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~ MEMENTO MORI ~
AMBERLE'S POV
"Stay with me! Please, Amber! Come on, stay with me!"
I'd never been able to ignore the allure of darkness.
When everyone else ran from danger, I headed straight towards it.
It's what made my career choice so obvious; the rush of surviving something so terrifying; the relief of saving another person's life.
Becoming a paramedic - well, a paramedic currently in training - had been my number one priority since I was ten years old. Over the years, I'd done everything within my mortal power to keep my loved ones safe. To help them and protect them in any way possible.
Most of my friends were supernatural, sure, but that didn't mean I wouldn't try my best to play my part in being a hero. Just like them.
Being from one of the founding families of Mystic Falls had definitely given me the upper hand. Like knowing about the existence of vampires before most of my peers had even experienced their first kiss, for example. Or wearing a necklace filled with vervain to our sixth-grade school dance, and when people asked what was in it, telling them, "Oh, it's just a herb."
Mom and Dad may have been young parents, but they'd done an excellent job in keeping me safe for the past two decades. And when my little sister Violet had finally come along, they'd already moulded me into the soldier they'd needed me to be in order to take care of myself so they could focus on the next one.
"We're Fells," Dad would tell me on repeat. "We don't quit. We don't surrender."
He wasn't wrong. Our family was huge - most of my relatives I hadn't even seen, never mind spoken to - but there was one common trait amongst us all.
We wanted to help others.
Some of us were reporting investigators, some were doctors. A reverend here, a community squad leader there. Notorious busy-bodies, and almost always members of the Founder's Council.
In a way, you could say it was in my blood.
So I guess that's why the second I realised that my friend was in trouble, my body moved completely by instinct and jumped in the way to save her.
And therefore why I got myself killed.
❰·❉·❱
December 2003
"Stay with me!"
I'd never cried this much. The tears were falling so fast and frequently, my breath couldn't catch up.
"Please, Dad! Come on, stay with me!"
My vision was completely blurred. I couldn't make out my father's features anymore, or the way relentless spurts of the colour red were pouring from the gaping wound in his stomach.
I could feel the shallow rise and fall of his abdomen under my hands that were desperately trying to press a dishcloth against his body in order to stop the bleeding, which was the only thing letting me know he was still here.
I mean, it was silly to even question, really. Of course he was - we're Fells. We don't give up. We don't surrender.
Especially not to Death.
"Dad?" I tried again in horror when I'd received no reply to any of my previous attempts of response.
"Amber?" he croaked, searching for me through half-closed lids.
"Yes, Dad, I'm here!" I cried, moving my head into his line of sight.
"It... hurts..." Dad gasped out, his words broken as he tried to fill his lungs with oxygen that wouldn't come.
"I know, but you're going to be alright, I promise. An ambulance is on the way." Remembering the basic first aid he'd taught me, I raised his legs. "Just stay still, I need to try and slow the bleeding, okay?"
He hummed softly with pride. "My... brave girl..."
I could only smile through the tears. Keeping one hand on the cloth, I reached out for the dining table cover and yanked it off with the other, unbothered that the contents on top fell all over the floor.
Grabbing a carving knife that had landed nearby, I tried - struggled - to cut the material into a smaller shape. Once complete, I folded it and wrapped the makeshift tourniquet around my father's stomach, lifting him slightly.
As I tightened the bandage, he let out an involuntary hiss of pain through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry," I murmured, instantly filled with guilt.
"It's okay..." Dad reached out weakly to touch my arm, smiling softly with shimmering eyes. "I'm... so proud... of you..."
"Don't talk like that, Dad," I begged with a gulp. "We don't give up, remember? You're gonna get through this." I shook my head desperately. "I'm not going to let you die."
He merely gave a small nod, never once taking his eyes off my face.
Like it was the last image he wanted to see.
The thought alone caused me to sob quietly again, unable to wipe away the tears that flowed down my cheeks due to my hands pressing against the tourniquet to help stop blood flow.
"Any minute now," I whispered - to Dad or myself, I wasn't sure, "they'll be here."
My father said nothing, just looked at me. Both of us secretly knew deep down the chances of him making it before the paramedics arrived were pretty slim, but neither of us had the heart to say it aloud.
So he continued to stare at me with a pained smile as he gasped for air. It was taking everything in me not to completely break down and freak out, but I had to stay strong. This was a matter of life or death.
No more fake scenarios in the garage. This was real.
What could've been anything from five minutes to five hours later, the front door finally burst open, a group of paramedics running into the kitchen to help from where I called out for them.
When their skilled, gloved hands took over from my small, blood-soaked ones, I couldn't help but let out a choked gasp of relief.
The professionals were here now. Everything was okay. Dad was safe.
"Steven?" a female paramedic questioned as her team began to work rapidly on him. "Steven Fell, can you hear me?"
He nodded and let out an incoherent mumble as he struggled to remain conscious.
