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ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ ᴘᴏᴠ:
Vincent Griffith had lost his mind. The Lafayette Cemetery was abuzz with this news. Witches from all the nine covens clustered in the place, whispering among themselves as Vincent and Davina appeared together, ready to address the whole community. Everyone stepped aside, making way for them as they walked down between rows of tombs to the front steps of the Lycée, the very building where Davina had been taught to control and use her powers.
They both took their place behind the stone table, facing the crowd of confused witches. The last rays of the sun provided enough light to keep their surroundings visible.
With a sigh, Vincent began. "This city has known violence a hell of a lot longer than it's known about our magic. That's why all those centuries ago our Ancestors created the Ancestral Well. So that we would have something, some sort of power so that we could survive in this place...I've realized that our reliance on that power has grown very, very toxic,"
The witches listened to him with intrigue. Long ago, Vincent had asked himself a question that took him this long to answer. Yes, the Ancestors were old and powerful, but they didn't know any better. If the last few years had taught the witches anything, it was that they were better off on their own.
"Right now, our Ancestors are living in horror. Right now, our Ancestors don't have any peace And that's why, tonight, we are going to release them. So that every single one of our dead will be free. Once we release the Ancestral Well, our Ancestors are gonna know peace, but our power is gonna change forever. Our magic is gonna come from the Earth itself."
Davina's eyes searched the crowd for their reaction. Some of them looked hesitant, some still milled around, the others were pretty clear about what they wanted—freedom from the Ancestors. And it was all they needed to go on with their plan.
Meanwhile, back at the Boarding house, a worried Caroline paced around the living room. "I should've gone with them," She repeated the sentence several times.
"Hey," Rose placed her hand on the girl's shoulder in comfort. "His sireline's broken now, but he's okay. He'll be home soon,"
With a nod from Caroline, both the vampires turned their attention towards Alaric who along with Bonnie had been researching about the bell, with help from Ethan and Katherine, the masterminds of their plan.
"After Ethan Maxwell created the bell in 1790, it was corrupted by the sirens to open a temporary portal to Hell if rung eleven times by a Maxwell...that's where Peter comes in..." Alaric explained, glancing towards the man.
Stefan frowned, crossing his arms. "Tell me again why we need to open a portal to Hell?"
"...because the twelfth ring of the bell will unleash hellfire," Katherine added.
"Yeah...still not getting it," Damon shrugged nonchalantly. The silent glares he was throwing his girlfriend's way didn't escape anyone's notice.
"Just listen, for god's sake!" Bonnie snapped at him, tired of his frequent interruptions.
Ethan sighed. "Look...we need a massive amount of energy to destroy Hell, ergo, hellfire. Now once Vincent and Davina get rid of the Ancestors...if Bonnie here can somehow redirect the hellfire back to hell, poof!" He made a gesture with his hands.
"Aren't we forgetting the part where our whole town burns?" Rose asked.
Bonnie shook her head with a smile. "No. We have something for that too. I'll divert hellfire through the tunnels underneath the Armory. That way, the town's safe and we can all get what we want,"
"Great! What do we do until then?" Kai asked, equal parts bored and amused.
The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the house. "I think I heard someone say booze!" Elena stated excitedly, holding up two bottles of alcohol.
Willow, Hope, Lizzie and Josie stood next to her with Jeremy and Liz. A dumbstruck Caroline and Rose gave the adults a chastising look at which Elena rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry. With everything going on, I figured this might be the safest place for them to be..." She assured them.
Before they could retort, Willow ran towards her mother and on instinct, she caught her, sweeping her off her feet.
"Mama!" The girl beamed, hugging her. "I've missed you,"
"Oh, I've missed you too, baby," Rose replied, amazed by how tightly Willow's tiny little arms were wrapped around her.
Elena grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. "Booze?" She offered, earning a chuckle from everyone at her enthusiasm to get drunk.
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ᴋʟᴀᴜs' ᴘᴏᴠ:
"I'm so happy that you're here," Caroline murmured in my ear, both of us wrapped in each other's embrace.
I broke apart, gazing at the woman who had my heart in her hands. My eyes had been starving until now, yearning to get a glimpse of her for all those years I spent in captivity. Now that I held her in my arms, the feeling was surreal, not even close to all the dreams I had manifested into my reality.
"Me too, my sweet love," I admitted, welcoming her soft lips that sought mine.
