run wild

It was moments like when Aurora considered her decision to become a vampire. As she lay amongst the dirt and the stones, the edges digging into her delicate skin. If she knew she would be commended to an eternity with a fragile mind, would she have leaped from the window as a human? She was so desperate to be with her first love, the Hybrid, that she gave up her life to be with him. That didn't turn out so well, though.

Now she was focused on her brother. She had no desire to return to him, to torment him. Instead, she would run until she grew bored of her own company, then greet him. One day he would learn she was not something he could lock away when he so wished. The medication, the treatment. None of it would work on her. This was her until her death, a person with a mind a little bit more eccentric than the rest. Her thoughts were more erratic than her peers, but that didn't mean she had to be locked away. Tristan's heart was in the right place, desperate to keep the only family member he had left safe. This time she wasn't sure if it was her snap in reality that caused him to take action or he had something planned with the Strix's, to which he didn't want her getting involved.

New York sounded fun. Somewhere she could slip in with the locals and be surrounded by people. Anything not to be alone. Loneliness was her enemy. Thoughts of the perfect life she had built in her mind with Klaus swam around her head, as she basked in the sun. They were so close to that happy life they dreamt of when Elijah ripped it away from them. Without the compulsion, Aurora was certain her life would have led down a different path. A happier one, one without mental anguish. If only Lucien hadn't shown them to their family home. The redhead tried not to dwell too much, it wasn't healthy, and she had seen first hand what vengeance could do to a person. Tristan. He was obsessed with bringing the Original family to their knees. For her, the years of lies caused her mind to be shattered, whereas the older De Martel became fixated with getting revenge and being in control.

Aurora wasn't sure how long she was in her mind before she heard the low hum of an engine approaching in the distance. The noise pierced the silence. She lay still as the sound grew louder, which wasn't tough as she was exhausted from her great escape. She listened as the vehicle slowed down, and eventually came to a halt. The door opened, then closed. Footsteps neared her, and soon she felt someone's hand on her neck checking for a pulse. She remained still, calculating her next move.

"Ma'am? Ma'am, can you hear me? You OK?"

It was a male. She was somewhat disappointed, hoping a female would find her so she could steal their clothes, but this one would do. He rolled her body towards him, and she gathered whatever energy was left inside of her. A few drops of blood then compel the stranger to take her to New York City.

The vampire green eyes shot open. She moved quickly as she grabbed the male by the throat, pulling them both up. Green eyes faded darker as the veins beneath her eyes spidered and her teeth sharpened. In less than a second, her hands were on the male's shoulder and her teeth were sinking deep into his neck, seeking food, but she quickly ripped her teeth out of his skin. "Ugh" She stepped back from the stranger, her eyes returning to their normal shade of green, allowing his blood to run from her mouth onto the gravel below. Aurora wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, "You're not human?" She glared at him. The blood, it was different and lacked what she was searching for. "Who are you?!" She demanded, her gaze fixated on the stranger as she stepped back once more. It wasn't someone she had seen before, but perhaps he was a new member of the Strix's. Someone sent by her brother to collect her.

ENZO ST JOHN

As she lay on the ground waiting for her knight and shining army Aurora daydreamed about a new life she could create for herself in New York. Would this time be any different from the countless attempts before? Probably not, but the redhead allowed her to dream. She could find herself a nice apartment, possibly meet a nice man to sweep her off her feet.

All that was out of reach for now. Bound to her sibling’s plot against the Mikaelsons until the original family lay six feet under or were somehow debilitated. It was drawing close to 800 years since her brother declared a secret war against the family, yet he was no closer to the final battle. If it weren’t for her brother, Aurora would have probably accepted their defeat centuries ago. Accepting the family took a part of her life she was never going to get back, and instead of dwelling aim to live the rest of her days.

They were putting their own lives on the line if the rumours were true. The whispers that their life was tied to their sires. If one is taken down, then their entire sireline would be wiped out. For now, this was only a myth as none of the family members had been eradicated. Aurora had toyed with the idea of going for Kol or Finn, but despite her destructive behaviour, she was still sensible. She still valued her life.

For now, she was preparing herself to go and live some false life in the city. A fairytale life in the city plagued her mind. A peaceful and normal existence, something which mirrored a human’s. It was often where her mind would float on those long days in the hospital. It would keep her preoccupied and distracted her from the screams of other patients. Some of the screams were just those of crazy people; other screams belonged to those in pain. Those who were carted off for treatment.

