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((Arrive at the monastery, a little intrigue (maybe a ghost or something—not a ghost, a vampir hunter!! Stafie or alive, haven’t yet figured it out. Makes sense it’d be a stafie, that way I can show good and bad of the creature... Daniel keeps warning Liza, but it has to serve a purpose...for her to..????face her feelings about the torture, realize she’s no longer vulnerable? Time at monastery will end with her basically killing a bunch of people, or nearly killing but for once not wanting to? No that’s too easy. Make it that she kills, Stefan understands the worst of her)
Stefan
Marin shows me to my room. Judging by the steps I covered, it’s close by to Elizabeta’s. “Wait,” I say before he leaves.
He clears his throat and I turn to face in his direction.
“Valeriu...how long has he been here?”
“As he said, two weeks.”
I take a step closer. “I’ve trained you, Marin. What is this?”
He sighs. I can sense him being fidgety. “I’m not sure. Don’t tell him I said anything. All I know is he did a lot of outreach to bring nuns here. Not sure why.”
“All right. Thank you.”
The door closes behind him a moment after. I take a deep breath—the woodsy scent of my surroundings hits me full-on. Bit by bit, I make my way around the room, acclimacting myself with its layout. (more here)
When I’m done, I walk to the bed and sit on the edge. Lie down, just to close my eyes for a bit. Before I know it, sleep has overtaken me.
*
I wake up to someone roughly shaking me awake. “Dammit, Dacian, wake up!”
I blink, met by the same darkness as before. And then something—a scent. I jerk up when I recognize Elizabeta’s voice. “Ce naiba faci aici?”
“Nice greeting to you, too. Believe me, I wouldn’t be here if something wasn’t seriously wrong with this place.”
“what time is it?”
“What do you care what—”
“Have they had dinner, da sau nu?”
“They did. I heard the clinks of utensils earlier.”
“And you didn’t join?”
“Someone came for me, but I pretended to be asleep.”
“Good.”
If they think us too tired, that’ll work in our favor.
“Time?’ I ask again.
“Past midnight.”
I nod and stand, moving to the door.
“where the hell are you going?”
“To find that stupid ring. If you’re right and there’s something wrong here, then we’d best get it and get out, and soon.”
I open the door and head out the moment after. Take a deep breath, listen. No noises, no sounds other than my own breathing. I force myself to quiet it, and move to the right. Might as well get acquainted with the rest of the place.
“Wait,” Elizabeta says to my left. “I’ve already looked there. Nothing around except more rooms, the dining hall, and boring shit.”
“What we seek might be buried under that boring shit,” I point out.
“Do you really think that?”
Her snarky tone doesn’t take away from the fact she’s got a point. Maybe.
“No,” I finally admit. “Bine, where do you suggest we look, then?”
“The other way, duh,” she says, and grabs my hand, dragging me through corridors and arches. When we finally come to a stop, I let some of the anger coursing through me to the surface. Instead of yanking my hand out of her grip, I move it in a sweeping circle until I’ve got her wrist in mine, pinned to the wall above her head.
I move in closer, dropping my mouth next to the side of her head. Her hair tickles my nostrils, and the body pressed against me doesn’t feel half as cold as I’d expected.
“Let’s get one thing straight here, Elizabeta. Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I’m a child who needs to be taken by the hand and led places. Are we understood?”
Typical vampir, she only answers with more sass. “Well maybe I wouldn’t have to if you could keep up.”
“I don’t need to keep up. You can go look for things wherever you want, and I’ll do my own research. So long as you don’t get caught, I don’t care what you do.”
“do you really?” one of her hands goes to my chest, nails pressing lightly through my shirt. “Do you really not care?”
I shake my head, moving out of reach of her touch. “Enough with the games. Where have you brought me?”
She takes a beat, and another, before finally answering, “The mess hall. There’s a room beyond here, locked.”
“Porbably holds some treasures. Ah. I see. And you thought the ring would be among them?”
“Worth a shot, no?” Judging by her indignant tone, it sounds like for once I’m the one who annoyed her. Good.
Without another word, I reach for my athame, cutting into my palm. Then let the blood fill the darkness, draw on it, for that hint of clarity. The darkness around me shifts to something...else. Vague shapes. Enough so I can tell where there’s a door. I move to it, taking care with each step that I don’t bump into something.
Clearly, Elizabeta isn’t as careful.
A loud clack behind me tells me she’s hit something. I whirl around, ready to yell, but the last of the darkness shows me she’s bent at a weird angle. “What is it?”
Elizabeta
Fuck. I’d been doing so well, too. But the moment the Dacian caught on to his spell, that same weakness hit me.
“Liza...”
I glance to the side. Daniel, flickering in and out.
“Leave here,” he says. “You—danger—leave.”
Then he’s gone, and the weakness in me drives that much hardeer.
Stefan walks to me, with uneering accuracy. I glare at him. “Are you seeing me?”
“No, it’s the magic. What’s going on?”