"You should freshen up," She replied with a smile, pecking my lips again. "I'll be waiting downstairs with the others,"
I gave her a nod, watching her steps as she left the room. Hope's laugh reached my ears, warming my dead heart. There was nothing more I wanted other than to spend time with my family, especially my daughter. But, I didn't want her to see me like this—bloody and bruised. With that thought in mind, I dragged myself to the bathroom, locking the door beside me.
Rolling my shirt over my head, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were red-rimmed, my face paler than usual. Nothing a good amount of blood can't fix.
Before I could do anything else, a burst of emotions shot through me, nearly knocking me over with their intensity. A rush of excitement overtook me. Wait...this doesn't feel right. Within a second, I found myself probing inside Rose's mind, stifling a groan.
Stefan and Rose staggered towards his car, laughing with each other. His hands went lower her body as they neared the vehicle, too lower for my liking. When he suddenly opened the door and pushed her down on the back seat, kissing her in a way that made me wanna barf, I knew I had to get out of here. But how? It was the question looming in my mind.
The worse thing about the whole situation was that I was experiencing 'Stefan's talents' through Rose's eyes. So, when he broke that insanely long and equally gross kiss, his hands ripping her top to shreds, I felt him devour her. Gross, mate, gross.
Her hands splayed across his sculpted chest. Mmm...the guy was ripped, but that was not the point! He always seemed to be the patient brother, but from what I was seeing, I would now beg to differ.
Rose giggled, scratching her fingernails across his back in a way that calmed him. "Behave, Stefie. We're in a car, remember?" She purred.
Watching him through her adoration filled eyes, I felt the love she had for him. "I am," He replied softly, a smirk crossing his face. "...but you love it more when I don't,"
She giggled in agreement, pecking his lips. It was a sweet, slow kiss at the beginning that could make even my heart flutter but then it turned into something wild. Stefan's eyes darkened as he pinned her hands above her head, dragging his fangs along her skin before sinking in. The gesture was erotic—hungry and purely salacious.
Even though it was just a memory, her numbness spread over to me, my mind spinning in a happy daze. Vampire bites might even be more pleasurable than sex, and when combined with it, the feeling was as euphoric as it could get. The only problem was that it left her with no control of her body. Until she recovered, Stefan was free to do whatever he wanted to do and was he doing just that!
The rattling of his belt buckle terrified me, alarming my senses. I. Needed. To. Get. Out. But Jesus Christ, Rose wasn't making it any easy for me to do so. With every passing second, her feelings grew stronger, keeping me halted inside her mind. I tried to focus on detaching myself from her mind. I was sure as hell, I didn't want to have virtual sex with Stefan. Yikes.
More clothes were discarded. Oh, this was going to haunt me forever. Stefan draped her legs over his hips, a strange sensation overtaking me as their mouths fell open, bodies moving together. Holy mother of God! Someone get me out of here this instant!
"Bloody hell!" I sighed, coming back to reality. What the hell did I get myself into?
ʀᴏsᴇ's ᴘᴏᴠ:
I fiddled with the necklace in my hand. My sister's necklace. My necklace. I had given it to her when she left for Bulgaria and found it just a little while ago when rummaging through the drawers. Somehow after all these years, it still looked the same. It was drenched in her scent and for some reason, my hands refused to let it go.
"Is it me or has Stefan gotten hotter over the years?" I asked Elena, downing my drink.
"Not you," She muttered back.
Oogling Stefan at a time like this probably wasn't a good idea, but I couldn't help it. Every time I looked at him, my mind raced with indecent thoughts. Oh, the things I wanted him to do to me—things no one should be allowed to see—or do to each other. Wow. Alcohol was doing wonders to boost my already high libido.
"Where are you going?" Elena asked as I got up from the sofa.
I answered her question with a wink, placing the necklace in my pocket. Stefan had been sitting on the sofa opposite me, making me drool every time our eyes met, and that was exactly what he wanted.
Without thinking any further, I grabbed his hand, dragging him to an isolated room to which he very generously complied. "What?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
A smirk crossed my face, lips almost brushing with him. Slipping my hands under his shirt, I let them explore his every curve. "Fuck me," I let out bluntly. What can I say? I'm drunk.
My words unearthed a smile from him, kind and polite. His eyes were so full of light that for a second, I forgot he ever left. His hands slid under my top similarly, letting me have a taste of how his skin would feel against mine.
