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.'
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
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! =)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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.
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.
Chapter 25
There was a blinding light flashing on her. Elizabeth squinted her eyes to avoid it. She could hear a woman’s laugh that sounded more like Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians. A dark figure of a woman approached her gracefully and mumbled something but Elizabeth could only hear some words.
‘……. I see you agreed to help me, Elizabeth. What an excellent choice,’ the woman began.
Elizabeth recognised the soft but evil-like voice. It was Danae. As she opened her eyes, she saw Danae or might as well be Heather, holding a sharp and pointed knife and grabbed her arms, almost slitting it. In anger, Elizabeth tried to push Danae away from her but unfortunately her arms were tied up and she couldn’t move. She tried to use her power but she was too weak. It was as if her energy and power was drained away.
‘Get off me now!’ Elizabeth exclaimed.
Danae hushed her and said, ‘what happened to all the manners dear Elizabeth?’
‘I don’t care! Where is Elena?’
‘Just relax. She’s fine. My people are taking good care of her. Stop worrying,’ she replied and gave an annoyed look.
‘You better don’t harm her or else!’
‘Ooo.. You’re threatening me now. Okay, let’s just get this straight again. You give me your blood to open that door. I get my body you get the girl. No one will get hurt. Is that clear to you?’ Danae explained properly and pointed her long bony finger on Elizabeth’s nose.
Elizabeth ignored her and moved her head away.
‘I’ll take that as a yes then,’ Danae said.
‘No. Show me Elena first!’ demanded Elizabeth.
‘Okay, if you insist. Bring her down Delos.’
The man named Delos dragged Elena forcefully, who was unconscious. Her face and rolling stone shirt was full of dirt. Even her hair was untidy and scruffy. Elizabeth couldn't stand looking at Elena because it made her feel guilty. 'This is all my fault, if not Elena wouldn't be brought into this,' she thought.
‘Is that enough?’
Elizabeth nodded and Danae exhaled feeling relief that she could continue her plot. She started slitting Elizabeth’s arm, which made Elizabeth feel a slight heat flowing through her veins. Her face became red, sweat flowed vigorously on her neck and she couldn’t breathe properly as if she was strangled.
‘Elizabeth? Elizabeth? Are you all right?’ someone called her.
She lifted her body up and felt Stefan’s hand holding her.
‘Are you all right?’ Stefan said worriedly.
‘Uh-uh, yeah. I think so. I just had a nightmare that’s all,’ she replied blankly.
When Stefan left her alone, Elizabeth knew that it wasn't just a nightmare because she saw a purplish scar on her arm.
******
She sat at the café alone, biting her newly manicured nails, thinking about something. ‘Why the hell am I biting my nails?’ she thought. After taking very long time thinking, she realised immediately that the body that she was using was Heather’s so it must’ve been her horrid habit. Disgusted with herself, she took a hand sanitizer out of her hot red Chanel handbag and squeezed some liquid out.
Chantal came and sat with Danae.
‘Quelle est le problème, madame?’ she asked curiously.
‘Nothing. I’m just thinking about that Stefan guy. What if Elizabeth brought him with her? You know him, he’s not going to let her go.’ Danae replied.
‘What’s wrong if he’s coming? After all, he’s just a weak and a powerless human. We can defeat him easily,’ Chantal said confidently.
Without even thinking carefully Danae just agreed to what Chantal said and decided to forget about all her thoughts. She was only concentrating on Elizabeth.
'Chantal, by midnight I am going to be powerful again and no one can stop me neither Lady Elizabeth Davenport nor the council.'
*err, my grammar is very very burukzz so writers please do help and correct it :8)
‘……. I see you agreed to help me, Elizabeth. What an excellent choice,’ the woman began.
Elizabeth recognised the soft but evil-like voice. It was Danae. As she opened her eyes, she saw Danae or might as well be Heather, holding a sharp and pointed knife and grabbed her arms, almost slitting it. In anger, Elizabeth tried to push Danae away from her but unfortunately her arms were tied up and she couldn’t move. She tried to use her power but she was too weak. It was as if her energy and power was drained away.
‘Get off me now!’ Elizabeth exclaimed.
Danae hushed her and said, ‘what happened to all the manners dear Elizabeth?’
‘I don’t care! Where is Elena?’
‘Just relax. She’s fine. My people are taking good care of her. Stop worrying,’ she replied and gave an annoyed look.
‘You better don’t harm her or else!’
‘Ooo.. You’re threatening me now. Okay, let’s just get this straight again. You give me your blood to open that door. I get my body you get the girl. No one will get hurt. Is that clear to you?’ Danae explained properly and pointed her long bony finger on Elizabeth’s nose.
Elizabeth ignored her and moved her head away.
‘I’ll take that as a yes then,’ Danae said.
‘No. Show me Elena first!’ demanded Elizabeth.
‘Okay, if you insist. Bring her down Delos.’
The man named Delos dragged Elena forcefully, who was unconscious. Her face and rolling stone shirt was full of dirt. Even her hair was untidy and scruffy. Elizabeth couldn't stand looking at Elena because it made her feel guilty. 'This is all my fault, if not Elena wouldn't be brought into this,' she thought.
‘Is that enough?’
Elizabeth nodded and Danae exhaled feeling relief that she could continue her plot. She started slitting Elizabeth’s arm, which made Elizabeth feel a slight heat flowing through her veins. Her face became red, sweat flowed vigorously on her neck and she couldn’t breathe properly as if she was strangled.
‘Elizabeth? Elizabeth? Are you all right?’ someone called her.
She lifted her body up and felt Stefan’s hand holding her.
‘Are you all right?’ Stefan said worriedly.
‘Uh-uh, yeah. I think so. I just had a nightmare that’s all,’ she replied blankly.
When Stefan left her alone, Elizabeth knew that it wasn't just a nightmare because she saw a purplish scar on her arm.
******
She sat at the café alone, biting her newly manicured nails, thinking about something. ‘Why the hell am I biting my nails?’ she thought. After taking very long time thinking, she realised immediately that the body that she was using was Heather’s so it must’ve been her horrid habit. Disgusted with herself, she took a hand sanitizer out of her hot red Chanel handbag and squeezed some liquid out.
Chantal came and sat with Danae.
‘Quelle est le problème, madame?’ she asked curiously.
‘Nothing. I’m just thinking about that Stefan guy. What if Elizabeth brought him with her? You know him, he’s not going to let her go.’ Danae replied.
‘What’s wrong if he’s coming? After all, he’s just a weak and a powerless human. We can defeat him easily,’ Chantal said confidently.
Without even thinking carefully Danae just agreed to what Chantal said and decided to forget about all her thoughts. She was only concentrating on Elizabeth.
'Chantal, by midnight I am going to be powerful again and no one can stop me neither Lady Elizabeth Davenport nor the council.'
*err, my grammar is very very burukzz so writers please do help and correct it :8)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Chapter 24
Elizabeth Davenport stared longingly outside the French windows to the garden of the Bed and Breakfast, thinking of only one word. One word that kept returning to her mind.
Freedom.
She wanted to be free of Danae. She wanted to be free of the Vampire Council. She wanted to be free so that she can go outside without feeling eyes on her, without seeing glimpses of a red-headed woman, bent on killing her, everywhere. She wanted to be free of everything and just return back to her old place.
Elizabeth glowered at the frayed cuffs of her old laced nightgown. Right now, she would trade anything just to be back to the year 1869. If she could return back, everyone would win. Elizabeth would be back to her beloved hometown, the Vampire Council would have an easier job of just tracking down one Danae, not Danae and Elizabeth. And Danae's problem about Elizabeth having her powers would be...gone.
Angrily, she pulled at a loose thread of the frayed left cuff. It broke free of the cuff and floated slowly to the floor.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the garden. Elizabeth blinked slowly and saw that it was Elena, slowly approaching a small chipmunk. Her cupped hands held a handful of small nuts. Elizabeth smiled when the chipmunk got close to Elena and then darted away, causing the nuts to scatter across the grass.
Then, Elizabeth felt her smile slowly fade when another figure appeared behind Elena, a figure with vivid red hair.
' Elena!' Elizabeth screamed, banging the the window furiously, causing a small crack to appear. ' Elena!' she screamed again, trying the lock on the window. When they didn't open, Elizabeth ran for the door and found that it also wouldn't open. Picking up the chair from the dresser, Elizabeth threw it at the window and the glass shattered easily.
Leaping through the broken window, she landed lightly amidst the broken glass and felt some cut her bare feet and hands but she didn't care. Her vision was clouded with fury.
No one must die over me, she thought over and over again as she ran towards Elena.
Elena's look of relief at Elizabeth's arrival didn't last long. Her eyes widened at something behind Elizabeth and she reacted a little too late. A pair of big and very muscly hands clamped around her slim wrists, holding her back.
Danae watched as Elizabeth tried to free herself in genuine amusement. ' Don't try to fight him, Lizzie, or I shall have to use Elena to feed my army.'
Elizabeth froze and glared at Danae with so much hatred that Danae's composure broke a little and even Elena's face paled. ' Let her go,' she snarled.
Danae looked at her with a mock disapproving look on her face. ' Tsk, tsk, tsk. What would your mother think of you right now, Lady Elizabeth Davenport? Not behaving ladylike at all.'
' I don't know what my mother would think,' Elizabeth began slowly,' but I know what I'm thinking.'
Danae raised one eyebrow and looked at her. ' All right. I'll humor you. What are you thinking?'
Elizabeth smiled sweetly. ' I'm thinking that you should just go to he-' Her words were cut short when Elena screamed.
' I don't think I like how you're behaving, Lizzie. I came here to discuss a...proposal.'
' Proposal?' Elizabeth repeatedly blankly.
' Yes, proposal. I need you to come to the Arc de Triomphe to help me open the door. In return for helping me, I will give you Elena. It's quite simple actually and it's a win-win situation. You get to save Elena and I get my body.'
' The door?' Elizabeth asked again, feeling slightly woozy.
Danae sighed and when she spoke again, she spoke slowly, as if talking to an incompetent child. ' Yes, Lizzie, door. The thing that opens when you want to go to another room or place. My body lies beyond that door and I need your blood to do open it.'
Elizabeth looked up at her. ' What makes you think I will comply?'
Danae blinked, then looked vaguely annoyed. ' Well, I was under the impression that you didn't want anymore people to die because of you, but I guess I was wrong.' Quick as a flash of lightning, she took her dagger from her belt and pressed the tip of the blade to Elena's throat. Elizabeth saw a bead of blood appear.
Then, Danae released the dagger from Elena's throat and stared at Elizabeth icily. ' You see, Elizabeth, I still have some compassion in me, so I will give you one night to think about it.'
' One night?!'
' Yes. Which means I expect you to either arrive at the Arc tomorrow and help me or don't show up and Elena...becomes breakfast.'
The hands around the wrists loosened and Elizabeth felt painful prickles as the blood rushed hurriedly.
Feigning surrender, Elizabeth looked at the ground. ' Fine, I'll come tomorrow.'
Danae laughed. ' I thought so. I know you, Lizzie, and you hate to let people down. Shall we shake on it?' She offered her free hand out.
Elizabeth looked at it and started forwards. When she was close enough to Danae, she offered a hand as of to shake hers but instead knocked the knife out of her hands. Elizabeth was about to do more damage to the redhead when another pair of hands locked around her wrists.
' Let me go,' she yelled and punched the man who was holding her. Searing pain shot through her hand but Elizabeth felt relieved because the man was actually hurt.
When she turned around, she found the garden completely empty except for Danae's dagger on the ground, with a drop of Elena's blood still on it.
Stefan slowly opened his eyes when he felt something cold touch his face. His vision slowly cleared and he saw Elizabeth standing right in front of him, holding a large empty bucket.
