[Blood Archive Entry]
They grabbed the corpse and descended to the 'peculiar' room they found earlier.
Once they arrived, the whole atmosphere became oppressive; the tables shook, the candles lit up, and their flames danced wildly. The statue wailed, and the skulls seemed to gain life as they shrieked impossibly loud.
"She's not very happy to see her body." Darian quipped.
"You're telling me…" Rebekah said, exasperated.
Even the body underneath the tarp began to twitch and thrash wildly.
"Sigh Time to end this."
They put the tarp on the ground and gently revealed the body underneath.
He knelt beside the corpse, he pressed a hand to his chest, lowered his head, and said a quick prayer in the same strange tongue he used for the blood vow.
"… may your passing be safe, and may your next life be kinder to you."
He finished the prayer with English words.
Rebekah raised an eyebrow, amused by the scene playing in front of her.
"Didn't know you were religious, Darian."
He shook his head. "It's not about religion, Rebekah."
"Then what is it about?"
"Respect."
"Hum?"
"At the start of this, all I wanted was revenge on something that tried to harm me and the ones I hold most dear."
"But now?"
"Now, even if superficially I understand her pain. Underneath all that rage, I can feel her grief, her torment… I can't help but sympathize; thus, the best I can do is end her torment and be respectful while doing it. I might be mistaken about her, given this whole creepy room, but I want to do things this way."
Rebekah put one hand on Darian's little shoulder. "You are kind, Darian."
"Hah! Tell that to that gravekeeper, I am sure he would agree."
She shook her head. "You are kind to those who deserve it."
"Selective kindness, huh? Well, it doesn't matter right now… Midnight is approaching."
He got up, picked up one of the few remaining salt cans, and started pouring it all over the corpse. He poured a few more just to be sure. By the end of it, Elizabeth's body was entirely covered in salt.
After that, he picked up the lighter fluid and doused her corpse with it.
"Now we wait," he said while eyeing the fashionable watch on Rebekah's wrist.
A few minutes later, the watch beeped, alerting the two. At the same time the temperature dropped, the candle flames extinguished, and the statue laughed and shrieked at the same time.
She was waking up.
Darian moved his fingers, causing his claws, now coated in silver, to clink against one another.
He made the same gestures from earlier, and red flame burst from the tip of his claws, instantly setting the body ablaze.
The eerie laughter turned into an enraged shrill, and the candles once more violently erupted in green flames.
From the burning corpse emerged a specter clad in a bridal dress and wearing an immaculate veil. One of its gloved hands carried a bouquet, and the other moved to lift her veil.
Rebekah winced when she saw the horrifying visage of the ghost.
Darian eyed her and smiled, kindly and warmly—at least that is what he wanted to convey, but his sharp, predatorial teeth were more unnerving than calming.
He looked around the room and noticed how cramped it was, and in a split second, he decided to change the location of the fight.
"Rebekah, back to the piano room!" He shouted, catching her attention and eliciting a nod from her.
The two dashed up the stairs, and following them was a very angry spirit.
When they got to the piano room, the first thing Darian did was kick the glorious instrument aside, shattering it against the wall.
It produced a last harrowing melody before turning into nothing but rubble.
After that, Darian twisted his fingers; the silver claws clinked oddly amidst the strange sign.
A crimson sandglass-like rune shone in the darkness before dissolving into smaller versions and carving itself onto the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.
Once the ghost got into the room, she felt her strength diminish, her body turn material, and her very existence anchored to the strange room.
Her empty eyes turned to the child. The one who had toyed with her a few nights ago, the same irritating creature she couldn't dispose of.
Now he had burnt the anchor that held her in this plane, and as if that wasn't enough, he entrapped her. Deep in her soul, she knew this was the end, but she refused to go down peacefully. The hatred that kept her stuck in this world even after her death was too much for her to do otherwise.
She lunged towards the child, but as she was nearing him, a searing pain echoed through her entire body.
Rebekah had taken advantage of the moment, using the ghost woman's focus on Darian against her, delivering a blow using the poker on her hands.
The bridal dress tore, and underneath it, a glowing, fiery wound.
Wherever the poker came in contact with the ghost's decayed skin, it seemed to unmake her existence, leaving wounds that seemed much too ethereal.
Darian lunged and drove his claws deep into her abdomen.
