CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
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( hadiya's pov )
MY TEETH SINK INTO his shoulder as water rains over our heads. I took it upon myself to move into Rebekah's new house as I've grown bored of the Salvatore's boarding house. Me and a human boy I found on the way home occupy my shower. He couldn't seem to give me the pleasure I needed so I decided to eat him instead of screwing him.
Funny thing is that I haven't even needed to compel him yet. He's letting me drain him of his blood. Kinky little fucker.
My hand remains squeezing his neck as I continue to suck at his shoulder. I hear the bathroom door open and I groan.
"Come help me get ready for the party." Rebekah tells me. I'm taken aback at how she thinks she can just order me around.
I turn my head to look at her. "Kinda busy, Bekah. You're starting to sound too much like your brother. It's making me want to tear your head off. Give me a couple minutes. Though, you're more than welcome to join us."
"No!" She slams the door, making me laugh. The boy is at that stage where he's just about to pass out. It's like he's high. His half-hooded eyes look at me, then my lips.
I drag my finger along his jawline. "I hate to remove such a pretty face from this earth."
He wants to panic but he's so physically weak to. I give him a quick smile before drinking the remainder of his blood. I leave his body in the shower, stepping out and getting dressed for the party Rebekah is throwing.
I walk down the stairs, immediately recognizing Stefan's annoyingly good looking face.
A sigh escapes my lips. "Come here to retrieve my humanity?"
"Nope. Drink?" He offers me a red plastic cup full of beer. I scoff at his drink of choice. I make my way over to the good alcohol, taking a sip of vodka.
I wear a fake pondering look. "Do you smell that. It's smells like a burning doppelgänger. Might wanna go check on that."
Stefan speeds to the next room to find Elena's skin burning from the sun. She quickly grabs her daylight ring from the garbage disposal, sliding it onto her finger.
"That's not very sanitary." I shake my head. She glares daggers at me, making her way out of the house with Stefan by her side.
"Leaving so soon?" Rebekah asks as they make it to the doorway.
Elena stops and turns around to face Rebekah. "No. Not just yet. I never got a drink."
She looks at Rebekah, smirking, and walks over to the keg. She places her hands on the sides of the keg and does a handstand. Someone sticks the beer hose in her mouth and she starts to drink as everyone around her starts shouting, "Chug! Chug! Chug!" After a few moments, Elena eventually comes back to the ground and wipes beer from her mouth.
I audibly laugh at her. By the look on her face, she thought she did something cool.
"Oh, I'm sorry, was I supposed to be amazed? Congratulations on doing a basic gymnastics skill on a beer keg. I'm truly impressed." I say with false astonishment.
Stefan hands Elena her bag and they walk away together. Rebekah watches them leave, but her vision suddenly starts to blur, which worries her. She walks back into the house and looks in the mirror to see darkened veins start to pulse throughout her face.
"Is global warming catching up to you?" I ask her. She glares at me and I hold my hands up in surrender, going back into the house.
—
I FIND MYSELF WALKING along the busy streets of Mystic Falls. I'm about to walk into the grill when I feel an arm sling over my shoulder.
"Knock knock. Guess who's back from the dead." A familiar English accent rings out. I groan, removing his arm from my shoulders.
"I've learned to not be surprised when people mysteriously rise from the dead." I say, taking a jab at him. He smiles, liking my attitude.
We stop in our tracks. "How've you been?"
"Fabulous, thank you for asking. I really enjoyed my time without you permanently lodged up my ass." I give him a fake smile. Suddenly, it's as if a lightbulb appeared over his head.
"Wow. The overbearingness of succumbing to the last 500 years of your life made you flip that pesky humanity switch. You truly have made me proud."
I jam my finger into his chest. "I don't give a damn about pleasing you anymore. Though, I am curious. What will you do without me being your little bitch anymore? I heard this little rumor that your hybrids have been un-siring themselves."
He snarls at me bringing up this not so fond memory.
"You are aware that I can still compel you, right? My hand can just as easily rip your heart out as it can signing my name on a piece of paper."
I get in his face. "Go ahead. Kill me. You think I want to be alive right now? You have nothing to hold over my head. No leverage. There is nothing in this world that I would sacrifice myself for. What if I ripped my own heart out? What would you do then?"
Curiosity etches across his face. I continue to keep his gaze, waiting for him to answer my question.
"Or am I too precious to the world for you to let me kill myself?" I add. I can't tell if it's genuine or fake concern in his eyes.
