Natalie's pink lips tilted up in a grin. "hello my love. who is this...mortal you seem to be infatuated with?" Vladimir glared. her words sickened him, how could she believe she had any say or claim in his life " that is none of your concern Natalie "he said coldly as he sped around the table to stand in front of Catarina. Natalie gave an amused grin, she couldn't believe that Vladimir spoke to her in such a way. she tapped her bottom lip as she tilted her head to the side "oh but my dear it is my concern, we are together now. Don't you see? you always hated it when I was myself and so you found another to occupy yourself while I did my own thing for a while? who does that? " Vladimir felt sick to his stomach at her words. "you lie!" he spat. his rage boiling over,he wanted her head on a spike. he quickly slid across the table gripping her by her dainty throat and slamming her head against a wall. what a grave mistake.
Before he had a second to think numons hand was over catarinas chest and a dagger was pressing against the soft flesh of her throat. " let natalie go or i kill her where she stands." his voice was soft and yet deadly, as numon licked his tongue up the outside curve of her ear. catarinas whole body cringed in response to his touch as the knife nicked her skin luring out the ruby droplets that slid down her neck. numon laughed at him as he licked the precious liquid and kissed Catarina's neck. Vladimir raised a brow at him, and smirked as his hand gripped tighter around natalies throat. " then do it." he said with a laugh. Stefan's body flinched at his brothers tone as the paralysis from before wore off. This wasn't good, they had vladimir trapped with very little options. he could let numon kill her and exact his revenge on Natalie for the pain she caused him costing him the woman he now loved, or he could let natalie goes, in this case, he still loses catarina but at least she would be alive...question was for how long. this wasn't good, this wasn't supposed to happen this way...how did she get so far ahead of them, what did she know that they did not.
vladimir showed no emotion as he caught the tears in catarinas eyes " please, he will kill me...don't do this..." she begged her hands clawing at the marble skin upon numons forearm. vlad shook his head and snickered a little as he licked his bottom lip with a grin. his hand lowered as he placed natalie on her feet moving his hand from her throat. he would run his hands down his vest as if he was wiping off the filth on them " numon i presume," he said gesturing to the man " let us start this over, i like to consider myself a businessman in ways and I'm sure we can reach an agreement in trade if you will discuss terms and agreement with only me? you would have little to fear as you have the upperhand in combat due to age so i wouldn't dare attack." he said sincerely. numon raised a brow " excuse me? a trade,for what?" vladimir shrugged " personally, i couldn't care less for either of these creatures, but i would love to keep my hands on this little minx here" he said nodding his head at natalie " and you can have catarina, shes the one you really want. shes the one whose special right?"
numon seemed to think about this exchange for a long while as he paused and lowered the blade, he began to chuckle and then laugh. " oh, how right you are. she is very special." he took hold of catarina with a grin " natalie, I'm afraid your usefulness to me has expired." he smirked and disappeared with catarina. natalie was enraged " that rat! you offer a stupid deal and he just abandons everything we had!" she tried to chase after him when she was slammed to the ground by vladimir. he would kneel over her body with his knee against her chest.
stefans face dropped astounded at his brothers choice, how could he trade her like she was some other servant?!
he would make an attempt to approuch vladimir only to be shaken to the core with fear. his eyes were hatefilled crimson pools blazing with the fire of a thousand suns, his teeth were barred as his canines descended slightly. stefan took a few steps back from him as his ears picked up the low sound snarls rumbling from inside vladimirs chest. he turned his attention back to natalie.
vladimir felt the venom in his mouth grow to a boiling point watching numon take catarina. he needed to eliminate natalie first though and this was the only way. he would die if he faced him alone, if natalie left she would be right back at his side and if he fought them he would face them both. it was all her fault. his hand clenched tighter around natalies throat "this is all your fault" he said his voice barely a whisper. his chest felt tight and uncomfortable, why...why did it have to be like this...even without his humanity he felt only pain from her being taken.
natalies fingers clawed at his hand around her throat. she stared in to his eyes cold and distant, vladimir looked down at the woman he once loved and removed his hand and back handed her so hard her cheekbone shattered across her porcelain skin like a spiderweb " its all your fucking fault!" he yelled. rage rolling off his tongue like lava. "how do you keep fucking me! every time i think im finally okay you always find a way to fuck me over! "
natalie clutched her cheek looking up at him through the stray hairs, her eyes reflecting her fear of him. she had never experienced this side of him, she never understood how so many could fallow and respect him the way they did...now she understood. " im sorry, it wasn't my intention this time."
