BLOOD MOON

Victoria "Vicki" Donovan 20 years old | human

[bloodiisms]

Victoria "Vicki" Donovan (human | 20 yo | the crimson lily)

— intro | wanted connections | mirror | about | aesthetic | music (all tba !)

[bourbonblooded]

@bloodiisms

Damon never once needed a reason to tear through small towns like a hurricane, but if there was one thing that would rocket him from a category one to five: it was screwing him over.

And the thing about damon was he didn't get angry, he just got even.

If Stefan really thought he could vervain him, steal his daylight ring and lock him in the bottom of the boarding house to dry rot for the rest of time, he was in for a bloody awakening. Before, Damon had only been toying with the humans. Now, he was just gonna start killing them. And the sick irony of it all was Damon didn't even come to town for Stefan or Elena. He came for Katherine and the tomb, but then he found a girl wearing her face and his little brother hanging on her arm trying to keep it a secret.

Stefan had been naive to think he could relive 1864 all over again and Damon wouldn't make him suffer. He didn't get to be the reason Katherine was locked in the tomb and happily after with her human copy. And he sure as hell didn't get ride around on a high horse playing white knight while he condemned Damon to a cell when they both knew damn well he had a stable full of bodies of his own. He wondered if Elena would have invited him in so readily if she knew the real reason Stefan stuck to eating squirrels.

By the time the sun was down Damon had already devised a plan and killed six people. The problem was the sun would be coming back up and there were an infinite number of places Stefan could have hidden his ring. So, in order to get it back, he needed leverage. He hadn't expected leverage to find him in the form of Vicki Donovan, but Damon wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He left the rest of Vicki's friends burning with their bonfire and took Vicki's unconscious body back to the boarding house where he tossed her on the couch. He cracked open a new bottle of bourbon, lit a fresh cigar and called Stefan. To no ones surprise, it went to voicemail for the fourth time.

"My nonexistent patience is wearing very thin, Stefan. Bring me my ring or I'm gonna start killing Elenas friends one by one and dropping them on her doorstep--starting with Vicki Donovan. And if Matt's junkie little sister isn't enough to quite make the cut I hear Carolines sorority is throwing a party on campus. It'll be like a buffet." Click.

Damon tossed his phone and glanced at the half dead girl on the couch. He took a swig of bourbon and reached out to tilt her face, angling her jaw to reveal the gaping bite at her neck. He let out a low, amused, whistle.

"Gotcha good, didn't I?" he muttered, dropping his hand.

"Well you're not gonna be any fun today..." he sighed, but as he said it a terrible thought crawled in. "--unless..?"

His gums pulsed as his fangs extended and Damon bit into his own wrist. He dragged it over to her lips and held it there, waiting for the blood to elicit a response.

"rise and shine, sleepy head. we've got a town to terrorize."

[bloodiisms]

Everything had been such a blur ever since her fight with Jeremy. If it wasn't for these stupid pills, if it wasn't for her trusting Jeremy enough to invite him in for once, maybe she could've saved herself the pain. Alas, the pain didn't last and only a numbness remained. Some might prefer this state, Vicki certainly had, but not this time. Pain turned to numbness, then, surprisingly, fear. Strong enough to jolt her awake once that feeling of drowning overwhelmed her. Drowning in blood. She could feel the warmth of his wrist against her mouth, the sensation of drinking blood and being forced to drink. Her eyes opened, her body moved too quickly, practically turning her stomach and leaving her breathless.

Fighting didn't seem to help, no matter how hard she tried. Kicking against his side, clawing into his arm, nothing. The more blood trickled down her throat, the less Vicki struggled. Instead, the human leaned into the now almost comforting taste of a new substance, something new to get addicted to, another hit. With her tongue dragging along his pulse, she soaked up the last drops before finally taking a deep, yet shaky breath. Shaky fingers brushed over her lower lip just to press the last drops into her mouth as well, her chest rising and falling in quick motion once she looked at Damon.

"How did I get here?" an easy question without really touching the sudden urge to drink more. Still, her eyes darted back to his wrist. Oh, she'd missed a spot. Wouldn't happen a second time. "I can't remember anything. Your blood.." she stopped, unwilling to finish.

[alternative-queens]

the tradition | halsey (if I can’t have love, I want power, 2021)

[thankyou-taeyeon]

NANA × Barrel Eclipse main campaign

[jolenegifs]

NANA via Instagram (September 9, 2023)

[melancholiias]

the last thing that elena wanted was to hurt anyone. the arrogance of youth in combination with the naivety of young adulthood had, however, blurred elena's judgments at times. the last thing she had wanted was to hurt matt donovan, so she had dated him long after the butterflies in her stomach had died out. she lied to herself and thought maybe just maybe they could reclaim their spark because their relationship was all but destined in the stars. basically raised in the same crib— that's what everyone had said, wasn't it?

matt & elena. elena & matt.

there had been a few nights she had actually considered breaking up with the boy she'd known as long as she'd know herself. one of them had been the night, but it wouldn't be until later that elena would finally find it in herself to cut their cord. they had been on life support, and it was cruel to drag matt along. he deserved better than what elena had it in herself to give. she did it because she cared. that was elena's burden, the weighted chains around her ankles perpetually dragging her down. she cared so much it made her head spin and judgment falter.

"i care, vicki." the words were sharp. "matt's been one of my best friends for, like, forever. you know that." rip her heart out and rend it to shreds. her care snapped at her heels and drove her to light herself on fire if it meant trying to keep someone else warm.

the jabs, of course, kept coming. the desire for a shot to blur out the guilt intensified. instead, she curled her fingers around the mug. she anchored herself on the feeling of the warm ceramic to stay in the moment and not slip below the waves that crashed against the confines of her mind.