' Why am I wet?' he asked her, confused when he felt water drip down his hair.
' I tried to wake you up,' she said and began untying the black velvet ropes that bound him tightly.
' Why am I tied up?' he asked her again.
' Danae was here,' Elizabeth whispered.
' Danae?' Suddenly Stefan's blank look cleared. ' Where's Elena?'
' She took her.' Elizabeth looked up at him pleadingly. ' I'm so sorry! I tried to save her...but Danae had her people with her. But, I will get her. I just have to go to the Carc, i mean Arc tomorrow and that's all. But, I have to help Danae and-Oh God.' Elizabeth stopped her pointless ranting.
' What?' Stefan looked at her in alarm. ' Did she do something to Elena?'
' No. The other people. I don't know what happened to them.' Elizabeth dropped the black ropes and ran towards the stairs.
The hallway of the Bed and Breakfast was absolutely damaged. The wallpapers were stripped off the walls, the paintings torn and the frames broken. The huge vase usually situated at the centre of the hallway lay on the carpet, broken, its pieces scattered haphazardly around the room.
Thelia, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast stood at the centre of the hallway, surveying the mess. She looked up when Elizabeth and Stefan came down the stairs.
' Oh my!' she gasped when she saw the purple bruise on Stefan's forehead and the cuts on Elizabeth hands and feet. ' They got you too!'
' What do you mean?'
' The thieves, of course.' Thelia began to pick up the broken pieces of vases. ' But you know the strangest thing? They only got away with 3 Francs.'
Elizabeth hesitated for a split second and then helped Thelia clean the mess up. While she helped the with the cleaning, she felt something deep inside her heart, something that told her that Danae's proposal wasn't a simple one, wasn't a win-win situation.
It was just a win situation and that Danae might be the winner.
Freedom.
She wanted to be free of Danae. She wanted to be free of the Vampire Council. She wanted to be free so that she can go outside without feeling eyes on her, without seeing glimpses of a red-headed woman, bent on killing her, everywhere. She wanted to be free of everything and just return back to her old place.
Elizabeth glowered at the frayed cuffs of her old laced nightgown. Right now, she would trade anything just to be back to the year 1869. If she could return back, everyone would win. Elizabeth would be back to her beloved hometown, the Vampire Council would have an easier job of just tracking down one Danae, not Danae and Elizabeth. And Danae's problem about Elizabeth having her powers would be...gone.
Angrily, she pulled at a loose thread of the frayed left cuff. It broke free of the cuff and floated slowly to the floor.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the garden. Elizabeth blinked slowly and saw that it was Elena, slowly approaching a small chipmunk. Her cupped hands held a handful of small nuts. Elizabeth smiled when the chipmunk got close to Elena and then darted away, causing the nuts to scatter across the grass.
Then, Elizabeth felt her smile slowly fade when another figure appeared behind Elena, a figure with vivid red hair.
' Elena!' Elizabeth screamed, banging the the window furiously, causing a small crack to appear. ' Elena!' she screamed again, trying the lock on the window. When they didn't open, Elizabeth ran for the door and found that it also wouldn't open. Picking up the chair from the dresser, Elizabeth threw it at the window and the glass shattered easily.
Leaping through the broken window, she landed lightly amidst the broken glass and felt some cut her bare feet and hands but she didn't care. Her vision was clouded with fury.
No one must die over me, she thought over and over again as she ran towards Elena.
Elena's look of relief at Elizabeth's arrival didn't last long. Her eyes widened at something behind Elizabeth and she reacted a little too late. A pair of big and very muscly hands clamped around her slim wrists, holding her back.
Danae watched as Elizabeth tried to free herself in genuine amusement. ' Don't try to fight him, Lizzie, or I shall have to use Elena to feed my army.'
Elizabeth froze and glared at Danae with so much hatred that Danae's composure broke a little and even Elena's face paled. ' Let her go,' she snarled.
Danae looked at her with a mock disapproving look on her face. ' Tsk, tsk, tsk. What would your mother think of you right now, Lady Elizabeth Davenport? Not behaving ladylike at all.'
' I don't know what my mother would think,' Elizabeth began slowly,' but I know what I'm thinking.'
Danae raised one eyebrow and looked at her. ' All right. I'll humor you. What are you thinking?'
Elizabeth smiled sweetly. ' I'm thinking that you should just go to he-' Her words were cut short when Elena screamed.
' I don't think I like how you're behaving, Lizzie. I came here to discuss a...proposal.'
' Proposal?' Elizabeth repeatedly blankly.
' Yes, proposal. I need you to come to the Arc de Triomphe to help me open the door. In return for helping me, I will give you Elena. It's quite simple actually and it's a win-win situation. You get to save Elena and I get my body.'
' The door?' Elizabeth asked again, feeling slightly woozy.
Danae sighed and when she spoke again, she spoke slowly, as if talking to an incompetent child. ' Yes, Lizzie, door. The thing that opens when you want to go to another room or place. My body lies beyond that door and I need your blood to do open it.'
Elizabeth looked up at her. ' What makes you think I will comply?'
Danae blinked, then looked vaguely annoyed. ' Well, I was under the impression that you didn't want anymore people to die because of you, but I guess I was wrong.' Quick as a flash of lightning, she took her dagger from her belt and pressed the tip of the blade to Elena's throat. Elizabeth saw a bead of blood appear.
Then, Danae released the dagger from Elena's throat and stared at Elizabeth icily. ' You see, Elizabeth, I still have some compassion in me, so I will give you one night to think about it.'
' One night?!'
' Yes. Which means I expect you to either arrive at the Arc tomorrow and help me or don't show up and Elena...becomes breakfast.'
The hands around the wrists loosened and Elizabeth felt painful prickles as the blood rushed hurriedly.
Feigning surrender, Elizabeth looked at the ground. ' Fine, I'll come tomorrow.'
Danae laughed. ' I thought so. I know you, Lizzie, and you hate to let people down. Shall we shake on it?' She offered her free hand out.
Elizabeth looked at it and started forwards. When she was close enough to Danae, she offered a hand as of to shake hers but instead knocked the knife out of her hands. Elizabeth was about to do more damage to the redhead when another pair of hands locked around her wrists.
' Let me go,' she yelled and punched the man who was holding her. Searing pain shot through her hand but Elizabeth felt relieved because the man was actually hurt.
When she turned around, she found the garden completely empty except for Danae's dagger on the ground, with a drop of Elena's blood still on it.
Stefan slowly opened his eyes when he felt something cold touch his face. His vision slowly cleared and he saw Elizabeth standing right in front of him, holding a large empty bucket.
' Why am I wet?' he asked her, confused when he felt water drip down his hair.
' I tried to wake you up,' she said and began untying the black velvet ropes that bound him tightly.
' Why am I tied up?' he asked her again.
' Danae was here,' Elizabeth whispered.
' Danae?' Suddenly Stefan's blank look cleared. ' Where's Elena?'
' She took her.' Elizabeth looked up at him pleadingly. ' I'm so sorry! I tried to save her...but Danae had her people with her. But, I will get her. I just have to go to the Carc, i mean Arc tomorrow and that's all. But, I have to help Danae and-Oh God.' Elizabeth stopped her pointless ranting.
' What?' Stefan looked at her in alarm. ' Did she do something to Elena?'
' No. The other people. I don't know what happened to them.' Elizabeth dropped the black ropes and ran towards the stairs.
The hallway of the Bed and Breakfast was absolutely damaged. The wallpapers were stripped off the walls, the paintings torn and the frames broken. The huge vase usually situated at the centre of the hallway lay on the carpet, broken, its pieces scattered haphazardly around the room.
Thelia, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast stood at the centre of the hallway, surveying the mess. She looked up when Elizabeth and Stefan came down the stairs.
' Oh my!' she gasped when she saw the purple bruise on Stefan's forehead and the cuts on Elizabeth hands and feet. ' They got you too!'
' What do you mean?'
' The thieves, of course.' Thelia began to pick up the broken pieces of vases. ' But you know the strangest thing? They only got away with 3 Francs.'
Elizabeth hesitated for a split second and then helped Thelia clean the mess up. While she helped the with the cleaning, she felt something deep inside her heart, something that told her that Danae's proposal wasn't a simple one, wasn't a win-win situation.
It was just a win situation and that Danae might be the winner.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Chapter 23
William Arthur Carstairs gazed at Elizabeth, his eyes glazed over, looking like a lovestruck fool. Which, he actually is.
Elizabeth was sitting at the window seat, a thick novel open at her lap. The window was open and sunlight streamed in from outside, bringing out the shining golden of her hair. Rather than wearing it up like she used to during the past, she wore her hair down now, and it waved gently down her back and past her shoulders in soft curls. Her eyes were still like shining emeralds, but upon a closer examination, he realised that it had lost their usual warmth and brightness.
William sighed inwardly. Perhaps if I didn't leave your side that night, we would still be together.
Suddenly, a figure appeared next to Elizabeth and William felt his vision cloud over. With anger and jealousy.
Stefan said something to her and she put her book down and disappeared from view. Stefan then made a move as if to close the windows but he stopped, his hand poised on the lock. Slowly, he looked up and met William's eyes.
Still here, Carstairs? he said through his mind.
William willed himself not to go over there and just rip his throat out. Yes, I'm still here after I saved your sorry, cowardly ass.
Stefan's delighted smile dropped and he clenched his hands into fists. Yeah, you're right. But as sorry or cowardly I was, I'm still the one who gets to see her smile everyday. He smirked visibly and the windows shut behind him.
A small squirrel passed by William who was still in his hiding spot and he glared angrily at it, for no reason at all. The squirrel froze, dropped the nuts it was carrying and scampered off.
Stefan Salvatore kept his eyes on Elizabeth all the way throughout dinner. She looked pale and slightly withdrawn and she just played with her dinner, piling the carrots up in a tower and arranging the small blocks of cheese in squares.
They were having dinner with the other occupants of the bed and breakfast, an old woman who had to squint at her meat to see what it was, a professor on a sabbatical whose nose was totally buried in a book all the time and a young man with wire-rimmed glasses who kept on stealing glances at Elizabeth and Elena.
The old woman suddenly looked up and peered at Elena in a very intimidating way. ' Young lady! You are slouching and you're posture is very bad!' Elena started at the sound of the ancient voice and straightened up, but apparently, the woman wasn't finished. ' And your elbows! Elbows must not touch the table during meals! And don't slouch! Back straight!' Elena cast the woman a very disgusted look which she, of course, didn't see, because she was now preying on Elizabeth
' You, young lady, have an excellent posture and table manners,' began the woman and Elizabeth just smiled timidly. ' but, you are playing with your food!' The woman rested a hand on her heart, as if shocked by the girls. ' My Lord! Who educated you on manners and etiquette? '
Elena and Elizabeth exchanged disbelieving looks, looks that said,' What the hell is this old bat going on about?'
Elizabeth wiped her mouth daintily using the laced napkin and stood up. ' Excuse me,' she said and curtsied at the woman. Elena had to stuff her mouth quickly with carrots to stifle her laughter.
The woman, however, looked pleased. 'Now that was a proper lady. Not like those bold and daring ones these days.'
Stefan pushed his chair away from the dining table, earning a very disapproving look from the woman, and caught up with Elizabeth.
' Elizabeth, are you...okay?' he asked her cautiously.
Elizabeth answered without looking up. ' Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired, that's all.'
He didn't buy it for even one second. ' You need to feed,' he decided.
She looked up at him, startled. ' No! I don't actually.'
' That wasn't a question nor am I giving you a choice, Liz.'
' I just need a good night's sleep and I'll be fine. I haven't really been sleeping well these days.' She edged towards the door of her bedroom.