"My name is Emma, I'm one of the paramedics. We're here to help you, okay?" she informed him.
Dad said nothing in reply, just allowed the corners of his lips to curl upwards, content that he was in the right hands.
The paramedics made sure he was wrapped up and secure, before giving him an oxygen mask and carefully placing him on a gurney, ready to be transported to the hospital.
I sniffled as I watched them cart him into the back of the ambulance outside our house.
"You did a great job, kid," Emma praised from beside me while her colleagues worked to set Dad up safely. "You really helped in saving your dad's life."
Proud that my quick wits and survival instincts had been able to keep my father alive, I grinned up at her in gratitude.
"Who knows?" she teased, mirroring my features. "Maybe one day there'll be a special space for you on our team?"
I didn't reply even as I followed her inside the ambulance. I said nothing even as I sat next to my dad and held his hand, praying we had done enough.
But I hadn't needed to ponder anything. Everything was suddenly crystal clear. After today, there was nothing better suited for me. It was exactly what I wanted to do.
Saving people from the brink of death? Allowing their loved ones to feel like they can breathe from relief, just as I had?
I couldn't imagine a life more fulfilling than that.
❰·❉·❱
Present Day
"What's taking them so long?"
"Don't panic," I warned my best friend, pressing a calming hand to her shoulder as she began to freak out like she did so often. "I'm sure everything's going to plan. We just need to trust they've got it under control."
"I don't know," Caroline murmured, shaking her head and biting her lower lip anxiously as she tapped her foot. "I've got a bad feeling."
"If you're that worried, why don't you ask your mom?" I offered, nodding towards the phone in Care's hand. "Text her and check that she's okay."
Letting out a shaky breath, she gulped. "You're right, that's a good idea."
After Caroline typed out the message and hit send, we waited for a few moments, receiving no immediate reply - which only added to her stress. We both began to pace slowly from where we stood at the border of Mystic Falls, checking the woods for any sign of danger.
"Anything?" I wondered five minutes later.
Caroline tapped her phone screen. "No," she grumbled. "You?"
Pulling out my cell from the back pocket of my jeans, I checked for any notifications. "Nada," I admitted regretfully. "Maybe there's no cell reception?"
As soon as the words left my lips, Caroline lifted her phone in the air, pacing again as she searched for a good spot.
Following suit, I allowed us to wait for another few minutes before I considered the possibility that maybe something could be wrong.
Suddenly, Care let out a gasp. "I've got a text!"
"What is it?" I wondered, hurrying over.
"It's from my mom." Caroline read from the lit screen that highlighted her features against the dark of the evening sky behind her. "She says: 'Travelers have grown suspicious. Stay vigilant.'" Care groaned, dropping her head back in frustration. "Great! As if those idiots haven't caused us enough problems! The one simple thing we need them to and they can't even do tha-"
"Look out!"
Out from behind a tree jumped a sneaky Traveler who had previously been hiding unnoticed, heading directly towards Caroline with a stake lifted in the air. Before he could get close, however, I launched myself at her protectively, blocking the Traveler's path.
I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting to happen, if I'm being completely honest. Did I think I was made of armour? Had I become invincible in the past few minutes?
No. So why had I allowed myself to get impaled through the chest for a vampire?
Because the vampire was my best friend, that's why. Because I love her, and it was the right thing to do. Was I going to just stand by and watch her get hurt, possibly killed, when I could've done something? No way!
Okay, so I was a mere human with zero supernaturally-quick reflexes or crazy strength or incredible healing abilities. In fact, there was a high chance Caroline would've thrown the guy halfway to Mystic Falls before the stake had even touched her skin.
But I was a saviour. An idiotic, slightly delusional saviour... but a saviour nonetheless.
Gasping out with a mixture of shock and pain as the wood was shoved through my body, the world around me began to move in slow motion.
I glanced down at myself, noticing the gigantic crimson stain growing bigger and wetter on my chest with every passing second. Peering back up at my attacker, I stared into the shocked, almost guilty, eyes of the Traveler.
Immediately, he pulled the stake back out and ran off as fast as his legs would allow him to.
With nothing left to keep me upright, the edges of my vision darkened and I swayed before falling backwards against Caroline, who caught me in her arms.
She lowered us both to the ground, sobs escaping her throat without hesitation. "Oh my God! Help!" she screamed out into our surroundings. "Somebody help me!"
My breathing was instantly shallow, my heart struggling to pump the crucial liquid around my cold body. I felt nauseous and dizzy, my limbs tingly. There was a weird wheezing noise - was that my chest? - followed by a grotesque popping sound. My trembling palms had grown clammy, but I was slowly losing sensation in them, so I guess it didn't matter all that much anymore.
"Stay with me!" the voice of my best friend begged desperately as I began to fade away. "Please, Amber! Come on, stay with me!"
I briefly tasted copper as warm liquid was pressed against my lips... and then everything disappeared. All sense of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste - gone.
Just an empty void of black.
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