Chapter 35

Oh, hell.

First Elizabeth. Now, Elena. What kind of game is Danae playing?

William paced the empty road impatiently, checking the black tar surface for any sign that Elena was here. He had checked the car. Nothing there. He had checked the road, the thick forest by the side of the road, the abandoned building surrounding them.

Not a clue.

Frustrated, he walked back to the car, his strides wider and angrier, and slid inside the driver's seat. Moment's ago, he had hung up on Stefan, something he probably should not have done considering Elena had been taken on his watch. How careless was he, that he couldn't even hear Elena being taken?

Something gold glinted from the corner of his eyes and he paused, his face in his hands. Through the spaces between his fingers he could see the shining golden object. Curious, he sat up straight. There, right on the floor of the car, at the passenger seat's side, he could see it, shimmering slightly.

A coin.

An odd thought struck him. What are the chances of him stepping on a weird coin outside after Elena disappeared and then finding one inside the car, near the place where Elena sat.

Slowly, keeping his eyes on his surrounding, he bent down and took the coin. It felt hot in his hand, like burning gold. This one was larger and thicker. Again, the faces of the coin was different from the regular ones. One side of the coin was engraved with a picture of a girl tied to a post. On the other side was an engraving of another girl, with a noose loosely tied around her neck.

Cold fear washed over him, real fear that scared him because before, he had never been scared of anything. Hard as it is to admit, he actually thought himself superior to others. Not Charlie, of course. But the others, the younger ones, the ones whose power couldn't beat his. Yes, he was, maybe just a bit, arrogant, and he had never let anything scare him. The only times when he had felt afraid, no, worried, was when Elizabeth had to meet the council, when he had to wait outside the closed doors to know what was going to happen to her.

Shaking his head as if throwing away his thoughts, he turned the engine on and pressed his foot hard on the accelerator, speeding away.

He didn't now where he was going, or what he was going to do. In fact, this was the first time he went ahead with something without planning carefully. That thought scared him too.


Elena woke up to the sound of something thudding.

Dazed, she slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt sore and something warm and sticky was trickling down her left cheek. She raised a finger and touched the spot. Ruby red blood coated her finger pads when she examined them.

The thudding sound grew closer. Panicking, she stood up and raised her hands in front of her. She could see nothing, not even her own hands. The darkness consumed everything and blindly, she moved around the room, feeling the walls curve as she moved. Odd. Was the whole room circular? Her hands touched something cold and metallic. A door. Her hands travelled further upwards and felt locks, huge iron locks that were obviously locked.

The thudding sound was right outside the door now. Quickly, she staggered backwards and tripped over something, making her fall. Her hands touched something, something furry and wet that wriggled several times before scurrying away. Disgust and horror filled her but she fought hard to keep her mouth shut.

' Still not awake, then?' a gruff voice said from behind the door.

' Nope. Not a sound,' another voice answered.

There was a short pause. Then, the gruff voiced man talked again. ' I can smell her blood. Just get this over with-'

' No. She wants her alive.'

Another pause. Then, the sound of heavy footsteps started again, this time it faded away. Exhaling with relief, Elena slowly backed up, away from the door, when again, she bumped into something. Something moist fell into her arm. Heart racing fast, she looked down and saw the outline of something small, wriggling on her arm. More dropped onto her arms, shoulders and neck. They wriggled down her back, touched her skin. This time, she couldn't stop herself from screaming.


William stared at the coin in his hands. There were two now. The first coin was more bronze than gold, and it felt colder than the larger golden one. The bronze coin had no pictures on its sides, just words, letters jumbled up. It was small, making the letters appear squeezed, like a single word.

One line, lots of letters, one word.

More lines, more letters, more words.

More words.. That would make it a...a poem of some sort.

He stared at it intently now. Yes. He can definitely read the letters better now.

There she sat, among the wreck,
behind doors that will never break,
neither at land, nor at sea,
she knows now that she can never be free


not part of the story obviously- sorry if its a bit short but, hey! we're back=)

Chapter 34

It hurt.


It hurts so much. Elizabeth tried to stand on her toes, tried to put her head above the water to get some air. Even a little would be fine because being underwater for such a long time definitely did not suit her. She yanked at the cords that bound her wrists and immediately, searing pain shot up her arms, throughout her body. 


Wooden cords. Of course. She could feel the splinters digging into her skin. 


So cold, too. 


She was shivering, trembling so violently that the water around her rippled with her every movement.


Wait.


Isn't she a vampire? Vampires can feel cold? Aren't vampires supposed to be invincible and all that? God, it's better if she died right now because between the wooden splinters pricking her skin and the ice cold water, dying seems like a pretty good thing now.


