CHAPTER NINETY ONE
[91]
song: faith by the cure
"HM, YOU'RE ABOUT HALF AN HOUR OVER TIME." Damon says, sitting up from his spot on the couch as Daisy let herself in through the front door.
She reached into her coat pocket as she walked toward him. "Ran into some complications." She says, trying not to let the leftover uneasiness from her conversation with Kai show in her voice. She pulled out The Ascendant, coming to a stop in the archway of the living room.
Damon clinked his ring on the edge of his whiskey glass as he gestured toward it. "How do I know that's not a fake?" He asks.
Daisy made a bored face. "What do I gain from bringing you a fake one? I don't even know what you want with this." She says, continuing to walk toward him.
She kept it close to her chest, and with her other arm she held out an open hand. "Mine first." She says with a nod.
"What is she doing here?" A female voice says from behind her. Daisy and Damon both look up, and Daisy turns around to see Elena in the entryway, confused.
Daisy tries to contain her impatient nature, looking to Damon to explain. "She brought me The Ascendant that Kai said was nowhere to be found." Damon says.
Elena eyes Daisy, then looks back at Damon. "For free?"
Damon let's out a small scoff, "No," he says, reaching into his pocket for a small vile of assumedly his own blood. "For this."
Elena's eyes widen. "What?!" She says, walking over to them.
Daisy's eyes were now fully focused on the blood, studying it nervously. All she wanted to do was hand him The Ascendant, get the blood, and leave, but knew by the heavy footsteps approaching her that she wasn't gonna get out of this house without some sort of conflict.
"Damon, what are you doing?!" Elena says sternly.
"I'm trying to get my mother out of a prison world." Damon says, turning to her. "And if that means giving—" he turns to face Daisy for a split second, examining her now scar-free face as he tried to come up with a new foul nickname, but was deemed unsuccessful, "-her a vile of my blood— who cares?" He shrugs.
Elena looked at him like he was stupid. "So we're just turning anyone now? Even the ones that helped string me up in my high school and torture me?"
"Okay, that was like two months ago." Daisy stepped in, earning a glare from Elena.
Elena turns back to face Damon with the same glare. "Damon." She says sternly.
Damon turned to Daisy, his conscience had clearly changed as his eyes fell down to The Ascendant in Daisy's hand. His shoulders had fallen and you could very clearly see him weighing his options.
"Sorry." Damon says, with a frustrated sigh. "Find a different blood bank."
Daisy ran her tongue over her teeth, trying her best to stifle her annoyance. "I had a feeling this would happen." She huffs, as she pushes The Ascendant out towards Damon. It hits his chest, and he catches it confusedly as Daisy turns around to leave. "Take it. I don't want it." She shrugs it off.
Truthfully, she knew she wouldn't be leaving this house with what she wanted. Everything was going just a bit too smooth for that to happen.
Him and Elena both watched with suspicious eyes as Daisy turns around. "And I'm sorry I've got to cut this meeting so short." She begins. "I have lunch with one of your friends who was kind enough to just offer up her own blood for me. No chores necessary." She shrugs. She sounded more bored than annoyed- which would be the proper response.
Elena narrows her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"
"Caroline- I think her name was?" Daisy says, scratching her chin nonchalantly. Though she appeared unfazed, she'd be lying if she said she didn't find a bit of joy in throwing these people off track a bit. "I guess word got out that I was looking for some blood, so she reached out to me herself." She shrugged innocently.
Elena closed her eyes as she let out a deep sigh. "Call your brother." Elena says, quickly turning toward the kitchen. "I'll call Bonnie."
Damon held The Ascendant in his hand, watching as Daisy watched Elena leave the living room. He could see right past her tough guy act, she was terrified- and he knew she had no interest in becoming a vampire for the reasons most would.
She glanced at Damon, meeting his eyes, knowing he saw through it all. She lingered for a split second before turning to leave.
—
The bar was completely silent, expected as the parking lot was empty. That's where her initial sense of unease stemmed. Walking in hesitantly, there was a stillness in the air that would make almost anyone uncomfortable.
