chapter 17
The world moves on, another day another drama, drama
But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma
And then the world moves on, but one thing's for sure
Maybe I got mine, but you'll all get yours
But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time
Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time
I got a list of names, and yours is in red, underlined
I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!
Ooh, look what you made me do
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Buzz, hiss, splash.
Jade's eyes flickered open slightly, though she preferred to keep them closed by the blinding light. After a while, she opened them fully and saw that it wasn't because of the sun, it was only dusk.
Oh, right.
Buzz, hiss, splash, thud, slam, click, plink.
Jade grunted in discomfort, finally coming to her senses and noticing that she was hanging in the air. By her fucking neck.
And that something was burning her finger.
With a sudden loud hiss, she knocked Marcel's ring off her hand, and the jewelry fell to the floor with a loud thud. Well, probably not loud, but to her it sounded like a fucking truck horn.
When she jumped down from her temporary... swing, she blinked a few times, getting used to the light, the sounds, the new sensations. She could hear everything. The gentle rustling of leaves outside the window, the distant howling of a wolf, and even the faint sound of a heartbeat from someone nearby. Her senses had heightened beyond anything she could have imagined, and the world around her felt more alive and vibrant than ever before. She tilted her head in interest as she watched the ants working in the corner of the room, at the same time listening to the gentle parting in the wood she was standing on.
Buzz, hiss, splash, thud, slam, click, plink, boing, gargle, clap, zap, pitter-patter.
Wow.
"Well, fuck me." She murmured, looking around the room, noticing things she never did. She saw a spider wrapping its prey in a cocoon from its web, then heard the quiet screeching of a mouse, two floors below. There was even the light stamping of a cockroach that was in the next room. No, two rooms beside it.
Ew.
She landed her sharp eyes at the vervain ring on the floor, tilting her head as she examined it. She bore her eyes into it, the image of Marcel giving it to her flashed before her eyes. Leaning down to get a better look, she recalled his words in her head.
Suddenly, she felt something dripping on her. Wrinkling her eyebrows, she looked up, searching for the leaking ceiling. It was fine.
Another drop. Salty drop. Putting her hand to her face, she raised her eyebrows.
She was fucking crying.
Oh, right. Heightened emotions. Ugh.
She took a deep, shuddering breath and gritted her teeth, picking the ring up and quickly shoving it into her jacket's pocket. "Shit!" She hissed, waving her momentarily burned hand to cool it down.
Shrugging herself off the pain and wiping her face off, she started to leave the room, although she froze midway when she felt something. Something, she had never felt in her life. Never so strong.
Hunger.
She was so fucking hungry, impossibly even. She didn't even feel that way when her father denied her food for a week. It wasn't just hunger, no. It was a primal need.
Time to make her call.
Jade began grinding her jaw to stop any irritation of her gums and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Ignoring the million missed calls and texts, she dialed one particular number that Katherine had given her.
"Old Fell's mansion." That was the only thing she said before she hung up. Taking a deep breath, the girl sat down on the dilapidated couch, trying to tame her agonal hunger. Just a little while longer. While waiting, Jade picked up a piece of glass from the floor, putting it to her face. Letting her inner monster out, she stared into it as if in trance.
She looked hot as hell.
Jade focused first on her eyes, which were bright a moment ago, now surrounded by a black haze, accompanied by dark carmine around her formerly dark blue irises. She slid them lower, looking at the dark veins beneath. Running her fingers over them, she felt them pulsing, as if it were her new inner monster wanting to come out completely from under her skin. Opening her mouth slightly, she ran her tongue gently over her new fangs, feeling their deadly sharpness.
"Cool." She murmured to herself, before throwing the glass at the other end of the room. It was supposed to be a light toss, but the girl forgot about her new supernatural strength and the glass shattered into tiny pieces against the wall.
"Oops." She whispered with a twist of her lips. After a while, she heard someone approaching the abandoned building. It must have been her. Crossing her legs, she focused her sharp eyes on the door. After a few seconds, it opened, revealing a young woman.
"Miss Forbes?" A dark-haired woman called out with a small smile on her face. It dropped as soon as she saw the destroyed room.
"One and only." Jade smirked, bowing her head a little. She stood up and walked towards the girl. "Gimmie it or I'll chew you out, and Katerina would be furious." She held out her hand in anticipation, yet her eyes were only focused on the girl's neck. "And we don't want that, do we?" She forced a smile, glancing up to her.
The brunette huffed in amusement. "I see why she likes you." She smirked, pulling out a small, wooden ring case.
Jade narrowed her eyes. "Don't play with me, witch━"
"There you go, Miss Forbes." She said calmly, placing the box on Jade's open palm.
The blonde opened it and as soon as she saw the content, she grimaced. "Ugh, it's even uglier than before." She muttered while slipping it onto her middle finger, which previously belonged to the vervain ring from Marcel.
She wanted to cry again.
Ugh, fucking emotions!
"Now, scram. The only thing ringing in my ears is your fucking blood pumping." Jade looked at Katherine's witch pointedly, eyes fixed on her artery. "Why couldn't I use a blood bag?"
"Miss Pierce wanted you to experience your... change... fully." She answered, completely unbothered that she was standing right before a starving baby vampire. "And I wouldn't let you get even an inch closer to me." She leaned towards Jade with a knowing glint and a cocky smile on her lips.
Jade narrowed her eyes, but nodded nonetheless. "Well, when I see her I'll tell her to fuck herself." She said, her lips formed into a tight line. "Thanks...?" She trailed off, cocking her head to the side.
"Lilyana." The witch answered with a small smile.
Jade pouted with a nod. "Thanks, Lil."
Lilyana huffed with amusement and spun on her heels, walking back to the door. "Good luck, Miss Forbes." She said as she twisted her head around. Jade nodded, and the witch was gone.
Did you think Jade and vampirism was a impulse through Vicki? Oh, no. Katherine and Jade talked about it many times, the experienced vampire described to her exactly the stage of transformation and further life. They also established, just in case, how Jade could arrange for a daylight ring if anything were to happen to Katherine. Jade laughed at the doppelgänger's paranoia, but well... yeah.