"I'd love to," came his answer. "But not like this...you're drunk,"
"That's what makes it more exciting. Come on, don't pretend we haven't had drunk sex before," I retorted with a smirk. "Or when you'd bite me to take control,"
A similar smirk graced his features. "Those times were different, Ro...but when I do make love to you," He corrected me, ghosting his lips over mine. "I want you to feel every second of it,"
With that, he walked away, leaving me behind with a pout on my face. I thought about his words. He was right. I would want to feel every second of it. Somehow, the Salvatores always managed to make words as simple as 'make love' sound ridiculously erotic.
"Ugh, not you again!" Klaus made his presence known, shooting me a disgusted glare. Where did he come from? "Seriously, Rose? I didn't need those images in my mind,"
"What im- Oh!" Oh shit. Realization dawned over me. I dared to peek at him through the tangle of hair covering my face. "Oops, I forgot you could look into my mind,"
He chuckled at my embarrassment, tucking the strand of hair behind my ear. "Next time you have a sex dream about either of your boyfriends, keep me out of your head, will you?" He mused with a grimace.
I nodded, rolling my eyes at how much he was enjoying my embarrassment. Wait a damn second. Klaus just had a virtual threesome with...ugh! The mere thought of it makes me wanna barf!
"You look like shit," I may have said that to divert the topic but he did look like shit. He's going to need a lot of blood to fix that.
"I do, unfortunately," He agreed with me in a not so Klaus Mikaelson style. Then his smirk reappeared along with mine. "Need a drinking buddy?"
"Thought you'd never ask,"
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Ethan stood by the window in his room, watching the sun dip below the horizon. It was the last sunset of his life. Hell, it was the last hour of his life. How could he be so calm? I stared at him for a moment before making my presence known.
"Hey. Bonnie and Peter left. The plan's on," I started softly, joining him. "Thought I'd let you know."
"Thanks," His reply was simple.
I cracked a small smile. You'd be amazed by how hard it was for me to do it knowing he wouldn't be here with me tomorrow.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you've forgotten what's going to happen to you once Hell's destroyed," I mused.
"But you do know better," He smiled back.
I did. No matter where they went, what they did, a part of them was still tethered to Hell, and its fate was going to become theirs very soon. They were going to burn with it. But he knew that already, and the fact that he did scared me. How awful was this Hell? It had managed to turn around two of the most notorious people I knew.
Before I knew it, Ethan's hands were clutching mine, the talisman held between them. A part of me shrivelled up at the thought of him leaving, but relief spread over me as I felt him do it. I was no longer bound to him.
"Listen to me, Ro..." He began, eyes turning back to normal. I couldn't help but smile at the use of my nickname. I didn't think he intended to, it just slipped out. "What?"
"Nothing. Go on," I shrugged off his confusion.
He sighed, still holding my hands,"...when all this is over, I want you to bury me next to my brother. Will you do that for me?"
Ignoring the feeling of Deja vu, I nodded with a small smile. "Of course,"
"One more thing..." A shadow of guilt darkened his eyes as he gulped. "I'm sorry for everything...and I know it's impossible, but I have to ask. Do you think you can forgive me?"
I didn't mean to freeze at the question, but I did. He noticed my hesitation to answer, flashing me a grin. I wanted to say something, but words wouldn't come out.
"Right. It's okay," He said. "After all the horrible things I've done, I shouldn't have even bothered you with this question." His lips pressed against my cheek gently. "Goodbye, Rose."
Watching him walk away from me felt so weird. This would've been much easier if he had just stayed the evil siphoner who tried to kill me. I'd be lying if I said he hadn't become so much more.
"Ethan?" I called out softly and he turned around. "I can't forgive you, but you can rest in peace knowing that I'll remember you as the man you've become rather than the man you were,"
My feet carried me towards him, hands circling his neck. Our lips brushed together, sending chills down my spine. Without wasting any time, I kissed him. We had shared a kiss so many times, but nothing had been this intense...and I was offended by how much I liked it.
"Goodbye, Ethan," I murmured with one final peck on his lips.
A cough broke us up. Pure rage radiated off of Damon, and for a second, I thought he would try to strangle him but he didn't. Instead, he just glared at us both.
"Time to say goodbye," He gritted his teeth, holding his hand for me and I took it.
As we walked towards our destination, I kept glimpsing at Damon, wanting to open my mouth, but something in his posture told me to stay silent. All he needed was one poke to lash out. Why did I even kiss Ethan?! I just fanned the flames of my problems. How more stupid could I get?
"Oh, little V," My sister's voice entered my ears as we neared the room Willow was in. "I wish there was more time,"
My daughter slept soundly with a smile on her face while Katherine stroked her hair. Was she crying?
