"No, I insist I can not trouble you and your family any longer."
"Nonsense, our village is not too far off."
After my outburst I had lied and told them that I was traveling to the coast. I hadn't been too familiar with their backstories but Nicole had been a big fan of the Vampire Diaries series of shows. Being the pleaser I am, I had watched every episode with her when she decided to rewatch everything during Covid. I knew their mother was a witch and their father was a total douche. I wanted to avoid conflict so I had tried to insist on parting ways.
Rebekah had taken an instant liking to me, which was normal for her personality I guess, and wanted to show me around their village. Finn was a bit hesitant at first but once I had proven that I was not a danger had become indifferent to my presence. Klaus and Elijah asked questions about where I had traveled, Henrik's eyes shone with excitement as I told them about how I came from further west. I had to stretch the truth obviously, inserting stories of run-ins with natives and wild animals. I didn't even know if they had Native Americans in this world.
Kol listened in earnest but I knew his mind was elsewhere. We walked through the woods and arrived back at their small village. People waved at the siblings and I retreated back to my thoughts for a moment.
They were still human, and Henrik was still alive. That meant that I was a long way from the start of the original story. How would my being here affect the world, I was sure I was a vampire. I could practically smell their blood, I felt my fangs in my mouth elongate and retract. The siblings didn't seem to notice so that meant I didn't have the weird veiny eye thing that vampires do in this world.
Esther will probably sus me out the second she sees me, I'm surprised Kol hasn't yet, I'm pretty sure he's already practicing magic. I didn't want to expose myself too soon, that would lead to drama that I didn't want. Maybe I could just sneak away and disappear into the wilderness. It's not like they can keep up yet. Making up my mind I broke away from the siblings as we drew closer to their home. I made the excuse of emptying my bladder and walked towards the trees.
The second I was behind the trees I tried the vampire speed thing again, this time also focusing on my surroundings before pushing forward hard. The world blurred as I moved through the forest. I let out a shout of excitement as I ran. It felt like I was flying, though my movement must have been just a blur, the whole world seemed like it was at a standstill while I ran. I could see perfectly fine in the darkness of the forest as I weaved between trees eventually ending up in a clearing miles away.
'C'mon how did Superman do it again? Just focus on your senses Seth you can do it.' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and focused.
I could hear an owl hooting deep into the forest, I could smell a pack of wolves by their den. A few deers moving through the brush. The senses were incredible, I would have cheered out if I didn't remember where I was.
"Fuck, I just had to get sent to this world. Skyrim would have been preferable to this hellscape called Mystic Falls."
I ran into the forest again, stopping only when I had felt that I put enough distance between me and 'the original family'. That was not a situation I wanted to find myself in, and I did not want to test the limits of my immortality. Sure she had been telling the truth about having made me into a vampire, but that didn't mean that she hadn't been lying about the other stuff. Till I could prove everything otherwise I was taking everything Morgana had said with a grain of salt.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The days began to blur together as I moved through the landscape. I didn't feel the need to drink blood though I could feel my throat begin to itch in thirst. I found out that I could eat and drink when I discovered a fresh deer carcass. The wolves had eaten most of the meat, but a few chunks were untouched. Curiosity had gotten the best of me. Starting a fire after I cut a few untouched chucks from the carcass I roasted the venison using a stick. Taking a small bite I chewed the tough meat before swallowing.
"It could use a little salt and pepper, some Tabasco wouldn't hurt either."
After I didn't end up throwing up a fountain of blood like I expected, I had watched 'What We Do In The Shadows' and a vampire who ate a singular French Fry had thrown up fountains of blood. I went over to the nearby stream and washed down the meat with a few handfuls of water.
"I can drink too, but neither the food nor the water seem to make the hunger go away."
I concluded that I could eat and drink like a normal person but it would offer me no sustenance. I didn't need to relieve myself much to my relief, but that made me question where the stuff that I consumed went. I assumed the blood I drank was somehow magically turned into my own blood, but that didn't explain where other stuff I put into my body went. I had also seen the extent of my regeneration the day prior. The seemingly endless sea of trees offered no view of the land so I had climbed up a large pine tree. I missed a step and fell nearly fifty feet onto my back right onto a fallen over tree impaling myself through the chest. It hurt at first but then I started to laugh. Maybe it was shock, or maybe it was just delirium but the situation just seemed funny at the time. I broke free from the branch and pulled it the rest of the way through my chest. It had gone straight through my heart, I watched fascinated as the wound stitched itself shut as the left over debris was pushed out of the injury. The blood was also absorbed back into the wound before it healed itself shut revealing unblemished skin.
