07 | nefarious
(typically of an action or activity) wicked or criminal

dedicated to @lunauthor

HANNAH COULD PASS for a model. With her sharp, striking features, her face held a boldness that I had rarely seen in others. Despite her natural resting bitch face, she had a smile that could effortlessly light up a room; made you feel as though you had known her a lifetime. She was just under six foot seven, with long muscular legs that were endless.

Tonight, Hannah had straightened out her curls until her hair reached her shoulders in a bob. The ebony hair shone under the bright London light, moving with sheer perfection each time she turned her head to admire something about the city she hadn't seen before.

Although Hannah's straight stature and short red dress emanated a wave of confidence, I was the complete opposite. I had opted for a black jumpsuit - something I could easily run in, if it came to it. I hadn't bothered with my hair, either, which fell over my shoulders in irregular red-gold waves. Moreover, the layer of mascara I had applied was basic, and nothing to give off the sense of wealth that was required for the place we were headed.

Damon walked ahead of us, having scrubbed up well into yet another suit. Once again, a tie was nowhere in sight, but the imperfect appearance matched Damon better than any other. Furthermore, the man's stubble had grown, the dark facial hair adding depth to his timeless face.

We had been walking for five minutes in the evening light before Damon abruptly halted on a street of expensive buildings, paired with red carpets trailing inside and marble decor. The building we were facing matched the aesthetic with ease, merging into its surroundings until it was no longer distinguishable from the next building along. If it weren't for the gold plaque with 'Algrose Cemetery' etched into it, it would've easily been mistaken for a hotel or set of high-end offices.

"Good evening," the porter welcomed us, smiling brilliantly as he invited us into the vampire nest. Damon had explained enough about the building to have my skin writhing with anxiety. The casino-hotel complex was, in fact, built on top of an old cemetery, and had been in the possession of the London clan leader ever since it had opened its doors in 1895. He was the same vampire who ran The Grand London Hotel, which was where the ceremony for the king trials were taking place.

Damon took the lead once we were inside, barely leaving me time to take in the luxurious interior of the reception lounge, immediately leading us up numerous flights of stairs.

The numbers of stairwell kept counting up, to the point where we passed number fourteen and I had to double over on my knees to catch my breath.

"You know," I stated angrily between each harsh breath, "there is this magical fucking thing called a lift."

Damon turned around, halfway up the next set of stairs. He didn't even appear as though he had exerted a muscle, with his shirt still neatly tucked into his navy trousers, and hair brushed away from his matte face. Unlike myself, his forehead did not sport a single drop of sweat, and that was all down to his vampire abilities.

"What's a lift?" Damon enquired, casually raising a brow.

I gritted my teeth. "An 'elevator.'"

Damon rolled his eyes, but didn't make his way back down the stairs as I had expected.

I rolled my eyes, immediately making the link. "Theoretically, an elevator is not a type of public transport."

"Do you want me to throw up on you or not?" Damon said as a small smile tugged at his perfectly sculpted lips. Had I already kissed them?

"I'll pass," I stated, mirroring his actions to perfection. "Where's the casino?"

"On the twenty-sixth floor." My heart sunk the moment Damon uttered the words; like I was falling from a fathomless height with nothing to break the fall.

Both Hannah and myself looked at each other in unison, heaving our shoulders collectively as though we were one. I rolled my eyes at an angle Damon couldn't see, making Hannah bite her lip and frown at the other flights of stairs we had to climb. As much as I wanted to take the lift, leaving Damon was not a choice. A human in a vampire world was unnatural - and it only meant one thing; certain death.

I huffed using my whole body, preparing for the next hundreds of steps I would have to climb to ensure my safety. I mounted the next step ungraciously, losing my balance almost immediately, but lengthened my short strides to climb two steps at a time. I passed Damon without so much as batting an eyelash in his direction, and kept up the pace until I reached the top of the stairwell.

The wind rushed against my face as I was met with the night air. The balcony was vast, gazing over the West of London like a scope into a different world. The sun had disappeared from the sky, leaving behind a multicoloured horizon and the glimmer of thousands of lights emanating from the city like a swarm of fireflies. Even though the moon was new, I still felt its coolness against my skin as my red-gold hair was attacked by the elements. I was glad I had left it now as its natural waves.