vladimir stood and turned from her and started laughing as he ran his hands through his hair. he turned to her driven mad by his rage. "this time!?" he said through his smile holding his hand out " this time! are you fucking kidding me? you manipulative bitch...not only did you drive away aribella, but you made me a fucking liar to her and destroyed my credibility with valhalla. you knew catarina was here! you came here with a purpose to dismantle my life again once more!"
natalie spit at his shoes as she moved to stand. vladimirs eyes swirled with a blue light turning them purple" i didnt say you could stand. you forget i created you. im your alpha, you will obey me, on your knees." he hissed in a commanding tone. stefans eyes grew wide at his brothers shift, he had only seen it one other time...in war. the alpha vampire had the purest form of the change, they were stronger and faster then those they created or defeated in battle and fed upon it was a show of his real power.
natalie felt flames burn from her bones as she tried to resist his command..what was this? how was this possible?..vladimir smiled " how sweet, you have no idea what i am capable of do you?" he smiled as he stepped forward seeing natalie writhe in pain as she began to pant her hands clutching the ground "what...is...this" she said straining to speak. vladimire kneeled and placed two fingers under her chin tilting her head up to meet his glowing purple gaze life a fog over the natural red. " this is an alpha bond. i created you, an alpha is created through a pure change. my brother created me out of love. it is after all one of the purest emotions, he may be selfish but he did it to save me it was of pure intent. because of that...he gave me this power, i created you which means you have no choice but to obey me. otherwise...well, " he touched her shoulder sending signals of pain through the bond.
natalie felt as if every bone in her body was shattering, as she howled in pain." the more you resist me, the more pain you will feel." vladimire continued. his eyes went back to their usual scarlet hue. he stood and looked down at her crumpled frame twitching on the floor looking up at him with the fear of god in her eyes " you have once again made me a liar, i didnt want to fight numon this way...but it seems i now have no choice. because of you, he has my mate. " he looked at stefan who looked away " oh come now brother, take her and lock her away in a deep dark hole...and throw away the hole." vladimir said as he turned on his heel to head up to his study.
stefan did as he was told extending a hand to her to help her up. " wh..what..what was that?" she stuttered out once she was on her feet. stefan sighed and met her gaze only for a second " that is who he is at his core." he said soflty knowing how damaged his brother had become. natalie stared back astonished at this statement " the hell you mean at his core? far as i was concerned you were always the hard ass...whats this alpha business isnt that a wolf thing?" she said her face cringing at the thought of a shifter.
stefan raised a brow as he took her arm to lead her down to the dungeon " it is, but for us its different. a wolf is born in to it. a vampire is created and it is less an instinct and rather something they have to nurture. To become like him...its rare among our kind."
"is it true? it only happens through a pure intention" she asked softly
stefan glanced at her and raised a brow "i suppose. it really just helps the possibility, your the reason it surfaced in him. i understand his anger...if calliope were to do something like that...i dont think i would be able to control myself" he shook his head.
" and you would refer to your brothers general state as controlled?" her voice held sarcasm to her rhetorical question which mostly annoyed stefan making him roll his eyes as he opened the heavy oak door to the dry cell shoving her in.
as he locked the door behind him he sighed " he is in control, your still alive. be greatful for that, had he truly lost it you would be a pile of burning ashes in my dining room." he said before turning away he had more pressing matters at hand.
vladimir stood in his room staring out at the foggy moores as he took a sip of brandy his thoughts racing. he needed to create an army...newborns are just strong enough in there first year to take down someone like numon. he gritted his teeth, he really hated having to create others for such a cause. so many risks...what if their thirst got to much for them to handle and they killed the humans in town..he would need a place to put them...but what about after...he would massage his temples "damn...damn! such a waste.." he said softly to himself not noticing stefans enterance.
