In one of the cells in the basement of the Salvatore Boarding School that were used by the werewolves during their full moon transitions, Valerie's dead corpse laid on the cold floor, not moving in the slightest during her temporary death.
Hope sat just outside the cell, her head leaning against the metal bars as she patiently waited for the girl to come back to life, as a newly turned hybrid. Well, tribrid.
Suddenly, Valerie's eyes shot open and she let out a large gasp for breath as she sat up. She looked around, her eyes wide as she became confused for a split second, only to come to a realization of what had happened. She turned her head to look at Hope, who had a guilty look on her face as Valerie watched her closely.
Valerie growled under her breath as she angrily glared at Hope, "I'm going to kill you when I get out of here." She told Hope in a low, threatening tone, thinking in her mind of all the ways she could get vengeance on Hope for turning her into the last thing she wanted to be.
She would have rather died than become part vampire. She didn't want to remain the same age forever. There was no way she was going to let herself go through the transition.
"You can try," Hope replied to Valerie's threat as she stood up, holding a blood bag in one hand and a vial of her blood in the other, "But if two years ago with Henry didn't teach us anything, you're sired to me. But you're lucky I believe in free will."
Hope tossed Valerie a blood bag and the vial of her blood. The blood bag was filled with human blood, which meant Ophelia must have gotten it since she knew you would be craving it. She couldn't go through with the transition without human blood.
"Drink up," Hope demanded in a stern tone.
Valerie stared down at the blood bag and glass vial. It felt as though she was being drawn to it and that was the last thing she wanted.
She snapped herself out of her trance-like state and looked over at Hope, "No," She replied with an attitude.
"I said, drink," Hope demanded once more and as much as Valerie wanted to fight the urge, she found herself unable to.
Valerie crawled over to the vial of blood, drinking the entire dose within seconds. She tossed it to the side before picking up the blood bag. She held the blood bag in her hand for a moment, looking down at it, clearly hesitant to drink her first meal of blood. It was something she would be craving frequently after going through with the transition.
Having no control over herself in the matter, Valerie ripped open the top of the blood bag with her teeth, veins briefly appearing under her eyes at the scent of the blood before disappearing just as they came.
As Valerie got her first taste of blood, she cried out, the metallic liquid touching her tastebuds. Veins appeared under her eyes as she took yet another sip, the blood now tasting anything but metallic. It was a type of taste she felt like she could never get enough of.
Feeling the need to drink it as quick as possible, Valerie squeezed the blood bag tightly, more blood entering her mouth. Within seconds, she downed the entire bag, blood covering her lips and chin. She was always known to be a messy eater, she guessed the same would apply when drinking blood.
Valerie mouthed gaped open in shock as she tossed the empty blood bag to the side, a feeling inside of her as the first blood she had ever drank entered her system.
She stood up from the floor and looked over at Hope, who still had the same guilty look on her face that she had on earlier when she had first woken up from her temporary death.
"I hope you'll forgive me," Hope told Valerie, making sure to word it in a way that the sire bond wouldn't force her to do it.
Even though Hope wanted Valerie to forgive her, she wasn't going to force her to do it with the sire bond. She wanted Valerie to forgive her on her own terms.
Valerie's eyes turned bloodshot while her werewolf eyes glowed as well. The veins appeared once more under her eyes as she sped over to the bars of her cell. Hope took a cautious step back before Valerie could get ahold of her, "You want me to forgive you? You turned me into a hybrid who can't age. Against my will, might I add," She growled at Hope angrily, hatred in her eyes as she glared at her former best friend, "You're dead to me, Hope. Klaus once told me the story of his hybrids when I was forced to spend winter break with him and my mother after I got suspended for sending that girl to a prison world. If I turn enough so that I start to feel no pain when I do it, I'll no longer be sired to you. Until then, I'm not going anywhere near you because I know you're going to force me to forgive you."
"Did me telling you that you had free will go in one ear and out the other?" Hope asked Valerie with an attitude, earning an eye roll from the newly turned vampire.
"You said the same thing to Henry before you forced him before you forced him to kidnap your mom and guess what?" Valerie asked Hope, her voice just above a whisper as she continued her sentence, "She ended up dead."
Hope clenched her jaw as she looked at Valerie, looking hurt when hearing the girl's words, "You're trying to piss me off on purpose," She realized in a calm tone, "What's your goal here? You're up to something."
"I want to get out of here and see Josie." Valerie informed Hope without a care in the world, "You know, I did confess my undying love to her before you killed me."
"You can't see Josie," Hope argued, shaking her head in disapproval, "You just turned. You might not be able to control yourself."
"How would you know?" Valerie asked Hope, letting out a large scoff.
"She doesn't, but I do," Ophelia walked in, causing Valerie to turn to her with wide eyes, "When I turned into a vampire, I could barely control my hunger. I told everyone I could and they believed me, until I killed a bunch of people at the Casket Girls Festival before the two of you were born. You need to stay here for a few days, just to make sure your hunger won't control you."
"I'm a vampire now," Valerie reminded her mother, a confused look on her face, "There's no way I still have powers."
"Are you forgetting that I was in the same position as you 17 years ago?" Ophelia told her daughter, taking a step toward the cell, "As a hybrid that is both a witch and werewolf, you're already considered an abomination to nature, even though the ancestors and witch spirits deny it, you are. You're not supposed to be both. That's why most of our kind don't survive in our mother's womb long enough to be born. The two of us were probably two out of about thirty in the world to ever survive through adolescence. Since you're already considered an abomination, it means when you turn into a vampire, you can keep your witch side. Just like I did. It's the same thing with Siphon Witches. Our kind and their kind are the only ones that are able to be part witch and vampire at the same time."