But vampires are immortal. That means she can't die. Which means this won't stop. 


Wow. Great.


Stupid-ass vampire thing.




It hurt.


It hurts so much.


It was as if William was the one suffocating, as if he was the one tied down with wooden cords, as if he was the one with wooden splinters scraping his skin. Hissing slightly, he clutched his head. He hadn't fed for days now and while this has never bothered him before, it did now. His throat felt tight and his jaw hurt. He groaned and lifted his head from his hands, to find Elena staring at him, her eyes wide.


A long silence followed.


' You creep me out sometimes,' she finally said.


' Thanks.'


' You're welcome.'


He bent down again and pressed the heel of his hands onto his forehead. His head felt like exploding.


' So, like, if you're thinking about drinking my blood, warn me first. Give me a few minutes to run,' Elena continued. She turned to him. ' You look like crap.'




' I feel like crap.'


Another long silence.


' So...know where Elizabeth is?'


William made an impatient gesture, as if to tell her to stop talking. ' I can't think right now. My head...feels like...ugh.'


' Yeah...I always feel like that every Sunday morning. Monday, too. Sometimes Thursdays.' Elena tapped her fingers on the dashboard of William's car. She tsked. ' I should probably stop doing that.'


' Where's your phone?' he suddenly asked her. 


' It's in my pocket. Why?' Slowly, she took it out.


' Give me that. I need to call your brother.' He grabbed it from her hands before he even finished talking, his fingers already flying across the keypads. Quickly, he raised it to his ear. ' Damn it! No signal.' He snapped it shut and opened the driver's door. At the very last minute, he turned around and fixed her with a long stare. ' Stay here.'


' Yeah. Sure. Whatever.' She leaned back and stared at the roof of the car. Then, she sat up and looked out the deserted road, expecting to see William deep in heated conversation with Stefan. 


But the road was empty. The deserted road was really deserted. 


She sat up straight now, her heart thumping steadily. Slowly, she stepped out of the car. ' Will?' Her boots made a loud crunching sound on the gravel. ' Will? Will, where are you?' Her voice quavered slightly at the end.
Something was wrong here. She could still hear the sound of her boots against the gravel, but there was another sound. A second sound. The sound of shoes against gravel. 


She whirled around. Something hard hit her temple.


Then everything went black.




' Where the hell are you, Salvatore?'


' I don't even know myself.'


' What? Do I have to save your ass again?'


There was a weak chuckle from the other end of the line. ' Someone got up on the wrong side of the coffin today.'


' Yes. And someone's gonna end up in a coffin if that someone doesn't tell me where he is.'


' Told you, man. I don't know.'


' Man? Man? You've resorted to using 'man'? Are you lost in Woodstock? Are you wearing tie-dyed shirts and flashing peace signs now?'


' Cranky.'


' Blood.'


' Ah, of course. You haven't fed yet.' There was a long pause. ' Let me talk to Elena.'


William turned around and stopped. The car was dark. And empty.


' Where is she?'


William was already striding towards the car and practically ripped the passenger's door open. ' Elena,' he yelled. ' Turning around, he started walking down the road. 'Elena!' 


From the phone, Stefan was also shouting. ' Where is she, William?!'


' I don't know okay? I don't know! She was in there while I was calling you and now, she's not! I told-' William stopped because he felt something under his feet. Something circular. Ignoring Stefan, he stepped back slightly and looked down. A coin. Confused, he picked it up and peered at it. It was an odd coin. Instead of having the usual 'Liberty. In God We Trust,' at the front, there was a bunch of jumbled up words. At the back, instead of having the usual,' USA. One dime,' there were more jumbled up words. 


' What the-'


' What? Did you find her? Can I talk to her?' Stefan's voice was just a buzz in his ear. 


' Hey. Did the president issue new coins?' he asked, staring at the coin.


' What the hell? No! Where is Elena? I need to talk to her!'


' Stefan.'


' What?'


' I think she's in trouble.'

Chapter 32

The scene was all so normal.

The Town Square was busy. Women in brightly coloured dresses bustled about, chatting noisily, packages wrapped in brown paper tucked under their arms. A steady stream of people were exiting Madame Marie's, carrying large heavily padded boxes made of dark blue pinstriped silk for the men, pink tourmaline silk with patterns for the women.

Elizabeth stared at them longingly. The Season, the time of the year when extravagant dinner parties, balls and large charity events were held, was just in a few days. Usually, at this time, Elizabeth's closet would already be filled with new dresses, her shoes cleaned and polished and her jewelery laid out for her to choose which to wear. Her mother would already be busy sending out invites for their famous yearly Davenport dinner.

