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𝟙𝟘 𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣....
New York was a beautiful city. The tall and beautiful buildings and structures, the distinct people, the amazing food. It was all new to me. Still, over the past ten days, I tried to enjoy my trip to the fullest. A part of me wanted to stay here and learn more about the modern world but another part of me wanted to run away to Mystic Falls as soon as I could. I felt obliged to go back there and to see my friends again. I felt like I had a home, a family to go back to. And then there was Damon! I missed him the most. His snarky little comments, those ocean blue eyes, his touch. I missed everything about him. The number of phone calls and text messages I had received from him in the last ten days made it clear that he missed me too. That was also the reason why I was rushing around in my hotel room at 10 in the morning, which looked like a tornado just swept through it. In reality, I was just too clumsy to keep it clean.
After I had left for New York, a series of bad events had taken place in Mystic Falls, but to be honest, I was not surprised. I had made up my mind to go back but the gang convinced me not to. They thought that it was equally important for me to find out about my bloodline and come in contact with my powers. To quickly recap, Alaric and Damon found a cave underneath the Lockwood property, which had various drawings carved into its walls. Turned out that the drawings were related to the originals and that Mikael was Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah's father. Elena confronted Rebekah about those drawings, who told her about her family. A century ago, when the Originals were still humans, they had moved to Mystic Falls and continued to live in peace with their neighbours, who in turn, were werewolves. One day, a werewolf killed their younger brother. Esther and Mikael, as a way to protect their children, used Magic to turn them into vampires. How ironic it was! They ended up turning their family into the very thing they needed protection from, thus creating a new species. An original could only be killed with white oak and hence, they burned down the tree. Rebekah had also told Elena that when Mikael found out about Klaus being the son of a werewolf, he killed half of the village along with Esther and Klaus's real father, thus starting the war between the two species. Though, it later turned out that Klaus was the one who had killed his mother, not Mikael.
Thus began the gang's plan to lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls using Mikael, which was an absolute fail because Stefan decided to save Klaus's life at the last minute, resulting in Klaus killing Mikael and Stefan getting free of his compulsion. And that brought us to the previous night. Damon called me yesterday and he was really angry at Stefan for messing their plan up. Apparently, Stefan had fled with Klaus's coffins and Klaus had threatened Elena and Damon to find the coffins, or otherwise, he would hurt Elena's family. Damon wanted me to come back home. For some reason, he believed that I was the only one who could convince Stefan to hand over the coffins.
My phone beeped, interrupting my actions. It was a message from Riley that read 'You left the hotel yet?'
'Just leaving. Be there in an hour.' I responded and picked up my duffel bag. I got all of my stuff and left the hotel, getting my car from the parking lot. Oh, Did I mention that I had a car now? It was an Aegean blue-colored 1965 Aston Martin DB5 convertible, which Damon gifted to me. All thanks to Stefan and Riley's driving lessons all summer, I knew how to drive.
An hour later, I entered the restaurant where I was supposed to meet Riley and Lily for lunch. I looked around and found Riley sitting across the room alone. Her lips broke out into a smile when she saw me approaching.
"Damn girl! You look good." Riley complimented, hugging me. "You do know I'm gay, right?" She asked.
"You do know we're dating, right?" A voice spoke from behind us and we turned around to see Lily coming towards us.
"Well, I'm straight, so no luck here." I shrugged my shoulders and the three of us chuckled as Lily gave me a quick hug.
The three of us sat around the table reserved for us. A waiter brought us a bottle of wine and started pouring it in the glasses as Lily spoke. "I can't believe that it has been ten days. It seems like only yesterday we met." She pursed her lips, reminiscing the past ten days.
𝔽𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜
ℕ𝕖𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕪
𝟙𝟘 𝔻𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕒𝕘𝕠....
"Rose!" The very familiar voice of Riley Moore called out. I turned around with a smile to see her standing right beside me. Before I could say anything, she engulfed me in a bear hug and I returned the gesture, truly happy to reunite with my friend.
"I've missed you," Riley told me, still clinging onto me.
"I've missed you too," I responded as we broke apart our hug.
A brunette woman with shoulder-length hair and brown eyes approached us with a smile. "You must be Rose." She spoke with a wide smile. She had a thick British accent and looked like she was in her mid-20s. It was all I needed to connect the dots. She was Lily Walker.