At last, someone was here to save her.

Paranoia set in as soon as her fangs ripped away from the male, convinced this was one of Tristan’s servants. She wiped his blood from her mouth, as her green eyes drifted past the stranger and onto the vehicle he was travelling in. He was travelling alone, and surely her brother would have known better than to send just one person? Also she had only just bid farewell to the hospital. How would the news have travelled so fast? Near impossible. That voice of paranoia grew somewhat quieter in her mind as she told herself the chances of this being someone from the Strix's was low. Almost at zero.

“Well, I was expecting a human to pull over. Someone to appease my hunger” She admitted, with a careless shrug. Of course, she was surprised to find he wasn’t human. She hadn’t expected to find someone supernatural on the rural stretch of road. Aurora huffed as she brushed the gravel from her body. There was no point playing the injured meek human anymore. Either way, she didn’t intend to harm this man, rather looking to put as much distance between herself and the hospital as possible. “You are a long way from home?” She commented, picking up the male’s British accent, one that mimicked her own to some extent despite her French heritage.

Aurora witnessed the wound in his neck healed over rapidly, as though her teeth had never penetrated the skin, leaving behind nothing but a red stain. It confirmed her suspicions. He too was a vampire.

This was not one of Aurora’s classic antics, though, as it wasn’t always she found herself stranded on a highway after escaping a mental hospital. She could have walked to the nearest city, but was unsure whether her body would carry her that far. She was already running on fumes, exhausted from the vervain that had been pumped through her body, “Believe it or not, this is not something which I do every day. I am looking to get to New York, and I require transportation” She gestured towards the car, before looking back at the male, “As you can see, I am not having a good day” This time she gestured towards the unflattering grey gown which hung off her frame, down to her bare feet which we now covered in dried up dirt. She yearned for a hot shower to wash the grime and clinical smell from her skin. Wash any trace of that building from her so she could start all over again.

ENZO ST JOHN

Aurora inhaled sharply, noting the level of sarcasm in the other vampire’s voice, a form of humour she had still not warmed to. Yes her luck had taken a turn for the worse, though it was questionable how much good luck she’d had up until now. The scenes which unfolded in the hospital were not due to luck, but rather her calculating her escape from the moment she was admitted and the amount of times she’d found herself chained up to a hospital bed, like a caged animal. Something too dangerous to be released into the wild. Each time her brother would assure it was just for a few months. Until she felt better, but that day would never come. Tristan was trying to fix something that couldn't be fixed. Her mind. She had learnt, to some extent, to roll with the highs and lows. One minute feeling as though she was a goddess who cannot be defeated and the next feeling as though she was nothing but a black hole of sadness, sucking everyone else in with her.

But, the chances of a vampire pulling over on a road like this? Low but not zero. Over the years there had been more and more vampires being created, either through choice, like herself or force, like Tristan. Aurora remembers the days when it was just the Trinity and the Mikaelsons. Food was hard to come by back then though. Once they slaughtered a village it would be a long journey to the next often with no one on the road from A to B. Nowadays the world was littered with humans. A population that just kept growing with no suggestion of slowing down.

Home was nothing more than a word to Aurora now. Fleeing her village over 1000 years ago she dreaded to think what had become of it. No doubt replaced with high-rise apartments or a shopping mall. There would be nothing like the place she once called home, beating no resemblance to what she remembered. Once she left France Aurora never returned. Often she wondered what became of her father. The man who lost his wife during childbirth and his two children decades later. By the time the compulsion broke a century later, her father was dead. Dying never knowing what happened to his children. It broke her heart and with that, she vowed to never step foot in France again. It was too upsetting for her, “Born in the south of France in the 10th century” She retorted, with a voice that sounded proud. Her birthday was not something she celebrated though, instead trying hard to forget the date. The date which her mother departed from the world because of her. Aurora's birth brought her mother’s life to an end and despite the passage of time it was still something she struggled to deal with.

Even though the stranger couldn’t satisfy her hunger he could at least help her to get to New York. Who knows what she would do thereafter. Try and fade in with the crowds of people. Pretend to be human until she found something better to do. Being a vampire meant more than being an ageless being, rather living a life that repeated every few years or at least it did for Aurora. A broken record going round, playing the same song over and over.