Suddenly she felt like she was being watched. Slowly, her gaze travelled downwards, and she found a small boy staring at her. His light blonde hair was swept to the side by the wind, almost poking his eyes, but he didn't seem to notice.

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that someone had finally found her. Tentatively, she smiled at the boy, but instead of smiling back at her, started walking backwards, his eyes wide. Then, he let out a bloodcurdling scream and ran into the very centre of the Town Square.

Elizabeth knew that it was time to run. Quickly, hiding her face under the wide hood of her cloak, fled the alley, taking the back passage through the woods. At a far distance, she heard the sound of approaching hooves, heading her direction. For the first time, she felt a little smug for being a vampire, because she knew she could outrun the horses at anytime, no matter how good the rider was.

To her left, separating the thinner forest from the thicker woods, was a stream of flowing river. The water was dark grey, and she could see her reflection clearly in the water. Finally, she understood what made the boy scream. Her eyes, usually a clear colour, alternating from emerald green to blue green, was completely dark. Even the whites of her eyes were black. Her hair, usually so sleek and smooth, was unruly and tangled, with bits of leaves caught in them.

A gasp escaped her mouth when her eyes glinted red for a while, followed by a flash of thirst in her throat.

Her thoughts flickered to Chantal. Chantal might help her. They were best friends, right? Why wouldn't she? And if she didn't want to help her, well..

Sighing, Elizabeth cupped her hands and scooped up some water from the river and drank it slowly, ignoring the queasy feeling in her stomach. Then, she wiped her hands dry on her cape and pulled the wide hood over her face again.



Chantal never thought that something like this could ever happen to her.

If someone had said that she would be bitten by a vampire and then recruited by the another vampire, who wanted her best friend dead, she would have laughed at that someone. After reporting them to the authorities, of course, since ideas about dark creatures were not....entertained.

Sighing, she undid the clasp of the pearl necklace around her neck and placed it gently in its blue velvet box. Then, with the same slow movement, she untied the rope of diamonds around her hair and placed it in another box. She could've asked her maid to help her, bu for some reason, she felt like being alone tonight.

Tiredly, she slipped on her white lace dressing gown and cinched it around the waist, when she heard a sudden loud clanging noise outside her balcony. A figure wearing a black cape that was far too large appeared outside.

Chantal froze, not knowing what to do.

' That's Elizabeth,' Danae hissed at her and Chantal started slightly. She can talk to me telepathically?

' Elizabeth?' Chantal called out hesitantly, walking towards the balcony. A long stretch of silence followed this.

' Can I come in? Please?' Elizabeth's voice sounded small.

' Of course,' Chantal instantly replied. She couldn't help but stare critically at the state of her hair and dress. ' You look....terrible.'

Elizabeth sighed loudly and settled herself on the bed, looking out of place. ' Can I please stay here for a while? Without your parents knowing?'

' Say yes,' Danae hissed again. ' Be nice to her.'

' Of course you can,' she said out loud, walking to her bedroom door and locking it. ' You're my best friend before and you're still my best friend now.'


SORRY KINDA SHORT.

Chapter 30

Elizabeth opened her eyes and saw her maid, Lucille, dusting the top of her marble fireplace.

' Good morning, M'Lady,' she said without turning around.

Elizabeth yawned. ' Good morning, Lucille.' Then, she froze, her right hand still on her mouth. ' Lucille? What the hell are you doing here?' she gasped.

Lucille turned around, her eyes round like saucers. ' My Lady, if your dear mother heard that, we shall be in a lot of trouble. Her Ladyship Davenport absolutely hates vulgar words!' Then, she lowered her voice to a whisper, as if revealing a dark secret. ' That was why she fired that stable boy last week.'

Elizabeth was too shocked to pay any attention. Quickly, she stumbled up and pulled on her dressing gown. ' Where is my mother?'

' She is at town, accompanying Lady Lucas. They are attending the Rothschilds' party tonight.'

' They are at a party?' Why was everything so...normal?

Lucille looked alarmed. ' Her Ladyship thought it best you stayed at home, since you were ill.'

Elizabeth stopped in the act of putting her slippers on. ' I was ill.'

' Of course. Right after the ball.'

' The ball?'

' We all thought it might be the excitement from Master William's proposal.' Lucille giggled and arranged the red roses in the crystal vase by the door. ' When is the wedding?'

Elizabeth barely heard her. She was already out of the room and racing down the wide staircase. Voices drifted from the library to the hall and she stopped in her tracks.

Will. He's here.

Panicking, she quickly righted her hair and walked into the library. William was in there, with her father, in deep conversation about a hunting rifle. They both looked up when she entered. Instantly, William was at her side.