' Liz-'
She suddenly turned around. ' Stefan! Stop worrying!' Slowly, she exhaled. ' I'm fine, okay? Don't worry about me.' Then, she slipped into her bedroom, leaving Stefan stunned outside.
Danae stood outside the old, quaint cottage for a while, feeling nervous, something she never ever felt before. Danae Vaughan was never nervous! Why, the very thought of it makes her shudder!
Determined, she strode forwards and knocked on the wooden door. Twice. Thrice. Once.
Immediately, the door opened. ' Punctuality isn't one of your best traits, huh?' said a soft voice.
Danae walked in with the air of someone used to attention and casually flicked her hair over her shoulder, not missing the appreciative gazes of the male vampires. ' You know I like to make an entrance, Arie,' she said to the female vampire who opened the door.
Arie, a petite and blond vampire, smiled at took her seat at the old upholstered pouffe and stared at Danae expectantly.
' Are all the Ancient Ones here?' she asked Arie, who nodded.
' Then, let's begin.' Danae let a small moment of silence hang in the room, satisfied by the eager looks on their faces and began. ' Those of you in here were humans, in your past life.' She put extra emphasis on the past tense. ' Be grateful that you are here though, because you are the ones with special abilities to help me rebuild my army.'
' Army?' called out an angry voice. ' What army?'
Danae turned around and faced the male vampire who spoke up. ' What's your name?' she demanded impatiently.
' Delos.' He answered with his chin slightly up, as if his very presence was an honor.
' Delos. What's special about you?'
Delos grinned mischievously and suddenly, every object in the room levitated a few feet above the ground, even the occupied ones. ' I can move objects and destroy them,' he said. As he spoke, the small lantern by the door shattered into tiny pieces.
Danae nodded, impressed. ' Let's begin a roll call and explain and demonstrate what you can do.'
A very beautiful and tall girl, with long auburn hair down her waist stood up. She had large almond shaped hazelnut eyes and perfect features. Delos looked at the girl with an appreciative glint in his eyes.
' I'm Chantal Duquesne and I can do this,' said the girl, confident. She focused on Danae and suddenly, Danae found herself on the floor, weak and slightly dizzy. Chantal smiled to herself and Delos was now looking at her as if he was about to worship her.
Slowly, Danae got up and tried to stand up straight.
' I can drain all off your energy and power,' explained Chantal.
' Excellent,' Danae replied,' but don't experiment it on me ever again.'
Chantal nodded, still smiling.
Suddenly, a tiny light switched on inside Danae's mind. ' Did you say...Chantal Duquesne?'
Chantal nodded.
Danae smiled and her eyes glinted with mischief. ' Well, well, well. Look who ended up on my front porch.'
Elizabeth was sitting at the window seat, a thick novel open at her lap. The window was open and sunlight streamed in from outside, bringing out the shining golden of her hair. Rather than wearing it up like she used to during the past, she wore her hair down now, and it waved gently down her back and past her shoulders in soft curls. Her eyes were still like shining emeralds, but upon a closer examination, he realised that it had lost their usual warmth and brightness.
William sighed inwardly. Perhaps if I didn't leave your side that night, we would still be together.
Suddenly, a figure appeared next to Elizabeth and William felt his vision cloud over. With anger and jealousy.
Stefan said something to her and she put her book down and disappeared from view. Stefan then made a move as if to close the windows but he stopped, his hand poised on the lock. Slowly, he looked up and met William's eyes.
Still here, Carstairs? he said through his mind.
William willed himself not to go over there and just rip his throat out. Yes, I'm still here after I saved your sorry, cowardly ass.
Stefan's delighted smile dropped and he clenched his hands into fists. Yeah, you're right. But as sorry or cowardly I was, I'm still the one who gets to see her smile everyday. He smirked visibly and the windows shut behind him.
A small squirrel passed by William who was still in his hiding spot and he glared angrily at it, for no reason at all. The squirrel froze, dropped the nuts it was carrying and scampered off.
Stefan Salvatore kept his eyes on Elizabeth all the way throughout dinner. She looked pale and slightly withdrawn and she just played with her dinner, piling the carrots up in a tower and arranging the small blocks of cheese in squares.
They were having dinner with the other occupants of the bed and breakfast, an old woman who had to squint at her meat to see what it was, a professor on a sabbatical whose nose was totally buried in a book all the time and a young man with wire-rimmed glasses who kept on stealing glances at Elizabeth and Elena.
The old woman suddenly looked up and peered at Elena in a very intimidating way. ' Young lady! You are slouching and you're posture is very bad!' Elena started at the sound of the ancient voice and straightened up, but apparently, the woman wasn't finished. ' And your elbows! Elbows must not touch the table during meals! And don't slouch! Back straight!' Elena cast the woman a very disgusted look which she, of course, didn't see, because she was now preying on Elizabeth
' You, young lady, have an excellent posture and table manners,' began the woman and Elizabeth just smiled timidly. ' but, you are playing with your food!' The woman rested a hand on her heart, as if shocked by the girls. ' My Lord! Who educated you on manners and etiquette? '
Elena and Elizabeth exchanged disbelieving looks, looks that said,' What the hell is this old bat going on about?'
Elizabeth wiped her mouth daintily using the laced napkin and stood up. ' Excuse me,' she said and curtsied at the woman. Elena had to stuff her mouth quickly with carrots to stifle her laughter.
The woman, however, looked pleased. 'Now that was a proper lady. Not like those bold and daring ones these days.'
Stefan pushed his chair away from the dining table, earning a very disapproving look from the woman, and caught up with Elizabeth.
' Elizabeth, are you...okay?' he asked her cautiously.
Elizabeth answered without looking up. ' Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired, that's all.'
He didn't buy it for even one second. ' You need to feed,' he decided.
She looked up at him, startled. ' No! I don't actually.'
' That wasn't a question nor am I giving you a choice, Liz.'
' I just need a good night's sleep and I'll be fine. I haven't really been sleeping well these days.' She edged towards the door of her bedroom.
' Liz-'
She suddenly turned around. ' Stefan! Stop worrying!' Slowly, she exhaled. ' I'm fine, okay? Don't worry about me.' Then, she slipped into her bedroom, leaving Stefan stunned outside.
Danae stood outside the old, quaint cottage for a while, feeling nervous, something she never ever felt before. Danae Vaughan was never nervous! Why, the very thought of it makes her shudder!
Determined, she strode forwards and knocked on the wooden door. Twice. Thrice. Once.
Immediately, the door opened. ' Punctuality isn't one of your best traits, huh?' said a soft voice.
Danae walked in with the air of someone used to attention and casually flicked her hair over her shoulder, not missing the appreciative gazes of the male vampires. ' You know I like to make an entrance, Arie,' she said to the female vampire who opened the door.
Arie, a petite and blond vampire, smiled at took her seat at the old upholstered pouffe and stared at Danae expectantly.
' Are all the Ancient Ones here?' she asked Arie, who nodded.
' Then, let's begin.' Danae let a small moment of silence hang in the room, satisfied by the eager looks on their faces and began. ' Those of you in here were humans, in your past life.' She put extra emphasis on the past tense. ' Be grateful that you are here though, because you are the ones with special abilities to help me rebuild my army.'
' Army?' called out an angry voice. ' What army?'
Danae turned around and faced the male vampire who spoke up. ' What's your name?' she demanded impatiently.
' Delos.' He answered with his chin slightly up, as if his very presence was an honor.
' Delos. What's special about you?'
Delos grinned mischievously and suddenly, every object in the room levitated a few feet above the ground, even the occupied ones. ' I can move objects and destroy them,' he said. As he spoke, the small lantern by the door shattered into tiny pieces.
Danae nodded, impressed. ' Let's begin a roll call and explain and demonstrate what you can do.'
A very beautiful and tall girl, with long auburn hair down her waist stood up. She had large almond shaped hazelnut eyes and perfect features. Delos looked at the girl with an appreciative glint in his eyes.
' I'm Chantal Duquesne and I can do this,' said the girl, confident. She focused on Danae and suddenly, Danae found herself on the floor, weak and slightly dizzy. Chantal smiled to herself and Delos was now looking at her as if he was about to worship her.
Slowly, Danae got up and tried to stand up straight.
' I can drain all off your energy and power,' explained Chantal.
' Excellent,' Danae replied,' but don't experiment it on me ever again.'
Chantal nodded, still smiling.
Suddenly, a tiny light switched on inside Danae's mind. ' Did you say...Chantal Duquesne?'
Chantal nodded.
Danae smiled and her eyes glinted with mischief. ' Well, well, well. Look who ended up on my front porch.'
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Chapter 22
"Lizzie!" called a faint voice that was barely heard.
Elizabeth felt light-headed although her eyes were still closed. The faint voice slowly reached her ears, slowly registering into her mind. She felt as if she was pulling herself together again. Her vision was unusually unclear and the scene of Stefan and Elena seemed, smeared but quickly restored to normal.
Stefan was unbelievably worried -more worried than he usually was- whenever she was out. Images of her dream when she was unconscious suddenly flashed through her memory. Very brief yet very apparent. Elana, too, was somehow concerned about Elizabeth's condition. She wondered whether Elizabeth was suffering from some kind of disease. Well, it was because Elizabeth faints a lot.
"Stefan?" Elizabeth croaked, uncertain whether she was conscious or it was all a part of her dream.
"Your breathing is not constant. Are you alright?"
Elizabeth realised she could hardly catch a breath. A normal one at that. She was already back at her bed, at the hotel they were in. She then glanced down at her neck and found a topaz pendant hanging freely just above her chest, lower below her neck. Warily, she reached for the pendant and memories of Will flooded her thoughts in an instant. She jumped in astonishment as she just figured. About how magical it could be.
Stefan was watching Elizabeth in amusement. And in curiosity. He didn't mean to pry into Elizabeth's thoughts, but he was eager to know whether it was him Elizabeth was thinking about.
"Lizzie? What are you thinking about?"
Millions of thoughts suddenly occurred to him that it might not be him. Of course, he wouldn't want to frustrate himself if the man -or possibly anyone- Elizabeth was thinking of wasn't him.
"I just remembered about my.. dreams when I fainted. It was more of a sleep, isn't it? I just felt so peaceful." She turned to face Stefan. "And then you woke me."
"Well, you don't want to fall into a peaceful sleep, do you?"
Elizabeth knew what he meant. He meant to die. Elizabeth smirked and said, "I see no one wants me to. Thanks for waking me. But really, I still need rest."
Elena was out of sight by the time Stefan did something very sudden and unpredicted. He leaned forward and kissed Elizabeth on the lips. Elizabeth could feel her adrenaline rose from her feet to the top of her head through her veins. It was a warm, subtle kiss. Until Will's images came back to her mind.
She broke away the kiss and shoved Stefan an inch away from her. Stefan realised he might have overdone it and rushed things through. He knew Elizabeth wasn't ready after Will's death. He simply nodded and wished her goodnight.
Elana wasn't back in the room yet and Stefan shut the door gently. Elizabeth stared at her topaz pendant and wondered about Will's words when she was dreaming. Do I really love Stefan? But Will's alive. she thought. She recalled again that even Will said to her that he's only alive within her. Elizabeth smiled and kissed the pendant a goodnight and soon drifted to sleep.
Little did she know, William Carstairs was watching her the whole time since she was conscious.
"Can you still track her?" Charlie's voice could be heard from the intercom machine.
A group of people, from the Council, jumped almost an inch from the ground as they heard their master's voice. The cards they had been playing, as if they were jobless the minute before, were now scattered on the table. Conrad, the naturally French guy who just recovered from the ice incident, was testing his luck on winning the "Big Two" game. Which, unfortunately, he failed. He was winning, of course, until Charlie's voice interrupted.
