It took Lillian a moment to realize that the Original hybrid wasn't talking to her, but when she did, she immediately spun around to face the less famous Mikaelson brother.
Elijah was a handsome man, much like his brother, although they differed much in looks. While Niklaus had his blonde hair and dark blue-green eyes, Elijah had neatly combed brown hair and wise, brown eyes. Like Klaus, he wore a black suit and stood just as tall as his younger sibling.
"I am afraid that if I had, there would be no one stopping you from turning this town into a place of death and carnage," Elijah said.
"You make me laugh, brother. I'm afraid that this town doesn't need me to turn it into a place of death and carnage. It does quite fine on its own."
"I suppose that is so, but you certainly don't help." Glancing over at Lillian, he inquired, "What poor child have you decided on terrorizing today?"
Niklaus feigned a look of hurt. "You ask as if I terrorize people as a hobby." He laughed, then used an overturned, bloody hand to indicate the younger vampire. "And Lillian here is all but a child, I'm sure."
Elijah looked at the torn shirt Lillian was wearing, although Lillian knew that wasn't what he was looking at. It was the wound that Klaus had left, healing.
Lillian began assessing the older Mikaelson brother. "Elijah Mikaelson," she remarked, "the only one of us here who has their morals set straight." She leaned against the black porch railing, feigning indifference as she looked down at her bloodied shirt. She was suddenly reminded of how hungry she was.
"And what about your morals, Lillian? Where do you stand?" It was Klaus who asked.
"Are you inquiring as to where my allegiances are?" Lillian questioned in return. She pushed him back away from her, now knowing that if he was going to kill her, he'd have done it already. She had little to fear now. "In that case, my loyalties are to myself. None other."
Elijah didn't seem very pleased by this answer, but he didn't open his mouth to input his judgments. Instead, Klaus said, "Well, I can see why you and Katerina got along."
"Katherine was a bitch with her own set of problems I had little need of," Lillian replied, calling Katerina by her false name as she looked pointedly at Niklaus. "All friendships are but a means to an end. Once that usefulness expires, you get rid of them. So, when it finally came down to it, I snapped Katherine's neck."
"Settle my curiosity, Lillian; what was so important to you that you risked your life by making an ally of Katerina?" Klaus questioned.
"The same thing that got me turned into a vampire." Lillian spun around, dashing back to her car, leaving the two Originals to stare questioningly after her.
Elena doubled over on the floor, her stomach giving way. She gasped as blood poured from her mouth, staining the wooden floors of the Salvatore house red.
The blood bag, she thought dully, vomiting more blood. What kind of vampire can't keep a blood bag down? It had been happening over several days now, each day worse than the rest. Every time she drank blood, she was never able to go more than a few hours without vomiting.
Elena closed her eyes for a moment, trying to relieve herself of the nausea. When her head was no longer spinning, she stood back up.
Damon stood by, watching her with concerned blue eyes. "You need fresh blood from the vein," he told her softly. "Feeding solely from baby bunnies isn't going to help you."
Elena set her hand against the arm of the leather sofa in the living room, leaning on it with most of her weight. "I'm not going to hurt anyone. I wouldn't be able to live with myself." I wish he would understand, she thought sadly. Why can't he just understand?
"Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?" he shouted angrily, throwing a glass bottle he'd had in his hands. It shattered against the wall and the far side of the living room. "Can't you see that you don't have any other options? Everything else you've tried, you've been unable to keep down. You can't live like this, Elena."
"Feed off me." Matt Donovan appeared from the hallway. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing his throbbing veins. The blood flowed temptingly beneath his skin, but Elena shook her head.
"No, Matt." But even as she said it, Elena could feel her fangs pushing themselves through her gum. Her heart began to beat faster, but she turned away from the busboy she had called "friend" since the first grade. I can't. I can't hurt him. Beneath his flesh, Matt's blood was emanating a warm and sweet scent. It filled her nostrils, and soon all Elena could think about was blood. His blood. Matt's blood.
She didn't realize she'd even moved until a warm liquid was filling her mouth. Elena's eyes closed satisfyingly as Matt's blood traveled down her throat, soothing the one thing that had been keeping her up for the past nights: hunger.
"Okay, that's enough, Elena." Matt's voice sounded close beside her, but her brain didn't process the words. There was only one thought that moved her. "Elena, you're hurting me. Let go."
Strong hands closed around her shoulders as Elena was was pulled from Matt. "Stop. Stop." She hissed at Damon, the veins beneath her eyes purple, her fangs visible.
And then the realization of the situation hit her like a bullet to her heart. Elena's eyes widened. Oh, my God! Matt! I hurt Matt! Her hand came to her mouth, shaking and unsteady. When she pulled it away, his blood was covering her fingers. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh, God, Matt. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I--I didn't mean to--" Her cheeks grew hot with tears.
Damon turned around, walking over to Matt, who backed up in apprehension. "It's okay," Damon said, and Elena could tell he was compelling him. "Forget what just happened. You came over, she fed a little bit, and you left. Now go home." Obeying, Matt stood up from where he was leaning against the counter. When he left, the black-haired vampire turned back to the girl he so deeply loved.
Guilt filled Elena's heart. "What have I done?" she sobbed.
Damon held his hands up, then brought them down to take Elena's. "Nothing you should be ashamed of," he responded. His blue eyes were shimmering with worry. "You're a vampire now. You just have to learn the right way to be one." As he said his next words, Elena looked down at her enclosed hands, then back up at him. "And I'm going to teach you."
He brought his right hand up to her cheek, brushing against it as he pushed her hair back behind her ear. And she nodded.
YOU ARE READING
The Vampire Diaries: Blood and Fire
Fiksi PenggemarThey had never heard her name. No one spoke of her. She is but a myth unknown, bent and broken. Her past changed her, made her into a monster. And now she's in Mystic Falls. (Book One in The Demons Within series)