' Elizabeth.'

Elizabeth stared at him and then offered her hand, not knowing what else to do. ' Hi,' she said.

He grinned, a cute and boyish smile. ' Hi.'

Her father cleared his throat. Blushing, Elizabeth quickly pulled her hand away and hugged her father. ' Father, you're here!' she cried. When she pulled away, both the men were staring at her with a bewildered look. Then, they exchanged another bewildered look.

' I shall just leave you both, then,' said her father, clearing his throat again and walking out of the library.

' So....' Will began.

Elizabeth stared at him and then reached out to touch him. Will seemed pleased but a little surprised. ' It doesn't hurt?' she whispered.

' No,' he answered, looking puzzled.

' It doesn't,' she murmured. Everything was back to normal! Everything! William was here, there were no vampires around and best of all...she wasn't a vampire! Looking around at the familiar library, where she always spent her afternoons curled up by the window seat reading a book, Elizabeth suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia. The smell of baked pie wafted into the room and she immediately walked towards the kitchen without even thinking about it.

' Elizabeth! Where are you going?' William called out behind her.

The kitchen was busy this morning, preparing a breakfast for the duke and duchess of Wakefield who was coming to visit. Elizabeth's childhood governess and very excellent cook, Mrs. Porter, looked up from the vegetables she was slicing. ' Lizzie! Finally, you're up!'

' Yeah, I'm up,' she replied dazedly.

Mrs. Porter looked up and saw Will enter the kitchen and a knowing smile lit up her face. Momentarily distracted, the knife slipped of her fingers and cut into her hand. ' Of all the-' But, she quickly broke off.

Because Elizabeth's two upper canines had grown out and her eyes had a silvery sheen to it.

The kitchen became quiet.

And then, everybody was screaming. Some were reaching for the cloves of garlic hung on the walls, some were grabbing various wooden appliances. While others, like Mrs. Porter, simply stared at her in fright.

Elizabeth wasn't aware of all that. Her head was filled with the sweet scent of blood, enticing her and pulling her closer. Then, Mrs. Porter screamed and backed away, covering her hand with her apron.

Then, Elizabeth realised something. She was still a vampire.

A small yelp escaped her lips and she backed away from the kitchen, and then ran full speed into the thick forest behind her house.

Before she was even in the forest, a small voice entered her mind.

' See Lizzie? They just hate vampires,' Danae whispered.



Elena looked at the deserted Arc catacomb before her. There was a faint metallic smell in the air, like blood. Looking down, she saw bright red spatters on the walls and the floors.

William was still looking around, checking to see if Elizabeth was here.

' You know, I may not be a vampire,' Elena began,' but it's kinda clear to me that Elizabeth isn't here. Or my brother,' she added in an angry tone.

' Danae must've taken her somewhere. She wouldn't leave her here.'

Elena groaned. ' Perfect. So we went here for no reason at all?'

' I was just checking,' he muttered as they went out.

' I hate your sister,' she said in reply.





Elizabeth looked up. Will? She had just heard his voice. He was saying,' I was just checking.' He sounded near yet so distant.

' Will?' she whispered. Receiving no reply, she just curled up against a tree trunk and buried her head in her hands, crying.


William froze when he heard the voice. It sounded so much like Elizabeth. She had said, 'Will?'

The car he was driving stopped in the middle of the road, earning several curses and angry honks from other drivers but William ignored them. He steered the car to the side of the road. Exhaling, he leaned his forehead against the steering wheel.

Again, there was her voice. But she was crying this time.

' Um..Are you..okay?' Elena asked him but he shushed her.

' Elizabeth?' he whispered tentatively.




Elizabeth looked up and quickly dried her face. It really was William's voice.

' Will? Where are you? Are you still at the kitchen?' Then, she added in a very small voice. ' Tell Mrs. Porter...I'm sorry. Tell everyone I'm sorry.'

' What? The kitchen? I'm not in the kitchen? I'm in my car.' There was a long pause. ' Isn't Mrs. Porter your governess...from way back home?'

Elizabeth froze and then quickly pushed her damp hair out of her face. ' I just saw Mrs. Porter. I don't know what's happening, Will! Everything was finally right and then...'

' What do you mean right? Where are you, Elizabeth?'

' I'm at home, Will. But, I'm not sure it is.'

' Home. You mean, England?'

' Yes, Will.'



A loud honking sound filled the car along with William's curse.

' What did I do now?' Elena asked, puzzled.

' Danae.'

' What?'

' Danae sent Elizabeth back home.'

' How? And how do you know?'

' I just talked to her.'

' You talked to her?'

He ignored her. ' They don't like anything different than humans back then.' Then, he turned to her, his eyes filled with fright. ' They burn them.'

