch is Katherine Pierce, the one who Elena looks like."
"I'm the prettier one," Katherine replied with a gentle sniff of her nose. "And don't bother introducing yourselves. I know you both already pretty well."
Lee and Zach were both silent for a moment, before Zach just nodded and Lee shrugged his shoulders. Lee spoke, saying, "Yep, not even gonna touch that topic with a stick just yet. We'll learn about it later."
Victoria rustled on Damon's lap, her brows scrunching together and her lips pursing as she let out a little whimper in her sleep. Damon bent down and kissed her forehead, hoping that that would settle her.
It didn't; not really, at least. If anything, it made her even more unsettled. Victoria just kept rustling back and forth on his lap, her brows twitching and her eyes moving underneath her closed eyelids. The hand that was holding onto Damon's tightened and relaxed over and over again, in time with her twitching.
Then, with an audible gasp, Victoria LeBlanc opened her eyes. Damon couldn't get the smile off of his face as he looked down at the girl staring up into his eyes. "Morning, Mama Bear. Welcome back to the land of the living."
He could say confidently that none of them were ready for the ear-splitting scream that Victoria let out.
It was scary.
It was horrifying.
She sounded terrified.
A fist, sloppily put together and with very little strength to it, slammed into Damon's jaw. It was shocking enough that Damon flinched back from the impact, letting go of Victoria. Victoria floundered off of his lap, landing hard onto the ground. In the blink of an eye, she was up on her feet and sprinting for the front door.
"Hold on there, Sugar!" Lee shouted, the first to react.
He hopped to his feet and snuck a single arm around Victoria's midrift, halting her process. Victoria let out another terrified scream and thrashed around in Lee's arms. Lee brought his other hand around, grabbing onto her shoulder to try and get her to still herself.
The noise that happened next, Damon could only describe as a thundercloud that sounded...wet.
One moment, Lee was standing up, looking fine. The next, Victoria was staggering on the ground and Lee was on the ground, hand to his face as he let out a pained hiss. The skin underneath his hand didn't look like it had been slapped or anything (Damon had been keeping a close eye on Victoria, and she hadn't moved, at all, and there was none of that weird black-and-white shit that always seemed to follow her). Lee's skin actually looked like...it had been burned?
What the hell?
"Baby Bear's got a mean swing," Katherine commented lazily as Victoria continued to make her way to the front door. Victoria wasn't moving fast, more at a limping speed, as if all the energy left in her body she had just used to try and get away from Damon and Lee.
"How about you try and lend a hand, huh?" Damon demanded as he got up to his feet. He redirected his attention over to Victoria before Katherine could let out another snarky comment. "Mama Bear, it's okay. It's just us."
Victoria whipped around, her eyes still wide and fearful. She pointed a finger towards Damon and just hissed, "Stay the hell away from me."
"Oooh, burn," Damon heard Katherine whisper from behind him.
He chose to ignore that comment (from both women; Victoria was just dazed and confused and Katherine was just being Katherine). Instead, he cooed, "Baby, it's just me. It's just Damon."
There was something weird happening with Victoria, because neither his little nickname for her nor his name seemed to produce any sort of reaction. In fact, Victoria stepped back, away from Damon, when he called her 'Baby'. She searched the hallway with frantic eyes, before they settled onto an umbrella that Lexi had brought over yesterday when she, Amber, and Lee had all come over. Victoria lunged for it, grabbing it and holding it up in front of her like a sword.
What the hell?
She didn't need to use the umbrella, so why...?
"If any of you come closer, I will not hesitate to use this against you!" Victoria warned, swinging the umbrella in a way that was supposed to seem threatening (it was about as threatening to Damon as a carrot was to a baby bunny). "I'm warning you -!"
"- What is going on?" came Caroline's irritated reply.
All sets of eyes whipped over to the doorway that led to the kitchen. Caroline was standing there with red-rimmed eyes, her arms folded angrily across her chest. She was quivering, as if she had just stopped crying to see what was happening. Elena stood at her shoulder, doing her best to not look directly at Katherine. Katherine didn't have any qualms and was openly smirking towards Elena.