"Jesus! Does he not know the 'Perfect Timing'?" Conrad exclaimed, still stunned.
"I heard you, Conrad!" Charlie replied, annoyed.
One of the guys there, Alvin, mouthed "YOU'RE DEAD" to Conrad with his hand gesture of cutting through his neck. The others stifled a laugh by covering their mouth and Conrad flushed.
"Still there, Conrad? I asked you a question." said Charlie, who sounded as amused as Conrad's friends.
"Yes, sir. Should we prepare for another attack or should we give it a rest?" Conrad sounded as if he was pleading towards the end of his sentence.
"Why why, I see someone is still distressed about his injury,"
This time, Conrad's friends couldn't stop themselves from laughing out loud. And so did Charlie.
Charlie hadn't laughed so hard since the absence of Danae in his life. Even Poesy hadn't made him laugh like that. Not that Poesy hadn't tried. In fact, she's tried a lot of times, but Charlie refused to open his mind for children's jokes. Now that he came to think of it, he was aware that he hadn't spent any precious times with his only daughter.
"Daddy?" came in Poesy's voice.
Charlie didn't notice Poesy's presence and he straightened his position, forgetting what he just thought about. Forgetting about his realisation.
"Poesy." he replied sternly.
"Daddy, I miss the old you."
Charlie looked at his 12 years old daughter who was craving for her father's love and attention. She was about 149cm tall with a blonde hair hung loose just below her shoulder. She was dressed in a simple yet attractive sleeveless shirt with three quarter blue jeans. Her eyes reminded him of his late wife, Danae. Charlie pulled his daughter to an embrace and promised her that he'll try his best not to neglect her again.
Stefan couldn't keep his eyes close that night. He was contemplating why Elizabeth murmured 'Will' before she fainted. Is Will alive? a thought arose in Stefan's mind.
He was now sitting up straight on his bed unsure of what to do, or what to think of. He felt some kind of stabbing on his heart. A pang of jealousy. The thought of Elizabeth still loves William frustrated him. He knew, of course, that Will was her first love and he wasn't. He sighed and had no choice but to sleep. To abolish any kinds of thoughts in his mind. In other words, to run away for a while.
Elizabeth felt light-headed although her eyes were still closed. The faint voice slowly reached her ears, slowly registering into her mind. She felt as if she was pulling herself together again. Her vision was unusually unclear and the scene of Stefan and Elena seemed, smeared but quickly restored to normal.
Stefan was unbelievably worried -more worried than he usually was- whenever she was out. Images of her dream when she was unconscious suddenly flashed through her memory. Very brief yet very apparent. Elana, too, was somehow concerned about Elizabeth's condition. She wondered whether Elizabeth was suffering from some kind of disease. Well, it was because Elizabeth faints a lot.
"Stefan?" Elizabeth croaked, uncertain whether she was conscious or it was all a part of her dream.
"Your breathing is not constant. Are you alright?"
Elizabeth realised she could hardly catch a breath. A normal one at that. She was already back at her bed, at the hotel they were in. She then glanced down at her neck and found a topaz pendant hanging freely just above her chest, lower below her neck. Warily, she reached for the pendant and memories of Will flooded her thoughts in an instant. She jumped in astonishment as she just figured. About how magical it could be.
Stefan was watching Elizabeth in amusement. And in curiosity. He didn't mean to pry into Elizabeth's thoughts, but he was eager to know whether it was him Elizabeth was thinking about.
"Lizzie? What are you thinking about?"
Millions of thoughts suddenly occurred to him that it might not be him. Of course, he wouldn't want to frustrate himself if the man -or possibly anyone- Elizabeth was thinking of wasn't him.
"I just remembered about my.. dreams when I fainted. It was more of a sleep, isn't it? I just felt so peaceful." She turned to face Stefan. "And then you woke me."
"Well, you don't want to fall into a peaceful sleep, do you?"
Elizabeth knew what he meant. He meant to die. Elizabeth smirked and said, "I see no one wants me to. Thanks for waking me. But really, I still need rest."
Elena was out of sight by the time Stefan did something very sudden and unpredicted. He leaned forward and kissed Elizabeth on the lips. Elizabeth could feel her adrenaline rose from her feet to the top of her head through her veins. It was a warm, subtle kiss. Until Will's images came back to her mind.
She broke away the kiss and shoved Stefan an inch away from her. Stefan realised he might have overdone it and rushed things through. He knew Elizabeth wasn't ready after Will's death. He simply nodded and wished her goodnight.
Elana wasn't back in the room yet and Stefan shut the door gently. Elizabeth stared at her topaz pendant and wondered about Will's words when she was dreaming. Do I really love Stefan? But Will's alive. she thought. She recalled again that even Will said to her that he's only alive within her. Elizabeth smiled and kissed the pendant a goodnight and soon drifted to sleep.
Little did she know, William Carstairs was watching her the whole time since she was conscious.
"Can you still track her?" Charlie's voice could be heard from the intercom machine.
A group of people, from the Council, jumped almost an inch from the ground as they heard their master's voice. The cards they had been playing, as if they were jobless the minute before, were now scattered on the table. Conrad, the naturally French guy who just recovered from the ice incident, was testing his luck on winning the "Big Two" game. Which, unfortunately, he failed. He was winning, of course, until Charlie's voice interrupted.
"Jesus! Does he not know the 'Perfect Timing'?" Conrad exclaimed, still stunned.
"I heard you, Conrad!" Charlie replied, annoyed.
One of the guys there, Alvin, mouthed "YOU'RE DEAD" to Conrad with his hand gesture of cutting through his neck. The others stifled a laugh by covering their mouth and Conrad flushed.
"Still there, Conrad? I asked you a question." said Charlie, who sounded as amused as Conrad's friends.
"Yes, sir. Should we prepare for another attack or should we give it a rest?" Conrad sounded as if he was pleading towards the end of his sentence.
"Why why, I see someone is still distressed about his injury,"
This time, Conrad's friends couldn't stop themselves from laughing out loud. And so did Charlie.
Charlie hadn't laughed so hard since the absence of Danae in his life. Even Poesy hadn't made him laugh like that. Not that Poesy hadn't tried. In fact, she's tried a lot of times, but Charlie refused to open his mind for children's jokes. Now that he came to think of it, he was aware that he hadn't spent any precious times with his only daughter.
"Daddy?" came in Poesy's voice.
Charlie didn't notice Poesy's presence and he straightened his position, forgetting what he just thought about. Forgetting about his realisation.
"Poesy." he replied sternly.
"Daddy, I miss the old you."
Charlie looked at his 12 years old daughter who was craving for her father's love and attention. She was about 149cm tall with a blonde hair hung loose just below her shoulder. She was dressed in a simple yet attractive sleeveless shirt with three quarter blue jeans. Her eyes reminded him of his late wife, Danae. Charlie pulled his daughter to an embrace and promised her that he'll try his best not to neglect her again.
Stefan couldn't keep his eyes close that night. He was contemplating why Elizabeth murmured 'Will' before she fainted. Is Will alive? a thought arose in Stefan's mind.
He was now sitting up straight on his bed unsure of what to do, or what to think of. He felt some kind of stabbing on his heart. A pang of jealousy. The thought of Elizabeth still loves William frustrated him. He knew, of course, that Will was her first love and he wasn't. He sighed and had no choice but to sleep. To abolish any kinds of thoughts in his mind. In other words, to run away for a while.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Chapter 21
Stefan woke up, startled. He scanned the room and nothing was wrong. He didn't know what woke him up but he knew something was wrong. He couldn't resist the uneasiness he felt laying on the bed as if he was living a normal life. No, his life wasn't normal. His life was where vampire existed. A bloodsucking monster who needs human blood to survive. And he was a human, a vampire guardian, who was protecting a monster. Which didn't actually make sense. Another thing was, he tend to protect Elizabeth, a vampire, a powerful one too, no matter what. He knew her not long ago, but still he felt the connection between them. And currently, he felt she was not near.
Instantly, he jumped off his bed and went to the next room through the door connecting the other room. Elena was sleeping soundlessly on her bed. The other bed was empty. Stefan clutched his hand into a fist. He cursed under his breath.
" Elena, wake up! " Stefan shook Elena vigorously.
Elena's eyelids fluttered open and stared at Stefan's grey eyes. The colour of his eyes somehow seemed darker than the usual. His eyes showed he was angry. Very angry.
" What? '' Elena asked.
" Where's Elizabeth?"
" She's asle- " Elena pointed to the bed next to her's and went silent as she was pointing to an empty bed.
Stefan looked around the room and realised the french doors to the blacony wasn't fully closed. Wind was billowing from outside. " She's outside. Come on, " Stefan ordered.
They walked out the French doors and they caught sight of Elizabeth, sitting on the garden, her hair covering her whole face. There were puddles around her. Big ones. As if an iceberg, melted there. Without hesitating any longer, Stefan jumped down to the garden and ran towards Elizabeth.
" Lizzie! What are doing here in the middle of the night?" Stefan yelled, sounded angry than worried.
Elizabeth didn't reply, instead she was sobbing. Stefan then removed Elizabeth's hair away from her face. Her delicate white feature was covered with tears. Her eyes were red due to the tears she let out. Stefan's anger evaporated. She looked.. very fragile. She wasn't monster. She was just a vampire. She could even be more or less a human. A slightest word could make her shattered into million pieces.
" I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. You were missing and I was angry at myself that I would let you go missing. I'm sorry. But what were you doing here? "
" The... council found us. And Will.." Elizabeth replied, shivering.
Elena only stood behind them and kept quiet.
Then, Elizabeth fainted.
Conrad entered Charlie's room with a sharp ice sticking out from his right shoulder. Blood was dripping to Charlie's thousand dollars carpet.
" What the hell happened to you?" Charlie's eyes were wide open.
" nous avons trouvé la fille, Elizabeth Davenport. "
" She's in France? Where? How?"
" Oui. " he coughed, "I saw her feed on someone. I followed her with some vampires. She's living somewhere public. So, we could't ambush her. I lured her to me last night, it worked but when we were about to catch her , shards of ice were hitting us all. And that explains this ice sticking out of me." Conrad laughed as if it was funny but then he flinched.
" But.. the weird this was, the ice came out from nowhere. I dont think it was the girl doing it. She was hit to the ground, she couldn't adjust her power that fast even though she is that powerful. I guess there is an ice element vampire with her. I dont see one though. I only see her with two vermins. Siblings, perhaps. "
" Ice element vampire? There are only few of them exist, " Charlie thought.
" Monsieur, can she really be a threat to us? The girl is weak and she doesn't even truly know about her powers. She's more like a human than a vampire." Conrad stopped talking and looked at Charlie who was seemed to be deep in thought.
Charlie absorbed all Conrad's words. Can she really be a threat to us?
" Yes she can. Don't underestimate her. Most probably, she would use her power to do what Danae did centuries ago. That will never happen again. So now we know where she is. We'll observe her every move. We can't just take her just like so just let her be first. If she does anything against vampire rule, we'll get her right away. For now, we have to be ready just in case if she... " Charlie trailed off with his plan to get Elizabeth.
" Okay, enough talk. Merci pour votre aide. Go to Melvin, he can remove that ice and heal you in seconds. He's on the second floor, " Charlie said, bowing, showing his respect to Conrad.
"... she was captured by the Ancient ones. One of them was her husband, Charlie, " Roxanne exclaimed.
" Wow. That must be hard for him. What did they do when they caught her? Did they kill her? " Jenne asked curiously.