“what the fuck is that spell?” I answer instead. “Weakness hit me the moment you did it.”
“that’s not possible, my magic has nothing to do with...”
He trails off, his expression going slack, then horrified.
“what?” I ask. “What is it?”
He grabs my arm. “Never mind, I’ll tell you after. Let’s go back to the rooms. Your little episode might’ve woken up someone.”
I force myself to listen. “no. there’s no noise. Let’s keep going.”
“if we’re caught—”
“Between your magic and my blood lust, I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine, Dacian. Now move it.”
He hesitates. Then the grip on my arm tightens, and he helps me up. Holds my weight as me move to the door, and he whispers something to unlock it.
Inside it, there’s barely any light. I say as much, and Stefan says, “If I light it up and someone comes, they’ll know we’re here. We’ll have to make do in darkness.”
He then drops me my the door, letting me slide to the floor. “Just sit here, and I’ll look around.”
“How do you expect to—”
But more chanting answers me. The smell of blood gets more intense. And then darkness seems to tighten, becoming more and more. its tendtrisl look everywhere for what we seek. (more – she’s grudgingly impressed)
Stefan turns in my direction, shaking his head. “It’s no use. Nothing here.”
“Fuck.”
He helps me back to my feet, whispering, “Any noise?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“Good. Let’s get you back to your room.”
*
Once we’re back inside my cramped four walls, I turn to him. And realize how much space he takes. “Spit it out, then. What is it that you figured out?”
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “I think the curse, the one on your Dracul line, is triggered by us working together.”
I narrow my eyes on him as the full implication of his words hits me. “Oh, hell, NO. No no no no. No.” I jab a finger his way. “You are not telling me the consort bullshit bond is trying to pull us together.”
His silence is my only answer.
“Hell no. And NO and fuck no!”
“Elizabeta, keep your voice down—”
“Don’t fucking tell me to keep it down, not when you drop something like that on me!”
He marches towards me, cornering me between him and the desk. I’m at weird angle, the corner digging into the back of my thigh. But all I can focus is on the insanely tasty smell of his blood. It’s like his words have just made him that more enticing.
He grabs my shoulders. “You need to keep your voice down,” he hisses. “There’s something else going on here, and I don’t want Valeriu to see past our deceit.”
I glare at him, even though he can’t see me. “You’ve got some nerve.” Then shove him away with enough force to rattle him against the other wall. “We are not linked like tht.”
“Fine. I’m wrong, you’re right. But how else do you explain that you got weakened right when I used my magic, hmm? Tell me.” When I don’t answer, he juts his jaw in the air. “Go on, I’m waiting.”
“there’s got to be another explanation.”
“sure. Let me know when you figure it out, princess.”
Then he feels his way to the door, and leaves. And I drop my ass on the desk, hand in my hands to muffle a scream. “This isn’t fucking happening.”
Stefan
What a blind fool. For someone who’s been around for centuries, she sure likes to keep that veil over her eyes when it suits her. then again, what else did I expect from a princess of the Dracul line, who’s always been given everything?
(more)
The next morning, I wait until the door opens. Marin enters, I can tell by the shuffle of his feet and the way he quickly shuts the door behind him. “It’s me,” he syas.
I nod, continuing to make the bed. “Something on your mind?”
“Da, it’s... Valeriu. This whole thing with the nuns. Tomorrow’s a full moon, did you know?”
“I didn’t.”
“It is...supposed to be an eclipse too.”
“Really?” I wonder if I can ask him abot the ring. Either this is a set-up, or he’s being real. But how to figure out which is which?
“Can you do something?”
“What am I doing something about?”
He’s silent.
“Tell you what. Come to me with information, and I’ll help. I promise. But I can’t without facts.”
Another pause, then, “OK. I’ll bring you information.” (but he ends up dead right as they almost leave? Then Stefan wants to stay)
He opens the door, mutters something to someone, and then his footsteps depart. “Who goes there?” I ask.
“It’s me,” Elizabeta says. “I’m told we’re to go join everyone for breakfast.”
“Good. It’ll give us a chance to get the lay of the land.”
I walk out, and she blocks my way. “About what you said—”
“Like you said, I must’ve been mistaken.”
She growls under her breath, then says, “I’m sorry, all right? Maybe you weren’t. Can you”—a pause, a deep breath—“would you please share the rest of your theory?”
I bite back a grin and hold out my hand. “Sigur.”
After a beat, she takes it, and we start walking. “I think the darknss that I use will bring on more of your episodes.”
“But why didn’t it for Vlad and Silviana?”
“Not sure.”
“You’re not as much help as I’d hoped.”
“I didn’t promise otherwise, princess.”
“Stop calling me that.”
I chuckle, and judging by the tension in her slight frame, we’ve entered the dining hall.
(gets here there and tells her he thinks the curse is getting worse and his darkness magic that he uses, will bring on more of her episodes; neither of them can figure out whyt his is happening when it didn’t for silviana/vlad – or rather, neither of them want to admit it).
