What Doesn't Kill You...

Of Black Roses and Demonic Curses

Violet, Damon, and Charlie crowded around the still twitching body of Ted Flanagan. Miranda had reassembled Ted as best as she could. She had snipped away his shirt, revealing a black rose tattoo right over his heart.

"So she is back and according to you, she's close." Charlie spoke to Damon.

He nodded, still in shock. It had been decades since the night that Isabella killed him. Killed him and brought him back to complete her hellish experiment. The merest hint of her presence unsettled him deeply. Seeing another mark like his brought back all those memories. Memories of a torrid love affair that began in ecstasy and ended in blood. His.

"I think it's safe to say Isabella has an accomplice. There's a possibility of a missing vampire from Necro." Violet filled in for Damon. He still looked in shock. She wondered idly if there was a significance in the placement of the tattoo. Especially considering where Damon's was located. Why does that matter?  She quickly dismissed the thought.

Charlie raised her dark eyebrows. "Necro? For real?"

Violet's lips quirked up. "For real."

"Alright." Charlie clapped her hands together and rubbed them. "Let's see if Ted can tell us anything else." She rolled up her sleeve and planted her hand directly over Ted's tattoo. Closing her eyes, Charlie focused on Ted's imprisoned soul. This is what necromancers never considered when raising the dead. Being raised isn't always a joy for the human soul. Some see their rotting corpse as a prison. Just like Ted. The fear and frustration he felt had made him feral. Not at all what she'd done to Damon.

Silver white patterns and swirls curled up Charlie's dark skin, illuminating all corners of the morgue. Ted's life passed quickly before her eyes. She didn't look too hard. It wasn't her place to judge the quality of the human's life. She just needed to see the moment Isabella marked him. She was reaching the end of Ted's life. She was so close to seeing his end. Through Ted's eyes, she saw him walking down a dark street and then...

White shards of pain ripped through her psyche. Yanking her hand back, Charlie stared in astonishment at Ted's body. She flinched and lifted her hand. Her palm was scorched with a strange sygil. Something she had not seen in a long time.

Did you really think it would be that easy to find me? I've grown more powerful than you could possibly imagine since we last met. Don't worry. We'll see each other soon. You have my favorite toy after all.

Isabella's voice echoed in her head, mocking.

Roaring in frustration, Charlie spun on her heel and shouted to the ceiling--not as Charlie, but as Death. "You have no idea what you're doing! This power will consume you!"

Isabella's laughter slowly faded from their minds.

Damon was leaning shakily against the wall. "Did you all hear that?"

"Hear what?" Miranda was watching the three of them with a frightened expression. Because she was not dead or undead, she hadn't heard Isabella's taunt. However, she was powerful enough to be aware something had happened when Death had touched Ted Flanagan's body.

"Burn the body. Release the soul." Charlie spoke quietly, studying her burned hand. She looked up at Damon and Violet. "Rest for now and find out what you can about that 'missing' vampire."

"What about..." Damon trailed off. It was still too hard to say Isabella's name out loud. Especially after hearing her voice.

Charlie smiled grimly. "Leave her to me. Find her accomplices. I'm sure she has more than one." Without a backward glance, Charlie walked out of the morgue. The moment she stepped into the hall, she let out the gasp of pain she'd been holding in. She raised her shaking hand to look more closely at the sygil. She curled her lip at it.

Demonic.

She could feel it beginning to taint her body and spirit. It was old magic. Magic as old as she. It was the kind that had been buried deep in Hell's vaults, old weapons that all parties had agreed were too dangerous to be set free. Magic that could kill immortals. Even her.

"You won't get rid of me that easily, Isabella." Death whispered to the darkness. "Soon, it'll be your soul I reap."