You know what happened.
So, she gave her the number of her most faithful witch, with whom she had worked for years, who was a descendant of some witch Katherine had met when she returned to Bulgaria while on the run from Klaus.
She glanced at her hand, raising her eyebrow in distaste. It was a silver bohemian-styled ring, diamond-shaped, with a lapis lazuli stone in the middle of it.
She absolutely hated that shade of blue.
Black nail polish was unlikely to interfere with an ancient vampire magic spell, right?
Tearing her gaze away from her hand, the girl turned on her heel, yet froze as her eyes accidentally caught sight of one thing, or rather one inscription, carved into a wooden beam eight years ago.
Clenching her teeth, she approached the wall with the sticking-out beam and ran her fingers gently over it, a quiet sob leaving her lips.
"V.D + J.F = FOREVER"
"Oh, Vicks..." She whispered as she sighed with a little shake of her head. She stared at it for several more, long moments, a small, sad smile on her face. Images of their happy moments flashed before her eyes━not many, but they were there. And Jade would never forget them. She pulled her hand away from the wood and kissed her fingers, second later pressing them against the first two letters of the inscription.
Breaking away from her thoughts, or rather, when a monstrous hunger interrupted her, the girl ran her tongue over her irritated gums and used her new vampiric skill to ran out of the abandoned mansion in a flash.
She bumped into a wall once, but made it.
"So cool." She murmured to herself, a slow smirk forming on her face.
Yet her self-satisfied face quickly dropped as a quiet heartbeat echoed in her ears. She twisted her head in a split second, her sharp eyes quickly tracking her target. A large, sinister smile began to form on her face.
Flashing in front of her prey, which was some middle-aged man, she stumbled slightly, cursing under her breath. "Sorry, it's my first time." She murmured, giving him a toothy smile, that quickly transformed into more sinister one━she could feel her fangs growing out, as well as as her face changing, feeling the throbbing veins under her eyes.
"What the hell..." The man whispered to himself with wide eyes, backing away from her.
"What? Is there a problem?" She taunted, taking few steps towards the man, her smile not wavering even for a second. Jade's now undead heart raced as she stood there, her eyes fixed on the man's pulsing artery. The hunger within her had reached an unbearable level, and her body trembled with the intensity of it. She could hear the blood rushing through his veins, calling out to her, tempting her.
She licked her lips at the thought.
"Y-you are..." He breathed, still backing away from her as he pointed his trembling finger at her. Jade rolled her eyes and flashed herself right before him.
The man flinched, his breath raggedy as he locked his gaze with her. "Hungry." She said through gritted teeth as she looked up at him, her tongue swirling around her new fangs when she watched his pulsing vein on his neck. "Now, run." She whispered as she looked deeply into his terrified eyes, unleashing her new power of compulsion.
The unknown man took off, running into the woods that surrounded the abandoned mansion.
She had no idea why she did that.
Like, Katerina warned her of the bloodlust she would feel after the transformation, of the uncontrollable urge to hunt. Jade knew this. But she didn't think it would be like that, she thought it was just a thing to do, a way to have some fun before feeding. But no, Jade felt the need inside of her to make him run, to be terrified. To make him terrified of her.
Huh.
Jade shrugged her shoulders and went after him. It didn't take her long, his horrifically loud breaths could probably be heard from a mile away. Even for a human.
"Too slow." She sneered as she flashed right before his eyes, the man stumbling back in terror. "One more chance." She cooed, wiggling her fingers at him as she watched his running figure. She let him run for a good minute, then she became bored, and more importantly━she was fucking starving.
She flashed once again right before him and in one swift motion, she tackled him to the ground. "Why are you running so slow? Like, you know you're gonna die, right?" She taunted, looking down at him with a raised eyebrow. The man only started to utter some non-audible sounds, and Jade rolled her eyes in response. "Ugh, whatever, bye now." With that said, she lowered herself to him by running her nose over his neck, feeling his pulsing blood. The man tried to break free, but Jade held him down with her now iron-strong body. When she found his main artery, she felt her teeth sharpen, demanding a meal. Yielding to her needs, Jade sank her teeth into the man's neck, allowing him to scream in uncontrollable agony.
As soon as she felt his blood on her tongue, Jade felt everything. She could literally taste his fear, his hopes for a rescue, his pain that she was causing. The taste of it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before━it was warm and rich, with a hint of saltiness that sent shivers down her spine. As she drank, she felt a rush of euphoria spreading through her, a surge of power and she had never known in her human life. For a brief moment, all her worries and fears disappeared, replaced by an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and pleasure. It was as if she had tapped into a wellspring of energy, and she relished the sensation coursing through her veins.
Well, it was certainly better than when she tasted it as a human.
Jade drove her fangs deeper into his neck, his agonal screams only fueling her more. Yet at some point they quieted, and Jade finally opened her eyes in confusion. She lifted her head and saw that the man's eyes were focused in one place, unmoving.
Oh.
Oops.
Her lips were now stained with blood and she licked them slowly, savoring the taste. Looking at the dead man below her, the girl crooked her head, doing the same to him with her hand. Yet, as she did so, his head, empty of blood, fell off his shoulders.
"Oh, shit." She muttered to herself, trying to hold back the laughter that demanded to be let out. She failed, of course, and the girl began laughing maniacally while getting up on her feet, her eyes focused on the dead body on the forest floor.
She looked like some major horror movie character.
And not the one you usually cheer for.
Did she mention how fucking irritating those heightened emotions were?
"Well, well." An amused, accented voice broke through her creepy laughing fit, and Jade tensed when she recognized who it belonged to, quickly turning around, eyes narrowed. "Quite the spectacle you've made, love." Klaus mused, walking up to her, looking pointedly at the dead body next to her feet.
