Chasing the storm

28

As soon as Scarlett walked through the compound gates with Elijah following behind, she met the horrified and confused stare of Freya. She swiftly looked away and met the sympathetic glare of Niklaus.

Could she go anywhere without being stared at? Scarlett looked to the ground, her arms wrapped around her stomach to try and suppress the crippling hunger.

But she could still feel their eyes bore into her. She couldn't take it. Without a word, her feet moved quickly up the stairs and to her room, closing the door behind her.

She instantly jumped into bed and buried her face in the pillow to try and get rid of the agonising pain. Her gums hurt, her fangs trying to dig their way out.

Scarlett quickly sat up when she found the pain to be somewhat bearable. Her hands dug through the first draw on her bedside table, stopping when she felt the cold, metallic edge of the frame.

She dragged out the picture of Alex and rested it on her knee. Her fingers gently danced over the glass. "What do you think I should do?" She whispered quietly, trying to imagine his voice as best she could.

But she couldn't even remember what he sounded like. There was so much going around in her head. "I don't want to lose myself; and you can't argue that I won't because I died"

And she could feel a part of her body that still lay dead. She had already lost something and what else would she lose if she were to feed?

And so that was her decision. If she wanted to live so badly she would have been thinking of so many positives, eternal life, extra strength. But she was only going over the negatives.

Scarlett could already feel her body weaken due to the lack of human blood in her system. But she managed to stand up and walk downstairs.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs, in front of Elijah, Klaus and Freya.

"I'm not going to feed" she said immediately as she made eye contact with Elijah.

Elijah was stunned, he slowly stood up from his chair, his mouth slightly open. "Scarlett..." He began

"No" she shook her head, her eyes were red "I've been the victim, I don't want to be someone to put another person in the place I've been, I don't want to put anyone in that position"

"Scarlett please" Elijah begged "everything will get better, it just takes time"

"I don't want to wait, Elijah, I would have been perfectly fine if Tristan didn't snap my neck" she retaliated "let me die with dignity"

Elijah couldn't put his finger on how he was feeling, somewhere between crippling anger, tremendous guilt and a devastation that could drown the whole city.

There were many things that Elijah could do to change her mind. Forcing her, being the most popular and effective, but in doing that, Elijah couldn't guarantee Scarlett's forgiveness.

"Scarlett, I cannot live without you" Elijah's voice cracked.

She opened her mouth to speak, tears pooling in her eyes for the millionth time. She felt so bad that she had such an effect on him, she could reduce an original vampire to tears.

"You'll have to learn" she wiped under her eyes and tried to remain strong "just spend this time with me, say a proper goodbye, throw me an awesome
Funeral"

Elijah moved his head to the side, he didn't want to talk about funerals or death or a life without hearing her addictive laugh each day. He'd miss being woke up at 6am because she had gotten up to make herself a coffee, he'd miss her presence.