Call of The Void - ( The Vampire Diaries )

PART ONE - chapter seven

chapter seven — gwyn's rules and gwyn's way

      The Salvatore Boarding House was placid and serenely quiet as Gwyn gazed at the flickering flames of the parlor's fireplace. There was an orange glow illuminated on her face, her docile eyes reflected like poisonous waters. She was wrapped with a small blanket, her ankles crossed beneath her thighs. Damon strolled into the room, two ornate teacups in both hands. As he perched himself beside her, he offered one of the glasses to her and sipped his own. It was Gwyn's raspberry tea, brewed and made to her liking. "So, we need the grimoire." She mused, sipping the tea fondly. She wasn't particularly keen on him revealing this revelation only now, but she was far more focused on a possible solution. "And this dude that was harassing Elena knew about the tomb and grimoire, too?"

      When Gwyn declined his invitation to attend some high school decade's dance, she didn't realize she would be missing a night of confessions and epiphanies that brought them closer to opening the tomb. She was especially shocked when Damon agreed to allow Stefan to work with them. She definitely wasn't keen on that decision, either. She was going to Elena's home to search for the journal later that day. "Yeah, and we need Jonathan Gilbert's journal for more information," Damon said, reclining back. He seemed as exhausted as she was.

      She exhaled a slow, deliberate breath as she mimicked him. "I remember Jonathan Gilbert," She began, an amused expression enlightened on her tired face. "He was a shitty inventor that needed his inventions enchanted with magic to work. I remember your asshole dad, Giuseppe, too. Actually, the whole circle of Founding Families were a bunch of useless dicks that couldn't get their dicks up. I would know."

      Damon couldn't suppress the laughter. "Remind how this whole memory thing works."

       Gwyn placed her teacup down on the small table, turning her body to face him. She didn't appear discomposed at the inquiry. "The Desdemona Coven came from Catemaco, Mexico in the late eighteenth century. We were known for our power with the practice of Void Magic, the source of the occult. Think of it as the stump of magic where the roots are richest, and the more acceptable variations of magic are merely the branches. My coven perfected their practice centuries ago and became extremely powerful. Our power is passed onto a promising witch of the coven and the leader of the coven then retires their role by transferring all memories and power onto the next suitable leader through some stupid complex ritual. All learned spells and memories of past coven leaders that were alive centuries prior are now inside the newest leader's mind." She jutted a finger towards her chest. "That's me. But I completed the ritual much earlier than I was supposed to. My father attempted a spell that needed much more power than he had and he almost died if I hadn't absorbed everything and saved him." Her eyes wavered for a brief moment as she remembered her father nearly dying but she instantly composed herself.

      Damon listened intently as she spoke, his eyes never faltering from her. "If you're the leader of your coven, why aren't you there?" Well, besides the obvious that he coerced her to return to Mystic Falls, he was confused with her absence.