"Hell, no." She muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "What do you want?" She barked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Klaus smirked in amusement and approached her, looking into the distance as he circled around her like a predator. "It's a rarity, people like you." He said, clasping his hands behind his back. Jade followed him with her suspicious eyes, wary of his every move. "Well, vampires like you, of course." He corrected himself, leaning towards her shoulder when he was behind her. Jade scrunched her face when she felt his breath on her neck. "I only crossed paths with only few in my lifetime, but... here you are." He concluded when he was right before her, scanning her up and down.
Jade looked up at him and, seeing his amused eyes, puffed in annoyance. "Fuck off and... choke." She spat out with a forced smile that disappeared as quickly as it formed and took one step to the side, trying to walk past the Original.
So now she was irritated? Was somebody keeping up? Because she was not.
Well, to be fair, he was annoying as hell.
And he did not let her pass.
Klaus also took a step to the side, catching her firmly by the forearm, forcing her to stand still. Ignoring her words, he continuted. "There's a name for vampires like you. Vampires who possess an insatiable thirst for blood, an uncontrollable urge to indulge in the hunt. They find pleasure in the taste, the ecstasy of their prey's fear, and the thrill of the kill." He told her with a malicious expression on his face, taking a few predatory steps forward, forcing her to move back against some tree trunk. "They are are not mere monsters; they are artists. There's a certain beauty in their darkness, a magnetism that draws both fear and admiration from those around them." He continuted, his voice a low, velvety murmur as his hot breath fanned over her angered face. "They're called rippers." He concluded, a slow and sinister smirk almost breaking his face in half.
"It's a pity that all of this will go to waste." He added as he scanned her features, fake concern crossing his face. Jade snapped her eyes to his, which had previously been focused behind his head and seeing the look on his face, used her vampire speed to get out of his deadly embrace.
Although she didn't run very far, Klaus quickly caught up with her and pinned her against a tree by her neck. "Ah-ah. I'm faster, sweetheart." He cooed, smirking down at her in triumph. Jade tried to break free from his grasp, but even with her new super strength, she couldn't defeat the 1000-year-old vampire. Well, almost-hybrid. Squeezing her throat tighter and forcing her to look at him, he whispered with solemnity, piercing her with his ancient eyes. "You did something really unpleasant today, jeopardising my ritual. You see, there is a punishment to be had for such a thing."
As soon as he said those words, Jade's world went black.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Klaus entered Alaric's flat impetuously, opening it with a kick as his arms carried an unconscious Jade. Well, dead. Temporarily. Her blonde hair cascaded over his arm as he threw her on the teacher's bed. Turning on his heel and taking a few steps forward, he stopped and turned his head towards the unconscious woman. He measured her with a calculated gaze and sighed.
What a pity.
Turning in his original direction and sitting down at his desk in the living room, he switched on his laptop with the image from the camera in the werewolf cell.
Katherine sprang to her feet from her seat in the chair as soon as she saw the head of her partner in crime. "Jade? Wha━" She started to walk swiftly towards the bedroom with a nervous look, although Original's voice stopped her.
"I wouldn't try it if I were you." Klaus said monotonously as he squinted, watching the werewolf on the screen. He sighed in exasperation when he saw that the spell that kept her from transforming was slowly wearing off.
Will anything go today as it was bloody supposed to?
Katherine paused in place, looking at the back of the Original's head with her eyes bulging. "What? Why? What's━" She couldn't finish her string of questions, she was interrupted by the loud slam of the door swinging open.
Klaus leaned back in his chair, taking a big breath in to suppress his annoyance. "I thought I smelled mediocrity." He said calmly with a stony face, still not turning around.
"I've come here to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual." The elder Salvatore's determined voice echoed from behind him.
Klaus sighed, eyes darting towards the ceiling for a moment. "Didn't we already have this conversation?"
"Yeah, but that was before I rescued your werewolf and vampire and killed your witch." Damon muttered in a low tone, focusing his hateful eyes into the back of the Original's head. "And you can kill me for it, I don't care. It was all me."
Klaus laughed slightly in amusement, rising slowly from his chair and finally honouring the vampire with his attention. "It's not nice to take credit for deeds that are not your own." He said with a small, knowing smirk on his lips, taking few steps towards the vampire. "According to my information, it was my darling big brother who broke Maddox's neck and freed the blonde vampire." He said maliciously, making Damon's jaw clench in anger. Then, he leaned slightly towards him, his face contorted into a ponderous frown as he smelled his clothes. "Well, the werewolf was indeed you. I'll give you that."
Damon furrowed his brow, looking at the Original with bewilderment. "How could you possib━"
"Katerina, you can go where you wanted before." Klaus said with a smile on his lips, not taking his eyes off the vampire. As soon as the doppelgänger heard his words, she ran with a flash to the teacher's bedroom.
Klaus took a step forward, his sharp and penetrating eyes piercing Damon's. "I've heard of you." He whispered and the Salvatore responded by arching his eyebrow. "Crazy, impulsive vampire... in love with two, completely different girls." Klaus murmured and Damon clenched his jaw, tilting his head to the side in a silent agreement. "What is it, Damon? Is it that Elena is so different from you, tame, good, docile? And Jade so similar? Stubborn as hell, unstable, passionate?" The Original taunted, a sinister smirk playing on his lips.
Damon's face hardened at his words. "Your point?" He spat through gritted teeth.
Klaus huffed in amusement, taking a step back from the vampire, his knowing gaze lingering on his for a few more seconds. Leaning down to his desk, he turned up the sound from the camera on his laptop. "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs." He mused as he grabbed his phone that was displaying the camera image from the cell. "Need a closer look?" He asked innocently as he tossed the device into Damon's hands.
"Jules." Damon stated, trying to suppress his anger as he looked at the thrashing woman bound in chains.
"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse..." Klaus began patronisingly, walking around the exasperated vampire with a smirk, his voice a low and mocking mutter. "You learn a thing or two." He whispered, leaning towards his ear. "First rule; always have a back up." He said in a low voice, leaning dangerously close to Salvatore's defeated face. "Back up werewolf, back up witch..." He trailed off expectantly, raising his eyebrows.
"Back up vampire." Damon muttered, tightening his lips.
