The Original

The Monster Within

Felix sat the end of the table, his face in his hands. He had been silent for the last two hours. After Genevieve disappeared, the others wanted to go in search of her, but he told them not to bother. If she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be.

The silence was almost unbearable. They all sat around the table, not saying a word, most of them hardly even breathing. Even Klaus was uncharacteristically quite, not daring to say a word. No one knew what to say. They didn't even know what to make of what had happened.

"What the hell," Felix whispered, everyone turning to look at him, "were you thinking?"

No one said anything. But then Rebekah dared to answer.

"What do you want us to say? We were thinking of helping her! No one said she couldn't have blood. I mean, after all, she is a vampire!"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Felix yelled.

"No, we don't so why don't you enlighten us?" Elijah responded cooly, ever the picture of calm and collected.

Felix sighed, stood up, and walked to the window, gazing out at the vast ocean before them.

"My sister is probably the worst vampire to ever exist, certainly the most bloodthirsty." He turned back to face them. "She has spent centuries trying to curb the bloodlust, and now you lot have thrown her right off the cliff."

"How were we supposed to know?" Stefan protested. "I mean, it's not like she ever really talked about it."

"And that surprises you? If it was me, I wouldn't really want to talk about it with others," Caroline retorted.

"But we're her friends. She should've felt comfortable enough to talk about this with us."

"She didn't," Felix cut in, "because she didn't want you to see her as anything different. To judge her, or hate her, for the things she's done."

"She told me a few nights ago that Klaus was right," Alaric began. "That she is a monster. But not just any kind, at least according to her. She believes she's the kind that other monsters fear. Why would she feel that, I wonder?"

Felix stared a him with a wild intensity, his lips folded into a thin line, and for a moment Alaric wondered if he was going to kill him.

"As you know, my sister had no desire to be a siren to begin with. She was forced to be one by Circe. At first, she didn't mind it. But then, when she found out about the ritual she had to complete, in order to fully transition and make it permanent, she quickly realized just how horrible it was, and still is."

"What did she have to do?" Elena asked, wondering if she was going to like the response.

Felix paused for a moment, watching Damon sit quietly at the other. He refused to meet Felix's eyes, instead, staring at the table before him, his jaw clenched.

"She had to kill the most important person in her life. As a symbol of cutting her ties to her old life, to the person she used to be."

"Who did she kill?" Caroline's voice was barely a whisper. 

"There was a boy. In our village. He had been in love with her for years, and so had she with him. They had planned to get married when they got older, but that never came to pass. He was 18 when she killed him."

"So wait...how old was she when she turned?"

"16."

The shock registered on their faces, at the idea of a sixteen year old girl having to murder someone she loved. 

"But, she doesn't look 16," was Rebekah's response.

"No. Sirens will age a few more years before they stop completely, unlike vampires who stop aging immediately after transformation. She stopped aging at 20. But the pain of what she did has followed her her entire life. She's never been able to move past it."

There was silence for a moment, before Elijah had another thought.

"Who did Circe have to kill?"

"For her, there were actually two people who were the most important. Their names were Diana and Vesta. My sisters."

"Is Felix your real name?"

"No...it's Orcus. I changed it after a couple hundred years. Felix seemed a bit less conspicuous," he chuckled.

"What about Genevieve? I'm assuming that's not her real name either."

"No," he shook his head, "but that is not my secret to share. All I can say, is that my sister is very dangerous, very deadly. And right now, she is out of her mind. Early on, she developed a taste for blood, which is not all that surprising given her siren nature, not to mention her vampiric one. The problem, was that she had too much of a taste for it. She became what you now call a ripper. But in the absolute worst sense of the word. She slaughtered her way through Europe, Asia, Africa, without humanity. That's what happens when she tastes blood. She loses her humanity, almost instantaneously."

"She's wiped entire villages, and cities, from the map. And each time it's gotten worse, and worse. One day, there will be no turning back. She will fall back into this pit, and there will be no climbing back out of it."

"How many people has she killed?" Damon asked, finally breaking his silence. All eyes turned to him as he posed the question no one wanted to ask.

Felix stared at him, his face full of pity. "I...I lost track after seven hundred...thousand."

Damon closed his eyes in shock and anger. Anger that she didn't feel like she could tell him. Anger that she didn't trust him.

"My sister has been through much in her life, and yet she is still standing. I implore you...do not let this change how you see her. She has helped each and every one of you, somehow, at some point in your life. She never gave up on any of you, so please don't give up on her." His eyes search the others, looking for signs of agreement. They were silent.

Till Klaus stood up, to the surprise of everyone at the table. "Never."