somebody that I used to know

Different body, different world, same damn feelings. At first, he'd been amazed to return to the living, especially since, he'd died all those years ago when Kaia had snapped his neck. He didn't even care that it his new body didn't respond properly to him or not. What was even better, Loki had managed to secure a vampire body for him and didn't have to go through the same process he had all those years ago. But since Loki had moved them to Vegas, Oliver found himself unable to settle into his new life. Why? Kaia Rion. Her name was used loosely in the city and it just so happened, another of her progeny even ran the city. It was almost like he'd dive bombed back into her life even though the Sire bond between them had long since been severed. And he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Part of him hated her for not listening to him and acting out in rage, taking his heart from his body. That part of him wanted to show Kaia the same feeling, to make her feel the same pain but the part of him that had been wrapped in her arms for centuries and had shared the most intimate moments with, wanted to find her and announce his return. Only problem, he neither smelled or looked like his old self. She would probably turn the other way and not give him the time of day. 

For the first week in Vegas, Oliver had told himself to ignore her and stay away from anything vampire related but as time went on, his curiosity got the better of him and he started researching her. Not only did she have a progeny living in the same city, she had several which immediately sparked flashes of anger and envy he had to quickly dispel. He wasn't allowed to feel these feelings anymore. She had killed him, after all. He moved from Kaia, finding that looking into her was a lot harder than he thought and instead, decided to look up his own son, the one he'd left behind for Kaia to find. He started with his mother's family, surprised to find that the inheritance for the Sovereign family was still unclaimed and that Nykolae's name didn't appear anywhere. He was impressed with his ability to remain anonymous until he searched for his name here in Vegas and Oliver had never felt such anger. Sure, he'd left Nykolae behind for Kaia but finding out she had actually taken him, even after she had argued with him and killed him over the matter, made the vampire rage. It was this turning point he decided to allow himself to become known, whether she would know who he was or not. He wanted to toy with her awhile, see if she was able to pick him out after all these years apart. He tracked her down to a casino on the strip and wasn't surprised to find she'd rented a room for the evening. He managed to compel the room number off the front desk and had just pressed the elevator button when the doors quickly opened and he found himself face to face with Kaia. At first, he was taken a back. If he were still able to breath, he probably would have stopped. She was still as beautiful as the day he'd first laid eyes on her, even now, with an air of power behind her, Oliver couldn't help but continue to be awed in her presence. But all this happened in a second in his mind. To Kaia, he met her eyes and the corners of his mouth tilted upwards, flashing her a knowing smile. "Evening, Kaia Rion."

Priceless! Even after these years apart, she couldn't pinpoint who he was. Of course, Kaia mostly knew faces, not personalities. It was a bad trait she had. She probably wouldn't get a hint of who he was unless he touched her but he knew his boundaries and he wasn't looking to have his heart removed again. Not that Loki probably wouldn't bring him back again and he could start this whole game all over again. But he doubted she'd be so open to their conversation the next time around. "No, you probably don't but I know you, Kaia and I wanted to drop by and say hello." As she pushed the elevator doors back inside their sleeves, he smirked and made his move into the elevator, hoping the position of his body would push her back inside. Once more, he evaded touching her. Once inside, he leaned his back against the back of the elevator, crossing his arms over his chest. With an internal chuckle of his wickedness, he allowed his British accent to leak through. "Last time I saw you, you had been touring Europe still. When I came to Vegas, I was surprised to find that, not only do you live here, but the damn city is run by a progeny of yours! Amazing how things change in just a couple centuries, huh?" Of course, he was talking sarcastically, too giddy with excitement over the fact she didn't know who he was. 

He reached around her and pushed the fifth floor button, the same floor where she'd rented the room for the evening. "Mind stepping out of the door, luv? The elevator won't move unless you move away." With this new body, his accent and words didn't sound and move right. Clearly, his new body had been American and spoke that harsh language. But he surprised himself with being able to get it out without a slip up. He was still getting used to everything. He'd managed to bang out the movements flawlessly but some of his previous thoughts and ideas still tried to take over and some things like speech or habits, were still working themselves out. When he asked Loki about it, he assured him that the vampire was very dead when he'd entered his body. The bone and muscle memory would wear off over time. Just being alive gave Oliver enough peace of mind to deal with it till that time came.  

He couldn't hold back the laugh that erupted from him at her threat. Sure, he was playing with fire and knew just how easily it was for her to do exactly as she said but he couldn't help but fuck with her. It helped ease his vengeful anger towards her... just a bit. His eyes, first playful, now hard and anger pierced into hers and his smile turned a lot less amused. The only good thing he'd gotten out of this new body of his was the fact that who ever this had been, had been older than him and moved a lot faster and was a lot stronger than he had been. With lightening fast reflexes, he reached out and grabbed her throat, wrapping his fingers around her neck. He felt the fresh blood he'd taken in that morning, rushing through his veins, giving him adrenaline and fostering his excitement. He wanted so much to cause her the same pain she'd caused him. It was his first thought when he opened his eyes in this new body. Though he knew he'd never be able to rip her heart from her chest, he wanted to rip out her metaphorical heart, like she did is. He'd thought she'd loved him-they'd spend centuries together- and yet, she'd killed him with one simple movement.

He backed her against the doors of the elevator, his eyes glittering. He placed his hand over her heart, hoping that this simple movement would jog her memory. "What are you going to do, Kaia?" he whispered. "Rip out my heart?" 

