Grave robbery, the oh so delicate art of relocating corpses from their rightful resting place. Technically it's not grave robbing if they don't have a proper grave but I digress. Robbery is robbery.
Other than the body of one Vicki Donovan, the woods in Mystic Falls were littered with the remains of those who had been killed over the years and dumped. A large number of them are the work of the Salvatore brothers.
The Founders' council did the same with the bodies of vampires that managed to luck into, except they used a different part of the woods. What a coincidence. It only solidified their uselessness in my opinion but that wasn't the topic of the day.
I found a lot of interesting things in the woods but one caught my attention the most. Alexia Branson, 350 year old vampire and best friend of Stefan. She was killed by Damon in an attempt to clear him and Stefan of suspicion from the council. How Stefan moved past that is beyond me.
I'd already patched her up and given her the standard resurrection treatment. I even gave her a daylight ring, so generous of me. To be honest, I have no idea what I wanted to do with her. I just thought it would be fun to bring her back and throw her into the fray. Is that reckless? Totally, but when has that ever stopped me?
-[Lexi]-
The other side, a supernatural purgatory for anything not mundane. Witches, Werewolves and Vampires…all stuck there, unable to find peace. Able to peek into the real world but only observe. It was a cold and lonely place.
All she could do was watch as Stefan and Katherine's doppelgänger. It was more entertaining than staring at the sky, even with the new warlock that popped up. He got her interest, purely to sate her curiosity. He had more power than she'd encountered in all her decades of unlife and versatility that was unmatched.
With each method Damon came up with to prod the young warlock she could only hope he'd skewer the Salvatore. Though she was pissed off that he got her killed, there wasn't much she could do in the matter.
Imagine her surprise when she woke up with a start, gasping violently. Instantly she felt it. The way the breeze felt on her skin, the blood flowing in her veins, the sun from the open window... Looking around in alarm, she realized she was on a bed, only in underwear.
Just as she tensed to dash for cover she noticed the lack of a burning sensation on her skin. The ring on her finger was the second thing she noticed, sitting innocently as if she'd had it her whole life.
"What the hell is going on?" She muttered in complete confusion, quickly getting off the bed.
Focusing her ears as much as possible she didn't hear anyone else in close vicinity. The closest being what she assumed to be the neighbors considering the distance.
Looking around, she recognized the room as a decent sized bedroom. A bit too personalized, she noticed. Beside the bed was a nightstand, a small stack of books on top of it. In the corner of the room was a large vase with an ornamental flower growing in it.
Uncaring of her state of undress, she moved to the table by the wall, seeing a messy collection of items and documents. Maybe it would give her a clue to what was going on. Rifling through it, she only grew more alarmed.
One paper was a birth certificate with her name and details on it. Another was a driver's license, there was even a high school diploma. What the fuck?!
A ringing sound cut through the air, startling her. She traced it to the phone hidden under all the documents. The caller id was someone named Vicki. She didn't know why she answered but she did. The moment she did she was met with a loud voice.
"Lexi, where the hell are you?! You're going to be extra late for your shift!" The girl on the other end screamed.
So Vicki knew her.
"Huh? What shift? What are you talking about?" She asked, now even more confused.
"It's 10am, you were supposed to be here since 9:30 and the boss isn't in a good mood! You know what, I don't care. Just get your ass to the Grill as soon as possible if you want to keep this job." Before she could offer a reply, the call ended.
She found herself repeating the question that plagued her for the last few minutes. "What the fuck?!"
-[Nathan]-
There's nothing like an existential crisis to start the weekend. Purchasing the house was the easy part, the hard part was making it seem like she was just a regular person in town. A little mind magic here and there was all it took to have her identity registered on different levels. Then I had to tweak a few memories to paint a backstory.
Right now there's fifteen people and a professor in town that would swear on their life that Alexia Branson went to school with them. It only took a few hours. Now it's like watching someone who just got isekaid try to catch up with the life they found themselves in.
All of this only made me realize how much I could achieve when I really put my mind to it. It also helped me figure out something I'd been working on; magic materialization. A technique from the dragon ball universe used to create matter from thin air. It's how I filled up Lexi's new place with furniture.
Unlike projection magecraft, things created with magic materialization are permanent. On a totally related note, I now have a box of white oak stakes stashed in the back of my trophy room as well as a few more vials of the cure. The hoarder in me leaps not only for joy but in excitement.
Still, I'd try to keep the main display filled with authentic trophies that are acquired, not created. It would take the fun out of it. That does remind me, there's still a trophy that's just waiting for me to collect him, Mikael. Well, he's desiccated and immobile for the most part but it doesn't diminish his value.
With my perfect memory I easily remember where his tomb is located. The Pickett Mausoleum in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was entombed there by Bonnie's absentee mom who ran away and adopted another child. Plenty of sunshine to go around.
One Original Vampire corpse and soul collection coming up!
-[Pearl]-
Things were getting busier, Nathan was as spontaneous as usual but it was nice. Nobody bothered them and they were free to move around town like actual people. It was almost the life she dreamed about, being able to live without fear.
The two new vampires were settling in very well. Despite them being stronger than her, they didn't dare to argue against any order she gave. She reckoned that was because they believed all orders came from Nathan himself. The fear he was able to induce into them only served to inspire her more.
In the midst of her thinking, she felt her phone vibrate in her purse. Pulling it out, she saw a message from Nathan himself, an image to be precise. Her guess was that he probably wanted her to acquire something for him. She wasn't prepared for what she saw.
The image was a selfie(?) of Nathan in a familiar tomb, squatting beside an open coffin. In the coffin laid a elderly man, a desiccated vampire, heavily chained and glaring at the boy. He captioned it 'Making new friends'.
Another picture came in, one even more absurd than the previous one. It was of Nathan drawing silly eyebrows and a mustache on the ancient vampire's angry face.
How the hell did he know about Mikael?!