Klaus smirked. "I've got that covered, too." He whispered knowingly, enjoying the look on the Salvatore's face. "Katerina, dear?" He called out, his eyes not leaving Damon's confused ones. After a momentary staring contest, Damon heard footsteps behind him. Slowly turning around, he cast one last look at Klaus's self-satisfied expression. When he saw a very familiar face, hair and clothes, his eyes might as well have fallen out of their sockets.
"Jade." Damon whispered, already flashing towards the couch that Katherine put the Forbes' woman body on. "No, no, no..." He repeated under his breath, kneeling on the ground beside her. "Why? She didn't do anything." He growled, darting his furious eyes towards the Original.
"Oh, stop with the lies, already." Klaus said with a slight eyeroll, taking a seat on the couch's armrest. "I knew that sooner or later she would do something foolish. Like helping to rescue her sister from the ritual, for example." He said, glancing at the temporarily dead girl. "Isn't it quite poetic of her to replace her?" He looked at the vampire, his lips twisting in a malicious smile.
Damon raised his eyebrows towards his hairline, whipping his head to Jade's body. "You... turned her? She's in transition?" He questioned in a low voice, not believing what was happening.
"Oh, none of that." Klaus waved his hand with a slight shake of his head. "I've already found her like that, and let me tell you... the view was magnificent." He said as if he was talking about the most fascinating thing in the world, eyes focused in the unconscious girl's face as he finished the sentence. Damon furrowed his eyebrows and slowly stood up as he ran his hand through his hair, his eyes not leaving Jade's body. "So, instead of one of your girls dying for me, you got two." Klaus concluded, also standing up and taking a single, predatory step towards the bewildered vampire. "But, between you and me, who would you have saved?" He muttered as he leaned towards him, his breath fanning over the side of Damon's face. "Brother's girl or the ripper?"
"The rip━?" Damon whipped his head around, eyes furrowed as he connected his gaze with the Original.
Klaus smirked with a small tilt of his head. "Don't sulk, it wasn't an actual question." As soon as he uttered those words, he brought his hands to the side of Damon's face and twisted his head, making him fall to the ground with a loud thud. Rubbing his hands on his trousers with a satisfied expression, he turned on his heel and approached the laptop once more. "Katerina, dear, dispose of him elsewhere." He ordered, pointing mindlessly with his hand at the temporary dead body on the floor.
Katherine raised her gaze, looking at the Original as if he had grown a second head. "What? Don't you wanna━"
"He's as good as dead." He momentarily interrupted her, looking up Greta's number in his contacts. Katherine furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the dead Salvatore on the floor. Lifting his sleeve, she saw a werewolf bite forming. She widened her eyes at the sight. Grabbing his shirt with the intention of lifting him, the girl froze. Darting her cunning eyes between the Salvatore and the back of the Original's head, her head was working so fast that if one looked closely, they could see actual smoke.
"And if you have even a modicum of self-preservation left, don't even think about what you're probably thinking right now." He said monotonously, but also with hint of danger as he watched the werewolf on the screen in front of him. "If you are not back in ten minutes, you and your little friend here will be dead even before the full moon." He turned his head, joining his menacing gaze with the doppelgänger. Katherine widened her eyes, looking at him with a mix of shock and fear. "You reek of vervain from a mile away, love." He explained, putting his dialing phone to his ear.
"So why did you make me burn in the sun?" She questioned, narrowing her her eyes at the now smirking almost-hybrid.
"Pure amusement." Klaus murmured slowly, carefully drawling out his words, a wicked smile almost breaking his face in half. "Now, chop, chop." He looked pointedly at her, waving his hand in the air and turning around in his seat. Katherine huffed with disbelief mixed with fury and jerked the elder Salvatore off the floor and with a flash, dragged him out of the teacher's flat.
A moment later, a painful grunt came from Jade's mouth. She opened her eyes and raised her head, at the same time massaging her aching neck, her eyes scanning her surroundings. When her squinted eyes found the Original staring at her while talking on the phone, she sank her head back onto the couch again with an exasperated groan. "Ugh, I thought it was a nightmare." She muttered with her eyes closed.
Klaus, hanging up with his witch, huffed with amusement. "If vampirism is a nightmare for you, why do it?"
Jade cracked one eye open. "I wasn't talking about vampirism." She said as she stared at him with a deadpanned look.
Klaus raised an eyebrow, reciprocating her expression. "I suppose you know what your destiny is?" He changed the subject, leaning against the wall and looking down at her with his inquisitive eyes.
"Hmm, rule the world?" She said with feigned excitement as she rose from the couch, walking over to the teacher's kitchen island and sitting down on a stool beside it, picking up a glass of already poured bourbon.
"That job's already taken, I'm afraid." Original said, walking up to the girl and snatching his glass from her, taking a sip from it as he looked at her exasperated face.
Jade rolled her eyes and and leaned her head against her hand, elbow bent on the countertop. "Let me guess, I'm the replacement vampire." She said in a bored tone, rummaging through her jacket pocket in search of her Marlboro pack.
Klaus smirked in triumph, looking down at her. "Can I just say that I admire how intelligent you are? Not many people can pride themselves on this trait."
"No." She said after pretending to be puzzled. "Now, leave me alone, or preferably don't speak to me and let me relax in my last moments of life." Pulling out one cigarette, she placed it between her maroon lips, firing it up and taking a mighty drag. Oh, how she needed that.
"I have to go out, you see, a slight problem occurred as usual. It seems that my werewolf doesn't want to stop transforming." He said, focusing his eyes on the phone, reading his new message, annoyance dripping from his voice.
"Yeah, I hate when that happens." Jade muttered under her breath, taking another drag of her cigarette, watching in curiosity as the smoke swirled around her. Klaus shot his already exasperated gaze toward the unbothered blonde and flashed right behind her, grabbing her seat and turning her firmly in his direction. Jade almost spit out her cigarette in surprise.