Valerie turned away from Hope and Ophelia, facing the small cot in the cell instead. She lifted her hand up, concentrating on lifting it up. Her eyes widened in shock as she succeeded in doing so, "Fantastic." She muttered under her breath.
A small smile formed on her lips as she allowed the cot to touch the ground against before she turned to face her mother.
Valerie raised a brow at her mother when she saw her holding up witch shackles she hadn't seen since being in New Orleans, "What are those for?" She asked her mother confused.
Ophelia unlocked the cell and opened the door up, taking a step inside, "I spelled them so that you won't be able to break out of them with your hybrid strength," She informed her daughter, "I can't have you using your magic to break out. You need to stay in the cell for a few days. Being around all the kids might trigger your anger or hungry and I can't have you accidentally hurting someone."
"Okay," Valerie replied, taking a step toward her mother.
Hope watched Valerie closely with a concerned look on her face. She knew Valerie like the back of her hand and there was no way she was going to allow Ophelia to put the shackles on her, "Ophelia..." Hope trailed off nervously.
Ophelia raised a brow at Hope, turning her head to look at her, "What, Hope?"
While Ophelia was distracted by Hope, at vampire speed, Valerie placed the shackles on her mother instead and vamp sped out of the cell. With all the strength she had, Valerie roughly pushed Hope into the cell with her mother before closing the door. She made sure the door was locked before vamp-rushing away, Hope and Ophelia calling after her.
Once rushing up the stairs, Valerie entered one of the main rooms to find Roman talking with some of the vampires. His eyes were locked on her, especially the bit of dried blood that was surrounding her mouth even after she wiped it with her sleeve. She awkwardly waved at the boy and fake smiled.
Roman frowned at Valerie, giving her a concerned look since he knew she was supposed to be locked in one of the cells in the basement after being turned by Hope, "Wait, Val. Aren't you supposed to--" Roman began to ask her, but Valerie was quick to cut him off before he could finish.
"Sorry, can't talk. Gotta go." She mused, just before she used her vamp sped to run down the hallway. Not knowing how to stop, Valerie ended up colliding chest with someone. As their chests collided, Valerie bounced back and dropped to the floor.
"Fucking great," Valerie muttered under her breath when she looked up to see that it was Rafael she had bumped into.
Rafael looked down at her, his eyes wide in shock. Not just because it was the first time he had seen her since their break up, but also because he had heard about her turning into a vampire. Everyone at the school. The second Lizzie Saltzman found out, she told everyone in sight and the news spread like wildfire. Those actions were one of the many reasons at that moment why Josie pissed at her sister and not talking to her.
Rafael held his hand out for Valerie to take to help her up, but the female hybrid slapped it away before standing up on her own, "Val, I heard about what happened. Did Hope really turn you into a--" Rafael began to ask her in concern, but of course, Valerie ended up cutting him off as she did with Roman just a few moments before.
"Sorry can't talk," Valerie quickly told him before walking away, searching for Josie, "Trying to find Josie."
Not finding her anywhere in sight, Valerie finally decided to use her newly gained hybrid powers. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as she tried to focus her hearing on wherever she could find Josie.
Soon enough, she heard Josie's voice coming from the Memorial Library. She was bidding goodbye to MG before the male vampire walked away.
Valerie rushed into the library, her eyes locking on Josie. As she laid eyes on her, it felt as if all was okay, even though it wasn't.
When Josie felt eyes on her, she turned her head to see Valerie, causing her to quietly gasp, "Valerie?" She called out in shock, "Is it really you?"
Valerie smiled, nodding her head. Josie smiled back at Valerie, running over to her before tightly hugging her. Valerie sighed in relief, closing her eyes as she hugged Josie back. The two continued to hug and Valerie became concerned as she felt the hunger for blood resurface in her.
She opened her eyes, looking down at how close her mouth was to Josie's neck. She could hear the blood pumping through Josie's veins and the veins immediately appeared under her eyes while her fangs began to grow.
Valerie immediately pulled away from the hug and Josie gave her a concerned look, but decided not to question her, "Hope said you'd be staying in one of the transition cells for a few days. What happened?" Josie questioned Valerie curiously.
"I snuck out," Valerie confessed with a smile on her face, "I sort of locked Hope and Ophelia in my cell though so when they find me, I'll probably be going back, at least I'm with you now."
Valerie continued to smile, taking a step toward Josie as she grabbed the girl's hand and held it in her own. Josie smiled down at their intertwined hands before she looked at Valerie directly in the eyes, "How are you feeling?" Josie asked her curiously, "You know, since you're part vampire now."
"Honestly, I feel fantastic." Valerie admitted, letting out a small laugh, "I thought I would hate being a vampire, but since I drank the blood bag, I've had this sort of rush inside me. A rush that makes me feel like I can do anything."
"Really? Anything?" Josie asked Valerie, the smile not leaving her lips as she stared at the girl standing in front of her.
Valerie smirked, letting go of Josie's hand before placing them on the girl's hips. She pulled Josie closer to her, breaking the gap between them. She cupped Josie's face with her hands before leaning forward. Their eyes instinctively closed, just before their lips touched.
Valerie deepened the kiss, snaking her arms around Josie's waist. They continued to kiss before Valerie finally pulled away, smiling at Josie, "Yeah, anything." She stated, causing Josie to laugh at her, "You know, Jos, I could really get used to this."
Josie smiled slightly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she tried her hardest not to blush, "Yeah, me too, Val," She admitted quietly.