"i get that you're angry, but i don't know what you're trying to accomplish here. hurt my feelings? make me feel bad because i hurt matt? do you want an apology? i can give you one. i'm sorry matt's upset, vicki. i'm sorry it didn't work out between us. it's for the best in the long run. we ran our course. i'm not the same person i was."

[bloodiisms]

She'd harbored her own judgement ever since Elena had broken up with her little brother. May it just be the fact, that she'd lead him on for so long or the fact that her brother seemed genuinely out of his depth -- Vicki simply demanded some sort of justice. To her everything looked more like a deliberate way of getting rid of him, without having to explain herself to him all that much. Like he didn't matter so much more than that. "You know he deserved better than this. So much for caring." She didn't really continue the same bite she previously had. No, Vicki firmly believed Elena would never understand and only continue with her selfless, caring persona instead of seeing past her sad existence. "Don't apologize to me. Apologize to him or are you stuck in an endless loop of self-pity, that you can't even reconnect with him and see past all of that?" she snapped one last time before taking another sip from her drink.

With a sigh, the elder Donovan released even more of her pent up anger and shook her head in annoyance. "Do whatever's necessary to at least talk to him, at least promise that this much."

[bourbonblooded]

"can't have a proper party with out it." damon said, plus he compelled the bar tender. "not a fan of the founders stuff, i take it?" he continued, it was hard to tell who was part of which family these days. he had really only kept tabs on the bennett line to honor his deal with emily. "i guess i don't blame you--gets pretty old."

[bloodiisms]

Vicki huffed, loudly, carelessly swinging the glass around as if to dance with it. The founding families weren't her cup of tea, really. They were uptight, soaked in tradition, laws and everything Vicki simply despised. None of them really had the guts to breach out, think differently. "We're all deemed problematic in someone's eyes, am I right?" she winked, "I just happen to not fit their standard of a good, lawful daughter."

[melancholiias]

As long as Vicki Donovan wasn't drinking with Jeremy, Elena wasn't judging her actions. Although the two weren't exactly friends, years of dating Vicki's brother had put Elena in a close proximity with Vicki for most of her life. Their social groups were different, sure, but that didn't mean Elena had any kind of hard feelings towards the older Donovan. She just had to hope that Vicki didn't towards her after the great dumping of 2025 when Matt's heart had been broken. Watching the shot glass find a home on the bar, Elena resisted the urge to down one herself. While it would be a welcome relief to blur the too loud edges of her brain, the thought of being a messy drunk or crying was enough of a deterrent.

At the question, her eyes rose to Vicki's face. "Cracking up? Hopefully not." It felt like she was. Probably not in the way that Vicki meant, but cracking up all the same. One hand idly tapped against the bar top. If she was cracking up, Elena was absolutely not going to show it. She also wasn't going to show her discomfort at the question, born from the fact that one of the last parties she had actually let loose at was the night of the accident. The cause of the accident, really. Would it have even happened if her parents hadn't come to pick her up?

"It's been a while," Elena finally admitted. The word drowned hung heavily in the air like an anvil waiting to strike her. Drowned, just like Miranda and Grayson Gilbert. Jesus, Elena. She chided herself. Not everything is about that. "It's been a busy few months. I've had a lot going on, you know?"

[bloodiisms]

Seeing Elena like this almost felt like a triumph, in a very dark kind of way - like Elena's pain should last. Maybe Matt dodged a bullet after all. Not that the same bullet hadn't at least grazed her younger brother. Such resentment stuck, even compelled her to just huff, grin at the idea of wasting her time talking to her. At least that way she might understand, might understand why Matt's heartbreak lasted as long as it did. Ignoring the fact, that it had been a back and forth for years, a decade. "Too bad, I was hoping to see you in action again. You don't seem to care about anything anymore, do you? No parties, no socializing, not even my brother." Vicki's stare didn't change. It was in between cold and bitchy as she simply examined Elena.

"So we're just dating or not dating each other's brothers and call it a day?," she poured another shot down her throat. Something to drown her own vile thoughts. Nothing better than the intense burn of booze running down your throat. "Do me the favor and not go cry on Matt's shoulder. He deserves better and you know that."

[bourbonblooded]

"--to founding families." damon said, offering a glass for a little pre new-years cheers. the town was kind enough to throw a party gathering them all and presenting the perfect opportunity to charm a bit of info out of--well--anyone he could.

[bloodiisms]

She didn't question his generosity and simply accepted the drink. Not that anyone would consider her to be twenty, making her one year too young. Fuck it. "To founding families or whatever," she wasn't entirely interested, but simply smirked as she got her hand on some more booze. "Anything to pass the time, right? At least you're offering the good stuff."

[melancholiias]

"Oh, no, just coffee for me. It's the only way I'm going to make it to midnight at this rate."

Smile, Elena. Keep it light. Who wanted to be around the sad girl on New Years Eve? No one. Just like they didn't want to sit next to her in class or come over to her house. Smile, grit your teeth. Choke back the scream. Just be normal.

"How much time do we have left?"

[bloodiisms]

The shot she was emptying must've been her second by then, poured down her throat in no time, in secret, with only Elena watching. Surely she wouldn't mind, would she now? There was something so easygoing being next to the saddest girl in all of Mystic Falls that night, like she wouldn't ask any questions and rather just enjoy the company.

What a selfish thought, but Vicki simply didn't pretend. "About two hours. You're not cracking up, are you?" the human huffed, "when's the last time you've actually been to a party? Drowned your demons?"

[thankyou-taeyeon]

NANA × Studio Nicholson × eyesmag (visual film)