Ch. 18

I sat Richard down in a chair across the room from where the rapidly cooling corpses of his wife and comrades lay. Then I pulled up my own and plopped down. He seemed frozen between fear and rage, his knuckles white as he gripped the arms of his chair.

I smile and look him in the eye, "Richard Lockwood. Out of everyone in this town, you were who I was most excited to meet. You and your son Tyler as well as your brother Mason, though I know he's out of town. I only wish we could have talked under better circumstances."

He clenched his jaw, clearly wanting nothing more than to leap from his chair and attack me. Common sense prevailed for the time being though, and instead he ground out, "You just murdered my wife and closest friends."

I smile at that, "Well, that's partially true. Their deaths are only temporary."

His eyes widen as he looks over at the bodies then back to me. He connects the dots eventually and the horror on his face is delicious as he looks back at me, "You're turning all of them."

I grin and nod, confirming it, "I'm turning all of them. There was vampire blood in every part of your lunch. The food, the wine… I'm not sure if you lot actually know how new vampires are made, but basically, you take in vampire blood, you die, and you come back as a vampire. Quite simple really."

He takes this in before asking the next obvious question, "And why am I alive then? You said that you were excited to meet my brother and son and me. Why?"

I grin at his curiosity, "Well, to start with, you can't become a vampire. You're already a werewolf."

He tenses almost imperceptibly for a moment before looking incredulous, "A what? What the hell are you talking about?"

I grin at his slip, "Ah, good. I wasn't sure if you'd know the truth, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to convince you without forcing you to kill someone."

He froze at that, frowning severely before finally speaking, "I would never. I am not a murderer regardless of the curse on my family's line."

I smile and nod amicably, "Of course, of course. But you are a Lockwood, and I assume you've read George Lockwood's journals. You've certainly heard of me have you not? Not Vali Masters, my assumed name… but Vali, the Master. I met your ancestor in 1864 after all."

The Mayor continued to be frosty and withdrawn but I saw recognition in his eyes now. It seemed my assumed name wasn't enough of a hint until now, "He spoke of you yes. Claimed you would be an ally. This is not the work of an ally."

With that he gestured at the still bodies of the Council and I grinned, "My hand was forced rather quickly wouldn't you say? I didn't even have a chance to react before Grayson Gilbert moved against me. This is Plan B if you will, but even in Plan B, the Lockwood Werewolves have a place at my side."

A low rumbling growl rises from Richard's throat as he leans forward, his grip on his chair never actually loosening, "And what is Plan B?"

With a smile and a wink I reply, "I'm so glad you've asked Mr. Mayor. Plan B is I take over Mystic Falls. My vampires are already here. In a few weeks, my werewolves will arrive as well. At the same time, witches allied with me will join us. Mystic Falls will truly earn its name as it becomes a haven for the supernatural."

I pause for only a moment to make sure I have Richard's full attention, before finishing, "The most important thing for you to learn Mayor, is to get over your hatred for vampires. Your wife is about to wake up as one after all, and she'll need your support. My vampires at least can be trusted. None of them drink from the vein, all feed from blood bags. None will kill innocents while in your town, including those on the Council I've just turned."

Richard narrows his eyes and furrows his brow, "Why ignore us for a hundred and forty years, only to come back now? You told my ancestor that you would break the Curse of the Sun and the Moon in favor of the werewolves. Is that why you're back?"

I smile and nod simply, "In short order? Yes. In five years, everything will be in place. The Curse will be broken. I can promise you that Mason will never have to transform again if he does not wish to. If you or Tyler ever have an accident, you will not have to fear breaking every bone in your body on the full moon every month."

He continues to furrow his brow, "Why five years? Why can you not break the curse now?"

I grin at that, "A good question. The fact of the matter is, I need the eldest of my bloodline to actually perform the ritual, and I have a brother who has one year of life on me. After a thousand of them, you'd think it wouldn't matter, but alas it does. Unfortunately, my brother is not nearly as pleasant as I am. He will leave your town in ruins if I was to send for him now when you all are unprepared. We will use the next five years to ready ourselves for him. I will send for him, he will come and break the curse, and then we will make him leave together."

He falls silent at that, seeming to have lost a lot of his anger. I get ready to continue converting him to my side, when the council begins to wake up. Both I and the Mayor turn to watch as the dead begin to rise. My vampires are already there with blood bags, forcing the transitioning baby vampires to drink, finishing their transformations. Almost immediately, skin begins to burn and every single new vampire has to hastily remove their vervain laced jewelry, leaving it scattered across the floor.

As I step back over to that side of the room, I notice the Mayor follows, but he doesn't try anything, merely watching his compatriots. I'll take the inaction as a good sign for now. Now that all of our new vampires are awake, some begin to struggle with their captors, new found strength and speed giving them a small chance of overpowering the older vampires I have holding them down.

