#bloodpsalm

@bloodpsalm

The news didn't reach Tatia all at once.

First, it was just silence from some of her contacts. Not enough to make her suspicious. Then, the difficulty reaching others. No one having heard from them. The numbers grew and grew, until the majority of her network went silent. Eerily silent.

Which is what drove Tatia to leave her hiding spot and meet with her main link, the only one from her network that she'd actually meet face-to-face. Even if he would never remember what she looked like afterwards...

But when she entered the abandoned house that was the agreed meeting point, Tatia was met not with her vampire ally — but rather what remained of him.

❝No...❞

Tatia's face became contorted with pain as she rushed to the mauled body. Her hands were shaking as she examined his wounds. The sight was gruesome beyond description; it was clear Ash must have been subjected to hours of intense torture before he was given the mercy of death. Ash... her oldest ally, the closest thing she had to a friend; a vampire that survived centuries... only to be violently torn from the face of this earth, as if he were nothing.

This hasn't been the first time Tatia came across a dead friend, and so she forced the cold composure onto her features, before releasing a sigh and closing the vampire's eyes out of respect. ❝I'm sorry, friend,❞ she whispered, her voice still marked by grief. ❝I'm sorry I didn't make it in time...❞

She closed her own eyes, allowing herself this one last moment of goodbye, when she was suddenly pulled out of her musings with the sound of steps. Right behind her...

he grins against klaus' lips once his back hits the wall, the cold sturdy brick texture being a welcome contrast to the heat that overwhelmed him the second they touched. stefan told himself it was the sneakiness of it all. that his pulse raced and his stomach twisted in the most exciting ways because they were doing something they both knew they weren't supposed to. rebekah was off being distracted by the band that stefan had compelled to flirt and amuse her, while he pulled klaus away for a moment of passion in the shadows.

it was there, in the darkness, in the solitude and silence, that he truly felt himself. not like a monster, not like he was lost or missing something. the hunger was different. it was healthier, more potent but not in any way that scared him. what they were doing was wrong, but nothing felt more right.

" mm, " stefan's attempt to pull away fails as he only leans back in to kiss him again, then again, then one more time before he chuckles. " for someone who seemed so determined to hate me a few weeks back, you're sure comfortable now. " his nose brushes against klaus' gently, hands slowly running up his sides before settling on his shoulders.

@bloodpsalm sent: "You're   early.

        elijah inclined his head slightly, hands clasped loosely behind his back. his gaze met klaus's, the faintest edge of a knowing smile tugging at his lips.

       "i am aware, niklaus, that patience is not your strongest virtue, and i thought it prudent to arrive sooner rather than risk arriving too late." and find trouble elijah has to take care of. this way, it's easier for everyone.

@bloodpsalm sent: ❛  i know who you really are, Katerina. even when you keep things from me, i know you.  '

        she felt the chill in his words before she even fully registered them:  that smooth, almost casual tone that always carried the echo of possession. his words weren't a statement; it was a warning wrapped in familiarity. her name, the old one, curled off his tongue like a memory he refused to let die. her stomach tightened, that small, involuntary tremor beneath her calm exterior betraying what she would never allow him to see.

       "you sound almost jealous, klaus," she said lightly, though her voice didn’t quite match the smirk that followed. "i suppose i shouldn’t be surprised. you never did enjoy watching other people have what you can’t control." the words came out smoother than she felt, her heartbeat quickening with every syllable. she could feel his scrutiny like a weight pressing against her skin.

𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐓𝐎𝐗𝐈𝐂 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐒 — 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 POSSESSIVE • “MINE EVEN WHEN YOU RUN” // @bloodpsalm

Rebekah Mikaelson understood the terrible weight of the word Loyalty.

It was not a choice for her. it was a curse carved into her very bones by the witch who had birthed her. For ten centuries, she had stood beside her brothers. She had watched empires rise and fall, watched the sky turn from blue to purple to grey to black a million times over, always placing the vow of Always and Forever above the fragile desires of her own heart.

She was the loyal sister. The soldier. The one who watched her lovers die at her brother's hand and still returned to his side, again and again, because the bond of blood was a chain she couldn't break. She had never known a connection that did not demand a sacrifice. Niklaus demanded a sacrifice. Even after she found out what he had done to their mother, she loved him through everything... Through it all...