"Listen to me, little ripper," Klaus began as he leaned dangerously close towards her face, his voice low and menacing, his expression lacking any kind of amusement. Jade narrowed her eyes, waiting for him to continue. "I can't compel you because I can sense a note of vervain circulating through your system, but I advice you to listen really carefully." Without missing a beat, Klaus continued with a cold, deadly tone, the only thing separating their faces was the burning cigarette that was still dangling between Jade's lips. "If you dare to leave even an inch of this flat, I will kill you, your preppy little sister, your mother and everyone you've ever met, do you understand, sweetheart?"
Jade's eyes blackened at his words and a slight shiver went down her spine.
And it was not out of fear.
Fuck those heightened emotions. Officially.
Their gaze was locked in a deadly staring contest, and for a few moments the only sound in the apartment was their breaths mixed with the quiet, agonal screams of the werewolf on the recording. "Fuck off," Jade began quietly, tilting her head and inching her face even closer to his, so that the burning tip of the Marlboro was almost touching his face. "And go to your dog."
Klaus smirked lightly, his menacing eyes not leaving hers. "Look up the term blóðörn in one of the historian's nordic books, because that's what I will do to Katerina if you won't sit still and be a good girl." With that said, he snatched the dangling cigarette from her mouth and placed it between his own lips, inhaling the smoke. "Huh, at least your taste in cigarettes is good." He murmured, enjoying the absolutely furious look on her face. Then, he turned around and began to walk out of the apartament.
"Asshole." Jade spat, burning a hole in the back of his head with her blazing eyes.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Was she insane? Absolutely!
That's why she was now standing in the Salvatore Boarding House's driveway, smoking a well deserved cigarette.
By herself, no interruptions. Ugh.
It turned out that Klaus and his almost half-dog nose were right and Jade was allowed to leave the apartment, despite his attempts to compel her. See? A drop of vervain a day keeps vampires at bay!
Finishing her cigarette, the girl smirked devilishly to herself, walking with a determined and model-like step deep into the courtyard of the Salvatore house, the clatter of her heels the only sound echoing among the trees.
"It's dangerous to be alone at this hour, you don't know what's lurking in the darkness." She said quietly, walking over to Elena Gilbert who was standing at the entrance with a nervous look on her face.
The girl spun around in a blink, but her momentary fearful expression quickly softened when she saw who was talking to her.
Wrong.
"Jade?" She breathed, squinting into the darkness. "What are you doing here?" She asked in confusion.
"Where's Stefan?" Jade asked innocently, feigning concern and looking around the yard.
"What?" Elena muttered more to herself than her. "He puts the car back in the garage, why?" Then, she shrugged herself of the confusion and her expression turned more serious. "Caroline is worried sick about you. She told me that you weren't answerin━"
"━The only thing you should be worried about is yourself now." Jade quickly interrupted, cutting off the subject of her sister, her face changing to something slightly more menacing. As Elena furrowed her eyebrows at her words, Jade glanced at her phone, checking the time. "Fuck, I don't have much time, Klaus will be back soon." She muttered under her breath, putting the device back into her pocket. "It's a shame, but I think an eternity with the knowledge that he never said goodbye, or that he failed to save you, will be a better punishment than a quick death." As she muttered these words, her voice grew darker and more frantic, at the same time taking slow, predatory steps toward the doomed doppelgänger.
Elena took a step back, watching the blonde's every step with stunned eyes. "Klaus...?" She echoed, her face showing complete lack of understanding. Jade tilted her head, and a slow, sinister smirk started to spread across her face as she listened to the doppelgänger's increasingly pounding heart. "Death... what?" She whispered, backing off more urgently from the Forbes' woman.
"Oh, I think I really love when they run." Jade muttered to herself, her wicked smile almost breaking her face in half as Elena's back finally collided with the hard surface of the Salvatore house. When she was right in front of her face, she tilted her head, piercing the terrified girl with her now dark-blooded eyes.
Elena widened her frantic eyes, which did not leave Jade's even for a second. "Oh, my God." She whispered in shock. "You're..." She trailed off, her face horrified.
"Fucking furious." Jade finished for the girl, her voice a shrill whisper, hot breath fanning across her face. Elena gulped loudly, trying to move away from the girl's embrace, but Jade quickly grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her in place. "You see, if I didn't get my goodbye..." She trailed off, absolutely loving the doppelgänger's heavy breaths and insanely quick pulse. "Then why should he?" She cocked her head slightly to the side. "Take that as my parting gift." She leaned even closer to the terrified girl, dragging one of her sharp nails along the her neck. Elena hissed in pain and Jade licked the droplets of blood off her finger, humming as she did so. "No wonder everyone is obsessed with your blood. It's fucking delicious."
Elena's eyes were as wide as coins. "St━!" She tried to scream.
"━A-ah." Jade quickly grabbed her firmly by the throat, pressing her against the cold wall with her iron strength. "I advise against it, unless you want to be dead even before the ritual." She hissed into her ear.
"Stefa━!" Elena tried, her voice muffled as she choked.
"━For fuck's sake." Jade rolled her eyes and in one, swift motion, collided her head with the doppelgänger's, causing her to lose consciousness, her now limp body falling into the baby vampire's embrace.
Hearing quiet footsteps coming from deep in the yard, the girl smirked devilishly to herself and disappeared from the grounds of the Salvatore house in a flash.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Jade strode up the steps to Alaric's apartment, the unconscious form of Elena Gilbert cradled in her arms. Approaching the apartment door, Jade's sharp ears caught the echoes of a heated exchange inside. Klaus's voice, laced with fury, rang out like thunder. "Where is she?!" He bellowed, his anger palpable. Katherine's retort was sharp, her tone defiant. "I told you already—I don't know! No one was there when I came back!"
Jade rolled her eyes behind the door, muttering to herself as she tightened her grip on Elena. With a swift movement, she pounded on the door with her foot. "Delivery!" She shouted, her voice ringing out with mock cheerfulness.