"Eat your heart out Wolverine, that was really gross but also pretty fucking cool."
I had taken to talking to myself the last few days, it wasn't like there was anyone close enough to hear me. I looked back down at the hole in my top and sighed.
"Now people are gonna look at me funny cause I have a fucking hole in my shirt."
Muttering a few more choice words and cursing at Morgana I continued my journey. I didn't really have a direction I wanted to go, I was just putting distance between myself and the shit storm that was Mikael. Maybe I should have stayed and helped out the Mikaelsons, should I have just completely destroyed canon?
An idea sprung up in my mind, I didn't want to die anytime soon. The idea of being alive for too long was kind of bothersome however. Fortunately for me I just happened to know where a cure for immortality lay. Changing course I ran full speed towards where I knew the island that housed Silas' body was.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Turns out that vampires don't in fact need to breathe. I figured this out as I swam across the body of water that separated me from the cure to immortality.
I reasoned that if I could get my hands on it then I would be able to drink it and live the rest of my days in peace. I wasn't sticking around in this crazy world for too long. Maybe I could meet a nice girl, fall in love again, and settle down. Life was relatively simple here and now, hunt for food, defend your home, and have a woman to hold at night.
As I swam up to the shore of the island I looked around. There were sparse trees on the rocky terrain. Spotting the cave entrance I made my way over. The cave was deeper than it seemed, despite my opinion on the whole vampire thing I could definitely admit that the heightened senses were the biggest upside. The itch in my throat had escalated to a burning. I had lost count of how many days I had spent in this world. I knew it wasn't more than a month. I reckoned that I could probably go another month without drinking blood. I finally reached the chamber where the caged coffin that held Silas was in. Looking around I noticed some bones laying around.
"Wasn't there supposed to be assholes guarding this guy?"
There wasn't anyone else in that cave but me and the petrified Silas. As I contemplated on how I would take the cure from his petrified hands I felt another presence in the cave. I spun around and came face to face with Morgana. She had a smile on her face, her black dress somehow shimmering in the darkness of the cave.
"It won't work, you know. The cure I mean. It's not going to work on you."
"How would you know that?"
"Really Seth? I made you, I think I would know what can and can't kill you."
I grit my teeth, "so what am I even supposed to do?"
She blinks a few times at my question before replying, "What do you mean? This is your world now. You can do whatever you want."
It was my turn to look at her confused. What did she mean I could do whatever I wanted, did she mean that I could change things?
"No you can't just 'change things' as you do put it, but you can influence them."
"Did you just-"
"Read your mind? No Seth, you said it out loud you big silly boy."
I didn't know if that comment made me embarrassed or angry. I clenched my fist and growled out at Morgana.
"So if the cure doesn't work, what are you doing here? Why bother stopping me?"
"I just came to check up on my savior, that's all. Oh and since you don't believe me here." She snapped her fingers.
I looked at her in question before I heard the sound of a muffled scream behind me. Whipping around I turned just in time to see Silas' body get pulled into a point before disappearing. The box containing the cure clattered as it fell to the floor.
"Black hole spell, really useful."
I looked at Morgana who was checking her nails, shaking my head in disbelief. I walked over to the box and picked it up. The cure was as it looked in the show. Contained in a waxy ampule. Breaking it open I threw it back drinking the liquid fast so that Morgana couldn't stop me. She let out a yawn and looked at me.
I felt nothing, the burning in my throat was still there. I let the box and empty ampule fall to the floor as I collapsed to my knees. Morgana sauntered over with a smile on her face.
"Told you it wouldn't work." I looked up at her. "There is no cure for your strain of vampirism."
"What the fuck am I supposed to do then?"
"Live your life," She stared down at me. "Don't deny the sadness that I saw in your heart, you longed to be in charge of your fate."
"I peered into your mind before I sent you here and I saw your past. People have always told you what you could and couldn't do, I set you free. Now you can do whatever you please and no one will be able to stop you."
"Why this world then? Why not my old life?"
"Because there you died Seth, I killed you. Just like I killed that pretty blonde."
"Her name was Nicole."
"I don't care, live your life Seth. Maybe one day I will come back and if you still insist on returning to being a mortal I will grant your wish."
Morgana vanished as if she hadn't even been there. I felt thoroughly defeated and utterly alone. There was no guarantee that she would ever return, if she insisted that I stay in this world and do whatever I wanted then I would oblige her. As I stood up I felt a sense of determination take root in my core.
"You know what? Fuck canon, I'm going to take over the fucking world."