*
(still Stefan POV after the dining hall, that afternoon – him and Valeriu convo, and Liza and Daniel and something happening; that night, her nightmares start)
Elizabeta
“It’s fine if you’re not okay.”
I turn away from the window, facing Daniel. Arch an eyebrow. “What makes you think I’m not ok?”
“Liza...” He moves towards me, arms outreached.
I snort. “I’m fine”
“You’re not”
“Why do you insist on making me be something I’m not? What, you think because I was once tortured here, that all of a sudden I’ll fall apart?”
“No, but I do think you’re burying the pain of the past.”
“And so what if I do? What’s it to you? You’re dead, anyway. You only stick around me to, what, judge me?”
Hurt flashes across his features. “that’s not—”
“I don’t need judgement and I sure as hell don’t need any sympathy. Take it, and leave.”
“Liza—”
“LEAVE!”
He flickers in and out, then disappears.
(he pushes her, she yells at him, he disappears)
I will not cry. I’m a princess of the house of Dracul, and I will not fucking cry because my ghost ex-boyfriend left me.
In this castle of horrors.
A shudder runs through me. Memories of the past, trying to force their way through. But Father taught me well, taught me how to shove them in their little compartments and ignore their existence. He was right. It made me stronger. And it will keep me strong. No curse will undo me.
So I eventually sit on the bed, and stare at the ceiling. I don’t sleep, at least I don’t try to. But eventually my eyelids grow heavy, as that same weakness enters my bloodstream. Before I know it, I’m asleep...and in the clutches of my nightmares.
(enter nightmare of her being tortured)
I wake up, sweating, panting, from the nightmare. Screaming. There’s screaming. Only, now it’s gone. Was that me? Did I scream in real life, or just in my nightmare?
I jump off the bed, suddenly unable to handle the clothes on my back. I shuck them all away, ripping them off me, eager to feel a cool breeze on my skin. To forget—
“Elizabeta?”
The door opens, and I freeze. Stefan walks in, head tilted as though listening for me. He can’t see me, can’t see I’m naked. And suddenly, he’s more than just the Dacian I’m stuck with. He’s a tool. One to make me forget what I’ve just seen.
“Here,” I say.
He turns to the sound of my voice. “I heard screaming. Are you...”
“Fine. Wasn’t me.”
Neither of us point out that I’m the only female in this castle that’s sleeping within hearing distance of him. Before he can overthink it, I walk over to him.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
“What? No, I—”
And then I press myself to him. He may be wearing a shirt, but there’s no way he can mistake my body for anything other than what it is—naked. He reaches for my hips as though to push me back, but I arch my back, pressing my breasts into his chest. My hand, up his nape. Toying there. Scraping the skin, gently.
“What are you—are you naked”
“So what if I am?”
My free hand reaches between us, lower and lower still. Ah, there. The evidence is there—he wants me. Every man does.
“Looks like he doesn’t mind.”
I rise on my tiptoes, preparing to kiss him, but the grip on my hips tightens and he pushes me away. “what’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing.”
“bullshit. You’re throwing yourself at me, and you don’t think I’m going to find it a little weird?”
“If you don’t want it, I have an entire castle of them to pick from.”
When I push past him, he grips my arm. Like I knew he would. A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Are you so easily swayed? You’ll just pick any of them?”
“Da...unless you want to volunteer.”
“You’ll blow your cover. And mine.”
“I’ll glamour them to forget.”
He shakes his head. “Do you really have no limit?”
“None that I care to find out.”
In a whirl, I flip our positions and push him on the bed. It creaks under his massive frame, but I soon straddle him, my hair a curtain around us.
“Elizabeta...”
My name rolls off his tongue, ending on a groan when I press my naked mound onto his erection.
“Mm?”
“This is—”
I shut him up with a quick kiss. “A distraction, nothing more.”
I feel it the moment he drops the pretense and gives in. His hand goes to my hair, digging in. I let him hold me, pretending I couldn’t pull myself out of his grip. When we both know I could.
His lips hover under mine, and I wriggle onto his lap, annoyed at the teasing. It’s not a kiss I want.
“You want this?” he asks. “My price is a kiss.”
I scoff, then stop struggling. “Fine, then.”
His lips press against mine, and I do my damnest to not move. But it’s impossible. (add more about the kiss)
I can’t anymore. Tears spring to my eyes, and the moment they do, I jump out of his lap with an almost violent force. “What the fuck was that?”
Instead of apologizing, fucking Stefan leans back on his arms, a smirk on his lips. “A kiss.”
“That wasn’t just a kiss.”
“Then maybe you haven’t been kissed before, princess.” A beat later, he stands. Walks over to me. I press myself against the wall, wanting to be as far away from him as possible. “And make no mistake. If it’s a fucking you want, I’ll give you one. But I don’t think you’re ready for it, Elizabeta. Not when a simple kiss undid you.”
“You—I—”
Ignoring my splutter, he walks out of my room, leaving me even more infuriated than before.
(she goes to feed)