"Go ahead. List all the ways I destroyed your life. Let's rejoice in the past, shall we?" He tempts me.
I can't help but take the bait. "Screw you for imbedding so much fear into Emily Bennett that she had to place me in a coma because she was afraid that if I died, she would die too. Screw you for turning me into the one thing, the one thing I didn't want to be. Screw you for erasing my memories to make me even remotely like you. I hate you so much that I don't feel anything at all."
It takes everything in me not to open handedly slap him across the face. I adjust my shoulders, averting my gaze to the ground.
"I hate you so much that you make me want to feel." I end with that and walk into the grill, leaving him and his racing mind alone.
—
IT'S BEEN A FEW MONTHS now without my humanity. I have been enjoying myself but Katerina and the Salvatore brothers have taken it upon themselves to ambush me. I sit in a chair bound by my wrists and ankles.
They've taken turns burning my skin and setting the fire out with the fire extinguisher. They think they're on the verge of breaking me but I still don't feel anything.
"I know you can remember. Why don't you reminisce in the good old days? Remember when we danced? In nature, all alone. Just us. You wanted to savor our first kiss so you took us to your room and—"
I interrupt him by making an explosion noise with my mouth, followed by laughter.
"That didn't end very well, now did it? I'm still waiting on that kiss." Our faces remain alarmingly close before he pulls away, opening the curtain again.
My flesh burns and catches on fire. Damon extinguishes it. We're interrupted when the door opens, followed by footsteps leading to the room I'm in. The door opens to view my sister's face. I can tell it's her by the way she's dressed.
She grabs my throat and tilts my head back, pouring vervain down my throat. I use the remaining power I have left to send her flying into the wall. I cough, choking on the liquid.
"I forget you're a witch sometimes." She says, groaning as she stands up.
I purse my lips. "Let's thank daddy for being a man whore."
It didn't take me long to figure out that it was my father that had betrayed his marriage and not my mother. My mother was too scared to ever go against him like that. My father on the other hand, did it every other week. I don't care enough to go looking for my mother. She's probably very dead by now.
My head falls back into the chair, my eyes wanting to close because of how weak I've become. I haven't fed in few days. The more I feed, the more powerful I am.
Katherine's hand finds its way around my throat, constricting my airway. It takes everything in me not to cough. She lets go every few minutes, not allowing me to pass out.
Damon's had enough of this and vamp's over, breaking my leg. It's obvious he prefers more brutal torture. I scream. Katherine let's go of my throat.
He snaps the bone back into place, allowing me to take a deep breath. He breaks my arm next, repeating the same process over and over again. When he realizes this also isn't working, he stops, walking off to get a drink.
Katherine follows him, leaving me and Stefan alone. He stands behind me, placing his fingers on my temples. My eyes roll to the back of my head.
I'm running through a field of daises. I can hear footsteps getting closer and closer before arms wrap themselves around my waist.
"Got you." Stefan whispers in my ear. I giggle, tackling us to the ground.
I land on top of him, immediately pressing my lips to his. He kisses me back, his hands gripping my sides. Stefan sits up so that I'm sitting on his lap. My hands entwine in his hair, turning his head to the side so I can deepen the kiss.
My eyes suddenly open and I realize what's happening. I stand up, pushing myself off of him.
"Get out of my head." I tell him. He stands up too.
"You need to feel." He grabs my cheeks and kisses me again. I want to kiss him back but I don't, pushing his shoulders.
"Get out of my head!" I scream, gripping the sides of my head.
I'm suddenly sitting back in the Salvatore boarding house. My hands are still bound but I have my energy back. I release myself from the chair, walking out of the room.
Before I could get far, I'm slammed into the wall. Someone begins aggressively kissing my neck. I can't help but let a moan slip from my mouth as my hands reach up to grip his hair.
I snap out of my daze, pushing the person back.
"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asks kindly, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. Confusion immediately strikes me as I look around. I'm in his mansion. I just came out of his bedroom. What the fuck?
I'm overcome with realization, looking Klaus in the eye.
"Get out of my head, Stefan." I tell him. Klaus smirks, shoving his hand inside my chest. His fingernails grip my heart.
"You need to feel something, Hadiya." I shove him back, putting my hand inside of his chest.
"Clearly you don't know me well enough." I remove my hand from his chest, his heart coming out with it. His limp body falls to the floor.
My eyes open and I'm actually back in the Salvatore house. Stefan removes his hands from my head and snaps my neck. Darkness overcomes me.
road trip!
~c