As soon as Lily left for work, the apartment was engulfed in silence. I sat in her living room, mindlessly watching daytime television, but my thoughts kept drifting to the ring on my finger. This wasn't just any ring—it was a weapon, a force with endless potential, something beyond my or anyone else in this verse's comprehension. And here I was, wasting its power, unsure of what it could really do or how to control it. I culd not rely on just conjectures, not when it revolved on power. The TV show showed Elena and friends had Naruto level of plot armor but this was real life.
I glanced at the clock. I had hours—hours of daylight before I'd need to consider anything else. My grip tightened on the ring, its sleek surface glinting faintly under the light. The moment had come. This was my chance to learn, to push myself and discover what I was capable of.
Minutes later, I found myself on the rooftop of Lily's building, looking out over the cityscape. I could have gone to a more secluded place but there was magic in this world and I did not trust the very air I was breathing thus I came to the only place I could trust, the only place I knew better.
The air was cool, a steady breeze brushing past me as I focused on the ring. My mind raced with possibilities: what could this thing do? Could it give me powers? Transform my body? Channel supernatural energy? Question was, what could it NOT do?
First things first—I needed to concentrate. I closed my eyes, trying to feel for anything, any subtle vibration or pulse. At first, there was nothing. Just my breathing, my heartbeat slow as it was and the distant hum of the city. But then, as I cleared my mind which gave me a rush like no other, I felt a faint, almost magnetic pull from the ring, a low, humming resonance that seemed to sync with my own pulse. I looked at the ring in wonder, slowly understanding its inner working!
I clenched my fists, focusing all my energy into my hands, imagining a surge of strength flowing through me. Tentatively, I walked over to a ventilation unit on the rooftop. I wrapped my fingers around the metal edges and lifted. At first, it barely budged. Then, as I concentrated on the ring's power, I felt a rush—a wave of energy that seemed to amplify my strength. I pulled harder, and to my surprise, the entire unit shifted ripped from the ground as metal groaned under my grip. The surge of power felt intoxicating, like a current of raw energy coursing through my veins.
Encouraged, I tested my strength on various objects that I was materializing, gradually increasing the weight and complexity. Slowly, the weight increased from one ton to three tons to ten tons till I lifted up to fifty tons without breaking a sweat. The crazy thing was that without even concentrating, I knew that strength will not wane, I would always be able to lift fifty tons without relying on the ring.
It was changing me permanently, something I did not know how to feel. On the plus side, it was good to be strong, the stronger the better in this world. From fans, I had come to know that the books showed the Originals as almost mythical Dracula level vampires and I was going with that assumption till the very end. So, I continued pushing on for three hours till I reach five hundred tons. I could have pushed further but I had other powers to test out.
I turned to a different potential skill: teleportation. My first encounter with the ring's power had allowed me to teleport Lily to the rooftop without much thought. But if I could control it, who knew what possibilities that could open up?
I stared at a spot on the other end of the rooftop and willed myself there. Nothing happened. Frustrated but determined, I focused harder, envisioning myself standing across the rooftop. I cleared my mind, let go of everything but that image of the far corner. I felt a sudden lurch in my stomach, the world blurring for an instant before snapping back into focus—I was standing exactly where I'd visualized. Teleportation was possible but I couldn't help but frown as I realized the difference of how I used it once and now.
"What changed?" I asked myself as I made a chair for myself, sitting in contemplation. The first time I did it, it was because I was frightened and the second time was because I was hungry. What did I have those two times that I was lacking now? I delved deeper and deeper inside me, envisioning myself in both situations, analyzing my actions and thoughts till I suddenly heard a voice inside my head whisper softly, like a breeze.
"Intent," it said and it just clicked.