Tristan would come and find her soon enough.

Aurora peeled the gown away from her bare skin, the material feeling rough between her fingers. Alongside the dirt the piece of fabric now had specks of blood across it from her new friend. She truely mirrored the mad lady her brother depicted her as. She let go of the gown and it fell back into its unflattering shape. Even though she’d wiped the blood from her mouth, drops had made it down her neck, though it had quickly dried in the heat. The sun beating down was making her even more restless. The other vampire extended his hand out to her, asking if she would make it to New York. The slightest smile formed on her face as she nodded, “I have been deprived of blood for a lot longer than this” Sometimes weeks, other times months. She went to take the stranger’s hand, accepting his offer to help her when another engine roared in the distance. She joined the male as she too looked out towards the oncoming vehicle.

Perhaps her luck was going to change.

The vampire ordered her to lay back down again as he stepped out into the road. A quiet sigh escaped her. She’d just brushed all the dirt from her body, but she didn’t object to his suggestion. Aurora lay back down on the floor, closing her eyes once more. Waiting, listening.


ENZO ST JOHN

London. Of course. The accent. The country that was churning out more vampires than America, or so it seemed.

Her tense body started to relax a little as her mind told this man was here to help her not hurt her. Sometimes it was difficult to accept that not everyone out there wanted to bring her harm. Not everyone was an enemy, but the whole reason she was lying in the dirt was due to trusting the wrong family. The De Martel’s lapped up the lies fed to them by the Mikaelsons. Believing they were too nobel to be fooled, under the assumption no one would dare cross their family. The Mikaelsons took her family and tore them apart, leaving their father childless and the sibling wandering the earth for all of time.

Even if the man’s intentions weren’t pure he was much younger than her. It would be an unfair fight between the pair, even in her fragile state. If faced with danger her body would refuse to let her down. Plus her options were limited. Stay and bake in the sun or follow the stranger back to New York. There was a fleeting idea to kill the male and take his car, but he’d been kind enough to pull over for her. A vampire stopping for someone they thought was a helpless human? It was a rare sight. He didn’t view her as food, rather someone in need. One who still managed to cling onto their humanity despite the cogs that turned inside. The need to kill everyone who had human blood trickling through their system.

Obviously one of the better ones in a world full of darkness. Sometimes only it was a darkness that she could see. Her surroundings coloured grey by her own inner demons. The ones she was left battling with repeatedly. She’d accepted a long time ago there was no cure for her illness, but Tristan hadn’t. He was convinced she could be fixed with the right treatment. But that treatment came in all forms and sizes, yet nothing fitted.

With that in mind, she lay back down in the gravel as instructed. There was a meal travelling in their direction. The mere thought of blood had her stomach crying out. An empty pit that needed satisfying. Though she’d been alive long enough now to know it was a pit that would never be full. It would always be hollow. It was a feeling she learned to live with over time. Becoming a part of her.

Aurora listened as the male’s footsteps travelled away from her. The vehicle came to a halt and there was an exchange of words. There were now two sets of footsteps coming towards her, although it was difficult to pick them apart. One hurried, one slow. As the hurried steps grew louder she could pick up the heart that was beating beneath his rib cage. Calm and steady. Almost relaxed. As though he wasn’t about to walk straight into a trap.

Just like she did with the first stranger, she waited patiently until the human came that little bit too close, presumably to check if she was breathing. The sound of his heartbeat growing louder. The scent of what lay beneath his skin gradually becoming overwhelming. Her actions mirrored what had happened before. Green eyes shot open and teeth sank into the human’s neck before he had a chance to edge away. A yelp of pain came from the good samaritan as he tried to push her away.

Just as obedient as before, she listened to the stranger's words, pulling her teeth from his neck before she took too much blood. The older male collapsed on the floor next to Aurora, holding the open wound on his neck, his eyes wide with fear. The redhead sat up, getting to her feet she pulled the wounded human up with her by his shoulder. Violently she jerked his body before hers, “Stay still and stop yelling” She ordered, before turning her head towards the other vampire, “I do not tend to share my food but I guess you owe you…” Aurora gestured towards the still human as she brought her free hand up to wipe her mouth.


ENZO ST JOHN