She walked past the small entry way into the larger portion of the bar, where only a few lights were still on. She was sure this was a lively place when it was actually open, mostly due to the sticky floors that she could feel under her shoes. Chairs were stacked up on the tables, and there wasn't a person in sight until the kitchen door swung open.
Daisy jumped at the sudden movement, but settled once she realized it was probably the Caroline who called her earlier. She was blonde, tall and had a small, pretty- and she knew it too. Daisy could tell immediately that she was a people person before she even opened her mouth.
Caroline gave her a coy smile. "Daisy?" She says, holding in her excitement before she got confirmation that this was the right girl.
Daisy nodded.
Caroline clapped excitedly, before coming out from around the bar, motioning for Daisy to come deeper inside. Caroline looked about her age, but she wondered how long she'd been that age. As long as Daisy's been 18? Longer? Much different circumstances, yes, but it was still a bit unsettling when she thought about it.
"I've heard about you." Caroline points at her in a sarcastically shaming way. "You've caused a few problems here and there."
Daisy let out a small scoff, walking further inside, yet still trying to gage the situation. "Can't take all the credit for that. I mostly just tagged along."
Caroline nodded. "Ah," she says, reaching over the counter and pulling out two glasses and a bottle of liquor. Daisy perked up at the offer. "Yes, the boyfriend." Caroline says, then gestures for Daisy to take a seat at the bar. "Sit, sit." She says. "I've heard about him, too."
Daisy accepts whatever alcohol Caroline had just poured into the glass. "Oh, not the boyfriend anymore." She snorts, before taking a sip.
"Right, which is why you're here." Caroline smiles, before also taking a drink.
Daisy nods, still trying to get a read on this girl- and there was definitely something quite off in her demeanor. "Yeah." She says. "How'd you know to call me?"
"Word travels fast around here." Caroline shrugs happily. "Thought it wouldn't hurt to make another friend- considering all my old ones were total duds."
Daisy wasn't sure what game this girl was playing at, maybe on surface level it was 'friendship', but there were definitely other things going on. Though she didn't care to find out, she already knew she'd do whatever it'd take.
"Elena and Bonnie, right?" Daisy spoke, trying to see if she was remembering correctly. She could've sworn she remembered hearing Caroline's name come up once or twice before.
Caroline nodded, though she didn't seem overjoyed at the mention of their names. "They've really been cramping my style lately." She says, showing the first genuine human reaction of frustration this whole interaction.
Daisy takes another drink. "And what style is that?" She asks, trying to skip the small talk and get to the point.
Caroline eyes her, then smiles. "I like you." She points at her again. She then quickly moves around to behind the bar.
Daisy watches warily, hoping that this next sentence results in her getting what she was actually here for. "Let's go over the terms and conditions, yes?" Caroline asks.
Daisy's eyebrows lifted, then she nods in response.
"I give you my blood, you drink it, and then I'll kill you." She begins. "Following?"
"Yup." Daisy responds, not going to even begin to explain that she really can't die like that- it wasn't worth it.
"Then you get a choice, let the blood kill you— or drink human blood to complete the transition." Caroline adds, she gaged Daisy's expression, trying to see if that part threw her off.
But Daisy was just waiting for her to continue, which resulted in a smile from Caroline's end before she continued on. "And that's it." She shrugs.
That wasn't anything compared to whatever insane theories Daisy had thought up on her own. She knew absolutely nothing about what she was getting herself into. "That's it?" Daisy asks.
"Mhm." Caroline takes another sip. But then raises an eyebrow, like she'd just remembered something. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" She asks.
Daisy looked at her with narrowed eyes, not expecting the question. "Nothing." She responded.
Caroline set her drink down. "There's a party happening, I want you to come." She says, and when Daisy didn't agree fast enough, she left her with no choice. "I'll give you my blood there."
Daisy's shoulder fell. "You'll turn me at a party?" She asked.
Caroline nodded. "Everyone will be so wasted, a little bit of blood on your mouth will go completely unnoticed."
Daisy didn't want to go. A party was actually the last thing on her mind right now. But she had the strangest suspicion that telling this girl no would do more harm than good, and if going to a party meant she got what she needed, then she'd do it.
"Okay." Daisy smiled softly.