The first time I did it I had just bulldozed through a building and curious humans were looking at the destruction I had caused. I had done a bad thing and the most normal thing was to get out of there. So, the ring reacted to my strong intent of running away, recognizing it as urgent and simply teleported me out of sight. The second time, I had just made up my mind on what I was and what I needed to do so with my great intent of feeding, it recognized my intent, teleporting food to me. Thus, I had uncovered a key element in using the ring, Intent. With intent, everything else was possible.
"This is productive," I said to myself as I teleported to the neighboring roof, this time the sudden lynching feeling in my stomach less apparent than last time. I nodded to myself, pleased my thoughts had been true before teleporting to a roof a block away. I was slowly getting used to this, I could feel the slight disorientation disappearing the more I teleported. It was so much fun I simply forgot about my distrust towards magic as I teleported all over the city for three hours straight simply due to how excited I was!
"That was fun," I said as I appeared on Lily's roof from all the way across Los Angeles. Long distance teleportation, as long as it is within sight, and my sight was just stupidly powerful, or I had been there before, I could teleport there instantly. As for how I did it the first time, I binned it as the ring's emergency reaction.
Next was something all vampires pride themselves in; speed. Speed not just in movement but also in reaction. If my rumination was correct, an Original vampire move at speeds of three hundred miles an hour, speeds that they could achieve instantly meaning n human could react if they decide to just kill them. Sure, at the speed they could not outrun bullets but they are moving faster than the one firing the bullet so it might appear so. Their reaction must be horrifying, especially Klaus when he becomes a hybrid. I was aiming to become stronger than them, only then would I be relatively safe in this world.
So, I teleported to an abandoned track way on the outskirts of the city, a place where the homeless would gather at night together with junkies and the sort. One power I love about vampires is their compelling. In the show, most vampires need to use it while holding the person in order to make them be still as they use it. Silas, the first vampire-witch could use it on a whole town as easy as breathing and I was about to emulate that. Appearing in front of them all, I focused my intent towards the ring to enhance my compelling power.
"Listen up!" I shouted and immediately, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me. It was eerie, almost like they were robots that just had their settings reset. "You are all going to ignore what I am going to do here. If anyone new comes here, you will all chase them off, harm if possible. Is that understood?" They all nodded at the same time before they went back to what they were doing, completely ignoring me.
"I feel dirty," I sighed. I just fucked with their brains for my own gains and I didn't feel like I had done something wrong! But, now I had an entire track for me to use and I was going to make good use of it.
I turned to look at the track and i realized it was perfect—isolated, quiet, and lined with broken-down bleachers and crumbling asphalt, just waiting for someone like me to use it. The stillness was almost eerie, with weeds pushing through cracked pavement and rusted equipment scattered around. I took in a steadying breath, feeling the ring's power stir, heightening my senses until every little detail became painfully clear. The soft rustle of leaves, the distant sounds of the city, even a small rock tumbling along the track—all of it hit me in high definition.
I chose a starting point, set my gaze on an old, decrepit finish line, and focused. The ring's energy surged, and in the next second, I was moving. My body blurred forward, my feet pounding the cracked asphalt as I raced from one end to the other. Each step was faster, lighter, yet my mind struggled to keep pace, to control this speed and channel it. My goal was to reach the finish line without slowing down or stumbling, but as I neared it, I faltered, feeling the pull of gravity as my balance wobbled slightly. Frustration flared up as I skidded to a halt.
"It's taking my brain longer to process," I realized. Sure, vampires are fast but I am just a newly born vampire, barely two days old while was putting my sight at vampires a thousand years old! Vampires grow more powerful as they age making Originals truly very powerful and while I had a shortcut, it would not matter unless I knew how to use it.
So, I focused my intent to my brain as well as my entire body and I felt the warmth seep into them in a very comfortable feeling that almost made me moan. Immediately, I felt the difference as the world felt like it was crawling to a stop. Birds up in the sky appear to be flapping their wings in slow motion, the homeless people on the bleachers seemed to have simply been put to pause while the world became vibrant.