"what is a waste?" he asked confused and curious. he despretely needed to know what was on his brothers mind.
vladimir turned to him and smiled halfheartedly "nothing, just thoughts...i thought about creating an army but, that is a lot of newborns and to many at once can get out of hand quickly. their thirst is unquenchable, their strength and insticts unmatched...it would be like having a ticking bomb. the aftermath would be rather wasteful id have to kill 90% of them. all for my selfish cause." he would lean back against the wall taking a breath.
stefan understood what his brother meant. " so, humanity off you still care for her then." vladimir raised a brow and looked over to him with a look that made stefan feel stupid " of course. i still love her. i just dont feel it as intensely, but i do not wish to be wasteful in my approach to bring her home. with my humanity off my head is clear, i am not clouded in my judgement. if i was, id have run after her and probably died." stefan cracked a small grin. his brother was in complete control of himself. " what about natalie?" vlad took a sip and shrugged " what about her?" stefan raised a brow " what are you going to do with her?" stefans tone would have suggested that he shouldnt have had to even clarify it. " dont you think you went to far with her today? letting her in like that?" vladimir smirked " no, shes exactly where i want her to be. i suffered for two centuries im going to make sure she knows how that feels. now that she has been exposed to my gifts, she cant run. she will stay in her hole until i say otherwise. fighting it is useless, it will only cause her more pain. as for what to do with her...well, im going to make her suffer. dry her out, starve her. then when shes a ravenous beast i will feed her dead mans blood which will make her wish she was dead. it isnt enough to fill her belly but its just enough to keep her alive. if she doesnt drink it well she will become a husk. a living corps if you will."
stefans face twisted in disgust."deadmans blood. your twisted brother, i wouldnt wish that on my worst enime. why even keep her alive?" he took a dip of his glass trying to erase the memory of the oozing black liquid that once slid down his own throat like syrup. it tasted like clumps of salty pennys, it always went down rough like scab-filled couph syrup. just the thought was enough to make him want to vomit, even though nothing would come up.
vladimir smiled " if im being honest..." he took a deep breath and took a pawn from the chess table near the bookcase on the far side of the room. " i feel she has connections who would know if she were to turn up dead, we dont need a civil war to many mortals that would become casualties of it. if she went in to hiding after loosing her battle to me it would make sense. fuck everyone over and save my own ass? sounds like something natalie would do...however, not killing her also grants me access to these things too. its a bit of a win win." he set the pawn down two spaces ahead.
stefan admired his brothers logic in this state of mind. he was right as usual...but why her connections? " what use are her people to you? wouldnt they have loyalty to her? to them you are her enime why would they side with us?" it was a ligitimate inquiry into his brothers intellect on this matter. he knew how immortals could be. they were often stubborn and unmoving, much like their appearances, they were like statues in their values.
"ah yes, but see that is it. over the years we have made many enimes, and many of them knew natalie as my wife. their fear of me would grant her some sort of immunity right? well if she reached out to my enimes, think how she would approach it to keep them in line...the queen is alone. no one to protect her in a sea of immortals who would give their life to see her head on a spike seeing as she often went too far. if i were her, i wouldnt have mentioned the seperation."
it was like a light bulb in stefans head his eyes got wide finally understanding what his brother was saying. " being your wife gave her immunity..." vladimir smiled" yeah, it does. but she could have also played the part of the heroic martyr. she bravely escaped my tyranny escaping only with the help of valhalla... i dont know its all so confusing"
"perhaps i can be of assistance." a light voice said from the doorway. both stefan and vladimir turned to the where the voice was coming from. a sigh of relief exited vladimirs mouth before he knew it was...there before him stood one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever known. she stood in the doorway still as a statue, she wore pale pink heels that made her four inches taller then her normal five foot three. her pale blond hair was braided elegantly around her head leaving curls framing her pale heart-shaped face. her crimson eyes were wide her smile reflected as clearly in them as it did on her pale rosy lips. vladimir was sure he was either dead or dying and that what he was seeing was a hallucination. she couldn't be here...numon had her. her dress was a lovely ash rose that had a high bodice and a short shirt made of tool. vladimir smiled as he stepped forward. he gently reached out with the back of his fingers touching her cheek. the feeling was different from Catarina...there was no warmth. only the smooth indestructable skin of a vampire.." is it really you?" he placed his hands on either side of her face as she closed her eyes leaning in to his touch...for a moment his dead heart lurched in his chest as he leaned in to kiss her just a breath from her lips he whispered her name " aribella.."
ns 15.158.61.20da2