"And you must be Lily," I replied and she nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, Lily." I offered her my hand but she slapped it away gently, hugging me.
"We are family, sister. Family doesn't shake hands." She murmured into my ear softly and I nodded.
"Don't listen to a word she says. Lily, here just needs a reason to hug every girl in the world." Riley mused from beside and Lily nudged her while I looked at them confused.
"Don't mind her," Lily said, putting a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I'm Gay." She admitted and I smacked my forehead lightly.
"Oh!" I exclaimed in realization.
"Correction: We're gay!" Riley added in and I hummed teasingly.
"So...you two?" I pointed between them, wiggling my eyebrows.
"Yeah!" They spoke together, blushing madly. They were so in love! Just a few minutes with them and I could already tell.
After I met Lily and Riley, we had lunch together. We then decided to go to Lily's hotel room immediately after so that she could teach me how to come in contact with my powers since we only had ten days to do so.
In her room, I sat on a sofa while Riley hopped on the bed and Lily grabbed something from her bag. Lily sat on her spot beside me on the sofa when I noticed that she had a big old book in her hand.
"What's that?" I asked her.
"Our family grimoire." She replied and opened the book, turning the pages.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion."I thought spirit witches didn't have to use spells for their magic to work."
"We don't." She looked at me. "This is a family book which traces the origin of the spirit witches filled with invocations and everything we know about spirit so far." She flipped through the pages and stopped at one, turning the book towards me. "There you are." I looked at the page to see a picture of me. The page was filled with the events of my life, stopping at the day my family was killed. "They thought you were dead." She said sadly and I nodded.
"Right. Where do we begin?" I asked her with a sigh, not wanting to talk about my death anymore.
She closed the book, turning to face me. "Spirit users have many powers. But that doesn't mean everyone specializes in each of them." She explained. "We should start with one of the very basics. Telekinesis."
I shrugged my shoulders. "How do I do that?" I asked her.
"Unlike a witch who draws her power from nature through spells, we draw our power from ourselves. That means, if you want to use your power, you need a clear idea of what you want to do in your mind and soul." She looked behind Riley and within a second, a pillow started floating mid-air right above her head. She laughed and like they were connected, Lily also laughed. "See...I did nothing, just imagined it in my head." She turned towards me again. "The first step to any magic is a clear mind and willpower. Believe that you can do it, you will." She smiled at me, motioning at me to try something.
I took a deep breath and focused on the glass of water before me. I imagined the water droplets floating in the air but nothing happened. "It's not happening!" I stated with a sigh
"It will...just focus and believe that you can" She encouraged me. "Why don't you close your eyes? It will help with the focusing."
I closed my eyes and imagined the same picture in my head. The water droplets mid-air. You can do it, Rose! I opened my eyes and focused on the glass of water. In an instant, a few droplets of water started floating in the air.
"Yes!" I covered my mouth with my hands excitedly. "I did it!"
"Yes...Now you just need practice." Lily chuckled at my excitement, smiling widely and so did Riley.
We spent the next four days working on my ability of Telekinesis, mind reading and creating illusions. According to Lily, I was a natural at these. Plus, I was a vampire now, so that also made me better at my powers since my essence was stronger than a human's.
"You must have already compelled people, right?" Lily asked me and I snapped my head up to look at her. We were sitting in our usual spot in her hotel room while Riley had gone to grab coffee for us.
"Yeah," I replied, trying to look as innocent as possible.
She smiled at me. "It's okay, you're a vampire. Of course, you'll use compulsion."
"I thought witches hated vampires," I asked her confusingly.
She leaned back on the sofa. "Oh, they do! Spirit witches don't. Witches hate vampires because they think they're unnatural. An abomination. While as we.." She motioned between us. "Believe that nothing in this world is unnatural. Whatever is, was meant to be." She explained
I clapped my hands, impressed by what I heard. "Great! I like spirit witches even more now." I admitted and Lily smiled widely.
"So..back to what we were talking about." Lily sat up straight. "Compulsion is one of our stronger suits. Since you're a vampire, you know all about it." I nodded at her. "Now, I have a theory about this, which may or may not be true since you're the very first vampire in our bloodline."
I crossed my arms. "Well, what is it?"