"We're having a bit of a situation here, Care-Bear," Damon snapped, his irritation over the whole situation starting to spill over. "So, either you can help or -"
"- Caroline!" Victoria shouted, her voice betraying her with how relieved she seemed. The umbrella in her hands clattered to the ground as the adult-turned-teen went racing towards Caroline's side. When she got there, Victoria threw her arms around Caroline and held her tightly against her chest. "Thank goodness you're here! I don't understand what's happening and it's really starting to freak me out and -"
"- Tori, take a deep breath!" Caroline ordered, pulling herself away from Victoria enough to look at her. "Are you feeling better? Did you just wake up?" She then frowned and folded her arms over her chest. "Did you and Damon fight again -?"
"- Damon?" Victoria interrupted, flipping her head around to face where Damon was standing. She pointed a finger at him and then looked at Caroline in what Damon could best describe as disbelief. "That Damon?"
"What other Damon would she be talking about?" Elena piped up, her brows scrunching together in a way that Stefan probably would have said was adorable.
Victoria shook her head and just put her hands on her head. "I don't know! But I do know that I don't know who the hell that is and why anybody is here in my dad's house!"
"How long has he been here?" Stefan whispered softly to Matt, not able to take his eyes off of Damon.
It had been a solid two o'clock in the morning when Stefan had gotten a call from Matt, of all people, saying that he needed to get down to the Grill as soon as he could. Matt had also been wise enough to include that the situation involved Damon Salvatore, and that had been enough for Stefan to get off his ass and get going (much to his chagrin and Elena's). When he got to the Grill, he fully expected the entire diner to be covered in blood, but to his surprise, it seemed...normal.
"He's been here since eight o'clock," Matt grunted, just shaking his head. "My boss told me that I could have gone home after the earthquake earlier, but I figured that some people would be out of power and need food so volunteered to stay here. I was supposed to clean up and get out by midnight, but he...can't believe I'm saying this, but he looked pathetic, so I figured I'd keep it open a little longer, but I really need sleep for school tomorrow, so..."
"I got him," Stefan promised, nodding his head to Matt. "We'll be out in a couple of minutes."
"Thanks, man," Matt told him. Stefan just gave him a nod before he started making his way towards Damon.
He made it to him with no comments from Damon, which was surprising. Damon was allergic to not giving his two cents in any situation, so to hear him silent was...disturbing. Stefan was just taking his seat beside Damon when the older brother whispered, "She doesn't remember me."
Stefan just paused, taking a deep breath. He sunk a little in his seat, placing his elbows up onto the bar in front of the two of them. "It's not just you, Damon. Victoria doesn't remember any of us."
"She knows Caroline," sniffed Damon, his fingers playing around with his glass. He gripped it a little tighter as his eyes darkened. "And Elena, and Bonnie, and Liz. She recognized Kelly and gave her a huge hug. Zach too."
"But she forgot the two of us, Pearl, Lexi, Lee, Ms. Gibbons, Harper, and Amber," Stefan countered gently. "It's not just you, Damon." Stefan swallowed heavily and continued, "Matt needs to close up shop."
"Don't care."
"Damon -"
"- Don't Damon me, Stefan," Damon growled under his breath. His hands tightened on his glass so much that there were tiny cracks throughout the cup. "You don't get to have a say in this. Not today."
Stefan glanced over his shoulder and gave Matt a tight-lipped smile before turning back to Damon. "Damon -"
"- I finally had her, Stefan," Damon grunted, shaking his head. He let go of the glass (Stefan was grateful for that, at least) and leaned away from the countertop. "Our feelings had finally been confessed and I got to hold her going to sleep last night knowing that I finally, finally, got my happy ending, only to end tonight with the knowledge that I had that happy ending for a day. One fucking day."