" No, they couldn't find a way to kill her. She would use her power to fight against them if they tried to kill her. So, one of the Ancient one put her to sleep. A long one that is. They say they locked her up underground, in a tomb. The tomb was enchanted with powers of the Ancient Ones who sarcrified themselves so the their power to hold. Even if Danae is awake, she couldn't free herself because the tomb can only be open from the outside. However, that's not the only obstacle to get to her tomb. Rumors say that there is this big stone door, also enchanted with power that it needs blood to be open. It can only be open by Danae's blood from the outside. But she's inside, so it was impossible for her to be free. "
" So.. where's her tomb? "
" I don't know. The council never told anyone. It was the most very secret of the coucil that would never be revealed. "
" Damn, our kind of rumors are so awesome! How did you get all of this anyway? "
" Rumors from the council. I was lazy to hunt yesterday so I went there to get some blood and overheard them talking. Currently, they're searching for this girl named Elizabeth Davenport... " Roxanne continued her story with Jenne while jogging in the park like any human would do.
Except they weren't human.
---
His jet-black shined under the moonlight. He didn't move an inch. He only stood there, watching from the thick trees. Elizabeth shouted his name. He was stepping back, each second, he was getting farther away.
" Will! " Elizabeth shouted.
No reply.
Elizabeth ran towards the dark thick trees. Trying to catch up with Will. His eyes were still there, watching her. As Elizabeth ran further, his silhouette was disappearing. Later, she stopped. She was lost in the woods. Lost and alone.
" Will! " Elizabeth shouted again.
Elizabeth started crying. She was alone.
" You're not alone, " a voice came from behind her.
Elizabeth turned around and saw William Carstairs stood in front of her. Smiling.
" You left me. "
" No, " Will replied flatly.
He moved towards Elizabeth and hugged her.
" I missed you. "
" You left me, " she repeated again.
Elizabeth suddenly felt warm in Will's arm. Nothing matters to Elizabeth now except him.
" You love Stefan. "
Elizabeth felt her heart stopped.
" No. "
" Not a question, Lizzie. " Will smiled.
" I-"
Will shh-ed her. " love you. "
" Where are you, Will? "
Will laughed. Then, he kissed Elizabeth forehead and pointed at her left chest.
" There. "
Elizabeth blushed.
" You're not dead, right? "
Will's face changed. He didn't look happy.
" I'm not sure. "
" What do you mean?" she asked, surprised by his answer.
Will was about to say something when suddenly everything went into a blur.
There was a whisper. With Elizabeth vampire senses she heard the words clearly.
" Never take off the topaz pendant, Elizabeth. Never. "
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Chapter 20
Danae stood back and inspected the long descending ladder that led to the catacomb under the famed Arc de Triomphe. It descended about twenty feet below the ground level and she could hear the sound of water dripping steadily.
Shaking out her long lustrous mane of fiery red hair, Danae slowly knelt down and further inspected the entrance. A light breeze blew around her and she saw a figure stop metres away from her from the corner of her eye.
It was the Arc's night guard.
'Vous! Vous n'êtes pas autorisés à être ici!' he yelled, waving a flashlight at her. ' You're not authorised to be here,' he yelled again, trying to inject more authority into his voice. A wide beam of bright light hit Danae and she refrained herself from flinching. She always had an issue with bright lights.
Slowly, she stood up and the guard stopped. She knew what he was seeing. Danae was still clad in black and with her swirling red hair and the light surrounding her, she almost looked...ethereal. Then, Danae intentionally let her two long and sharp canine teeth lengthen and relished in the guard's fear.
The flashlight clattered to the pavement and the guard slowly backed off, finally breaking into a run when she took two small steps forward.
Danae watched him for a while and then waved a hand dismissively around her. Instantly, white mist swirled around her, covering her from view. Lightly, she placed her palms on either side of the entrance and landed gracefully on her palms and feet. Ahead of her, a narrow tunnel stretched out, illuminated only by the street light coming from the entrance above.
She stepped forward cautiously and heard a splashing sound. Heather was suddenly screaming at her from inside her mind.
' You! You could've ruined my boots! Do you know how much Christian Lounboutin costs? Do you know how much trouble I got in just to get it OFF THE RUNWAY?!'
Sighing, Danae walked forward and soon, Heather was silent once more. Danae walked further down the tunnel, which slowly grew darker and darker. Her hands felt around in the dark and encountered something hard. Something made of stone. She flicked her fingers impatiently at a nearby torch hanging from the damp stone wall and it lit up immediately. But instead of burning with fire, a flickering white sphere of light was in its place.
The heavy iron torch felt heavy and foreign in her hands and rust and grime stuck on her hands but Danae ignored that. She held the torch up to her eye level and immediately, a door appeared in front of her.
The door looked ancient, with large brass knobs. There were etchings on the door, meaningless lines and spirals on the door, as if made by a talentless wannabe Picasso.
Danae carefully touched the knob and her fingertips suddenly burned. Quickly, she pulled them away, feeling her fingers throb with pain. Then, she remembered. Elizabeth said something about blood. Excited, Danae reached down and broke of a piece of the torch and held the sharp end to her palm. Quickly, she scratched her palm with the piece of the torch and pressed her hand to the door.
Then, as if blown by a strong gust of wind, Danae was thrown backwards and hit the wall with such a strong impact that the catacomb shook.
Elizabeth's blood, she thought, cursing the blasted girl. Only Elizabeth can open this door.
Snarling under her breath, she set off towards the entrance and could only console herself by feeding on the night guard.
Elizabeth Davenport felt someone call to her. Summoning her to walk towards them. It was like a music pleasant to the ears and it made you want to hear more.
Slowly and without realising that she was doing so, she sat up and hopped off the bed lightly. Still dressed in her silk empire waist night dress, she opened the French doors that led to the small balcony. Inside the bedroom, Elena was still asleep, snoring delicately into her pillow.
The voice called to her again and Elizabeth leapt of the balcony with such grace and poise, you would you think she's been jumping off balconies for centuries. The thorny bushes of red roses snagged her dress but she was beyond noticing. The voice still called to her and she was...hypnotised by it.
A dark figure was resting against the orange brick wall and the figure looked up when Elizabeth's ghostly white figure came into view. It was Conrad, the most talented Caller or the Council. His ability to attract people to him was unmatched and not one person could restrain themselves from his calling.
Conrad whistled under his breath and more dark figures crept out from behind the various bushes of flowers.
All at once, the voice stopped calling to Elizabeth and she suddenly realised where she was. The cold night breeze whipped around her harshly and her night dress was no match for it. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness and saw dark figures closing in on her.
Her first instinct was to run but they would probably catch her in half a second. Then, she resorted to using her powers. Kneeling down and touching the ground, she closed her eyes and felt the earth respond. Suddenly, the rose bushes clamped themselves around the vampires and dug their thorns in. Elizabeth chose that moment to escape but a figure stepped out in front of her. With one simple wave, Elizabeth was thrown off into the centre once again.
The roses immediately loosened themselves when they felt her weaken and the vampires closed in on her.
Suddenly, there was a great gush of cold wind and perfect little five-pointed glaces started attacking the vampires one by one. The pointed ends of the ice was so sharp, it almost broke through the brick wall.
The vampires had no hope of surviving the ice and started to slowly disappear, leaving Elizabeth all alone in the garden, now blanketed in white ice. A shadow started to approach her from beyond the icy ground.
With her excellent eyesight, Elizabeth could see that the shadow had familiar tousled black hair and shining pale blue eyes.
' Will?' she whispered, tears stinging her eyes.
The shadow simply gazed at her before he, too, disappeared.
Shaking out her long lustrous mane of fiery red hair, Danae slowly knelt down and further inspected the entrance. A light breeze blew around her and she saw a figure stop metres away from her from the corner of her eye.
It was the Arc's night guard.
'Vous! Vous n'êtes pas autorisés à être ici!' he yelled, waving a flashlight at her. ' You're not authorised to be here,' he yelled again, trying to inject more authority into his voice. A wide beam of bright light hit Danae and she refrained herself from flinching. She always had an issue with bright lights.
Slowly, she stood up and the guard stopped. She knew what he was seeing. Danae was still clad in black and with her swirling red hair and the light surrounding her, she almost looked...ethereal. Then, Danae intentionally let her two long and sharp canine teeth lengthen and relished in the guard's fear.
The flashlight clattered to the pavement and the guard slowly backed off, finally breaking into a run when she took two small steps forward.
Danae watched him for a while and then waved a hand dismissively around her. Instantly, white mist swirled around her, covering her from view. Lightly, she placed her palms on either side of the entrance and landed gracefully on her palms and feet. Ahead of her, a narrow tunnel stretched out, illuminated only by the street light coming from the entrance above.
She stepped forward cautiously and heard a splashing sound. Heather was suddenly screaming at her from inside her mind.
' You! You could've ruined my boots! Do you know how much Christian Lounboutin costs? Do you know how much trouble I got in just to get it OFF THE RUNWAY?!'
Sighing, Danae walked forward and soon, Heather was silent once more. Danae walked further down the tunnel, which slowly grew darker and darker. Her hands felt around in the dark and encountered something hard. Something made of stone. She flicked her fingers impatiently at a nearby torch hanging from the damp stone wall and it lit up immediately. But instead of burning with fire, a flickering white sphere of light was in its place.
The heavy iron torch felt heavy and foreign in her hands and rust and grime stuck on her hands but Danae ignored that. She held the torch up to her eye level and immediately, a door appeared in front of her.
The door looked ancient, with large brass knobs. There were etchings on the door, meaningless lines and spirals on the door, as if made by a talentless wannabe Picasso.
Danae carefully touched the knob and her fingertips suddenly burned. Quickly, she pulled them away, feeling her fingers throb with pain. Then, she remembered. Elizabeth said something about blood. Excited, Danae reached down and broke of a piece of the torch and held the sharp end to her palm. Quickly, she scratched her palm with the piece of the torch and pressed her hand to the door.
Then, as if blown by a strong gust of wind, Danae was thrown backwards and hit the wall with such a strong impact that the catacomb shook.
Elizabeth's blood, she thought, cursing the blasted girl. Only Elizabeth can open this door.
Snarling under her breath, she set off towards the entrance and could only console herself by feeding on the night guard.
Elizabeth Davenport felt someone call to her. Summoning her to walk towards them. It was like a music pleasant to the ears and it made you want to hear more.
Slowly and without realising that she was doing so, she sat up and hopped off the bed lightly. Still dressed in her silk empire waist night dress, she opened the French doors that led to the small balcony. Inside the bedroom, Elena was still asleep, snoring delicately into her pillow.
The voice called to her again and Elizabeth leapt of the balcony with such grace and poise, you would you think she's been jumping off balconies for centuries. The thorny bushes of red roses snagged her dress but she was beyond noticing. The voice still called to her and she was...hypnotised by it.
A dark figure was resting against the orange brick wall and the figure looked up when Elizabeth's ghostly white figure came into view. It was Conrad, the most talented Caller or the Council. His ability to attract people to him was unmatched and not one person could restrain themselves from his calling.
Conrad whistled under his breath and more dark figures crept out from behind the various bushes of flowers.
All at once, the voice stopped calling to Elizabeth and she suddenly realised where she was. The cold night breeze whipped around her harshly and her night dress was no match for it. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness and saw dark figures closing in on her.
Her first instinct was to run but they would probably catch her in half a second. Then, she resorted to using her powers. Kneeling down and touching the ground, she closed her eyes and felt the earth respond. Suddenly, the rose bushes clamped themselves around the vampires and dug their thorns in. Elizabeth chose that moment to escape but a figure stepped out in front of her. With one simple wave, Elizabeth was thrown off into the centre once again.
The roses immediately loosened themselves when they felt her weaken and the vampires closed in on her.
