𝐒𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂; S.S.

23 • old faces, new habits

I audibly laugh at her. By the look on her face, she thought she did something cool.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I supposed to be amazed? Congratulations on doing a basic gymnastics skill on a beer keg. I'm truly impressed." I say with false astonishment.

Stefan hands Elena her bag and they walk away together. Rebekah watches them leave, but her vision suddenly starts to blur, which worries her. She walks back into the house and looks in the mirror to see darkened veins start to pulse throughout her face.

"Is global warming catching up to you?" I ask her. She glares at me and I hold my hands up in surrender, going back into the house.

—

I FIND MYSELF WALKING along the busy streets of Mystic Falls. I'm about to walk into the grill when I feel an arm sling over my shoulder.

"Knock knock. Guess who's back from the dead." A familiar English accent rings out. I groan, removing his arm from my shoulders.

"I've learned to not be surprised when people mysteriously rise from the dead." I say, taking a jab at him. He smiles, liking my attitude.

We stop in our tracks. "How've you been?"

"Fabulous, thank you for asking. I really enjoyed my time without you permanently lodged up my ass." I give him a fake smile. Suddenly, it's as if a lightbulb appeared over his head.

"Wow. The overbearingness of succumbing to the last 500 years of your life made you flip that pesky humanity switch. You truly have made me proud."

I jam my finger into his chest. "I don't give a damn about pleasing you anymore. Though, I am curious. What will you do without me being your little bitch anymore? I heard this little rumor that your hybrids have been un-siring themselves."

He snarls at me bringing up this not so fond memory.

"You are aware that I can still compel you, right? My hand can just as easily rip your heart out as it can signing my name on a piece of paper."

I get in his face. "Go ahead. Kill me. You think I want to be alive right now? You have nothing to hold over my head. No leverage. There is nothing in this world that I would sacrifice myself for. What if I ripped my own heart out? What would you do then?"

Curiosity etches across his face. I continue to keep his gaze, waiting for him to answer my question.

"Or am I too precious to the world for you to let me kill myself?" I add. I can't tell if it's genuine or fake concern in his eyes.

"Go ahead. List all the ways I destroyed your life. Let's rejoice in the past, shall we?" He tempts me.

I can't help but take the bait. "Screw you for imbedding so much fear into Emily Bennett that she had to place me in a coma because she was afraid that if I died, she would die too. Screw you for turning me into the one thing, the one thing I didn't want to be. Screw you for erasing my memories to make me even remotely like you. I hate you so much that I don't feel anything at all."

It takes everything in me not to open handedly slap him across the face. I adjust my shoulders, averting my gaze to the ground.

"I hate you so much that you make me want to feel." I end with that and walk into the grill, leaving him and his racing mind alone.

—

             IT'S BEEN A FEW MONTHS now without my humanity. I have been enjoying myself but Katerina and the Salvatore brothers have taken it upon themselves to ambush me. I sit in a chair bound by my wrists and ankles.