Stefan just remained quiet. He didn't know what to say to try and comfort his brother. He didn't know if he should even try to comfort his brother. But before his brain could stop him, his heart started to spit out words. "I say this with great seriousness, Brother: what you and Victoria had was something precious. The two of you were closer than we ever had been, and closer than I think Elena and I ever will be, and I love Elena like I've never loved anybody else." Well...maybe with one exception. "If you were able to fall in love once, who's to say you can't do it again?"
"Life in Mystic Falls isn't a romance novel, Stefan," Damon sniffed, moving forward to rest his elbows back onto the bar top. "More like a horror film."
"You've waited over a century before you got to meet Victoria," Stefan argued gently. "Who's to say that you can't wait another few weeks? Kelly's official diagnosis hasn't come in yet. This bought with amnesia could last only a couple of hours, or maybe a couple of days -"
"- or a couple of months or a couple of years," Damon finished for Stefan, rolling his eyes. "Your optimism is sickening."
"I try," Stefan deadpanned. "Now come on, we have bourbon at home. At least drink that before you run us into debt."
"Money was our friend growing up, Steffie-boy," Damon grunted as he finally (finally) pushed himself up and off of his barstool. "It pays all tabs run up by yours truly."
"Thank goodness for that."
Henri stood in the reflection of the window, silently observing the two brothers conversing deep within the bar's walls. His skin itched, wanting to reach out to the eldest of the two boys. He wanted to warn them. He wanted desperately to try and get them to see that the Victoria they had now was worse than any Victoria they had ever seen.
He felt her presence beside his shoulder before he heard her approach. "How is she doing?"
"Not great," Vicki sighed, shaking her head. She planted her hands on her hips and looked towards the two brothers with the same expression that was no doubt plastered on Henri's face. "Her mind was circling, but her outside body just shut down, so she fell asleep pretty quick. We have maybe a couple of hours to figure out what the hell to do before anything else happens." Vicki jerked her head towards the brothers. "Didn't think I would find you here."
"Where else would I be?" Henri sagely asked, turning his head away from the brothers to look at his spectral companion.
"Anywhere but here," Vicki snorted, glancing up at Henri with a raised eyebrow. "You never, ever, come to the Wall. The only two times that this has happened have been when Victoria was on death's door, and even then, you only approached when I brought you with me."
"Is Victoria not flirting with death now?" Henri questioned, folding his arms across his chest as he turned back towards the brothers, who had just stood from their seats. They were starting to make their way back to the entrance of the bar, where Vicki's former brother was standing. "Something happened here that caused the witch to escape from her prison. I am Victoria's Keeper. It is my job to keep her sane, and these poor people in this forsaken town need the Immortalis. Heaven knows how many of them would be dead if it wasn't for her."
"Way too many, that's for sure," Vicki agreed.
At Vicki's words, the eldest brother across the reflection paused. He swiveled his head this way and that, and caused enough of a commotion that his younger brother, who had been walking in front of him, stopped to ask what was wrong.
"Thought I heard something," the eldest replied, before swinging his head to look towards the window that Henri and Vicki were occupying. His gaze landed on Vicki's spot and Henri's spectral companion did not move an inch until the brother's gaze slipped away and all three men had left the building.
Vicki let out a large breath and her shoulders sagged in on her body. "That was close."
"The eldest Salvatore is certainly becoming more attuned with this realm," Henri hummed, cocking his head contemplatively.
"Partially my fault," Vicki grunted. "His close connection with Victoria allowed me to momentarily enter into his subconscious to give him reassurances when she was close to death on numerous occasions. I guess that that close connection is still firing off in some cases."
"See to it that he doesn't become more connected," Henri ordered. "We've already got to deal with the fact that one Salvatore is now connected with us. I don't want to deal with two."
A/N: I'm alive!
Sorry I haven't really been active with this story recently. Writing has been difficult and it's just generally not bringing me as much joy as before (but I've also been really sick and busy with shows, which end in a week, and so then I'll have a lot of free time). I WILL TRY TO PERSERVERE! Immortalis will never be going on hiatus. I refuse. The moment I fall into that trap, it'll never be finished.
So dun, dun, dun! What'll happen next?
Here we go!
Until next time,
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F