---

He let his hand fall from her chest and released his grip around her neck, taking a step back from her before grinning at her and producing a rather exuberant bow that seemed wildly out of place in the luxury elevator, his eyes never leaving hers. "I'm surprised you were able to put the pieces together. I might as well be a stranger to you now." he straightened back up, flexing his fingers in front of him with a thoughtful smirk. "Never thought I'd be able to move again, let alone live again. It's a real miracle isn't it?" A part of him ached at the look on her face. He wanted to grab onto her and rekindle their love but the part of him that had died by her hand, the part of him that felt hurt and betrayed, was angry. Why wasn't she lashing out, threatening to kill again? He wanted her to fight back so he could punish her with the same pain she'd inflicted on him! But the look of awe on her face had him at a crossroads and he wasn't sure how he wanted to act. He'd spent all this time in his new body and his new life, soaking in his anger and hatred and plotting his revenge but when he was finally in front of her, he was honestly lost. If Loki found out he'd returned to Kaia without the intentions of killing her, he'd probably rip out this heart and he'd return to the darkness of oblivion.

He leaned an arm on either side of her head, his face hovering inches from hers as he spoke in a low husky voice. "You can't ever kill me, baby." he whispered, avoiding the question altogether. 

His demeanor instantly changed as he pulled away from her to lean his back against the opposite wall of the elevator, this time, the mischief had left his eyes to be replaced by anger; anger at her attitude towards him and anger at himself for not being able to act on his dreams of revenge. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at her. "I want to fucking make you hurt for what you did to me!" he snapped, no longer able to hold onto his carefully kept mask. Here, he took a long pause before he also said, a little quieter, "And I want to fuck you so that you can feel the pain in my heart." he growled. "Well," he said with a sarcastic laugh. "This body's heart. It's not really mine." He reached up his hands and drove them angrily into his hair as he groaned angrily. What was wrong with him?! He'd planned his first meeting with Kaia so meticulously that he'd been able to play it out in his dreams and here he was, at that very moment and he could think of nothing but pulling her into his arms and kissing her. "Do you see what you've done to me!?" he angrily shot at her, eyes flashing back to hers as he pulled his hands out of his hair, leaving it disheveled. "I want to kill you but I still love you!" He probably looked like a damn lunatic in front of her. 

The room seemed to empty of air and if he wasn't already dead, his heart and breathing would have stopped. She had opened herself to a vulnerability. Here she was, right in front of him, her chest exposed. All he needed to do was reach into her chest and rip her heart out, just as easily as she had done to him. He'd dreamed of this moment for a long time, drove himself crazy wanting to complete the task. And now that it was laid out in front of him, he couldn't follow through. Part of the reason, his mind hadn't planned for, was actually being in Kaia's presence. Though the part of him that connected him to her was long gone, there was a ghost of a connection that he felt with her and it was that connection in which he felt helpless in her presence, reverting him back to being one of her progeny. He felt the coolness before he realized what was happening. He reached up and touched his face, pulling his fingers away to see blood. Was he... crying? He felt his knees give out and he slid to the floor, his back to the wall. He couldn't do it. He never would. No matter how much pain she had put him through and how much heart break he'd endured, deep down, he still loved her from that first moment he'd laid eyes on her chained to that post. Even then, his human soul had called out to her. No matter how many times she killed him or made him hurt, he'd never be able to return the favor. 

"I can't..." he whispered. "Even with a new body and the progeny connection between us severed, you still hold power over me. Just... put me out of misery..." he whispered, his blood tears dripping onto the plush carpet beneath him. "If he finds out..." he stopped, ever fearing thinking about what Loki would do to him.

She knelt down before him and placed her fingers under his chin to force him to look at her and it was that gentle touch, that brought everything crashing down. It was that tenderness he remembered and had for so long, even without his realization, longer for again. He reached up his sleeve and wiped the blood from his face, feeling more and more like a child then an ancient vampire. "It's not new, actually..." he whispered, starting from the beginning. "Long before you killed me, I'd begun to hear a voice in my head. It wasn't defined, not particularly. It influenced what I did and said and even changed the way I felt about you. Sometimes, it wasn't always there and I was free to be myself but then when it was there, I did things I didn't normally do. I had never meant to create my son... I'd gone into a village to get a meal and I found a young couple in the vineyard. I thought they would be easy targets. I attacked the man first but before I could use him as a meal and let him go, the voice appeared, telling me I needed to kill him. I did so without thinking. It then made me turn to the female and I made her drink my blood before I-" he stopped and swallowed, moving on. "I knew what I did was wrong but there was something inside me that knew it was the right thing and I tried to convince you, tried to get you to help me. Maybe by showing the boy kindness, you could show me that what I did hadn't been wrong... That I could fight whatever was going on with me. But too late..." he lifted a hand to his chest where he felt the phantom pain of the hole in his chest. "I never thought I'd wake again. Thought this was prime punishment for what I'd done. But then, I was opening my eyes and he stood there, smiling at me and it was his voice... The voice in my head. He told me I owed him my soul, that I would work for him or he'd send me back to the darkness. He never actually told me what I had to do but I know he didn't bring me along to Vegas for sight seeing." He closed his eyes, hating the chill that came over him thinking of him. "I never would have imagine that demons would exist in this world. I thought we were demons, Kaia, monster born of darkness and death. But he and his kind make us look like fairy tales for children..." How much more could he say? He'd already told her the whole story, the shortened version anyway. He really didn't understand Loki's true intentions of bringing him back from the dead but had just been grateful enough to accept him. But the fear he felt for the man was real and he had a strong desire to not make him mad. That was why he wanted Kaia to kill him before he did. "Please don't let Loki kill me!" he pleaded, reaching out and grabbing her arms.