"We all know that your abilities are heightened because you're a vampire. Let's just say that I think you're compulsion might be too."
I sat up straight. "How strong?"
She chuckled, leaning towards me. "Love, if it's how I think it is, then I'll say you'd be able to compel an original even."
I widened my eyes at her. "How?"
"It's just an intuition, but a strong one. I wouldn't say that I'm completely sure. We can't know until you try to compel one." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Sure...I will try to compel an original and the next thing I'll know is that my head is in their hands and my body on the ground." I replied, looking at her incredulously.
"It was worth a try." She winked at me. "Do you have Eleanor's necklace with you?"
"Yeah," I answered and took off the necklace that I was wearing. I handed it to Lily who got up from her seat and sat beside me.
"The most important part of being a spirit witch is being able to see and feel auras," Lily explained as her eyes and her hand holding the necklace emitted a marmalade glow, indicating the use of magic. "Reading auras isn't hard but maintaining that connection and the overall use of spirit takes a toll on you."
"What do you mean by connection?"
"When you're familiar with someone's essence or aura, you can dream walk with them, wherever they may be."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "What's Dream walking?"
"What you're about to do. Come on." She handed me the necklace and I took it from her. "Try to feel the energy emitting from the necklace. The essence of the person left behind."
I closed my eyes, focusing on the necklace in my hand. A familiar warmth spread over me, making me smile. "I can feel her essence," I told Lily.
"Wonderful! Now focus on connecting with her aura." She instructed. "Imagine how she was when you met her and then think about meeting her again."
I kept my eyes close, letting the aura envelop me in a blanket of warmth. I felt a sudden tug as the scent of damp moss, rain and fragrant flowers entered my nostrils. I opened my eyes to see that I was no longer in the hotel room but in an open field, surrounded by trees and different varieties of plants and flowers.
"Missed me, tiny?" A voice called out from behind and I turned around to find Eleanor smiling at me with her hands crossed in front of her.
"I'm not tiny," I retorted playfully from where I was standing.
"You were the first time I saw you. Just a wee baby." She remarked and chuckled lightly. "You'll always be tiny for me."
"I've missed you," I told her with tears in my eyes.
"I've missed you too." She replied and opened her arms. "I've been waiting for this moment for 500 years. Please don't deny it to me any longer." She pleaded, a tear rolling down her cheek.
I shook my head. "I won't." I rushed over and hugged her tightly as my life depended on it. It did.
We caught up on the last 500 years, talking about the life we never got. I loved my mother, but I was more close to my father. My mother always tried to teach Katherine and me how to become good woman and housewives. She didn't understand that her daughters didn't want to become housewives, that we needed more and we needed her to be there for us. Eleanor, on the other hand, was like both my mother and my sister. She was truly the aunt I never got to know. But that made me wonder, how would have life been if I knew her? She teased me like a sister about Damon and that we did the 'do' but at the same time, she told me to be cautious and was protective like a mother.
I was rambling on about my life when Eleanor burst out laughing. I cocked my head to her side, trying to understand what she was laughing about. "Why are you laughing?" I asked her seriously
She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to control her laughter. "I'm sorry. You don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?" I asked her, confusion lacing my words. I had no idea what she was talking about.
"You've been rambling on about your life and for the billionth time, you've connected it all back to him."
"To who?"
She chuckled some more, looking at me like I was a 5-year-old child who knew nothing. "Damon, darling. Everything you do and talk about, you bring it all back to Damon."
A light smile crept up on my face and I tried to hide it along with the blush on my cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about," I replied, not meeting her eyes.
"Oh my God!" Eleanor exclaimed, smiling widely. "You've fallen in love, Rosa and you've no idea!"
I looked at her, taken aback by what she said. I'm not in love Damon, am I? "No, I haven't," I replied, giving her a fake smile.
"I'm a spirit witch, Rose. Your mouth can lie but your aura can't. It practically glows when you talk about him." She noted and I mentally face palmed myself. Damn your auras!
"What if he doesn't love me?!" I asked her, biting my nails in worry.
"Something tells me otherwise." She mumbled and I sighed. "Hey, look at me," she cupped my face in her hands. "When you go back to Mystic Falls, tell him how you feel. I think he loves you as much as you do." She told me softly.