I grin and put a stop to that, speaking clearly, "Enough."

That manages to get every single vampire in the room looking at me and I hiss out in a low tone, "You will all be still."

Both the new vampires and old immediately stop moving. Mass Compulsion was something I'd only realized was possible after Mikael came for me. It made me remember how him and Klaus met in the Opera House, and how Mikael managed to compel an entire audience to laugh at a slaughter. It was impossible for Mikael to have compelled thousands of people one at a time in the few hours he'd been in New Orleans, which meant he had to have had some sort of ability to compel them in mass.

It had taken me a while to figure it out. Mass compulsion still required anyone you wanted it to work on to be looking you in the eye. It also didn't work for a complex compulsion of several orders. It was best for simple phrases and when you could draw the attention of an entire crowd. The Mayor stood at my side looking at the incredibly still vampires with some confusion as I smiled and stepped forward.

"Thank you. As you have probably all guessed, you're now vampires. The first thing you should know about me is that I am over a thousand years old and I have not gotten where I am without plans upon plans. You admittedly completely scrapped my Plan A with your attack. Feel free to be proud of that, though if Plan A had gone on unhindered, you would all still be human. This is Plan B."

I let out a sigh as I think of my now very dead disciple, before continuing, "The second thing you need to know is that I can compel vampires. None of you will be leaving this room without some orders to make sure you don't continue to try to pull my plans off of the rails. Any questions?"

Its Grayson Gilbert, who I once again have to remind myself is the true leader of the council here, who speaks up, "What do you plan to do with our town?"

I can read what's not said in his question. He's truly asking what I intend to do with their children. With a grin, I reply, "Rest easy Doctor Gilbert. I intend to strengthen your town. If I released you all right now, some would kill themselves, some would plot to kill me, and some would go home to their families, yes?"

Nobody responds, but it's rather obvious that the question is meant rhetorically, so I continue, "As you are now, you're likely to tear apart those closest to you, as soon as hug them. For example, Carol you may approach your husband."

With a gesture, the vampire holding Carol Lockwood in place lets her go and she moves with startling speed to Richard, throwing her arms around his stiffened body, she sobs into his shoulder for several long moments. When her fangs come out and she attempts to feed from his neck, she ends up biting my hand instead, as I pull her away. I hold her still as she comes back to herself before releasing her to stand on her own.

She immediately looks to Richard and begins babbling out apologies through tears that streak her mascara across her cheeks. I smile as I look at the horrified faces of those still being held down. Richard is looking stony now, and he's staring at his wife with something close to condemnation. Before this can spiral further, I step forward and clasp my hand around the back of Carol's neck, locking my eyes with hers and initiating compulsion, "Carol, you will not feed off of living beings. You will drink blood solely from blood bags."

She repeats my words back to me and I smile, releasing her and stepping to the Mayor. Handing him a blood bag I murmur for him to expose the wrist of his empty hand and hold both arms out. He does as I say reluctantly and I beckon Carol forward. She's also reluctant as she approaches, but her eyes are solely on the blood bag, and a moment later she snatches it up and drinks from it for several long moments, not even looking at his neck or wrist.

I watch Richard's face, and the relief is palpable. He was ready to hate his wife for becoming a monster, but his love for her is quite real, and now it's him who wraps Carol in a hug as she goes back to sobbing, this time in relief.

I turn back to my other new vampires and find them staring at the scene with a mix of several expressions. Amusingly, the next question comes from Zach Salvatore, "Why is the Mayor still alive, if Plan B was to turn all of us?" I smile as Richard tenses up, shooting a look at me over Carol's head. He clearly doesn't want them to know, but there will be more werewolves here soon, and I don't intend to keep many secrets from the town's secret council.

"That would be because he and his line are werewolves. He cannot be turned into a vampire. And I promised his ancestor George Lockwood a hundred and forty years ago that the Lockwoods would have an ally in me for all time. I couldn't exactly kill him after such a promise, could I? Now then, who else wants to be compelled so that you won't attack your loved ones on sight? Form a single file line please."

They did so, slowly getting to their feet and coming to stand before me. Grayson was of course first, with his wife behind him. My older vampires formed walls along the line, watching for anybody who might try something funny.

Placing my hands on the sides of the doctor's heads, I looked into his eyes and began to speak, "You will not feed off of living beings, only from blood bags. You will follow my orders and you will never plot against me. If you find even the smallest hint of someone plotting against me, you will inform me immediately. My goals are now your goals, my plans are now your plans. You will live your life just as you did before and you will do your best to keep the existence of vampires away from anyone not already in the know."

With that said, I released Grayson and let him stumble away, moving on to Miranda. Everyone in the line had heard my compulsion, and a couple had even tried to escape upon hearing just how I intended to control them all. My vampires had made sure they didn't. Miranda hadn't though, and while I saw the fear in her eyes, her chin was held high as I initiated the compulsion and repeated the same words I'd spoken to Grayson. Down the line I went, each and every founder's council member I'd turned being brought under my compulsion.