Unlike the fiery wound left by the pure iron, when the silver tore into her body, bright white light seeped out, and from them, a glowing greenish blood seeped out.
Elizabeth screamed in pain, one that was so much more intense than the one that came before.
Seeing the glowing blood that seemed to scream of the hatred and intense emotions that bound Elizabeth to this world, an intense and powerful instinct flared inside Darian's mind.
His eyes glowed brighter, and his fangs sharpened.
Swallowing his own disgust, he sank his teeth into one of the ghost's arms.
He felt the intense emotions flowing through him. The grief of being cast aside, the pain of relentless physical torment, and the humiliation her fiancée had brought upon her. But most of all was the disgust that came when she was forced to practice forbidden witchcraft, so that upon her death, all her feelings would create a wraith that would unleash torment upon those she hated the most. But instead, she created an almost mindless monster that only knew how to kill and destroy.
He felt everything.
Slowly, Elizabeth's body changed.
It didn't wilt and crumble; instead, it became livelier, her skin gaining back its softness, her eyes grew back, and her jaw was no longer missing.
Gone was the vengeful specter; in its place there was only the ghost of a kind-looking lady.
She gently caressed the child's hair.
Darian closed his eyes and let go of her wrist.
Deep inside of him, he felt the turbulent emotions of Elizabeth crumble and leave behind only pure energy. That energy then flared up and coursed through his body, straight into his soul. It attacked the proverbial chains that kept him bound. He felt the restrictions upon him ease the tiniest amount, but it was still progress, progress that surpassed hundreds of millions of years of careful research.
The world seemed frozen in time; even Rebekah wasn't moving.
He looked up at the kind and ethereal spirit in front of him.
His claws were still lodged in her, tearing through her stomach and coming out of her back. He moved to remove them, but she held them in place.
"Don't." She spoke softly in a voice that seemed to come from everywhere.
"Isn't it hurting you?" He asked, to which she shook her head.
"Thank you for releasing me. Many would just kill the ugly spirit and be done with it."
"I didn't mean to do it; I just followed what my gut told me." He said awkwardly.
She giggled and smiled. "Still, I am grateful. But I must warn you, little one… Do not do this again." Her tone turned serious.
"Why?"
"I am unsure as to how I know this, but I do."
"Know what?"
"That if you keep on taking from ghosts or spirits like me, you will change. You will cease to be as you are now." She warned.
His eyes narrowed, not liking the sound of it. "Then what do I do? This is the first time in forever that I managed to progress. I can't just not do anything."
She tilted her head, and a serene aura enveloped her. "Why do you seek greater power? As you are now, none can harm or threaten you. I know this very well," she giggled.
"It's not only about power…" He thought of his mother back in the hotel room, of Rebekah, who was frozen a few steps away from him. "I don't want to be separated from the ones I care about… I don't want to lose anyone else." An image of two young men roaming on a beautiful planet emerged in his mind. "Not again."
"But if you achieve your desire, power will come to you all the same. What will you do with that power?"
"What is the difference? As you already said, I am already enormously powerful."
She laughed. "That is true."
She eyed him for a couple of seconds before smiling again.
"You needn't worry, child, keep to your path. One will come to you, and he will be the answer to your problems; he will release the chains that bind you. I only ask that you be kind to him; he has suffered enough already."
"Huh? What do you mean? You are not Elizabeth, are you? Who are you?"
She smiled and shook her head. "You were an unexpected but much-welcomed surprise, Darian Salvatore. I will bet on you, for better or for worse." She drifted away from him. "We will meet again, oh primogenitor."
"Wait, where are you going?"
The serene and deep air that clung to her disappeared; in its place, the kind Elizabeth came back. "Thank you! I hope you find what you are looking for."
And with that, she vanished in glowing white particles.
The world moved once again, and Darian was left with more questions than answers.
—————
A/N: I understand the fight in itself may have felt underwhelming and all of that, but I honestly couldn't see it going any differently. First, you have two immensely powerful vampires, thenone of them completely shuts off the ghost's biggest advantage (turning immaterial), and not only that, they are both wielding objects made of material that are essencialy the ghost's weaknesses. So I couldn't actually make this fight any more interesting without making Darian or even Rebekah seem weaker than they trully are.
As for what happened afterwards... I can only say I'm a mad man with a plan and for you guys to have a little patience.