Suddenly, there was a great gush of cold wind and perfect little five-pointed glaces started attacking the vampires one by one. The pointed ends of the ice was so sharp, it almost broke through the brick wall.
The vampires had no hope of surviving the ice and started to slowly disappear, leaving Elizabeth all alone in the garden, now blanketed in white ice. A shadow started to approach her from beyond the icy ground.
With her excellent eyesight, Elizabeth could see that the shadow had familiar tousled black hair and shining pale blue eyes.
' Will?' she whispered, tears stinging her eyes.
The shadow simply gazed at her before he, too, disappeared.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Chapter 19
Elizabeth felt as if life in the airport had all stopped when she faced Danae. With her long red hair billowing around her by an invisible wind, she couldn't help but feel a bit...terrified.
Here was the woman who had single-handedly ruined the ancient's coven, the woman who had bewitched dozens of men to do her bidding, the woman whose powers if gone into the wrong hands would probably cause the Third World War.
And Elizabeth was about to duel with her, right in public. She began to realise how incredibly stupid accepting Danae's challenge was, and losing control of her powers made her feel weak and tired. Right at that moment, Elizabeth suddenly felt unusually dizzy. Staggering slightly, she pressed the tip of her fingers to her temple.
' Elizabeth!' Stefan rushed forward, concerned. Elena was about to step forward but hung back when Danae turned her glare onto her.
' The old 'i'm-getting-weak-please-help-me' game is getting kind of old, Elizabeth,' mocked Danae, inspecting her long French manicured nails.
' She really is weak,' Elena spoke up, defending Elizabeth. ' She almost used up all her energy back at home, when she lost control of her power.'
Danae raised one perfectly curved eyebrow and looked up, her eyes flashing momentarily at Elena, causing her to shrink back again. Then, she turned her attention back to Elizabeth, whose face was getting paler with each passing second.
Sighing, Danae straightened up and fluffed her hair casually. ' Since I don't fight weak and helpless enemies, I guess our little date will have to be postponed. It's a shame, really. I was quite looking forward to this.' Slowly, she turned around and headed for the crowd who seemed to be ignoring them. Then, just as she was walking away, she muttered under her breath.
' Amateurs. You can never depend on them for a decent fight every now and then.'
Back at the main headquarters of the Vampire Council, Charlie sat with his head in his hands, feeling as if the weight of the whole world was on him. Centuries ago, he had failed his coven in trying to protect them. Today, he was going to fail them again if Elizabeth wasn't found immediately.
The heavy, deep red curtains in his office were drawn, making the spacious room eerie. The large grandfather clock at the far end of the room ticked by noisily and the only light in the room came from the digital clock on his desk.
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door and Charlie raised his head up. The door was pushed open hesitantly and Poesy, his adopted daughter poked her head in. He smiled at her and told her to come in. Judging by the red tint that had taken place on her usually pale pink cheeks and how windswept her chestnut coloured hair looked, he guessed that she was probably back from her riding lessons.
' Back from horse riding?' he asked her, snapping his fingers twice. The room was instantly flooded with bright light.
Poesy quickly made herself comfortable with the plump armchair in front of him and started lifting up the various files on Charlie's table and flipping through them aimlessly. Then, she started turning the miniature globe on the desk, spinning it loudly.
' Why are you here, Poesy?' he asked her, slowly rearranging the files back into their usual stacks.
Poesy stopped spinning the globe and leaned back into the armchair. ' I just wanted to ask you....for your permission because our school is having a trip to Cabo San Lucas and I have to be there, dad. If I don't show up, Rin is going to have a blast ordering people around. Not to mention that not showing up is equals to social suicide.'
Charlie just stared at the frame he kept in his secret drawer while his daughter babbled away. It showed a very tall and beautiful woman, with golden hair waving gently down her back. In that picture, Danae was sitting on a large rock, her chin resting on her hands. Braided around her head was a crown made of tiny leaves and she wore a goddess dress.
He remembered that day. The vampires had a get together day when this picture was taken. Everyone was required to arrive wearing a costume and Danae had arrived wearing that. Of course, the rest of the female vampires had thought her costume too much but to Charlie, she was just perfect.
He also remembered the day after that day. The day when Danae led an army of vampires into town. The memory brought with it great pain.
' Dad?' Poesy whispered uncertainly. She was leaning forwards nervously, eyeing her father with concern.
Without looking up, he spoke slowly. ' Who sent you here?'
' I told you. Cabo San Lucas.'
Looking up, he fixed her with his most penetrating stare. Poesy froze, gulped and looked down.
' Poesy.'
Still looking down, she fingered with the buttons on her riding jacket. ' Meredith thought you might go crazy in here,' she whispered. ' She said you've been in here for almost nineteen hours.'
Charlie exhaled quietly and looked down. Neither one of them said anything.
' You must know about Elizabeth Davenport,' he said out of the blue. Poesy nodded slowly.
There was another long moment of awkward silence.
' I just need to be alone for now, Poesy. You should probably go home. Tell Compton if you want to go anywhere.' He didn't look up when she slowly exited the room.
Charlie turned his chair away from the desk and faced the dark curtain in front of him, not actually seeing anything. Again and again, he saw that horrible bloody night, how the spotless white hall turned red in just moments.
He couldn't let that happen again. He wouldn't let that happen again. Elizabeth Davenport is to be caught and he didn't care if she was caught dead or alive.
Elizabeth inhaled in the aromatic scent of croissants and turned her head to the right. The scent was coming from the various trendy little cafes and eateries littering the Parisian street. Once, she saw a brief flash of fiery red hair and Elizabeth felt her heart beat faster, but the car was moving too fast for her to make sure if it really was Danae. Or Heather. Or Danae-Heather.
' Where are we going?' she turned around and asked Stefan, who was clutching the steering wheel tightly that his knuckles went white.
Stefan suddenly looked up, as if she had interrupted him from a long train of thought and quickly looked back at the road. ' We're going to find a place to live while we're here, and I prefer it be somewhere public, where Danae wouldn't attack unless she isn't afraid of being revealed for what she is.'
Suddenly, the car skidded to a stop and Elizabeth looked out automatically. The building outside was quaint and very old-fashioned. It was as if it was designed by a British rather than a French architect. An old woman in a bright yellow sundress looked up from her mail at them curiously.
' Wait here,' he instructed both Elizabeth and Elena in a low murmur and got out of the car. He and the woman exchanged a few words, which involved a lot of gesturing at Elizabeth. Then, the woman smiled at him and Stefan made a hand gesture at them to follow him. The old woman led the way into the bed and breakfast, the skirt of her flowery yellow dress swishing behind her.
They entered a small hallway, with brightly coloured patterned wallpapers and dull red carpeting. Flowers of every type were arranged all around the hall, some in crystal vases others in elegantly painted ceramic or porcelain vases.
' If you could please follow me,' said the old woman and Elizabeth was surprised to hear a soft English accent.
They followed her up the wooden carpeted stairs that creaked under their weight. The old woman was talking as they walked along another hallway, this time narrower and clad in darker wallpaper.
' Breakfast is served at 7.30 until 9.00 every morning, lunch from 12.00 to 1.00 and tea from 3.00 to 4.00. Dinner will be served at7.30 sharp. The kitchen is closed at 9.00. No alcohol, no parties, no night-visitors, lights out at 10.00.' The woman stopped in front of two doors and turned around to face them.
' These are your rooms and payment is highly appreciated in cash.'
They were quiet for a long time.
' Highly appreciated in cash,' the woman repeated, looking at them meaningfully and Elena nudged Stefan with her elbow.
Stefan started and immediately reached into the pocket of his long coat, pulling out a wad of cash. ' Here you go. You can keep the change.'
The woman smiled at them. ' I'm Thelia and enjoy your stay at Bonnie's Bed and Breakfast.' With that, she left them with their keys, counting the money under her breath.
Elena snorted and muttered,' Bonnie's Bed and Breakfast,' in disbelief. ' How corny can she get?'
Stefan ignored her and tested the door, finding it unlocked. ' Elena, you can share a room with Elizabeth. It's got connecting doors, so I'll just be next door.'
Elena fluffed her hair and started for the door to the right. ' Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty tired myself.'
Stefan and Elizabeth were left outside at the hallway, an awkward silence hanging between them.
' I guess...I should..go in..too,' Elizabeth said slowly and walked towards the door when Stefan finally spoke up.
' No, wait. You haven't had anything to...eat yet,' he said, grabbing her arm. Quickly, he released it.
' Eat?' Elizabeth echoed, nervous. ' You mean..eat for me?'
Stefan nodded.
' How?' she asked him. ' I don't want you to volunteer,' she added quickly when he opened his mouth to reply.
Stefan smiled despite himself and answered,' I found someone suitable to feed you.'
' Who?' Her voice came out as a whisper. A terrified whisper.
' Well,' he continued, sounding braver than her,' I might have lied to this..particular person so that he'll meet us.' He hastily added,' Don't worry. He's okay. Come with me.'
Elizabeth cautiously followed him out of the bed and breakfast and didn't say a single word throughout the journey. They passed the row of cafes again but this time, the scent of baked bread didn't entice her. All she saw was herself, sinking her teeth into a stranger's neck and feeling the quick pulse of his veins and the sweet taste of the warm red liquid-
' Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth!' Stefan shook her. Her eyes had a glazed and faraway look.
She suddenly blinked. ' What?'
' We're here,' he said and pointed at a lone man sitting on a vacant park bench. They had arrived at and abandoned park. The trees were tall and the branches were gnarled. The hedges and flowers surrounding the park could have been pretty, if someone had tended to them regularly.
' Stefan!' yelled the man, raising a hand up as if greeting him.
' Sorry we're late, Phil,' Stefan said in return.
Phil glanced at Elizabeth curiously but made no comment. ' I hope you have it with you,' he said, leaning back against the bench.
' Yeah, I do.' Stefan moved to check his pockets and took out something hidden in his fist.
Phil smiled and whistled under his breath. Stefan held his hand out to Phil but he suddenly covered his mouth with his hand. Moments later, Phil slumped forward, unconscious.
Elizabeth looked at him, horrified. ' Was that really necessary?'
He shrugged off-handedly. ' If you want to feed, yes.' He than sat Phil up on the bench and motioned at Elizabeth.
' Now?' she whispered and Stefan just nodded in reply. Slowly, she walked forward, feeling very self-conscious with Stefan watching her every move. Then, she tilted Phil's head back and sank her teeth into his throat...
Elizabeth carefully arranged Phil in a more acceptable sitting position on the bench. The two dark wounds on his neck were quickly disappearing.
' Are you sure he wouldn't remember a thing?' she asked Stefan doubtfully.
' He won't,' he assured her. ' Humans tend to react differently when vampires feed on them. They all forget what they did and can never recover their memory.'
' What about the time when I fed on you?' She couldn't help but ask this.
Stefan grinned. ' Vampire Guardian, remember?'
Elizabeth smiled to herself and followed him to the car, feeling awake and stronger than before. Just as she passed a whole group of wild flowers, her eyes focused on one.
' Isn't that an oleander?' she said to Stefan.
He stopped and peered at the beautiful flower bathed in moonlight. ' Yeah. Don't go anywhere near it, they're dangerous.' He stared at it curiously for a while before heading off towards the car.
Elizabeth looked at the flower and to her shock, it suddenly burst into a full bloom. Shivering in the cold, she walked right past it and they drove off. If only Elizabeth had stayed longer, she should've seen that the unusual fiery shade of red beyond those trees wasn't from a flower.
Danae stepped out of the shadows of the trees and bent down to touch the oleander. The flower moved towards her, as if attracted by her very presence and when she set off to follow Elizabeth and Stefan, the flowers returned back to their usual wilt.