She was so tired of it. The house was draughty, it was old and big, of course, it was. She was leaving. She wasn't even taking anything with her. She was leaving it all behind. It was then her back hit the wall. Her entire body folded underneath her.

"Walk out that door and I swear, I'll drag you right back."

"Nik…" Her voice cracked around his name, soft and breaking.

Klaus looming over her, her eyes met his. It was his blue eyes. His iron grip. Not enough to really hurt her, but enough to remind her that he could.

She felt the old ache coil through her chest, the same one she carried for centuries. The one that whispered she would never, ever, be free of him.

Her voice trembled when she spoke. “You cannot keep me here, Niklaus.”

starter for @bloodpsalm || natalia & klaus

        the years had stretched long, and still the memory of his voice had not loosened its hold on her. it was strange because it seemed like she remembered someone who didn't even exist. a voice without a face and without a name. a presence that had an influence on her but did not seem to exist. it was strange how vividly she recalled the moment this voice first coaxed her into drinking, how easily his presence had stilled the chaos that had consumed her when she rose from death. how convinced she was that they had met a few times although it felt like she met with a nonexistent ghost. she had convinced herself that this person had been a phantom of her fevered mind, a cruel invention that explained too well why she still walked this earth.  

       and yet, when she stepped into the hall of the old estate, her breath caught. there he was. the same sharp lines, the same blue eyes, the same weight of authority in the air that wrapped itself around her like chains.  

       she froze, every instinct telling her to flee, but she did not. instead, her voice, quiet and almost fragile, slipped past her lips. "so you were real after all." her eyebrows etched together into a frown when her memories reassemble and what had previously made no sense suddenly led to a realization. the voice was no longer without a face or name, she could now suddenly assign it.

Her off the cuff remark had some truth to it --- she was well on her way to being drunk. She could feel the alcohol twisting its way around her brain, leaving her a little off kilter. Cami wasn't sure if she liked the sensation yet or not. It had been a long time since she surrendered an ounce of control. For obvious reasons. It felt like she had to have a sharp mind, all her wits about her just to ensure that she survived whatever New Orleans chose to throw at her.

"This is your fault," Cami decided. It made sense to her in her current state. He had arrived, laid on the charm and before she knew it she forgot about the need to be on guard all the time. She had relaxed and when he suggested they share a drink she had been all for it.

(how many drinks ago was that?)

"So what's your angle?" she asked and despite knowing she shouldn't, she tipped her glass to her lips. "Get me so drunk that I won't lecture you about your misdeeds? It won't work --- I'm a multitasker, Klaus. I can do both things at once." To prove her point, she finished off her drink, leaned against the bar (heavy on the lean given her state) and looked him square in the eyes. "Your actions have been impulsive, driven by your emotional state rather than thinking it through. If you actually stopped for a moment, I bet you wouldn't do half of what you did..." She trailed off, losing her momentum. She then made a face.

@bloodpsalm cont. from here

Something was chasing her. She didn't know what or who it could be but it'd been following her for blocks now. At first, it had just been a slow pace—as if it wasn't following her but just headed in the same direction— but the faster she walked to get away, the faster it moved until she was all but sprinting her way down the streets. She wasn't sure how it hadn't caught up yet, and she wasn't going to overthink it when she finally saw someone in the square across from her.

Without thinking, she rushed up towards him, begging him for help. Her eyes were wide—unshed tears glistening in them—as she waited for him to answer her. At first, she thought he'd just brush her off. Some silly girl who was scared of her own shadow—except he was agreeing to help her—and without giving it another moment, she moved quick to stand behind him, pointing off into the darkness that she'd come from.

"There's—There's something back there. It's been chasing after me for blocks. I dont—I don't know what it wants but..."

Annie didn't want to die. Not to some unknown thing chasing after her in the dark. Whether it was some made-up creature, or just a human haunting her every step.

A shudder, and a shake of her head a second later. "God—Maybe it's just the darkness playing tricks on me. I just—I swear I heard something, or someone."

"And you're the first person I've seen—I should be looking for the police instead, not bothering.. you."