I resisted the urge to say, 'I am speed' opting to take my mark, designating my stop and then pushed off. Asphalt exploded behind me as I shot off, this time my mind coordinating with my body flawlessly till I reached my stop, finishing it with a cool skid in the asphalt. Immediately, the world went back to normal yet I knew I would go into this mode any moment I felt like it! So, I spent the rest of my afternoon in the track, becoming faster and faster till I reached Mach 2, even going as far as playing fetch with myself, throwing a ball, teleporting and catching it, improving my reflexes while also increasing my strength to 613 tons. All in all, when evening made way to night, I was very satisfied with the results of my training and I teleported to Lily's, almost giving her a heart attack when I appeared in front of her.
"Jesus!" she exclaimed, clutching her chest, that was almost bursting out of her tight white t-shirt. "Okay, new ground rule, no more teleporting in the house!"
"Sorry about that," I apologized sheepishly. She looked down at her macaroni and cheese dinner she had prepared for herself before glaring back at me.
"Now you owe me dinner," she half glared, half pouted at me.
I raised my hands in mock surrender. "Alright, fair enough," I said with a small grin. "Dinner it is."
Lily plopped down on the couch, still glaring, though I could see the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile. "You're going to ruin my life one of these days," she muttered, half-joking.
"So," I ventured, leaning back. "How was your day?"
She shrugged, scraping at her bowl. "Just the usual—dealing with my boss, a thousand emails, and Karen from accounting stealing the last decent coffee pod. But hey, I survived." Her eyes narrowed playfully. "Until you showed up like some horror movie jump scare."
I chuckled. "Duly noted. No surprise teleporting inside the house." We laughed, the awkwardness loosening up between us, and I felt strangely at ease—more than I had in ages.
After a few minutes of back-and-forth banter, we finally agreed to order takeout. I wanted something filling like her blood, and she was craving Chinese, so I relented, watching as she pulled out her phone and opened the app.
"Alright," she said, scrolling through the menu. "So, what are you in the mood for?"
I leaned over, glancing at the options. "Anything spicy. I'd say we go for dumplings, maybe some Mongolian beef... and definitely some spring rolls. You can't order Chinese without spring rolls."
She snorted. "You're so predictable." But she added them to the order anyway.
"Oh, and don't forget orange chicken," I said with a grin. "Fast metabolism."
She rolled her eyes but tapped it onto the list. "You're lucky you're paying for this."
"Fine by me," I said, shrugging. "Besides, I know a few tricks that'll make sure we get it exactly on time."
We wrapped up the order, and I took a seat on the couch as we waited, casually flipping through channels on the TV. A few minutes later, I sensed movement outside before I even heard the knock.
"Food's here," I said, getting up with a knowing smile.
Lily shot me a skeptical look. "How did you—never mind." She shook her head, starting to get used to my vampire habits by now.
I opened the door to see the delivery guy, looking slightly harried and balancing our bags. I greeted him with a smile and a subtle tug of compulsion, letting my gaze settle on him. "Hello there," I said smoothly, letting my inhibition of what I am about to do slide off me. "No need to remember me or this address. Just drop the food and have a good night."
The delivery guy blinked, his eyes clouding over slightly as he nodded, setting the bags down without another word before turning and leaving as if on autopilot.
I closed the door, bringing the bags over to the kitchen counter with a smirk. Lily watched the entire thing, arms crossed. "You just… jedi mind trick the delivery guy? You even did the Kenobi line!"
I shrugged. "What can I say? It's efficient. I just saved him and me the awkward small talk."
She let out a laugh, shaking her head as she unpacked the food. "Ridiculous. Next time, at least let him earn his tip."
"Noted," I replied with a grin, passing her a set of chopsticks. "Now, let's eat. You've got to admit—it's a little helpful."
"Maybe," she said, picking up a dumpling and shooting me a playful glare. "But you're still buying dessert."
And for the rest of the meal, we traded stories and jokes, both of us settling into an easy rhythm, like we'd been doing this for years.