Chapter 29: A Small World

I am not a monster.

Elizabeth repeated the sentence over and over, as if chanting a spell to change the fact that she was a vampire.

She tried to push it out of her mind and reverted her attention to Stefan who was lying helplessly beside her. His fangs were in between his lips, smothered with her own blood. She could see her reflection on Stefan's grey eyes. A reflection of a monster. A bloodsucking monster who just sucked a precious soul out of the person she loved.

" Aww. Stop whatever you're thinking. This is your fate, Elizabeth! Why can't you accept it? You're a monster. Say it! " Danae yelled, her chuckles intesifying the air even more.

Elizabeth shook her head vigorously. " This isn't happening," she whispered.

" It's already happening, " Danae grinned, ' Soon, human race will extinct and we shall rise out of the shadows that protect our secret, our existence."

The thought of every inch and ounce of an innocent human's life and many more lives taken for the sake of building an empire was just mind-boggling. A world inhabited by souless beings would be an apocalypse and it all started with... her.

She screamed, burning the once golden, elaborated room then her vision went black like it was a regular thing.

---

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and caught sight of a chaos. Vampires and blood everywere. A male vampire was holding Danae Vaughan in his arms. She seemed weak, contributed by the long sleep she endured. Finally realising that they were in the middle of the battlefield, Elizabeth's face was lifted by the tip of a sword. Blue eyes met her green ones. She gasped in horror, tears streaming down her face

Will...

His 'men' surrounded him in a battle position, protecting Danae and himself. She squinted her eyes and saw another party opposite them.

The vampire council?

They were here. The last time she remembered they looked like princes and princesses going to the ball but now.. they looked like warriors in their polished, shining armour. Elizabeth tried to keep her eyes open, wanting to know what was going to happen, but she couldn't resist the exhaustion that hit her.

---

The sharp bite of canines into her skin was agonisingly painful as Mike, the handsome blonde vampire closed his mouth upon her neck. Then, just like that, the pain disappeared only to be replaced by a rush of bliss and joy. It was... indescribable. Nothing mattered than the sweet sensation of the bite. The bite was the only thing she wanted everyday since she was captured to the underground palace full of the Ancient Ones. A plan to escape was the last thing she wanted to do.

Suddenly, there was a bang on the wall and all the wonderful feeling flowing through her stopped abruptly, causing her to fall limply on the bed. This irritated Elena. She tried to adjust her vision to see why the bite had stop. She glanced up and realised she wasn't looking at a blonde guy anymore but instead a tall figure with jet-black hair. He seemed familiar but she couldn't make up who he was. She didn't want to think. Her thoughts were cloudy. All she wanted was the bite.

" Salvatoire's sister?" the man asked monotonously.

The name made her froze. Salvatoire? She knew this.. Yes, it was her last name, she thought. Elena nodded.

" You're high."

" Who are you? " Elena whispered, slowly making out the words.

" William Carstairs."

The name was familiar. She heard this name before from.. Lizzie. Lizzie... the girl his brother was protecting. Elena was trying hard to remember. The bite had made her memories to be cloudy.

" C'mon. We have to get to Elizabeth. " William lifted Elena up and headed out the room.

William's fast movement was faster than a normal vampire and this made her very dizzy. Her eyes became heavy and her sight turned blurry. The last thing she saw was Mike lying on the the ground, unconscious.

---

Will drove fast to the De Arc. He didn't care about the traffic. All he wanted was to go to Elizabeth.

" Ugh. Can't you get any slower? " Elena groaned, waking up.

Will glanced at her, giving that 'Excuse me?' look and sped up the car. He took out a bottle of water under the chair and handed it to her. Elena hesistantly took it and drank the whole bottle in one gulp.

" The endorphins should disappear in a few minutes," Will exclaimed.

" My head hurts." Elena replied, slightly ignoring him.

" You're bitten everyday since you were captured. I don't find that a surprise."

" What happened? I don't remember a thing, " Elena stopped as she remembered the joyous feeling she experienced the last few days. " Wait, I do remember that I was.. "

William continued her sentence, " ... high. Yeah, it happens when human got bitten. They're like drugs. They're addictive. You were addicted too and you willingly wanted it, y'know."

Elena still felt the amazing feeling that poured into her everytime she was bitten. It was like all the happiness in the world entered her. He was right, they were addictive because she currently tried to resist the urge to offer herself to get bitten by William. It was quite embarrassing to admit so she didn't say a word after that.

Elena looked at William who was staring straight on the road.

" Hey, what were you doing in the palace with the Ancient? You're Lizzie's boyfriend, right? Stefan said you died."

