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Did the witch find what he was looking for?

_{[Startlingly, he finds writing on his personal mirrors one day without warning. A message written on the wrong side of the glass in bold, conspicuous red lettering. Meant to be seen. And meant for him, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

He'd heard whispers that the mirror world from Lewis Carroll's sequel had taken on reality here, but he'd never seen any evidence of it...

Was this a sign, then? A sign of some other entity writing to him from the other side? The idea sends a crawling sensation up his spine, more than just the thought of someone breaking into his rooms. "The witch"... That had to be Kol Mikaelson, didn't it? What other witches did he know of who had been on a search recently?

But who was asking? Who else could have known?

As he half-expects, rubbing the mirror's surface does nothing to smear the letters. Answering certainly doesn't strike him as an option, even if he'd wanted to make contact with whatever it is that had vandalized the mirror in the first place.]}

[ What Victor will return to is a similar message on both mirrors once again. ]

I'm not fond of being ignored.

_{[In the time between examining his mirror carefully and waiting to see what becomes of the original message, another appears in its place the next time he looks. If there was a question what the anonymous author had been using to pen his note, it's been answered. Victor's seen enough blood to recognize its consistency.

Blood. One might think writing in it is as cliche as horror tropes get, but when it's on his mirror in his room while he's alone, it's effective way to freeze him in uncertainty.

It wants communication, but... how?

Write on the glass in kind?

He can hear his breath pick up. Not being able to see who owns the ghostly hand of his messenger is fear of the unknown in its purest definition, the realization that something looms near but having no means to identify it. Nerves don't keep him from taking two steps closer, then two more, close enough to touch the glass again.

He touches the hand print with his fingertips, expecting residue to rub off on them. It's just a mirror, but potentially so much more than that.]}

[ What Victor's fingertips will come in contact with feels just like any other hand, warm, but slick with blood, and it seems to reach back. The movement isn't hostile, instead, slender red stained fingers wedge themselves between his own fingers, as if it were some romantic gesture of intertwining their fingers, but then the hand moves at an angle, wrapping bloody fingers around the once clean ones, sliding down them until they're sufficiently coated in blood.

In all honesty, what should worry Victor the most, other than the un-explainable hand reaching out to touch his in and oddly gentle gesture, was the fact that it's dripping in blood.

The doctor - despite all the blood - should easily be able to identify the hand as an adult male.

The unknown hand allows the pads of its fingers to slide against Victor's palm before withdrawing only to be a gentle force against Victor's own hand from the other side of the mirror. ]

_{[It's alive.

He misses the irony of thinking those particular words to himself in his shock at finding the mirror is becoming something other than just a mirror. A soft, fleshy something. It's alive, and it's right there.

Victor gasps, but Kol is too quick for him to snatch his hand back in time. Another hand grabs his, encasing it in a wet grip. He feels all the hair on his body rise in horror.

This is not okay.]}

God!

_{[For one dizzying moment, he's afraid the other intends him harm, but the hold loosens, the hand retreats, and Victor is free to cradle his wrist where the blood hasn't reached, biting back a groan. A scare tactic, he surmises in the quiet that follows, a quiet permeated only by his panicked breathing. He looks down to see nothing but blood. Fresh blood, all over his hand.

Almost too afraid to take his eyes off the mirror now that he knows it's not an impermeable barrier between him and it--no, him--he staggers back, fighting for calm.

The mirror is just a mirror again. For how long, though? And what's next to come?

Taking up water and a rag, he cleans himself off, sneaking glances at the mirror until the water in the basin turns pink. Getting near its surface again is out of the question, obviously, but yet... He can do something that doesn't require him to find his voice and speak to his attacker (malevolent or merely mischievous?)

He searches for pen and paper, surprised his hands don't shake after a start like that. Then he slowly holds it up a few feet in front of the mirror where it's visible to anyone lurking behind it.]}

Human blood?

[ Whatever is behind the mirror seems to wait, watching, because the moment the Doctor holds up the message to him, the blood on the other side of the mirror is wiped away with something, only for a new message to be writ in the mostly clean space. ]

Did the witch find what he was looking for?

[ Whoever it is doesn't seem to intend on answering any questions until his own is answered. The mirror doesn't stay a mirror for very long though, enough time to allow Victor to read the question before once again, Kol's reaching through the mirror. This time, all the way out to his elbow reaches through - covered from the tips of his fingers to his elbow in blood.