Once it was done, I smiled, "Let's make sure now shall we? Everyone tap your nose four times, spin in place twice, pat your head and rub your stomach for 13 seconds."

Everyone does it at exactly the same time in exactly the same way without fail. Not a single second of hesitation or confusion. The compulsion worked and I apologize once they're done, "I am sorry that I had to do that, but it was either that or force you to hurt yourselves or your loved ones. I have no desire to cause pain where I don't have to."

I continue to smile, "That said, first order of business. I want you all to continue doing what you've been doing. Protect this town from any threats that come to it. In a few weeks, a contingent of werewolves and witches will arrive that are under my command. You are now on my side and your town is under my protection. You may rest easy knowing that I intend no harm."

I plow on unhindered as the newly made vampires just stare at me, some disbelieving but most just confused at this point, "Second order of business. None of you will commit suicide or attack your fellow supernatural creatures. No vampire deaths, no werewolf deaths, and no witch deaths. You may kill only in self-defense."

I look to the Sheriff and smile, "Sheriff Forbes, you will need to bring your deputies together under false pretenses. They will have to be turned unfortunately. The original plan didn't call for it, but I can't have them growing to suspect you and then decide to take matters into their own hands. The innocents in this town must remain unaware. You will also do your best to keep your ex-husband away from the town. If he returns, I can't guarantee he will not die."

I look to Grayson, his arms wrapped protectively around Miranda as he stared at me with a clenched jaw, "Doctor Gilbert, you will supply my people with the names and locations of every single council member who did not or was not able to attend today. Did you have any of your own contingency plans in place if today went south?"

He told me immediately and looked angry for doing so, "Abby and Sheila Bennett were looking into magical ways to take care of you, depending on just how big of a threat you really were. Abby was supposed to be here today to back us up."

I smile grimly at that, "Yes, I figured as much. Fortunately, both Abby and Sheila have been neutralized. I will be talking with the two of them later today, in the hopes that we can come to an agreement that doesn't resort to turning both of them as I was forced to do with you all."

Miranda looks horrified at what I had potentially done to Abby, but my attention is already on Zachary Salvatore, "Mr. Salvatore is there anything you need to tell me?"

Just like Grayson, he responds promptly, "I am the town's supply of vervain. It hurts vampires and prevents compulsion. It was in the jewelry we all wore. And you should know that Stefan and Damon Salvatore from 1864 still live as vampires. They come back to Mystic Falls routinely and death follows in their wake. If you truly mean to protect this town, you'll need to watch out for them."

I grin as he finishes speaking, and the others of the Council don't even try to conceal their anger over the secret he'd kept from them, "I'm not overly afraid of a pair of vampires who haven't even made it past their second century. But yes, we'll keep an eye out for them. As for the vervain, you are to destroy it. All of it. My people will help you."

I look at the rest of the founder's council and add, "That goes for all of you. I want every last bit of vervain in this town gone and dealt with. This is one of the last places in the Americas where vervain still even exists, mostly because of my work. I intend for it to stop being one of those places."

Grayson speaks up now, "This is all well and good but you claim you want us to continue our lives as we did before. How can we do that when the Sun burns us the moment we walk into it? How do you do it?"

I grin at that and a gesture has a vampire racing off, appearing a few moments later with a bulging pouch. I open it up and pull out a lapis lazuli toe ring, "This is a daylight ring. Specifically, it's a toe ring so that you don't have to explain its existence to anyone who might ask. You will wear it at all times."

With that said I let each of my new soldiers take a ring and watched as they slipped them on. Smiling, I gestured at the vampires by the windows and they opened them, sunlight streaming in and filling the room. Nobody burned.

I clap my hands together, still smiling, "Right then! If anyone else has any questions or concerns or comments, we'll talk later. I don't wish to keep the Bennett Witches waiting any longer than is necessary, I'm already being excessively rude to them. Just remember, I'm here to help. I only wish you'd let me try before you lot murdered one of my longest living friends."

Nobody replied to that, but I had the feeling at least half didn't feel any guilt over their actions. As the Gilberts made their way out I called after them, "Ah! Mirandra, would you perhaps like to come with me? Abby could use a familiar face."

As her and Grayson turned to face me, she actually flinched at the idea, "I… I don't want her to see me like this."

I smile understandingly and nod, "Of course of course. I apologize, I was trying to be polite. That wasn't a true request. You will come with me to see the Bennet Witches. Please leave us Grayson. You can be assured that your wife has nothing to fear from me."

The Gilberts exchanged one last hug and kiss before Grayson departed and Miranda came to my side. I grin and offer her my arm, which she reluctantly takes as I lead her to a flight of basement stairs, "Let's go talk with some witches my dear."

-x-X-x-

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