' Where are we going now?' Elizabeth asked Stefan, absorbed by the city lights flashing past them.
' For a little bit of sightseeing,' he answered and made a sharp turn to the left. ' Welcome to Paris,' he declared, exaggerating his French accent.
Elizabeth giggled. She felt oddly...high tonight. ' What's that over there?' she asked him, curiously. They had just passed the Arc de Triomphe.
' That's the Triumphal Arch a.k.a Arc de Triomphe, built in the 1800s. It is famous for its fast food franchise, the Burger of the Arc and is place to this years....pinball tournament!!!!!!'
Elizabeth playfully whacked his shoulder. ' That's not true.'
Srefan put on a knowing look and looked at her. ' Oh yeah? Let's see what you know about the Arc.'
Elizabeth cleared her throat but just as she did so, she saw herself standing inside the Arc. Unconsciously doing so, she started talking.
' There's a long and narrow hallway in front of me. It's made of stone walls and there is a smell...a smell of rotting flesh. It's so dark here but I can see everything. I can see the puddle of water at my feet. And it's cold..so cold.
' But, wait! Why am I suddenly in another place? It's a room in the dungeons of the Arc, I can see. There is a...tomb..in front of me. A plain gray coffin and there...there's something written on the coffin. Engraved. It says...Danae of the Vaughan Clan and nothing more. There is a door behind me. It's made of stone too, with heavy brass knobs. I have to leave.
' The door wouldn't open! It's..it's speaking to me. It demands blood. My blood.'
Elizabeth was suddenly jolted out of that bizarre...thought and found that the car had stopped. Stefan was staring at her, his mouth open and his gray eyes wide with horror.
Smiling suddenly, he forced a laugh. ' Okay. You win. Your description was better than my Burger of the Arc. We should go home now.'
They were silent for the rest of the ride and Elizabeth can't help but feel like someone was watching her.
Danae lowered her velvet hood and pursed her lips. Her body was mere metres away from her and all she needed was a little bit of blood. Elizabeth's blood.
Sighing, she stood up and fingered the tip of her dagger resting on her hips. Things are about t get interesting tonight, she thought.
Here was the woman who had single-handedly ruined the ancient's coven, the woman who had bewitched dozens of men to do her bidding, the woman whose powers if gone into the wrong hands would probably cause the Third World War.
And Elizabeth was about to duel with her, right in public. She began to realise how incredibly stupid accepting Danae's challenge was, and losing control of her powers made her feel weak and tired. Right at that moment, Elizabeth suddenly felt unusually dizzy. Staggering slightly, she pressed the tip of her fingers to her temple.
' Elizabeth!' Stefan rushed forward, concerned. Elena was about to step forward but hung back when Danae turned her glare onto her.
' The old 'i'm-getting-weak-please-help-me' game is getting kind of old, Elizabeth,' mocked Danae, inspecting her long French manicured nails.
' She really is weak,' Elena spoke up, defending Elizabeth. ' She almost used up all her energy back at home, when she lost control of her power.'
Danae raised one perfectly curved eyebrow and looked up, her eyes flashing momentarily at Elena, causing her to shrink back again. Then, she turned her attention back to Elizabeth, whose face was getting paler with each passing second.
Sighing, Danae straightened up and fluffed her hair casually. ' Since I don't fight weak and helpless enemies, I guess our little date will have to be postponed. It's a shame, really. I was quite looking forward to this.' Slowly, she turned around and headed for the crowd who seemed to be ignoring them. Then, just as she was walking away, she muttered under her breath.
' Amateurs. You can never depend on them for a decent fight every now and then.'
Back at the main headquarters of the Vampire Council, Charlie sat with his head in his hands, feeling as if the weight of the whole world was on him. Centuries ago, he had failed his coven in trying to protect them. Today, he was going to fail them again if Elizabeth wasn't found immediately.
The heavy, deep red curtains in his office were drawn, making the spacious room eerie. The large grandfather clock at the far end of the room ticked by noisily and the only light in the room came from the digital clock on his desk.
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door and Charlie raised his head up. The door was pushed open hesitantly and Poesy, his adopted daughter poked her head in. He smiled at her and told her to come in. Judging by the red tint that had taken place on her usually pale pink cheeks and how windswept her chestnut coloured hair looked, he guessed that she was probably back from her riding lessons.
' Back from horse riding?' he asked her, snapping his fingers twice. The room was instantly flooded with bright light.
Poesy quickly made herself comfortable with the plump armchair in front of him and started lifting up the various files on Charlie's table and flipping through them aimlessly. Then, she started turning the miniature globe on the desk, spinning it loudly.
' Why are you here, Poesy?' he asked her, slowly rearranging the files back into their usual stacks.
Poesy stopped spinning the globe and leaned back into the armchair. ' I just wanted to ask you....for your permission because our school is having a trip to Cabo San Lucas and I have to be there, dad. If I don't show up, Rin is going to have a blast ordering people around. Not to mention that not showing up is equals to social suicide.'
Charlie just stared at the frame he kept in his secret drawer while his daughter babbled away. It showed a very tall and beautiful woman, with golden hair waving gently down her back. In that picture, Danae was sitting on a large rock, her chin resting on her hands. Braided around her head was a crown made of tiny leaves and she wore a goddess dress.
He remembered that day. The vampires had a get together day when this picture was taken. Everyone was required to arrive wearing a costume and Danae had arrived wearing that. Of course, the rest of the female vampires had thought her costume too much but to Charlie, she was just perfect.
He also remembered the day after that day. The day when Danae led an army of vampires into town. The memory brought with it great pain.
' Dad?' Poesy whispered uncertainly. She was leaning forwards nervously, eyeing her father with concern.
Without looking up, he spoke slowly. ' Who sent you here?'
' I told you. Cabo San Lucas.'
Looking up, he fixed her with his most penetrating stare. Poesy froze, gulped and looked down.
' Poesy.'
Still looking down, she fingered with the buttons on her riding jacket. ' Meredith thought you might go crazy in here,' she whispered. ' She said you've been in here for almost nineteen hours.'
Charlie exhaled quietly and looked down. Neither one of them said anything.
' You must know about Elizabeth Davenport,' he said out of the blue. Poesy nodded slowly.
There was another long moment of awkward silence.
' I just need to be alone for now, Poesy. You should probably go home. Tell Compton if you want to go anywhere.' He didn't look up when she slowly exited the room.
Charlie turned his chair away from the desk and faced the dark curtain in front of him, not actually seeing anything. Again and again, he saw that horrible bloody night, how the spotless white hall turned red in just moments.
He couldn't let that happen again. He wouldn't let that happen again. Elizabeth Davenport is to be caught and he didn't care if she was caught dead or alive.
Elizabeth inhaled in the aromatic scent of croissants and turned her head to the right. The scent was coming from the various trendy little cafes and eateries littering the Parisian street. Once, she saw a brief flash of fiery red hair and Elizabeth felt her heart beat faster, but the car was moving too fast for her to make sure if it really was Danae. Or Heather. Or Danae-Heather.
' Where are we going?' she turned around and asked Stefan, who was clutching the steering wheel tightly that his knuckles went white.
Stefan suddenly looked up, as if she had interrupted him from a long train of thought and quickly looked back at the road. ' We're going to find a place to live while we're here, and I prefer it be somewhere public, where Danae wouldn't attack unless she isn't afraid of being revealed for what she is.'
Suddenly, the car skidded to a stop and Elizabeth looked out automatically. The building outside was quaint and very old-fashioned. It was as if it was designed by a British rather than a French architect. An old woman in a bright yellow sundress looked up from her mail at them curiously.
' Wait here,' he instructed both Elizabeth and Elena in a low murmur and got out of the car. He and the woman exchanged a few words, which involved a lot of gesturing at Elizabeth. Then, the woman smiled at him and Stefan made a hand gesture at them to follow him. The old woman led the way into the bed and breakfast, the skirt of her flowery yellow dress swishing behind her.
They entered a small hallway, with brightly coloured patterned wallpapers and dull red carpeting. Flowers of every type were arranged all around the hall, some in crystal vases others in elegantly painted ceramic or porcelain vases.
' If you could please follow me,' said the old woman and Elizabeth was surprised to hear a soft English accent.
They followed her up the wooden carpeted stairs that creaked under their weight. The old woman was talking as they walked along another hallway, this time narrower and clad in darker wallpaper.
' Breakfast is served at 7.30 until 9.00 every morning, lunch from 12.00 to 1.00 and tea from 3.00 to 4.00. Dinner will be served at7.30 sharp. The kitchen is closed at 9.00. No alcohol, no parties, no night-visitors, lights out at 10.00.' The woman stopped in front of two doors and turned around to face them.
' These are your rooms and payment is highly appreciated in cash.'
They were quiet for a long time.
' Highly appreciated in cash,' the woman repeated, looking at them meaningfully and Elena nudged Stefan with her elbow.
Stefan started and immediately reached into the pocket of his long coat, pulling out a wad of cash. ' Here you go. You can keep the change.'
The woman smiled at them. ' I'm Thelia and enjoy your stay at Bonnie's Bed and Breakfast.' With that, she left them with their keys, counting the money under her breath.
Elena snorted and muttered,' Bonnie's Bed and Breakfast,' in disbelief. ' How corny can she get?'
Stefan ignored her and tested the door, finding it unlocked. ' Elena, you can share a room with Elizabeth. It's got connecting doors, so I'll just be next door.'
Elena fluffed her hair and started for the door to the right. ' Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty tired myself.'
Stefan and Elizabeth were left outside at the hallway, an awkward silence hanging between them.
' I guess...I should..go in..too,' Elizabeth said slowly and walked towards the door when Stefan finally spoke up.
' No, wait. You haven't had anything to...eat yet,' he said, grabbing her arm. Quickly, he released it.
' Eat?' Elizabeth echoed, nervous. ' You mean..eat for me?'
Stefan nodded.
' How?' she asked him. ' I don't want you to volunteer,' she added quickly when he opened his mouth to reply.
Stefan smiled despite himself and answered,' I found someone suitable to feed you.'
' Who?' Her voice came out as a whisper. A terrified whisper.
' Well,' he continued, sounding braver than her,' I might have lied to this..particular person so that he'll meet us.' He hastily added,' Don't worry. He's okay. Come with me.'
Elizabeth cautiously followed him out of the bed and breakfast and didn't say a single word throughout the journey. They passed the row of cafes again but this time, the scent of baked bread didn't entice her. All she saw was herself, sinking her teeth into a stranger's neck and feeling the quick pulse of his veins and the sweet taste of the warm red liquid-
' Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth!' Stefan shook her. Her eyes had a glazed and faraway look.
She suddenly blinked. ' What?'
' We're here,' he said and pointed at a lone man sitting on a vacant park bench. They had arrived at and abandoned park. The trees were tall and the branches were gnarled. The hedges and flowers surrounding the park could have been pretty, if someone had tended to them regularly.
' Stefan!' yelled the man, raising a hand up as if greeting him.
' Sorry we're late, Phil,' Stefan said in return.
Phil glanced at Elizabeth curiously but made no comment. ' I hope you have it with you,' he said, leaning back against the bench.
' Yeah, I do.' Stefan moved to check his pockets and took out something hidden in his fist.
Phil smiled and whistled under his breath. Stefan held his hand out to Phil but he suddenly covered his mouth with his hand. Moments later, Phil slumped forward, unconscious.
Elizabeth looked at him, horrified. ' Was that really necessary?'
He shrugged off-handedly. ' If you want to feed, yes.' He than sat Phil up on the bench and motioned at Elizabeth.
' Now?' she whispered and Stefan just nodded in reply. Slowly, she walked forward, feeling very self-conscious with Stefan watching her every move. Then, she tilted Phil's head back and sank her teeth into his throat...