His grasp isn't at Victor this time, it's at one of the unlit candles on the closest shelf to him. He manages to grab it, only for it to slip from his hand on the way back to the mirror. The way the limb pauses, makes it clear that that had not been the intended outcome...

So he withdraws again, adding another message below his question: ]

Help.

[ Not like you want that bloody candle anymore anyway, right? ]

Edited (AGGRESSIVELY KEEPS EDITING THIS UNTIL I FIGURE OUT WHY IT'S NOT RED) 2015-05-21 20:55 (UTC)

_{[It's hair-raising to watch someone make contact with his mirror, but also somewhat hypnotic. A part of him would almost disbelieve it's happening, if not for the remembered feeling of that blood on his own hand.

To Victor's consternation, the same message is repeated, but the writer no longer seems content to leave it just at that. He watches the same hand reach through a second time, reaching for one of the items on his shelves. The act isn't as unsettling as the uncertainty over what the person wants. To scare him? To prove it can interact with this side?

He releases an audible breath at the four letters that appear under the others.

... Or is it lure him closer to the mirror again?

Absolutely not. If the entities on the other side use the glass to watch this one, Victor hopes his troublesome guest can see the way his brows flatten out with resolve not to let one scare dictate the course of this entire exchange.]}

What's stopping you from getting it yourself?

_{[If they can see, perhaps they can also hear.]}

[ ~~backdated to the week of klaus' arrival; july 11th~~ ]

Klaus is here.

[ sometimes it's important to cushion the blow. sometimes you have to rip off the bandaid and let it bleed. elena decides to forgo the former in favor of the latter. ] He doesn't remember his first stay. He won't remember you.

[ and that's a good thing. ]

Edited (last one i promise oh my god) 2016-07-19 06:02 (UTC)

_{[The last day or so has been devoted to cleaning out his rooms--both of them, his private room and his work space in the basement. There are things he doesn't care to keep, half-finished research and fragments of an old life he's outgrown, that go into boxes to be taken out with the trash or burned.

He's in the process of dismantling a piece of equipment when he gets the text, and he swaps a wrench for his phone.

The first line is composed of three simple words, but he has to reread it over again, anyway. Klaus. Klaus, the immortal product of witches, wolves, and vampires that had hounded Elena to her death with the same tenacity as Dracula. It must have cost her a good deal to compose a message like this.]}

You spoke to him?

_{[That's more concerning than what Klaus does or doesn't remember about him.]}

Yes.

[ elena is frustrated with herself for being caught so off guard by it. klaus cornered her in a public place, just like she expected him to, all toothy smiles and subtle reminders. the wound left behind by jenna's death is still fresh. (it isn't over until you choose to forgive them). ]

I don't need to tell you how important it is that he never know what we've discussed.

[ the less he knows about victor's own knowledge, the better. if he got hurt because of her, she would never forgive herself. ]

And that is all?

_{[Klaus hadn't physically threatened Victor when he'd known him--he hadn't needed to. His unapologetic confidence had made him seem a force to be reckoned without testing the waters. But after what Elena had confided to him, apparently Klaus hadn't been as shy about laying hands on her in the past, and if he could do so once, he could do so again.

He hasn't forgotten the oath of silence he'd taken regarding the truth about hybrids and doppelgangers and draining girls for their blood. Even if Elena's safety hadn't factored into it, he still wouldn't have designs to break that confidence.]}

He will not find out what you shared through me.

[ elena gives herself a small moment of reprieve. a moment to feel relief. victor's words are always measured and careful. he would not say something he doesn't mean. he would not give her a promise he does not intend to keep. reassured by his answer, elena allows herself to focus on his question. ]

For now.

[ all they did was talk, though it felt more like a chess game. she doubts his motivations, but klaus is not veiled with his threats. the results were clear: she must be careful, for she is vulnerable, and he can strike at any moment, should he choose to. ]

According to him, I'm from the past. His goals may have ... shifted.

_{[It goes without saying that he doesn't like the sound of that, not in the slightest bit.]}

What did he say? If he has what he wants already, what more would he desire of you?

