Blood Ties ↬ The Vampire Diaries

02

The fallen leaves beneath his feet crunches obnoxiously as Nathaniel treks almost lazily through the familiar graveyard. The air around him is as it is every time he visits - stiff and chilled and howling a haunting tune. As if it's trying to suffocate him further.

She follows behind him with a burning scowl on her face, visibly uncomfortable to be there. It's bad enough that she's had to deal with being around witches that owe her something, but the dead owe her and her kind nothing but hatred. With arms crossed tightly against her chest, she observes him with inquisitive eyes as he glances around the place, nonchalant in his posture and not a hint of unease clear on his face.

But she knows better. She always knows better.

He can almost feel the dead scream at him from every direction. Seething at the very presence of the abomination. Perhaps the wind is their weapon, because it blows a little harder as he passes an old crypt with the name of a long dead coven of which he demolished some years back. The trees and bushes rattle noisily, leaning in the direction that he travels as if keeping an eye on him.

It's admittedly uncomfortable, he silently decides. To have the area visible to the eye be deserted of people and life, but to feel the eyes of the dead watch him walk all over them. It doesn't much bother him emotionally, one of the many perks of having nearly none. But physically, his skin crawls and his bones stiffen as his eyes subtly dart every witch way. Pun intended.

He runs his fingers along the top of the headstones as he passes, sensing the hatred and disgust that radiates from the spirits. Deciding that his presence is already an injury to the ancestors' beliefs, and he's always loved adding insult to injury, he smirks small and feels the stone being to crack and break apart beneath his fingers as he goes. The magic seeps from the ancient buryel, entering his body with a faint red glow.

Nature screams harsher.

It's stupid of him to mock them. He can almost hear his sisters scolding voice from halfway across the country. The thought of Natasha has the smirk slipping from his face. There's very, very few things that make him feel certain emotions like sadness, longing, hurt, guilt, regret. And his bubbly and beautiful, talented and kind, and ever so loving sister is one of them.

The two had always been the closest of their siblings. Attached at the hip from birth, there was seemingingly nothing the two didn't do together as children and even young adults. They spent most of the day either playing, hanging out or just being around eachother. If one was happy, the other was even happier because they were happy. If one was sad, the other was sad and vengeful of the reason that they were sad. If one had a problem, the other had the same problem. Most of the time.

Nat never saw Nate's defect as a problem. But of course, she didn't personally know what it was like to live with such a thing. Despite growing in the same womb and being birthed from the same woman just minutes apart, she hadn't been born a siphoner. He had been the only abomination. Sure, she saw the way some members of their coven and even a few family members had treated him. She's seen his abilities first hand and has experienced their effect. She's defended him and spoken on his behalf on more than one occasion.

But never has Natasha known what it's like to be seethed at for who she is or hated for who she's not.

She stares at him curiously from a few feet behind him. Her eyes narrow when she notices his faraway look, probably not even realising that he's stopped. Despite the slight annoyance that bubbles in her stomach, she can't find it in herself to be angry at the man before her. A realisation that, alone, makes her angry at herself.

"What is it?" She finally snaps out at his back, teeth clenched from both resistance and the cold. An unwanted flash of guilt runs through her as he just barley noticeably flinches. "I thought you said this was going to take a few minutes, tops? Just find whatever you're looking for and lets get out of here. I can almost hear the witches rolling in their graves."