Will gritted his teeth, trying to hide his anger when Stefan was mentioned.

" I live there. "

" What? You live there? What do you mean? I thought you're the good guy. " Her fear was blatant in her voice.

" I am. I just... they saved me from the council. I was going to die using my power the other night. I think I actually did die."

" How? But they are all under Danae! She wanted to kill Lizzie!''

" You don't understand, Salvatoire..."

" What the hell, boy?!Yes, I don't understand! Don't you want to save Lizzie?! She's been through a lot! How could you be under Danae?!" Elena yelled as she boiled in anger.

William instantly pulled over, held the stirring wheel tightly and glared at Elena. Elena squinted at him, but felt herself back up in her seat under his glares.

" Danae is the only family I got. That's why I'm under her. "

" Danae.. she's my half sister. "

A/N: Hey, it's Fifi here. Got a message from Izza Romzi at 5.43AM. She asked me to proofread the chapter, so I did. Well, I'm not a good proofreader, but I did try my best editing this. I hope all of you enjoyed reading Forbidden Blood because we're currently on the climax of the story and that means we're near to the end of Forbidden Blood. One of you did ask whether we planned to make a sequel. To answer that, we are still uncertain. Besides, this blog is all about being random. Hehe. See ya! =)

Chapter 27

Elizabeth Davenport stood perfectly still, staring at the empty space in front of her.

The temperature in the catacombs of the Arc had noticeably lowered. Elizabeth fought the urge to shiver and kept on staring at the space in front of her, where she had heard Danae's disembodied voice.

Suddenly, Heather stiffened visibly next to her. The alert expression on her face faded and she stared in front of her as if she was hypnotised. Slowly, with heavy dragging steps, she walked forwards, her eyes glazed over.

' Heather, no!' Elizabeth quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She stumbled slightly and the blank expression was cleared from her face. Panicked, Elizabeth touched her throat to grab her topaz necklace when she suddenly realised that it was gone.

Heather started to walk forwards again, looking like a stone drug addict and frantically, Elizabeth grabbed her. The blank expression remained on her face. Resorting to Plan B, Elizabeth yanked the necklace from Heather's throat and gripped it tightly. Inside her fist, it melted as if it had touched fire and she released it. It fell to the stone in a pile of smoldering ashes.

Still, Heather's face remained blank. Apparently, the power Danae had over her wasn't limited to just the necklace.

Desperate, Elizabeth slapped Heather's face. ' Heather! Heather! Wake up, damn it!'

Suddenly, it happened so fast that Elizabeth didn't even see it coming, she was slammed onto the wall behind her and Heather's pale hands were around her neck. Elizabeth felt the air whoosh out of her lungs and didn't return. Heather's hand tightened and she smiled, showing her long canines. No, not Heather. Danae.

' Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth,' she began, shaking her head, as if she was disappointed.

Trying to seem brave, Elizabeth looked at her mockingly. ' Danae, Danae, Danae.'

Danae's eyes narrowed at her but she ignored that. ' You have my powers in you. My powers that are made stronger. You can control all the five elements of the universe. The earth, fire, water, wind and spirit. They're yours to manipulate. Why can't you ever put it to good use?'

Elizabeth tried to gulp in air quickly but Danae's hands were like iron manacles around her neck. ' You're right. I should've put it into good use long ago and kill you.'

Danae tilted her head to the side questioningly. ' What will you do after you kill me, Elizabeth? Return to England? Last time I checked, those people hated witches.'

' I'm not a witch,' Elizabeth managed to choke out.

' Yes, but you are something worse. You are a vampire, Elizabeth.'

Elizabeth wasn't listening to her. She was focusing on 'putting her powers to good use.' Suddenly, Danae released her, her hands jerking away as if the contact had hurt her. Elizabeth breathed in quickly and tried to stand up, but her muscles were all shrieking their refusal to move.

Next to her, Danae was snarling. She grabbed Elizabeth by the arms and threw her across the room. Trembling, Elizabeth looked up and saw Danae crouching in front of her.

' I've always hated fire,' she snarled and reached out to grab Elizabeth again. Elizabeth barely felt the pain when she hit the opposite brick wall because everything hurt so much, she didn't know which one to feel.

Slowly, Danae sauntered towards her. Her gait vaguely reminded Elizabeth of a leopard approaching its victim.

' So weak,' Danae whispered. ' Just like all your people back in London. All so weak. I think I was the one who killed your father.' She paused as if thinking it through. ' Yes,' she finally spoke with conviction,' I killed your father. I think Madoc killed your mother, though I can't be sure.'

