The Vampire Diaries: Elizabeth Returns

Chapter 19

Elizabeth found some foil in the kitchen, and took the roll upstairs and into the bathroom. Then, she opened the box of blue Schwarzkopf hair dye.

Her hands found two hair ties in her pocket, so she tied her hair loosely, half on each side, parted perfectly in the middle,making sure the hair ties were positioned in the same place - just beneath her earlobes.

She took the tube of dye and shook it into the developer. Then, after pulling the plastic gloves over her hands, Elizabeth massaged the dye into the hair handing below the tie on her right side. After wrapping it in foil, she did the same on the other side.

Half an hour Elizabeth had to wait.

It was 10:57 now. She went to find Stefan, and asked him if they had any vervain.

'Nice hair,' was the first thing he said.

'Thanks,' Elizabeth replied. 'Thought I'd try it out. I really think the whole tin foil for hair image suits me, don't you?'

'Yeah,' said Stefan, laughing.

'But seriously, do you'

'Why do you need it?'

'Personal research.'

Stefan rolled his eyes at Elizabeth's simplicity, but he did not object. He disappeared for a moment, and returned with a sealed bag containing the plant.

'Thanks,' said Elizabeth. 'If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom, passing time, but I doubt you will.'

Elizabeth reappeared sitting on the edge of the bath. Sighing, she opened the bag and took out a single vervain plant.

The instantaneous effect was simply a small, dull ache in her right hand - the one holding the vervain - but it was easy to take.

Elizabeth placed the vervain back in the bag, and disappeared for a moment to take a glass from the cupboard in the kitchen.

Then, she half-filled the glass with water. Placing the glass on the edge if the sink, she took a sprig of vervain from the bag, and crushed it to a powder in her hands. Then, she sprinkled it into the water and swilled it around with a finger.

Watching herself in the mirror above the sink, Elizabeth drank a mouthful of the vervain water, and felt no pain.

She crushed up another sprig of vervain and added it to the water, which had no effect. She ended up crushing the entire contents of the bag except for one sprig into powder and adding it to the water, and even then it only caused a mild discomfort.

Once she had drained the potent vervain water - the water had contained a lot more vervain than any supply of vervain water Elizabeth had ever come across - she took the final sprig of vervain from the bag. Maybe this was self harm, maybe it was masochism.

She didn't care.

She crushed the vervain in her hand, as she had done with the other sprigs, but instead of adding it to water, and spilled the powder over her tongue and down her throat.

Nothing but a dull ache which disappeared quickly.

'Urgh,' Elizabeth moaned, before checking the time. 10:25. Two minutes - close enough. Elizabeth put he empty bag in the bin beneath the sink, and scrubbed the glass clean with soap until there were no traces of vervain in it. When she had replaced the glass in the cupboard downstairs, it was 10:28, so she removed the foil from her hair and washed out the dye. Then, she went to find Elena, who leant her a hair drier.

'Nice hair,' Elena said, when everything was dry and Elizabeth had removed the hair ties. 'It suits you.'

'Thank you.'