The door swung open violently, revealing a furious Original, his eyes blazing with rage. Jade wasted no time━with a calculated move, she tossed Elena's unconscious form into Klaus's arms, the unexpected weight causing him to stagger for a moment. A satisfied smirk playing on her lips as she brushed past him, walking towards her favourite doppelganger, who stood there with a mix of bewilderment and awe. Jade's embrace was unexpectedly warm as she pulled Katherine into a hug. "I see I made it before he pried open your ribs." She quipped, her tone nonchalant.
Katherine shook off the momentary stun and reciprocated the embrace, an amused smirk forming on her lips. "You're deranged."
Klaus' eyes flicked between Jade and the brunette in his embrace, his confusion obvious. He couldn't fathom why Jade had returned, even though she didn't have to. Well, she had to but she could have chosen not to, running away from him for the next hundreds of years. He was used to being in control, to having things go his way, but Jade's unpredictable actions intrigued him. "May I ask what in the bloody hell is this supposed to be?" He looked pointedly at the unconcious girl.
Jade finally turned her attention to Klaus, her gaze meeting his with a cool detachment. "Farewell gift." She replied with a mock innocent tone. "Not for you, if you're wondering." She added after a few seconds, throwing herself on the couch with a sigh, Katherine following.
Klaus' frustration simmered beneath his stern facade, his eyes narrowing at Jade's audacious behavior. He leaned against a nearby table, his arms crossed as he regarded her with a mixture of annoyance and intrigue. "Why did you come back?" He pressed, his tone betraying a genuine curiosity.
Jade let out a dramatic sigh, feigning exasperation. "Oh, you know, I was missing the charming atmosphere of your company." She retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Thought I'd grace you with my presence once more." She chirped with forced smile.
Wrong. She didn't felt like living her whole life like Katherine and Rose━running for her life for the next God-knows-how-many-years. Has she come to terms with her death? This was a difficult question; Jade had come to terms with death a couple of times in her miserable life, yet each time she found at least one reason to continue living. Now? Klaus already had her in his web, from which there was absolutely no way out. What was the point?
Klaus's eyes narrowed, his gaze locked on Jade's face. He saw a flicker of something in her eye—something that hinted at a deeper motive. He smiled mysteriously to himself, as if he had just uncovered a hidden puzzle piece. "Interesting." He murmured, before turning to Katherine. "My dear, I have a little task for you." He said, his voice dripping with a devious edge.
Katherine and Jade exchanged a puzzled glance before turning their attention back to Klaus. "What do you want?" Katherine questioned, her tone wary.
Klaus' smirk was enigmatic as he continued. "You need to make a call for me." As he said this, he pulled the phone from the unconscious girl's jacket pocket and threw it toward Katherine's side, one particular contact on the screen.
Jade glanced at the device in her friend's hands and furrowed her eyebrows. "Sommers?" She asked, looking with confusion at the smiling Original. "Why?"
Klaus shot her a knowing smirk. "Replacement of my replacement vampire." He said casually, checking the time on his wristwatch.
Jade widened her eyes, eyebrows disappearing under her bangs. "What?" She breathed in absolute confusion.
Klaus walked up to the girl on the couch and grabbed her chin forcefully, making their gazes lock. "I'm afraid you'll have to grace me with your presence a little longer, little ripper." He muttered into her face. Jade sharply pulled herself out of his hold and shot him a puzzled look, eyes narrowed into tiny slits in suspicion.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
For some fucked-up reason in the almost-hybrid's mind, Jade was still alive, and the ritual was just beginning, without her participation. Of course, Klaus didn't let her go, locking her in her apartment with Katherine with a magic spell, a loophole for her temporary immunity to compulsion. He said something about his future plans, that he needed to look for werewolves for his army, blah, blah, Jade stopped listening halfway through. The only thing she remembered was that she would serve as his personal human-looking weapon and executioner.
Surprisingly, she didn't have any major problem with it.
She had to let off some steam.
And kill someone.
Okay, lots of someones.
The only problem was that he would be there, too. Ugh.
Also, she called Caroline. Jade was absolutely pissed to the point of impossibility at her sister━but she was still her sister.
She wanted to ask if she was alive and if she still had some sense and was staying away from the ritual. Of course, before she knew the answer, she got a series of a million questions; if she was alive, what happened to her, where she was, if she was okay and to top it off, if she was fucking deranged.
The answer was yes.
She was relieved when she learned that Caroline was safe and sitting locked in the house with Matt. To keep her excited about life━she threw in the phrase 'By the way, I'm a vampire.' at the very end of the conversation and hung up, putting the phone on silent mode.
After a five minutes, her eyes started to water and she called her again, telling her that she loved her.
Fucking heightened em━
"You're like a cockroach, you know that?" Katherine's voice snapped her out of her musings.
The blonde snorted, taking a sip of her drink, which was just some blood mixed with bourbon. It tasted amazingly better than when she was human. Well, and praise to Klaus for his choice of alcohol. "The pot calling the kettle black." She side-eyed the vampire as she drank.
"Fair enough." Katherine muttered into her glass, also taking a sip with a shrug. After a second, she kissed her teeth, turning her whole body towards the baby vampire. "Do you wanna talk about..." She trailed off expectantly.
"No."
"Liar."
Jade looked deeply into her friend's chocolate eyes with gritted teeth. After a momentary eye battle, the girl sighed, swallowing the entire contents of her drink. "Vicki didn't left town, like Caroline told me. She was turned and then killed." She said with pursed lips, eyes darting around the apartament. Then she clicked her tongue against her teeth and glanced at the wide-eyed vampire beside her. "By the Salvatore brothers."
Katherine's eyes widened even more. "Oh, shit..." She whispered, also downing her drink. "I should've done something." She said determinedly, cursing under her breath.
"No, I told you to leave her alone." Jade sighed, leaning her head against Katherine's shoulder. "I wanted her to live her life in peace, without me..." She trailed off, a nostalgic look on her face. "Ironic, isn't it? You know, how she is at peace and without me, but not livin━"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Katherine cut her off with a deadpanned look.
Jade laughed softly in amusement. Then, her face fell and she straightened up, franticly touching her face. "Oh, shit. I'm not crying anymore." She sighed in relief, relaxing back on the couch.