Elizabeth froze and just like that, she felt her powers surge through her. She was angry and her anger made her more...inspired..to kill Danae. Danae was still speaking, taking out her silver dagger and admiring it as she spoke.

Clenching her fists, Elizabeth glared at her. ' Shut up,' she said in a low voice.

Danae simply looked at her. ' Did I say something wrong? Was it about your father or-'

' SHUT UP!' Elizabeth screamed and there was a blinding flash of light. For a moment, the catacombs felt as if it had caught on fire. Then, the light just disappeared and Elizabeth blinked rapidly, not used to the sudden brightness.

There, on the ground, Danae lay in a crumpled heap. She was shivering and her face was pale. Slowly, as if she every inch of her body hurt, which was probably the case, she sat up and faced Elizabeth.

' Somebody's learning,' she said weakly, clutching the dagger at her side, hiding it from view.

Elizabeth got up, steadied herself and walked over to her. ' Yeah. Want to see me try another?' Using all the energy she had, she pushed all her powers forward and there was another flash of light. This time, it was green. Green for the earth.

Then, she pushed her power again. She was too angry too even consider the consequences of using too much of her powers. There was a flash of dark blue light. Dark blue for water.

Again, another flash of light blue light. Light blue for wind.

And another. This time, the light was pure white. For spirit.

By the time Elizabeth reached Danae, she had saved the best power for the last. Just as she was about to exert her last drop of energy, something sharp slashed her bare forearms. Instantly, her defenses collapsed and she keeled over on the ground, gasping for air.

Danae sat up gingerly, holding the dagger up. ' I realised that simple silver wouldn't hurt you enough, so I had these coated with crushed Aspen wood dust.'

Elizabeth could just stay there as the pain slowly travelled along her body. Slowly, the blood dripped onto the ground, forming a scarlet puddle. Danae slowly walked towards the stone double doors and smeared her blood from the knife onto the door.

Elizabeth didn't see what happened next because her vision was already blurred. Bright spots danced across her sight and she felt nauseous.

' Elena,' she whispered. The last thing she saw was a woman stepping out of the door. A woman with long golden hair and emerald green eyes that glinted mischievously.

Then, she slowly drifted off into the approaching darkness.

Chapter 26

Like most nights in her life, she had expected another terrifying nightmare that could haunt her for the rest of her life. And to her cleverness, she decided not to sleep. Considering the fact that Danae, and God knows who ever else she would bring with her on her probably very last midnight. Her blue satin nightgown was now wet without her realising it. At least not until her palms became sweaty. She ,however, realised that it was cold sweat. A sign showing her fear about something.

It was already ten in the evening and her eyes were still wide awake. Horrible thoughts enter and fade endlessly throughout the last few hours of her consciousness. Defeating Danae and bring Elena back was her only optimistic idea. In fact, that was the best she could come up with. And the worst? It was something even her mind refused to admit. Let alone speak it out loud. She sighed and sat straight on her queen sized bed, staring blankly at the window.

William Carstairs.

The name suddenly appear on her mind. Her eyes, still fixed on her gaze, finally dropped a tear. Reminiscing her memories with Will was just plain sweet. There was no such thing as "complicated matter" in their world. Everything was simple. Not much of an obstacle getting on their way. Until, like what she was told, the Council came to the lovely ball. The ball where she was supposed to achieve her happily ever after with William Carstairs, the man whom she had always loved. But now her dreams had vanished. William Carstairs was now resting in peace. Or so she thought.

Her topaz coloured pendant hung loose on her neck and she smiled. She knew what would calm her down. Her fingers soon lingered on the pendant, as if observing it, and memories soon flooded her. Memories of William Carstairs. Her sorrow faded just like that and a smile was plastered on her flawless white face. The recollections were just too pleasant that she fell asleep with a blissful dream.

She was with William Carstairs in her dream. Not just with him, but living with him. They were a family.

"Elizabeth, will you pass me the newspaper, please?" William asked, with his dazzling 70s look; back at the time they were together a couple of years after the ball incident.

"Why, yes, my husband," Elizabeth had replied in a rather cheerful tone.

Elizabeth and her husband were having their regular breakfast in an average-sized dining room. Two children, a boy and a girl, aged about 3 and 2 respectively, were running and giggling as they entered the room.

"Mommy, daddy!" the boy had said, both hugging Elizabeth and William.

They were such a happy family Elizabeth almost believed her eyes. She was grinning with joy when Danae, or rather, Danae's spirit, joined in.

“What are you doing here?” Elizabeth asked sternly.

“My dear, can you not differentiate between reality and fantasy?” Danae replied, sarcasm filled her voice.

Elizabeth was confused. What was this all about? Before she could think of anything else, the images of Will and her children started to fade. Everything went from sharp to blurry and more blurred and gone.