"...but even if you don't remember me, and you shouldn't because I deserve that, don't I? I deserve to be forgotten," she chuckled sadly, still whispering to her. "I want you to know that Auntie Kat loves you so much and she's sorry too...I can't wait for you to blossom into a beautiful and brave woman like your mother. Bye, Willow,"
Almost on cue, the bell started ringing, marking the beginning of our plan. She quickly kissed the top of her head, tiptoeing out of the room silently. While we strolled to the parlour, I realized what we were about to do was going to be ten times harder than I thought it would be.
"Rosa?" She called out in a whisper. "I'm sorry,"
In my defence, I tried to hold them back. But a longing ache burned in my chest, one I had never expected her to bring about after all that she had done. Tears spilt out of my eyes uncontrollably. It had been five hundred years since we acted anything resembling a family, but she was still my sister. Still.
"I know," I nodded, chuckling for no reason at all. She joined in, both of us laughing like maniacs before she too burst into tears. "I know,"
She pulled me into her arms, holding me tightly. "I'm sorry for everything I've put you through from the day I got kicked out from Bulgaria to when I tore Stefan away from you. I'm sorry that you wanted a sister and all you got was a colossal disappointment,"
She sobbed harder and I placed my hand on the back of her head in comfort. "You were never a disappointment, Katherine..." I cupped her face in my hands. "I forgive you...for everything,"
She smiled sadly, placing her hands on top of mine. "I'm sorry I couldn't make up for the lost time. I wish I could,"
The bell rang again and again, the sound of it almost deafening to our vampire hearing until the tenth one. Peter paused for a little time, a sign for us and Bonnie to know it wasn't long now. Then it began again—the eleventh bell.
"Don't worry," I assured her. "You're here now, aren't you? My sister."
She gave me a nod, hugging me one last time. Her skin was like fire, hot enough to burn me if it stayed against mine any longer. Small cracks started to appear on her face and arms. Ethan's groans from upstairs gave me an idea of how painful it was, but Katherine just smiled, staring at me.
"Dovijdane, sestra," She bid her farewell, flames slowly erupting from her skin. "Forevermore,"
The melancholic silence that followed her words was broken by her own scream. Her glossy eyes made me realize the value of unspoken words. How could it be that after all these years, there was still so much left to say to her?
"Rina..." I let out the only thing that mattered right now. "I love you," Satisfaction clouded her features. No one should be cursed to live the life she had. She did what she had to survive. It was a horrible way but still, the world had always been horrible to us. "Forevermore,"
With that, Damon forcefully ripped me away from the scene. "You don't need to see that, baby," He told me, rocking me in his arms.
I didn't retort like I always did. I just stayed there in his arms for what felt like forever until I decided to do the only thing I knew would make the pain stop.
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sᴛᴇғᴀɴ's ᴘᴏᴠ:
My brother paced around the room, rambling on and on about Rose. He had always been the jealous type, but even then I had never seen him this green-eyed and furious about anything, especially when it came to Rose.
"...I mean it's so unlike her. She almost slept with Ethan because she was angry at you and then she kissed him right in front of me..." He paused for a second, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Did you even listen to a word I said?"
"Of course I did," I rolled my eyes. "You've been repeating the same thing over and over again,"
"Well, I'm angry!" He snapped.
I sighed. "I am too, but you don't see me babbling and ripping things apart,"
He clenched his jaw. "That's right, 'cause when you're angry, you rip people apart, not pillows,"
"There you boys are," Rebekah's voice cut in, causing us to snap our heads in her direction. "Have you seen Nik or Rose? They were together the last time I saw them...I've searched the whole house and I can't find them anywhere,"
"Maybe they just went for a walk or something? Aren't they like best friends slash soulmates now?"
Damon's bitter tone startled her but she shrugged it off. Klaus and Rose liked to tease each other a lot, but at least he wanted the best for her and I was dead sure they had never even thought of each other in that way.
"Maybe," Rebekah agreed. "...but still, if you two see any of them, tell them I was looking,"
I gave her a polite smile. "Of course,"
Damon and I's attention turned towards each other as she left the room. By the look on his face, it was clear we were both thinking the same thing. There was a fair chance Rose was alone right now. She was hurt over Katherine's death and as much as I respected her choice to grieve alone, I knew the love of my life. We both knew when she needed us.
So, we decided to go to the most obvious place she could've gone to—the woods behind the house. We searched for her silently, not wanting to disturb her peace.