Nothing good ever really came from parties in Daisy's experience. Though, she really wasn't expecting a good outcome from any of this in the first place.
Caroline shot her hands up in the air. "Yes!" She said, then her smile fell quickly and she looked at Daisy with a stern expression. "Don't tell anyone you're coming. They'll try to stop you." She says.
Daisy was taken aback a little, but it wasn't much different than any of the other sudden mood swings she'd experienced, so she wasn't too thrown off. "I won't." Daisy scoffed.
Caroline smiled excitedly. "This is gonna be so fun."
—
"Where have you been?!" Josette says, standing up from her kitchen table after letting out the world's loudest sigh of relief.
Daisy shuts the apartment door behind her, feeling like she'd just been caught sneaking back in from a night out. She opens her mouth to respond but gets cut off.
"Don't even bother lying." Josette says, rubbing her forehead. "I'm not sure why I even asked."
"Jo, I told you not to worry about me. I'm fine." Daisy says, she walks deeper inside, but isn't sure where she was comfortable planting herself. Her stomach was telling her to go to the kitchen and eat whatever she was smelling, but she felt that might be inappropriate right now.
Josette shakes her head, not looking at Daisy as she speaks. "Did you do it?" She asks.
Daisy didn't speak for a second. "Not yet."
Josette nods slightly, still not looking at her.
Daisy watches her, waiting for some words of comfort or understanding, but was just met with more silence. She inhales sharply. "He offered it to me. Before." She speaks up, but regrets it, as she's not sure what that has to do with Josette. Maybe she just needed to talk about it with her.
Josette looks up. "What?"
Daisy moves to sit down at the kitchen table beside her, realizing there were two empty plates sat there— insinuating that Alaric was probably here somewhere. "Kai offered me vampire blood. So that I could turn." Daisy says.
Josette narrows her eyebrows. "He did? When?"
Daisy shrugs a bit. "A few months ago. Before I knew about any of this." She pauses. "Do you think- he knew? That it would break the connection?"
Josette was thinking, mulling over her next response, but never got a chance to respond because Alaric had reentered the room from the bedroom. Both of the girls turn to look at him, but his eyes were on Josette's, looking frustrated. "You said she left." He spoke.
"I thought she did." Josette shrugged.
Daisy bit down on her tongue before she could say anything that's sole purpose was to just get an argument started. Though she was getting quite sick and tired of people entering a room and being disappointed to see her standing there.
"Where are you gonna go after you turn?" Alaric asks, abruptly.
Daisy narrows her eyebrows. "I—" she begins to respond, but Josette cuts her off.
"Ric, just let it go." Josette sighs.
"You can't stay here. Josette is pregnant and I don't want a newly turned vampire anywhere near her." Alaric says bluntly.
Daisy's eyes widened by the accusation, she shakes her head quickly. "I would never hurt Josette— or—"
"I know that, Daisy." Josette says, standing up from the kitchen table, then looks at Alaric. "Alaric, I trust her."
Daisy turned to Josette, taken aback from the statement. She observed Josette's face as she sternly stared at her fiancé. There was no hesitation, or regret that showed in her stature.
"You might trust her now but you haven't seen a vampire right after they turn. They don't know what to do with themselves they—" Alaric says.
"She can get through it." Josette cuts him off again.
Daisy was still watching Josette speak. This was the first time Josette had talked to Daisy and the possibility of her vampirism in a tone of understanding. When Daisy first told her, it was a lot of yelling, a lot of arguing, and a lot of being told the she was being impulsive.
Daisy knew this was her only option left. It was the one way to stop her curse, the only way to know if her feelings were true, and the only way for her heart to ever stop beating.
Though she left out that last part from her argument with Josette.
"And you think Kai's just gonna leave you alone if you turn?" Alaric says. "What if he goes after Josette next, to get back at you?" He turns to Josette. "Or our baby." He says.
Daisy rubs her eyes. "I won't let that happen." She says frustratedly. "I won't— I'm gonna get everything figured out."
And she'd say that Kai would never do that. But she wasn't so sure anymore.