Katherine snorted with a nod. "And thank God for that. It look weird on your face." She said, scrunching her nose.
Jade raised her eyebrows. "Thanks...?" She trailed off with a grimace.
Katherine chuckled, standing up and smacking Jade on her thigh. She walked towards the kitchen island and poured them an another drink. "Nice touch with kidnapping my shadow, by the way. Klaus' face was just..." She trailed off, kissing her fingers like an italian chef.
Jade smirked, propping her head on her hand. "You should see the look on her face when I showed her my new set of teeth."
"Stefan's probably crying himself to sleep as we speak." She scoffed, sitting down on the couch again and handing Jade her drink. "Scratch that, he's probably there and trying to save her ass. He has some serious martyr complex."
"Didn't you love him or something?"
"Duh. Have you seen him?"
"Good point." Jade nodded with a pout. "You know they won't kill him, right? Klaus, I mean."
"Do you think I'm dumb?" Katherine shot her a deadpanned look. "I know Elijah, I know how devoted he is to his family. And I also know, how manipulative Klaus can be."
"The pot calling the kettle black." Jade sang, tilting her head towards the vampire with an amused smile on her lips.
"Oh, fuck off." Katherine spat, rolling her eyes and pushing the blonde further on the couch.
But then, something strange happened. She heard something. Someone. A voice, echoing in her ears.
"You have a pretty good grip." Echoed in the distance, causing her to froze. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she turned to Katherine, her voice laced with uncertainty. "Did you hear that?"
Katherine's expression mirrored Jade's confusion as she shook her head. "Hear what?"
Jade's senses were on high alert, her vampire instincts searching for any sign of danger. But then, another voice joined the strange chorus—a voice that sent a shiver down Jade's spine. "Want to test it on your airways?" The words echoed, carrying an undeniable familiarity. Jade immidately stood up, eyes darting around the apartment.
"What are yo━" Katherine started, face scrunched as she watched the blonde. After a second, a shot realization came through her and she relaxed on the couch, grabbing the glass with her drink in it. "That's gonna be good." She mumbled as she took a sip.
Jade's mind raced as her surroundings began to shift. The familiar couch and apartment in Alaric's place seemed to fade away, replaced by the dimly lit interior of the Mystic Grill. As the scene came into focus, Jade's gaze landed on the bar, where she and Damon Salvatore were sitting side by side. They were engaged in a conversation, their voices mixing with the ambient noise of the establishment.
The memory he compelled her to forget.
Jade took a deep breath and approached... herself and sat down on the seat next to her (?), her sharp eyes focused in the cocky face of the dark-haired vampire.
"Feisty." He smirked. "I like it."
Vampire Jade rolled her eyes, and propped her head on her hand, elbow bent on the bar's countertop. If the compelled memory was him hitting on her, she was fucking glad.
She listened to most of this conversation with her head tucked in her hands, cringing as she heard herself taking nicely and playfully with the elder Salvatore.
Could she compel herself to forget? Like, you know, in a mirror?
"And were you free yesterday? Sometime at midnight, at Mystic Falls Hospital? More specifically, in Caroline Forbes' operating room?"
Hearing her sister's name, Jade twisted her head toward them in a daze, all her attention focused.
"Well, well, well. I think you're the nosy one here." He said, bringing his face closer to the human Jade.
"What. Were. You doing. Inside. Her. Room?" She spat through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Barbie." He purred in a fake charming voice. "Unfortunately, I don't know what you're talking about. Or maybe I do know?" He mocked a gasp. "Sometimes I like to hang out in hospitals. You know, a lot of helpless girls━"
Jade's eyebrows jumped to her hairline, listening to the shit that rolled out of the vampire's mouth. After a second, she flinched in surprise when she saw her past-self driving a fork into his hand. Seeing this, she let out a satisfied smile, patting herself on the shoulder.
"Defenseless girls, hm? Now listen to me very well, Salvatore." She spat out his name like venom. "Approach any woman again without their consent, and the only thing you will see before your miserable death will be me." Her face was a few inches from his, her hand continuing to firmly drive the fork into his palm. "Or maybe it won't be miserable. I'll drag it out for so long, and it will be so painful, that Satan himself will look away."
Jade's smile quickly fell, listening to herself. Consent? Was this going... where she thought it was going?
"Oh, don't teach me about misery, it's kinda my thing. Your cute, little threats sound like they are driven by something. Something personal, maybe?" He smirked, and she joined the expression.
"I know what you did to Caroline, you perverted fuck." The fork was even deeper now.
Jade fucking mouth fell open.
No.
"That's funny, because I didn't do anything to her. And if I did, nobody would know, including her." With that in the air, he pulled the fork out from his hand.
No. No.
"What the fuck?" She mumbled, wide eyes not leaving his perfectly healthy hand.
"Oh, yeah. You can't do shit to me, Harley Quinn. Can you see now why it was so funny?" He gave her an amused look, and took a sip from his glass. "I would very much like to continue this heated exchange we had, I'll admit, you're pretty hot and crazy, my favorite mix I must say. But, I have to go piss off my brother and his cute little girlfriend."
"Wha━" He caught her chin, forcing eye contact. She shrugged his fingers off, pushing him away. "Get your fucking filthy paws off m━"
"Would you chill? Jeez." He pursed his lips. "You never saw me in the hospital, you never found out what happened between me and Caroline, fuck knows how you even know about it, I was never here, you came in for a drink, you had a good time."
He smirked and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Good girl." He muttered and threw some money at the bar counter. "See ya, Harley Quinn." He winked and walked out from the Grill.
Jade stared at the side of her own face with her jaw dropped.
No, just no.
She couldn't believe it. She couldn't fucking believe he could go that far.
Yet before she had time to digest the new information, the girl blinked and the scene around her changed. The dimly lit Mystic Grill faded away, replaced by the sterile and somber environment of a hospital room. Jade blinked in surprise, her eyes widening as she took in the surroundings. She was no longer in a bar with Damon; instead, she found herself standing in her sister's hospital room. With furrowed brows, she watched her past-self sitting on the floor along with a sobbing Caroline.