Damon reached the top next, his heavy footfalls denoting his arrival. I didn't turn to face him, too captivated by the view of my city. My city. It was rare that I found a place to call home other than mine and my mother's squat semi-detached house is Southampton, but I had.

"Do you like it here?" I asked, hugging my jumpsuit closer to my body as the wind took away all the heat from my body.

I caught Damon coming to stand beside me in my peripheral vision. He smiled, scratching his beard as though he had been asked to choose between McDonalds or Burger King. The answer to which was chicken kebab.

"Yeah, I do," he replied almost inaudibly. It was like he was shy to admit that he liked London - as though he couldn't like anywhere other than his home city, Washington DC.

"It's a beautiful city," I stated, smiling to myself as my eyes reflected the lustrous lights flickering across the skyline.

"It is," Damon nodded. He brought his hands together, resting them in front of his belt stoically. "But it's not just the city I love."

I didn't want to press about what the comment meant, but the moment I opened my mouth to question it, Hannah reached the top step as out of breath as I had been three minutes ago.

"That was the most exercise I've done since walking to Krispy Kreme to get a free doughnut," Hannah gasped, resting against the metal railing of the balcony as though it was her lifeline. I laughed at her comment, although we both knew that she was lying. Hannah didn't have an athletic figure for nothing; she went to the gym every other day, mainly to flirt with one of the personal trainers she was simply too broke to afford to have a one-on-one session with.

The mention of food automatically made my stomach rumble, craving a chicken kebab. I pushed the cravings down, my fingers finding the glacial metal of the bracelet Nathan had gifted me. Although the dark blue stone set into the sterling silver looked amiss amongst my pastel skin and freckles, the colour reminded me of the deep cobalt of my mother's eyes. Even though she was two hours away by car, I still felt as though she was right next to me.

My mother and I had been especially close when my father left us. Being twelve years old, the signs of an affair hadn't been invisible to my eye, and it hadn't been invisible to my mother, Anne, either. After the divorce, my father had quickly remarried to a rich Salon chain owner named Jasmine, and moved to the United States. He cut off all ties with us, as though we had never existed. The only evidence he had ever been in our lives was the money sent to us each month as part of the divorce settlement.

Lost in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed Damon's close proximity until he held out his arm for me to take. "Cora," he uttered emotionlessly, "stay close to me." I blushed slightly, taking Damon's muscular arm slowly as I took a final glance at the horizon, and the Shard which pierced the clouds and disappeared. "And remember what I said. Let's figure out why you wrote what you did on the note and get out of here."

I nodded, keeping the item he had gifted me tucked into my pocket.

The balcony was empty, but the room that opened up to it with a set of pristine glass doors was certainly not. The three of us stood back as the two uniformed men on either side of the double door opened it up, allowing the soft classical music and monstrous noise of one hundred voices flow out of the confines of the room. The place was busy, with the token exchange counters bustling with suited men, accompanied by well dressed woman. I suddenly felt out of place in my cheap jumpsuit, but held my head high, proudly showing off the expensive silver hoops I was wearing, gifted to me by my mother.

We walked straight past the chip exchange to the main room, which was perhaps just as large as the ballroom had been last night. The ceiling was tall enough to encapsulate three floors, and the different gambling tables were arranged in a symmetrical pattern. I watched the crowd closely, wondering how many of these handsome and older men and women were of the supernatural variety. From what Damon had mentioned earlier, my best bet would be all of them. The uttering of voices was almost overpowering for my senses, despite the lack of a large crowd. A majority of people were gathered around the two bars at opposite ends of the dim room, lit up by ancient chandeliers hanging perilously on pure metal chains. My eyes skimmed over the numerous games of poker and blackjack, while the uniformed dealers dished out playing cards faster than a blink. It wouldn't surprise me if the staff were vampires, either.

Damon lead us to the heart of the room, and slid his hand around my waist as we reached the fullest part of the room. I felt my cheeks heat up, and bit my lip to try and stop any sarcastic comment from coming out of my mouth. The action caused my lip to bleed, making the male beside me curse.