Now I wished we hadn't been so silent, for what I saw devastated me. Is that how she felt when she had found me with Katherine? My hurt morphed into pure fury, stirring up a dark rage within me. Someone else's hands were all over my girlfriend, her legs wrapped around him as he brought about the moans and pants escaping her lips. Horrible visions of what they had been doing all this time danced through my mind. How dare he?! I didn't care if he was a friend to us. All I saw was red and I knew my brother felt the same too.
"Rose!" He shouted, the two perpetrators freezing. As he glanced at us, I recognised something in his eyes they didn't often display—fear. Good, because as far as I knew...He was a dead man now.
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Hello there everyone,
Umm...I wanted to address something. I just keep thinking about it and it's seriously affecting my ability to write, so I thought why not let it out? Before I dive into it, I just wanna make it clear that for the sake of my sanity, I'm drawing a line between the show Damon and this book one because if I don't, I wouldn't have it in me to write about him anymore.
I think a lot of you know that I was biased towards him since the beginning of this book, because, yeah he is my favourite character. He was just so compelling and interesting, you couldn't help but fall for him. And don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the direction I have taken him in my book, but the show Damon...especially the earlier one...yeah, we have a problem, fellas.
I tried re-watching the vampire diaries from the beginning and as a person who had been totally swooning over him, I was shocked to finally realize how fucking problematic he was. Oh My God! I am not exaggerating, I felt like shit that I had liked him for all the wrong reasons. The whole Caroline drama. She was what? Frickin 16? 17? He was 25! Now, I've seen people arguing about whether he raped her or not on Instagram. Honestly, I think she did want to sleep with him but then again, she was 17! Even if she consensually slept with him, he did compel her for blood and not to mention how he treated her like absolute trash.
Then there's Elena. He tried to kiss her two times without her consent, kissed her again when she was still with his brother (Elena is also held responsible), snapped Jeremy's neck, killed Tyler and Aaron and god knows how many other people because he was hurt or angry or bored! (Even after his redemption arc started, which went to shit again and again). He always disregarded Elena's choices (Oh, how I loved Stefan for respecting her choices). I feel terrible right now! I shipped Delena so hard the first time I watched TVD and now, I can't stand them! Ian and Nina's chemistry is amazing but DELENA WAS TOXIC. Yes, it was great at times but if we consider everything from season 1 to 8, Damon's mood swings ruined everything. And I hated them and the showrunners so much for what they did to Stefan! (One episode! Just one fucking episode for the transition!)
Don't get me wrong, I still love Damon. Why? Because he's such a great character. I love him because he has such a capacity for goodness and above all, he wasn't always like this. Katherine wronged him. "Okay, you love Damon. Then where is this coming from?" You ask. Let me tell you. The main problem isn't the character, it's the viewers. I don't get us people. We hate on Camille (such a beautiful woman she was), we hate on Elena (kinda selfish at times but when you compare her character flaws to the others, it's nothing), we hate on their actors. (Did you know Leah Pipes received death threats simply because people wanted Klaus to end up with Caroline, not Cami?). Why? And I'm not saying that we should hate on Ian, God no! All I'm saying is that it bothers me how we constantly overlook all these things about Damon just because Ian Somerhalder is pretty. He is a beautiful human being who gave us this beautiful character, but I think it's time we acknowledge that he did some pretty bad shit and call him out for that, instead of defending him!
And I know a lot of you maybe do realize this, but I've seen people talk about how hot he was during that scene where he bites Caroline or Andie or does other shit when we should really be talking about the disturbing nature of that scene. Even though it's fiction, it freaks me out to see him use those women like that. Doesn't it bother you or am I just looking too deep?
The same thing goes for Klaus. I absolutely hated him in The Vampire Diaries but here's the difference. His character growth and redemption arc in the Originals was even, not like Damon who became the better man only to lash out when Elena dumped his ass. I used to hate Klaus and I still have a love-hate relationship with him but that man did change for his daughter and his family. While I still may feel a little biased towards the Vampire Diaries and its characters (The Salvatores to be exact)...I, as a more mature person in comparison to when I first saw these shows, now want to acknowledge that the Originals was such a beautiful story that hits the right chords every time and after all this time, I just can't bring myself to watch the first few seasons of TVD. Yet again, I do love those characters but I can't believe the bullshit we're fed subconsciously.
P.s. Feel free to take me up on this. I'd love to know if you think the same or not. (Particularly not). A lot of you may be younger than me or older (I'm 17 btw, yeah that's right!) So, maybe you know better, maybe you don't or maybe I messed up the facts somewhere. Feel free to let me know about that too.
With that burden lifted off my chest, Toodles & much♥.