Elizabeth woke up. Danae’s words were still playing in her mind.
Elena. Elena was in great danger in Danae’s hands. And she was sure Stefan would insist on going with her later to the battle. The one-on-one battle with Danae Vaughan. The one Danae promised would be a win-win battle.

Elizabeth glanced at her alarm clock beside her and the clock just struck eleven. An hour to the battle. She then tiptoed to the kitchen and started planning her strategy. Her neat bun was not messy. She really hoped that Stefan was sleeping. And of course, every other person staying there that night. She doubted anyone was awake, though. So, she began her search.

She found what she had been searching for after about a minute. The kitchen was that small that she could search anything within a minute. The sleeping pill was due to expire the following year. She quickly boiled the water and made a cup of hot milo for Stefan. She knew, this would be the only way for Stefan to not follow her to the battle.

The hot milo, mixed with a sleeping pill, was then put in Stefan’s side table. Just as she suspected, Stefan was snoring loudly, probably feeling very exhausted after a long day. With no weapon in hand, she left the safest place to a place where she would risk herself.



Danae stood perfectly still with an expecting look plastered all over her face. She smirked at Elizabeth’s presence. Somewhat somehow, she found it funny. Everything suddenly seemed slow. The time was ticking slow, the motion was slow as well. Wind was blowing towards Danae making her hair look.. well, blown. She looked just perfect.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered then was saving Elena and get that over with.

“Let me see Elena!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“Give me first what I want,” Danae replied, as calm as ever.

“Fine!” she snapped, slitting her palm with her own, bare nails.

Blood started dripping from her palm and Danae’s expression changed. She had been craving for the blood and Elizabeth was wasting it. Danae ran to her, in an unbelievably high speed, and collected the dripping blood using her fingers. With that, Elena was released.


Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly what happened. Elizabeth had a change of plan. She didn’t go to the Arc. She didn’t come to save Elena. But she was still going.

After she put Stefan to sleep, she ran as quickly as possible to Heather’s house. It wasn’t exactly her house as Heather lived somewhere in the USA. It was where Heather lied unconsciously under Danae’s influence. Elizabeth didn’t know why she headed there, but she had a strong feeling that what she did was right.

Elena was in trouble because of her and God knows what Danae would do if Elizabeth didn't show up right in time.

Elizabeth sneaked into the room and found Heather lying there, probably sleeping. Or unconscious. She wasn't sure how to wake her up, so she tried using the traditional way. Surprisingly, splashing Heather with water did wake her up. But Elizabeth wasn't welcomed with warmth. Heather was as cold as an ice queen. Elizabeth was given the most chilling glare ever.

"Hold on! You have to listen to me. You have to help me, Heather," Elizabeth pleaded.

"What do you want, Elizabeth? Hasn't Danae destroyed you yet?" Heather snapped.

"I just want-" Elizabeth paused, considering. "Did you say.. Danae?"

Heather laughed. "Yes, surprised that I know her?"

"Well, you aren't supposed to know her.."

Heather scoffed. "Then you must be more shocked to hear this; I WORK FOR HER."

Elizabeth couldn't help but flinch. She jerked backwards with her mouth hanging open. Shocked wasn't even the right vocabulary to describe what she was feeling then. She needed a deeper vocabulary that wasn't even stated in her dictionary to describe it.

"B-but.. Why?" was all Elizabeth managed to blurt out.

"Because I hate you!" Heather exclaimed, emphasising the 'hate' word.

Elizabeth was speechless but quickly regained her stability. She had to make sure her plan works. And so, she did the craziest thing in her life. She put on her pendant at Heather's necklace. It was certainly a surprise for both of them. Elizabeth was surprised how she managed to do that. And apparently, Heather was thinking of the exact same thing.

And the unbelievable happened. Heather's hatred towards Elizabeth vanished. She realised working for Danae was a huge mistake, that it wasn't worth it now that Will was dead. More importantly, her sanity had returned.

"Oh my God, what am I doing?" Heather cried.

"Heather, you're back!" Elizabeth replied, sounding rather pleased.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need your help. Danae wants me to give her my blood, and in return, she'll release Elena. She said it would be a win-win situation, but I doubt it."

"What should I do? Keep the pendant on, perhaps she can't control you with that on."

Heather agreed and they went straight to the Arc. It was fifteen minutes to twelve. It was about time for Danae to control Heather, and there they stood, fingers crossed.

"Well, well, well.. Look what we have here." A voice said.

It was a familiar voice; Danae's. But neither Elizabeth nor Heather could see who was talking. Undoubtedly, it sent chills to their spines. It was Danae's spirit.