"So much for low profile, Cora," Damon growled, his actions suddenly much faster than they had been moments ago. He tightened his grip around my arm, whilst I reach my hand out for Hannah to take. Damon pulled us hurriedly to the opposite side of the room, aiming for the dim seats towards the back which were unoccupied. His fingers still lingered across my back securely, making my skin heat up and prickle with electricity.

I didn't feel anything for him, surely? After what Hannah had told me last night, maybe I had. But I didn't - couldn't - remember which one of Damon or Nathan I had been closer to. I barely knew Nathan; knew nothing about the extremely handsome leader of the Washington Clan. Whoever I had liked was in the past. The present was now, and I would be lying to myself if I said there was nothing between Damon and I. Perhaps it was physical attraction - after all, that would explain a lot. Even his eyes - those fucking beautiful hazel eyes - had me in pieces.

But before we could reach the safety of the darker seating area, a loud voice boomed across the casino. Everyone fell silent, the games halting for a second. I could almost smell the tension lingering in the air; cut it with a knife.

"Damon Harrison-Altera."

Damon refused to turn around. His throat moved as he swallowed, knowing exactly who was behind us. However, curiosity had gotten the better of me. My movements were rigid as I turned, sliding my arm out of Damon's to glance around at the pairs of eyes lingering on the three of us. Yet, after three seconds passed, they all looked away to resume their previous conversations and games. The only man left staring at me was well dressed in a black suit and tie, gold cufflinks clinking against each other as he rubbed his hands together greedily. He descended the stairs into the magnificent room, accepting the head-bows people gave him as he passed. If his confident actions did not speak power, his face certainly did. His jawline was as sharp as a newly cut blade, and his cheekbones minicked the same edge. They sloped down his rectangular face, carving into his cheeks until they appeared hollowed out and ancient. His eyes were a striking blue, as though they held the crashing, tormenting sea within them. Stubbled lined his jaw and joined his chin to his nose in a timeless appearance - placing the males age was almost impossible, but late thirties in human years seemed the most accurate. I couldn't help but bite my lip harder as he neared, joined by a fleet of men behind him dressed in the same modern suit, each varying in appearance. Yet there was one thing they shared in common: they all radiated power.

"Damon," The man said once more, his voice booming across the hall naturally. He was now ten meters away, and the close proximity only allowed me to study his beauty in greater detail. "Welcome."

I almost scoffed at the man's words. The whole show had surely not been just to welcome us to his mediocre casino?

"Elijah," Damon said, turning on his heel at the speed of light. Instead of holding out his hand for the other man to shake, he simply rested his hands on his hips, shattering the false image of his status. Damon was merely one of Nathan's soldiers. Although the pair seemingly had a strong friendship that dated back centuries, a lot had happened between them, and Damon had never been fully promoted to Nathan's second in command. Damon was an old vampire; that was all. He held no status compared to the others surrounding him.

Damon waved an arm at the British vampire. "You're looking... good."

He was looking more than good. 

Elijah gave our group a hollow smile that shook my bones until they shattered. There was an ominous presence about him I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Let's skip past the pleasantries, Damon," Elijah smiled menacingly. It was unusual how something so beautiful could be tainted effortlessly. I had no doubt that Elijah was the head of the London Clan, and looking at his crooked smile sent a shiver down my spine. Had he been the one to compel me?

"I'm after Nathan. He has something I want."

Instinctively, Damon brushed me behind him, standing between me and Elijah to protect me. "Nathan has the dagger?" Damon stated - it almost sounded as though he was laughing - not able to believe that Nathan had started the trial with the dagger. Elijah bowed his head. "Well I don't know where he is. We're not on good terms at the minute. Might have something to do with a broken neck, sorry."

Elijah visually sighed, casting his penetrating gaze away from Damon to me. He smiled at me, only forcing me to back away until I was in line with Hannah.

"Shame," Elijah muttered, taking his time to smile sadistically. He pulled his arms out of his suit, leaving him in a pair of black trousers and fitted white shirt which highlighted his muscular physique. "Although I don't know what you're doing here, Nathan has taken a liking to the girl behind you. I think it'd be a shame if he didn't come and save her."

It took me two seconds to process Elijah's words. The words sunk in, stinging as they made it to my brain and brought me to the realisation of what they meant.