I felt a slight tug as if someone was pulling me back. "What's happening?" I asked Eleanor.
"Someone's trying to wake you up." Eleanor sighed. "You have to go now."
I nodded at her. "Will I see you again?"
"You can see me anytime you want. My essence is with you tiny, it always will be." She mumbled and I smiled softly
I began to turn around when she grabbed my hand. "Wait! There's something you need to know." I faced her, scrunching up my face in confusion. "Being a spirit witch seems cool, I know. But every magic has its downsides. You're a vampire so it won't affect you that much but you still need to be cautious. The darkness and the voices may have gone now but they will come back. No matter what happens, you have to believe in yourself, in your soul. If you ever abdicate your faith in yourself, you'll lose your magic. And to lose your connection to spirit is to go crazy." Eleanor explained and let go of my arm.
I nodded at her tensely. "I will. Bye El."
"Bye, tiny." She replied and I smiled, turning back to leave. "Rose?" She called out and I cocked my head back.
"Yes?" I called back.
"Ask Lily to tell you what shadow kissed means." She answered and I nodded.
The last thing I saw before waking up was Eleanor smiling at me. I woke up, taking a deep breath. In front of me were Riley and Lily, the former looking at me with concern and the latter grinning.
"What's shadow kissed?" I blurted out and Riley snapped her head in Lily's direction so fast that I thought her neck would break.
"Let me guess, Eleanor?" She asked and I nodded. Lily sighed heavily. "You remember when I said that spirit witches have the ability of healing?" She asked me and I nodded. "Not only can we heal living things but if we use enough magic, we can also bring them back from the dead," Lily explained and I narrowed my eyes at them.
"What? How is that possible?"
"It's possible. Healing is the hardest form of spirit. When the person dies, if a spirit user heals them to full health right after, it pulls their soul back from the Land of the Dead or what you call the other side. The person's soul is forever branded by the land of the dead, making the person shadow kissed, which means.."
"Marked by death." I cut her off and she nodded along with Riley.
"Bringing a person back from the other side means that you're bonded with them for the rest of your life. Whatever you feel, they feel. Whatever you see, they see. If the shadow-kissed person kills, they are plagued with ghosts from the other world while as if the spirit user uses spirit in excess, the negative effects from that build up in the spirit user are pulled into the shadow-kissed person by themselves to save the spirit user from doing bad things to themselves or someone else." Lily explained as I rubbed my temples.
"Wait a second." I interrupted her, realizing something. "You two.." I motioned between them.
"Are bonded, yes," Riley spoke up and crossed her arms. "A few years ago, I was in a car accident that killed all of my family...and me. Lily brought me back to life." She said, looking at Lily gratefully who placed her hand on Riley's to comfort her.
I looked at her with sympathy, knowing exactly how it feels. "I'm sorry."
She turned towards me and mouthed. "It's fine." She sat up straight. "The day you found me in the woods, something similar happened. Lily uses her magic to help a child who has cancer. She heals him just a little bit weekly so that it won't harm her or me. That day, she used it too much and I got affected by her darkness through the spirit bond. I killed some people and if you hadn't found me, the vampires would've killed me too." She explained.
"One of our ancestors, Amelia Wright faced the consequences of spirit." Riley began in a serious tone. "She used her magic too much and it drove both her and her shadow kissed husband insane. They ended up killing themselves and their children to stop the voices and the darkness." She finished and I sighed, closing my eyes.
ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝔻𝕒𝕪
"Daydreaming about me?" A man's voice jolted me awake from my thoughts and I turned to see him walking towards me.
I was now sat on a barstool in the same restaurant. Riley and Lily had gone to grab their luggage from the hotel. They had to leave for London and I had to leave for Mystic Falls. So, they decided to get their luggage and come back to say goodbye one last time.
The man sat beside me as I took a sip from the glass of bourbon in my hand. "You wish." I winked at the man and he chuckled.
I motioned over to the bartender. "A drink for my good friend here. He'll have the same." I told him and he nodded.
"Can I have a name, please?" The bartender asked and before the man could answer for himself. I answered for him.
"Marcel. Marcel Gerard." I told the bartender as Marcel and I smirked at each other.
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The trip to NY was originally going to be covered in one chapter but I'm splitting it up in two. I might publish the next one tomorrow! Till next time :)