_{[Klaus has a child to occupy his attention--the most important thing to him, in his own words--so surely his desire to return to her trumps whatever leverage a human girl already once-killed can provide.]}

It's more about what he doesn't desire. [ elena sits at the foot of her bed, then, curling a leg underneath her before she does so. a hand braces itself against her knee, the other holding tight to her device. almost too tight. ]

To say there's bad blood between all of us is an understatement. I think he was warning me. Reminding me that retaliating for his past deeds would be unwise. [ unfortunately, klaus has the power and the megalomania to make his threats a reality. ]

_{[We are bound on a wheel of pain, thee and me.

No, Victor can't imagine there'd be anything other than bad blood between her and the monster that had irreparably changed the course of her life.]}

Is that a possibility?

_{[Retaliation for past wrongs?]}

[ elena longs to give him a definitive yes. but then she'd be ignoring damon's volatility. what she's beginning to understand is bonnie shares his fire. their methods vary greatly, but their goals align. together, the two of them would be frightening, elena thinks. they're three different personalities: damon, bonnie, elena. if anything unites them, however, it's their ferocity in protecting their loved ones. is there a line they won't cross, when all is said and done?

(klaus wounded them too deeply.) ]

I'll make sure it doesn't come to that. If Klaus has an enemy in Wonderland, it's more likely to be the queen. [ better the enemy he knows, is what she hopes. ]

_{[Make sure how? That tells Victor she might be concerned about interference from other corners.]}

It may take time for him to realize there is more at stake than any one's individual interests. You would do well not to put yourself in the middle.

_{[This has been Elena's personal battle for far longer than it's been Victor's cursory interest back when he'd first heard of the Mikaelsons and their unusual existences, but he can't help but dispense advice, unasked for or not. She's human and therefore fragile by nature.]}

I understand your concern, but trust me. I know what I'm doing, and I can take care of myself.

[ monsters are always hungry, and only a step behind her. that will always be true. ]

I've been meaning to give you something, now more than ever. [ with klaus here, that is. ] I left it at your door, in case you were working. [ it's a small pouch, and within the pouch is a bracelet. he might notice the smell of herbs caught in its tangles. ]

_{[Unsurprising that the girl who had fought off mutated zombies would say that.]}

You have already paid a price once. I would rather you not tempt fate in the form of an immortal creature.

_{[It must be said... even if it's an incredibly dad-like thing to say. He composes the first half of the message but there's a bit of a delay before he sends the text in its entirety as he goes to investigate just what this mystery gift is.]}

I have it. What is it?

[ it does sound kind of dad-like. it would make elena smile, if he weren't making entirely too much sense. elena wants to listen, but at the end of the day, she'll take the risks she needs to if it means protecting her own. protecting herself. katherine is more open about ensuring her own survival and willing to take down anyone to do so, but elena's never wanted to die if there was another way. ] It's a bracelet. There's vervain inside of it.

[ she tried to find jewelry that would be simple and elegant. nothing gaudy or showy. it wouldn't feel like victor. ]

Vervain is an herb that'll protect you from vampires. The ones from my world. [ there's no telling if it will protect him from other vampires. in fact, she should probably ask angel about it one of these days... ]

_{[He doesn't miss the way she avoids the issue of her physical safety, but for now he lets it go with the full intention of circling back around to it before this conversation is through.

Right this second, he's holding onto an item that sounds by its description like something Vanessa would have had knowledge of from her daywalker studies. Some kind of herbal remedy?]}

How might an herb protect against tooth and claw?

_{[Because that's what Victor thinks of when he thinks of vampires--the violence, the blood. When they kill, the human-looking ones from Elena's home likely don't do it with words or stern looks, either. What danger does a bracelet protect against?]}

Edited (whoops, formatting amnesia) 2016-08-03 07:12 (UTC)

[ a totally legit question. ]

Vampires are weakened by it. Touching it alone will burn them.

[ she'll never forget how stefan looked when she pulled him out of that well; it might as well have been a vat of poison. ] Vervain also keeps them from influencing you. As long as you're wearing that bracelet, your choices are yours.

[ victor can't be compelled. ]

_{[A physical repellent, he understands, but "influence"? He'd experienced compulsion of a kind around Rebekah, but it had been instigated by Wonderland, not by one of the vampires. Compulsion is a vampiric ability he'd been lucky to avoid encountering.]}

Influencing how?

victor can i talk to you.

ic contact

on his mirror

CREEPY

<:

MORE CREEPY

this is like a scene right out of penny dreadful jfc

thanks for making him feel at home, bro

its what im here for man

bless you

text | i think i am surviving in all the wrong ways

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August 5, evening