"You're not going to touch her," Damon hissed, stepping backwards and holding his arms out length ways to create a protective shield across me. I hadn't been afraid beforehand, and even now I was more petrified about Hannah getting hurt than getting hurt myself. "We're just passing through, Elijah. We don't want any trouble."

Elijah chuckled once more, placing his forehead between his hands. "Did you really think that I'd fucking believe that?" He enquired. The male vampire didn't need to be told twice before he strode forwards, stopping when Damon was in arms reach. "You seem to be forgetting that I'm four hundred years older than you."

Damon pouted, his fingers winding into fists so slowly no one would notice unless they were at the close proximity I was. "And you seem to be forgetting I don't give a shit."

Suddenly, in a blur Damon was in front of Elijah, his balled fist smacking the vampire in the jaw and causing him to crash to the floor ten meters away. My feet were fixated on the spot, unable to tear my eyes away as the room erupted into mayhem.

"Cora!" Damon's voice yelled as he turned his back on his fallen opponent. There was fear in his eyes as they came to rest on something behind me.

In a split second, I pulled Hannah and myself down to the ground, landing on the carpet with a thump. I hissed as my chin lurched against the floor, but didn't falter as I picked myself back up, pulling out the item nestled in my pocket.

No sooner than I had gotten up, a body flew at me full force, knocking the air from my lungs. I gasped in pain as a pair of hands pinned me up against the nearest wall, banging my head in the process. My brain pounded from the shock, but I gritted my teeth with determination as I swung the object towards the vampire holding me prisoner.

The stake did not meet flesh - instead, the man's hand easily plucked my wrist from thin air, and pulled the weapon from it. In the darkness, I couldn't make out the male's face, but I could tell from the quick breaths leaving his mouth he was sneering.

"Get off me, you fucking prick!" I yelled, ushering all of my strength into my arms to push the man off. He didn't even flinch as my fist slammed into his face at full force. Instead, his hold on me tightened as his body neared mine until he was pushed up against me in the most uncomfortable way possible.

"I love a fighter," he sneered, causing an unwanted wheez to come out of my mouth. Even in the limited yellow light emanating from the casino, I could make see the outline of his fangs. The same things that had led me to this situation in the first place.

The battle behind him disappeared as I thought through my second attack with the spare second I had. Oh, I would show him what a fighter looked like.

Bringing up my knee, I met his groin with a thump. My attacker let out a hiss, and his hold faltered. I backed into the wall, grabbing the man's arm and twisting until it was at an irregular angle, and I heard a satisfying click. If I said I hadn't done it before, I would be lying.

I swung around the man's body, picking up my weapon from the soft floor before sending the wood straight through his heart. I waited for something to happen, my breath heaving through my whole body. I wiped the sweat from my brow, my arm coming away wet.

I had missed my mark by inches.

I grunted, not knowing to do next a the man swung around to face me - so I did the one thing I could think of. I swung my foot out, knocking my attacker's legs out from under him. The vampire clattered to the ground with an enraged howl, and I took the cue to run. My legs barely responded as I turned in the opposite direction, running into the centre of the casino to find somewhere to hide.

Yet, the battle had only expanded. People in the casino prior to the arrival of Elijah and his men had begun to join in, throwing punches and tearing out hearts where they saw fit. I almost screamed as I saw Damon on the other side of the room fighting hand to hand with Elijah.

The Washington DC Clan member didn't stand much chance as Elijah picked him up by his recently torn shirt, and threw him against the entrance wall almost twenty meters away.

"Damon!" I screamed, unable to stop myself. With Hannah having simply vanished, my mind was focused on finding her and saving Damon, no matter how much the odds were stacked against me. But I knew that when the time came to it, I wouldn't kill. How could I? How could I take someone else's life, even if they threatened my own? It wasn't the way I had been raised, even with my notoriously violent childhood.

I ducked as another vampire picked me out, targeting me with blood lust in his eyes. I stood up as quickly as my legs would allow me, jumping up onto a blackjack table and grabbing a handful of untouched betting chips. I threw the handful of thousands of pounds at my pursuer, catching him directly in the eye. I didn't look back as I eyed my surroundings, realising that the next table was jumping distance. I fought the curious urge to look behind me, and inhaled a large breath to hype myself up.

You're going to make it. You're going to make it, I repeated in my head until it became a mantra I couldn't stop hearing.