Daisy huffs. "Here, I'll give you some options." She suggests. "You let me sleep on your couch again for the night, or you give me enough money for a hotel." She says, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Alaric's eyes trail from Daisy to Josette annoyedly, but Josette didn't say anything. Unamused, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. His eyes were still glued on Josette as he handed Daisy a fifty.
"A hotel." Daisy says. "With an H."
Alaric finally looks at her, his eyes half closed with a quickly rising frustration. He opens his wallet again and adds another fifty to her open palm.
Daisy lifts her eyes from the money and back to him. "Does this hotel come with a pool?"
"Daisy." Josette says sternly.
Daisy squeezes her lips shut as an attempt to stifle a snort. "Thank you." She says chirpily, though she knew her sudden attitude change wasn't believable due to her circumstance.
"Tomorrow?" Josette asks, after Daisy began to make her way towards the door.
Daisy nods as she turns back around to face her. She tried to make it as casual as she could, trying to convince both Josette and herself that this wasn't a big deal. "Yeah, yeah. She'll give me the blood tomorrow." She scratches the back of her neck.
Josette shakes her head. "You know you don't have to do this." She says. "I can find another way, if you just give me time—"
Daisy cuts her off. "There's no other way."
And Josette didn't protest, because she knew it was the truth.
—
song: violence - club mix by grimes
She couldn't see the dance floor, if there even was one. Wall to wall, people were dancing. There was no room for anymore, though Daisy had found herself somehow pushing through the sweaty bodies.
As soon as she walked inside, she knew she wasn't drunk enough for this. The temperature change from the outside cold air, to the body heat coming off the crowd was significantly noticeable, and she already regret not trying to find something else to wear.
She felt out of place, that was inevitable. The people were a bit older than her- or older than her body. College students, dressed in neon colored clothes that she wouldn't have worn past the eighth grade. The music playing was unrecognizable, but she wasn't sure that mattered to the people she was struggling to get past.
They were going to dance no matter what song was playing. Some of them looked at her as she squeezed past them, their pupils completely dilated due to whatever drug they'd taken prior.
She'd pushed herself all the way through the crowd and out the other side where, thankfully, the bar sat. Daisy quickly made her way towards it, poking her head through a gap of people to reach the bartender.
"Can I just get a thing of straight vodka?" Daisy yells over the loud music.
"What?" He yells back.
Daisy clenched her jaw, physically having to push the people blocking her from the bar out of the way. "Just vodka!" She yells again. "The whole bottle." She uses her hands to express what she was saying.
The bartender narrows his eyes. "Can I see your ID?" He asks.
She wanted to slam her head on the bar in front of her. "I don't have it." She groans, this time not yelling loud enough.
"Sorry." The bartender shrugged, before returning to taking other people's orders. People, who look over the age of 21, and who probably have an actual ID to give him.
She felt herself grinding her teeth together as she turned to face the crowd, her back to the bar. The several shots she took before this were not going to last her, that was evident. The music, which under the right amount of alcohol, would usually make her want to be here, dancing with all of these random people, but instead it just pissed her off.
"Here." Someone yelled, nudging her arm.
Daisy turns to her right, Caroline, dressed in a bright yellow top, says from beside her. She hands her a shot. Not enough, but it was a nice gesture.
Daisy accepted it gratefully, swinging it back quickly before setting it down on the bar behind her. "This is more of a rave than a party, yeah?" Daisy yells to Caroline.
"Did I say party? I meant rave." She shrugs, then laughs as she looks at Daisy's outfit. "Is this what you wear to raves, all black?"
"Haven't had a lot of time for shopping." Daisy snorts. "Bit sidetracked."
Caroline smiles. "We can do that tomorrow."
Daisy looks at the girl, and returns her smile. But Caroline looks at something behind Daisy, and her smile quickly shifts into a scowl. "God!" Caroline lets out frustratedly, before latching onto Daisy's hand.
Daisy glances behind her to try and see what she was looking at, but was pulled in the other direction before she got a chance. She was swept back into the crowd, trying to catch up with Caroline's fast paced movements. She was talking, but Daisy couldn't hear a word she was saying.
She was being shoved in every direction. At some point she took off her suede jacket and let it fall on the floor, too hot to care.