Elizabeth carefully arranged Phil in a more acceptable sitting position on the bench. The two dark wounds on his neck were quickly disappearing.
' Are you sure he wouldn't remember a thing?' she asked Stefan doubtfully.
' He won't,' he assured her. ' Humans tend to react differently when vampires feed on them. They all forget what they did and can never recover their memory.'
' What about the time when I fed on you?' She couldn't help but ask this.
Stefan grinned. ' Vampire Guardian, remember?'
Elizabeth smiled to herself and followed him to the car, feeling awake and stronger than before. Just as she passed a whole group of wild flowers, her eyes focused on one.
' Isn't that an oleander?' she said to Stefan.
He stopped and peered at the beautiful flower bathed in moonlight. ' Yeah. Don't go anywhere near it, they're dangerous.' He stared at it curiously for a while before heading off towards the car.
Elizabeth looked at the flower and to her shock, it suddenly burst into a full bloom. Shivering in the cold, she walked right past it and they drove off. If only Elizabeth had stayed longer, she should've seen that the unusual fiery shade of red beyond those trees wasn't from a flower.
Danae stepped out of the shadows of the trees and bent down to touch the oleander. The flower moved towards her, as if attracted by her very presence and when she set off to follow Elizabeth and Stefan, the flowers returned back to their usual wilt.
' Where are we going now?' Elizabeth asked Stefan, absorbed by the city lights flashing past them.
' For a little bit of sightseeing,' he answered and made a sharp turn to the left. ' Welcome to Paris,' he declared, exaggerating his French accent.
Elizabeth giggled. She felt oddly...high tonight. ' What's that over there?' she asked him, curiously. They had just passed the Arc de Triomphe.
' That's the Triumphal Arch a.k.a Arc de Triomphe, built in the 1800s. It is famous for its fast food franchise, the Burger of the Arc and is place to this years....pinball tournament!!!!!!'
Elizabeth playfully whacked his shoulder. ' That's not true.'
Srefan put on a knowing look and looked at her. ' Oh yeah? Let's see what you know about the Arc.'
Elizabeth cleared her throat but just as she did so, she saw herself standing inside the Arc. Unconsciously doing so, she started talking.
' There's a long and narrow hallway in front of me. It's made of stone walls and there is a smell...a smell of rotting flesh. It's so dark here but I can see everything. I can see the puddle of water at my feet. And it's cold..so cold.
' But, wait! Why am I suddenly in another place? It's a room in the dungeons of the Arc, I can see. There is a...tomb..in front of me. A plain gray coffin and there...there's something written on the coffin. Engraved. It says...Danae of the Vaughan Clan and nothing more. There is a door behind me. It's made of stone too, with heavy brass knobs. I have to leave.
' The door wouldn't open! It's..it's speaking to me. It demands blood. My blood.'
Elizabeth was suddenly jolted out of that bizarre...thought and found that the car had stopped. Stefan was staring at her, his mouth open and his gray eyes wide with horror.
Smiling suddenly, he forced a laugh. ' Okay. You win. Your description was better than my Burger of the Arc. We should go home now.'
They were silent for the rest of the ride and Elizabeth can't help but feel like someone was watching her.
Danae lowered her velvet hood and pursed her lips. Her body was mere metres away from her and all she needed was a little bit of blood. Elizabeth's blood.
Sighing, she stood up and fingered the tip of her dagger resting on her hips. Things are about t get interesting tonight, she thought.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Chapter 18
Stefan was secretly pleased with the absolutely normal condition at the Brooklyn Airport. It was none other than crowded, which somehow helped their current situation. Stefan believed the council could track where Elizabeth was now. And that worried him. The tickets were set, but he hadn't told neither Elizabeth nor Elena about their destination, and the last person he would tell would be Elizabeth. Well, since The Council couldn't 'see' the Salvatoires but they could actually see Elizabeth. Thanks to the powers of each vampires in the Council.
Stefan was just starting to relax when he spotted a tall and broad-shouldered man fully equipped with a black wire connected to his ear, which was probably an earpiece, connected to a line, which Stefan assumed, Charlie, from the Council. And then he saw another pack of people fully clad just like that. That was when he took action.
"We have to go," he spoke all of a sudden and grab hold of Elizabeth's hand. Elena had an alarmed look on her face, just like Stefan.
"Let's go," Elizabeth said as she nodded in comprehension.
They all tried to look as normal as possible when they had their boarding pass checked just before they entered the aeroplane. They took their seat in the middle row which was just right; three seats, so no one else would know what they were up to. Elizabeth sat in between Stefan and Elena with Stefan on her left, and Elena on her right. Stefan was surprised when Elizabeth held his and his sister's hand. Was he scared? thought Stefan.
"Are you scared, Lizzie?" he asked, more in a concerned way.
Elizabeth had a big smile on her face, which showed Stefan that he was wrong. "Not at all. Well, since none of the vampires can track you, I must hold your hand to be invisible as well. Being with you is enough, but they could find me easily. With me holding your hand, they might find it more difficult to track me. You are a descendant of a Vampire Guardian, aren't you? And the reason I'm holding Elena's hand is.. If that's not obvious enough, two is always better than one. Right?"
"Wow, you're a genius! Have you been thinking about this?" Elena beamed.
"It just came around," she smiled.
The phone lines in Charlie's office were disappointing. Although he was connected to all the airports in America, through his men, of course, none of them could find Elizabeth and the two mysterious companion of hers. Charlie dialled Meredith's intercom number and she appeared in less than 10 seconds. Don't mess with the power of an old, thought Charlie, partly surprised.
"You need me, Charlie?" she spoke, interested.
"Yes. No one could find her. Elizabeth, I mean. So, if you can help.."
She closed her eyes and found nothing to her disappointment. Charlie could tell that she failed to see anything through her psychic power. He nodded and gave her a hand sign that she could leave.
Elizabeth suddenly felt uneasy. She still couldn't tell what was wrong with her since she was changed. Stefan could feel the uneasiness through his hand which was holding Elizabeth's. He turned to Elena and she nodded in agreement. It stunned Elizabeth that the Salvatoires could read each others' minds without the psychic power. It was known as telepathy. Elizabeth just remembered the word.
"Is something wrong with me?" she asked.
"You're thirsty." he replied sternly.
They landed at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport after what Elizabeth felt like forever. She could barely handle her thirst as she hadn't drunk in about a week. Stefan and Elena had tried their best so that nothing could possibly go wrong in the plane which could've sacrificed many innocent lives.
They, Elena and Stefan, thought they had just passed a catastrophy, to their relief. Elizabeth too, was grateful she managed to control her thirst.
And then the least expected happened. Heather stood model-likely about a mile away right in front of them, wind rushed to her face blowing her below shoulder-length hair freely like in a movie scene.
They all stood there dumbstruck for a second, while Heather was pleased with herself. Or Heather-Danae combined together. Combined and more dangerous.
"Hello, Elizabeth." Heather-Danae spoke.
It was when Heather spoke that Elizabeth realised it wasn't Heather's voice. Her physical features, of course, looked like the Heather she knew. It was her voice that distracted her. The voice belonged to Danae.
"You're using Heather to do your dirty trick, Danae!" Elizabeth exclaimed, partly surprised, hate and disgust.
"You don't think you can escape me, do you?" Heather-Danae replied with a smirk, hands on her hips. "You have my power, Elizabeth. There is absolutely no way you can escape me."
"You've given me your power willingly. You can't take it back."
"Elizabeth, we should just get out of here." Stefan finally said after listening to the long negotiation.
"Why, why, are you scared, little human?"
For a second, Elizabeth forgot about everything; about Will, about her thirst, about.. basically almost everything. All she could think of was a battle. Just between her and Heather-Danae.
"Let's do it. Just you and me." Elizabeth decided.
Stefan was just starting to relax when he spotted a tall and broad-shouldered man fully equipped with a black wire connected to his ear, which was probably an earpiece, connected to a line, which Stefan assumed, Charlie, from the Council. And then he saw another pack of people fully clad just like that. That was when he took action.
"We have to go," he spoke all of a sudden and grab hold of Elizabeth's hand. Elena had an alarmed look on her face, just like Stefan.
"Let's go," Elizabeth said as she nodded in comprehension.
They all tried to look as normal as possible when they had their boarding pass checked just before they entered the aeroplane. They took their seat in the middle row which was just right; three seats, so no one else would know what they were up to. Elizabeth sat in between Stefan and Elena with Stefan on her left, and Elena on her right. Stefan was surprised when Elizabeth held his and his sister's hand. Was he scared? thought Stefan.
"Are you scared, Lizzie?" he asked, more in a concerned way.
Elizabeth had a big smile on her face, which showed Stefan that he was wrong. "Not at all. Well, since none of the vampires can track you, I must hold your hand to be invisible as well. Being with you is enough, but they could find me easily. With me holding your hand, they might find it more difficult to track me. You are a descendant of a Vampire Guardian, aren't you? And the reason I'm holding Elena's hand is.. If that's not obvious enough, two is always better than one. Right?"
"Wow, you're a genius! Have you been thinking about this?" Elena beamed.
"It just came around," she smiled.
The phone lines in Charlie's office were disappointing. Although he was connected to all the airports in America, through his men, of course, none of them could find Elizabeth and the two mysterious companion of hers. Charlie dialled Meredith's intercom number and she appeared in less than 10 seconds. Don't mess with the power of an old, thought Charlie, partly surprised.
"You need me, Charlie?" she spoke, interested.
"Yes. No one could find her. Elizabeth, I mean. So, if you can help.."
She closed her eyes and found nothing to her disappointment. Charlie could tell that she failed to see anything through her psychic power. He nodded and gave her a hand sign that she could leave.
Elizabeth suddenly felt uneasy. She still couldn't tell what was wrong with her since she was changed. Stefan could feel the uneasiness through his hand which was holding Elizabeth's. He turned to Elena and she nodded in agreement. It stunned Elizabeth that the Salvatoires could read each others' minds without the psychic power. It was known as telepathy. Elizabeth just remembered the word.
"Is something wrong with me?" she asked.
"You're thirsty." he replied sternly.
They landed at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport after what Elizabeth felt like forever. She could barely handle her thirst as she hadn't drunk in about a week. Stefan and Elena had tried their best so that nothing could possibly go wrong in the plane which could've sacrificed many innocent lives.
They, Elena and Stefan, thought they had just passed a catastrophy, to their relief. Elizabeth too, was grateful she managed to control her thirst.
And then the least expected happened. Heather stood model-likely about a mile away right in front of them, wind rushed to her face blowing her below shoulder-length hair freely like in a movie scene.
They all stood there dumbstruck for a second, while Heather was pleased with herself. Or Heather-Danae combined together. Combined and more dangerous.
"Hello, Elizabeth." Heather-Danae spoke.
It was when Heather spoke that Elizabeth realised it wasn't Heather's voice. Her physical features, of course, looked like the Heather she knew. It was her voice that distracted her. The voice belonged to Danae.
"You're using Heather to do your dirty trick, Danae!" Elizabeth exclaimed, partly surprised, hate and disgust.
"You don't think you can escape me, do you?" Heather-Danae replied with a smirk, hands on her hips. "You have my power, Elizabeth. There is absolutely no way you can escape me."
"You've given me your power willingly. You can't take it back."
"Elizabeth, we should just get out of here." Stefan finally said after listening to the long negotiation.
"Why, why, are you scared, little human?"
For a second, Elizabeth forgot about everything; about Will, about her thirst, about.. basically almost everything. All she could think of was a battle. Just between her and Heather-Danae.
"Let's do it. Just you and me." Elizabeth decided.
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