Mustering all the energy in my legs, I took a run up and launched myself off the edge of the table. The second that I sailed through the air felt like eternity, but I made it to the next poker table with relative ease. Although my stunt had caught the attention of a few vampires, I quickly jumped to the next table to evade attack. Except this time, I had misjudged the distance, and my stomach came crashing into the wooden edge of the carved piece of furniture, forcing the oxygen out of my lungs until it felt like I was choking on air.

Gulping like a fish out of water, my body fell back onto the floor, and I rolled under the ledge of the table to regain my breath. I didn't give myself time to recover, and was up once more in pursuit of my friend.

"Hannah!" I yelled, the name reverberating across the room until the syllables no longer made sense. I didn't care if I drew attention to myself; after all, they couldn't kill me.

That's when I spotted her lying on the floor with a cut on her head. Her chest was rising and falling, yet the rest of her limbs were locked in the position she had fallen.

A wave of anxiety flooded through my veins. Tears pricked my eyes, immediately thinking the worst.

"Hannah!" I cried out once again, stumbling forwards as quickly as I could when everything went black. With the lights out, the battle did not stop. A vampire's heightened senses meant that they could still see every little detail of the room - the vintage print on the back of each playing card; the unique emblem on each betting chip - but being a human, all I could see was a fathomless pit of ebony.

"Damon!" I uttered, lowering my voice ever so slightly, but the panic made his name shake as it echoed through the room.

I stopped dead in my tracks, putting out my hands to find something to grip onto as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Instead of something unliving, I was met by the touch of smooth skin against my own as it grappled onto my wrist and refused to let do. I balled my other hand into a fist, and pounded it down onto the flesh, but another pair of hands grabbed the limb and held it in place. I couldn't tell how many people were surrounding me as someone shoved me hard on the back, forcing my legs to walk towards something I couldn't see.

"Get. The fuck. Off of me!" I screeched angrily, only to be met with the chuckle of a very familiar British accent. Unlike my own British accent, Elijah's voice was much more pronounced and posh. 

"No wonder you both like her," Elijah chuckled as the lights flooded back on, revealing the vampire stood before me with Damon being held beside the London Clan leader by two of his men. My stomach erupted into a swarm of butterflies as I noticed that cut across Damon's forehead that ran from one side to the other, and one of his legs was ushering blood faster than my heart was pumping. The comment wasn't aimed at me, but it stung. "Have you got the other one?" Elijah asked, and nodded immediately after as he acknowledged someone behind me. My heart skipped a beat, hoping that he was talking about Hannah.

"So I'm going to ask you one last time, Damon," Elijah circled around my male companion, before he stood directly in front of him and blocked Damon's handsome face from my view. "Where the fuck is Nathan?"

When Damon didn't answer, Elijah continued. "Damon, either you tell me where Nathan is or I show that redhead over there a good time before draining every last drop of her blood from her tainted veins."

I squirmed where I stood, automatically feeling nauseous by the comment. Surely he wouldn't? It was just a threat to get Damon to talk, that was all. And he had called me a redhead, which made me despise him more than I did Damon and Nathan combined.

Damon raised his head to look at Elijah, who stood two inches taller than himself. "Fuck you."

"Thought you'd say that," Elijah sighed, rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt. Somehow he had managed to keep it completely clean, with any signs of Damon's blood merely on his face and trousers. Elijah stretched out his arms, gazing at Damon before bringing his hands around Damon's head and snapping the Italian's neck before anyone could react.

I watched in horror as the man who had sworn to protect me fell to the ground, landing in an ungracious heap. Tears swelled in my eyes, but I pulled them back before they could fall down my face.

"Damon!" I tried to yell, but my words got caught in my throat and came out as a whisper. "If you touch me, I'll break your fucking back."

Elijah finally drew his attention towards me. His lips twitched into an ominous smirk that had my body shaking to its core. "We'll see about that, love."

DAMORA I LOVE THEM!!

And I promise I'm not just using TVD names I've just always loved the names Damon and Elijah, even if Elijah is a villain 😅

What do we make of Damora? And does anyone else here have a love of kebabs as much as Cora does because I certainly do 😂

Thank you so much for reading!! Please don't forget to comment, and what do you think will happen in the next chapter?

Lotte xxx