Caroline came to a sudden stop in the middle of the dance floor, and Daisy almost bumped into her. As she was trying to adjust to her new surroundings, she watched as Caroline bit into her wrist with a crunch that was somehow audible over the music.
Daisy's eyes widened, and she looked around frantically. "What are you doing?!" She asks Caroline.
Caroline shrugs. "We have to do it now." She says, grabbing a shot out of someone's hand.
"Hey!" The girl yelled, flinging her arms up.
Caroline got close to her face. "Shut up, and go away." She spoke sternly.
The girl's back straightened, and like clockwork she turn around on her heel, and left.
Caroline took the shot, and then used the empty glass to collect the blood dripping from her wrist. Daisy watched, trying to practically convince herself she was more drunk than she actually was, so maybe that way she'd stop overthinking what was about to happen.
"Caroline!" She heard a female voice shout over the crowd.
Caroline looked up, then back to Daisy, handing her the shot. "Here." She smiles.
Daisy's eyes stayed glued on hers, knowing that if she looked down at whatever was in that glass she'd freak. Her heart was pounding, faster than the beat of the music that she felt under her feet, that traveled up her whole body and stopped all rational thinking.
She kept telling herself this was her last resort. This was her only next step. She knew that. But now that it was happening, only seconds away— she was petrified.
She wasn't even sure when she accepted the shot glass, but she felt the weight of it in her hand. It was heavier than it would be if it held alcohol, but she just kept telling herself that's all it was.
"Caroline, don't!" The female voice says, louder this time, as she was getting closer.
Caroline watched Daisy, not bothered by the approaching protests, she smiled, nodding her on. "Do it." She says, then looks up past her again. Daisy assumed whoever was coming to stop her was close now, as Caroline's calm stature changed. "Now!" She raised her voice.
Daisy, too overwhelmed with everything, brought the glass to her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, and tilted her head back all the way.
There was no convincing her that was alcohol. And it wouldn't matter how drunk she was, either. You could be blacked out, and there was no mistaking that metallic taste.
As she felt some of it begin to come back up, she then felt two hands grip the sides of her head.
And then she heard a crack.
a/n
i just want to say thank you to everyone that continues to be so supportive of me :'). this has been the most stressful and busiest semester of school of my life and i haven't been updating as much as i want. but even when there's weeks and weeks in between updates and i feel like everyone has forgotten about my book and there's still people there seconds after i've published- it just makes me so happy :') :')
writing has never been something i've considered a 'skill' of mine just bc it's something i only do in private on wp for fun, but you guys have rly made it such a passion of mine and genuinely thank u all sm for reading and commenting and just being so kind and supportive.
anyways no more sappy stuff i hope u enjoyed this chapter
:-)🩸
this book is almost over :'(
and u know what that means! time to promote my new book!
if you liked the witchy, small town, slow burn enemies to lovers of this book, pls check out ...
UNDER THE VIOLET MOON
DARCY CHASE had a bright future.
There was a steadiness to her, as if all the storms in the world were a whispering breeze if she was there. She was kind and clever, perhaps that's what drew people to her. She'd gotten very used to her routine. Every day she went to school, and went to work right after. Growing up in Southeil Harbor her entire life, drastic changes were not a common occurrence. You spent your days relaxing at the beach, and your nights partying at the pier. Though the town is plagued with strange disappearances and unexplainable occurrences, everyone knew to just turn a blind eye.
However, ignoring it became difficult for the girl as she found herself thrown into the reason behind it all. Due to accidental circumstances, Darcy unravels the secret history of Southeil, and in that, became one of the few girls in power to stop the dangers that are soon approaching.
KIERAN DUMONT only knew one thing.
He grew up in power. With strict rules, and no time for play. His family was destined for one thing; keep the witches in check. It was a task only performed by the Dumont's, and it had been their job for centuries.
The boy was quiet, but not out of painful shyness. It was a reservedness, like a conscious choice to observe the lie of the land before he got involved. Every word he spoke was calculated, as it was all he had ever learned. He came to Southeil to do the one thing he was trained to do. And the moment he met her-he knew things weren't going to be as easy as he had prepared for.
(not edited)
- jane xx