"Damon fucking Salvatore." She whispered, eyes wide like pennies, directed at nothingness.
"Your ex-boyfriend, Damon?" Jade asked confused, furrowing her eyebrows and narrowing her eyes, completely lost.
"I remember." She said so gently that Jade almost didn't hear her.
"Caroline, did you inject something? What the fuck are you talking about?" Jade closed her eyes and ran her hand over her face.
"Oh my god." Her face twisted to tears. "Oh. My. God." Her body greeted the floor again.
"Caroline! Please tell me what's going on, because I'm about to go fucking crazy!" Jade crawled to her sister, shaking her shoulders.
"He ... did... something..." For that moment it wasn't even crying anymore, she looked like a wounded animal about to give out its last breath, howling through probably all the walls of the hospital. "There was... b-blood..." A terrible sob left her trembling lips. "I-I didn't want to..."
Jade stood there as if she were struck, completely frozen. After a moment of heavy breathing, she brought her trembling hand to her mouth, covering it as tears began to fall from her eyes. One after another, until finally she started sobbing, just like her sister did a few months ago.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
She hid her face in her hands, falling to her knees in despair. Although as she did so, she felt that she did not have cold hospital tiles underneath her, but rough concrete. Pushing her hands slightly away from her face, she saw that she was in the back of Mystic Falls High School in the company of her former self, Caroline, Elena and the Salvatore brothers.
"She will die. It's only a matter of time." Damon said, pointing at Caroline with a wooden stake in his hands.
Jade got up from the ground, focusing her hateful eyes into the vampire's head. She took a few steps, approaching him. "You fucking piece of shit━"
"I don't think I caught that, could you repeat? She will what?" Human Jade revealed herself, stopping vampire Jade in her tracks.
He grunted, rolling his eyes. "Why are you everywhere?"
Jade chuckled darkly. "I'm like cockroach. Can't help it."
"As lovely is to see Harley Quinn again, Barbie over there is going to die, like it or not." Damon ignored the other woman and turned to his brother. "Remember the tragic story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?"
Jade breathed a sigh of disbelief and slung her shoulders, more tears began to form in her eyes. She knew? She could know this whole time?
Why?
She knew why, but... why?
She fell on the ground again, a quiet sob escaping her lips as she fixed her eyes on the cold ground, ignoring her past self fighting the older Salvatore. That was what they compelled her to forget? Jade raised her head, looking at her terrified sister, a fresh vampire with blood smeared on her face. God, how she wished she could hold her now.
"Compel the Nutjob Barbie, Stefan, or I swear I'll kill her in the next five seconds." She heard Damon say.
A weak, humorless laugh escaped from her lips ━oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Rising from the cold floor and approaching the phantom Salvatore brothers, she watched their faces with a hateful look, shaking her head in disbelief.
"You didn't see me, or Elena, or Damon, or Caroline here. You were at the carnival and had a good time. Now, you'll go home and you won't remember what happened here. And you'll forget about Damon's words about Vicki."
"You," She started, inching her face towards Stefan. "Will pay. Dearly." Then, she spun around and looked at Damon with the most loathsome expression she ever had on her face. "And you," She spat in disguist, her voice dripping with venom. "Can be considered fucking dead."
But as the intensity of the memory reached its peak, the scene began to waver. The figures of Stefan and Damon blurred, the surroundings fading like mist. The cold ground beneath Jade's feet dissolved, replaced by the familiar surroundings of Alaric's apartment. Jade's breath caught in her throat as the memory slipped away, leaving her standing in the present once again, staring at nothingness.
Katherine's concerned voice broke through the stillness. "Jade? What is it? Who's gonna be dead?"
Jade's gaze refocused, her eyes meeting Katherine's with a mix of fury and determination. "Damon." She spat, her breath still heavy. "Damon fucking Salvatore is a dead man walking."
"Jade..." Katherine called out cautiously, buying her sharp gaze into the shaken blonde. "What did he do?"
"The unforgivable." Jade shook her head and started to back off. "I need to get the fuck out of here." With that said, the girl ran with a flash to the door, swinging it open violently and began pounding on the steel air.
"You can't." Katherine said with a shake of her head. When Jade's pounding on the door didn't work, she flashed to the window, smashing the glass with her fist. "Jade, it's a magical barrier!" Katherine shouted, flashing towards the blonde and shaking her by her shoulders.
"I don't give a fuck!" Jade yelled back, trying to escape the vampire's iron grip.
"Jade, stop!" Katherine shouted, keeping her in place.
The blonde stilled, leaning her head back on the broken window. "He raped her." She whispered, glancing at Katherine with a murderous expression.
Katherine let go of her shoulders immidiately. "What?" She barked, looking at the blonde in shock.
"That's what she's been hiding from me." Jade shook her head, rubbing her face with her hands. Then, a chuckle that lacked any humor escaped her lips. "And I fucking told him to apologize."
Katherine's expression softened. "Oh, Jade..." She whispered.
Jade shook her head, her expression hardening. "I should have protected her. I should've been here, taking care of her." She muttered under her breath, looking at the floor. Then, she grunted angrily, walking past Katherine and throwing her hands in the air. "Not run away like some fucking coward!"
"It's not your fault." Katherine said firmly, shaking her head. Then, she ran her hand through her locks, pure disbelief on her face. "God..." She murmured under her breath.
"I'm gonna kill him, Katerina." Jade spat firmly, spinning in place and pointing her finger at the brunette. "Or I'll do such things to him that he'll wish he were dead."
Katherine narrowed her blazing eyes, connecting them with the blonde's. "I'll help you."
a/n: ugh i hate this chapter
also, i lost over 2k words of the next one, and im fucking piiiiiissed ;-)))
unedited whatsoever, so i apologize for any language errors
also, i wanted to kinda ruin jade's relationship with marcel in this chap, but i figured you would all hate me lmaooo