Note: I do not own TWD or TVD… just having fun.
This chapter includes excerpts from Irish Rose, which you MUST read to understand this. See the author's note at the end of this chapter for more information.
Irish Rose: Rewind
Previously in Chapter 58 of Irish Rose…
Maggie smirked at her and leaned closer. "Do you feel that? The pulsating in your skull, the throbbing that just won't go away?" Maggie gestured towards her temple while taunting her.
Katherine's hearing was almost reduced to a ringing, agitated by the shock to her system. She swallowed in a vain attempt to quench her thirst and gave a faint nod.
"That's your heart beat, Katerina. Welcome back to mortality," Maggie hissed at her with a dark grin.
It was that noise that every vampire in the room could hear that kept them rooted to their spots. It was faint and straining, but it was growing with each moment and undeniably human.
Katherine gave an inaudible gasp, which came out scratchy and her heart skipped a beat, realizing she was staring up at not one, but two demons.
"What happens now?" Klaus asked Maggie, clearly trying to contain his excitement, but also weary of the fact Katherine looked like she was in no condition to start donating blood.
"Keep her on a strict water diet for the next 24 hours, no blood, before human food. If she starts vomiting, give her soft and simple foods like you would a baby until she adjusts," Maggie stated bluntly and impersonally, like she was about an animal and not a human.
Maggie rose to her feet then, as if washing herself of the doppelganger.
Nodding to her words, Klaus moved around Katherine to Maggie's side, where the water containers were. Maggie took a step back to allow him to move and watched as the hybrid popped the cap off the water.
The room was silent while he helped Katherine take a long gulp from the container. Her eyes were already shut before the plastic touched her lips and despite herself she drank greedily.
Maggie took the chance to look around the room. Elena and Damon were standing beside each other on their respective side of the room. Stefan and Rebekah sat in subdued silence, mere spectators to the miracle they witnessed. Kol was turned in his seat and gave Maggie a wink, it was done and they would be out of here soon. Elijah had put the book aside and rose from his seat, struggling with the sight of Katherine being alive and very much human, but never again the innocent peasant girl he had met.
Klaus pulled the container away from Katherine's lips, mostly empty already and grinned at the fact her heart beat sounded just a little steadier than it did moments ago.
He set the container aside, remaining in a crouched position and looked to Maggie. "It appears that your word holds some water after all, Maggie," He announced with a smile that could seem friendly to others and sadistic to some.
She couldn't help the relieved sigh that passed her lips and she nodded.
Klaus stared at her for a moment, the woman that was stronger than she let onto and held abilities that he apparently wasn't fully aware of. Furthermore, instead of using her against Damon, he already witnessed her pitting his brothers against each other. Nonetheless, she delivered exactly what she promised.
"But I never gave mine and your existence is a liability to mine," Klaus declared in an ambiguous tone.
"What?" Maggie barely gasped out before she saw a blur. Her eye couldn't process the way he reached out to the dining room chair she sat in moments ago and snapped the leg off before launching himself at her in a fluid motion.
"No!" Rebekah shrieked in a piercing tone while the two slammed into the wall behind Maggie.
Kol panicked, cursing the time he had delayed staring at the fragile form of the woman that caused his family so much grief centuries ago. He shot out of his chair immediately at Klaus and Maggie.
For the training sessions and the confidence that Maggie had built from Kol's blood, Klaus still had his inherit strength and speed from being a hybrid. There was the simple fact that Klaus had surprise and for all Maggie's training, she wasn't a match for him.
Kol was just a fraction too slow from having been fed on earlier.
A fraction too slow compared to his brother, a thousand years of strength and breed onto his own that was stronger than his siblings.
A fraction too slow to stop the sound of wood plunging into the epidermis and bones crushing beneath its power.
A fraction too long before Kol pulled Klaus by the shoulders, yanking him back unceremoniously across the room.
The hybrid crashed into the coffee table while the others darted out of the way.
Kol stopped himself with his hands on either side of Maggie's shoulders. He didn't look her in the eyes though and Maggie could barely follow his gaze down to her chest. Her hands shook and her mind numbly processed the leg of the chair protruding from her chest, pinning her to the wall and the concept of time slipped away.
"No!" Kol gasped and his hands moved to take the stake out of her, but stopped. His rational mind shuddered at the fact it seemed so, so close to her heart. If the wood was pulled the wrong way, it could kill her. He could fix this.
But his rational mind was in complete denial at what he was seeing.
"How could you?!" Rebekah shrieked from behind Kol and launched herself at Klaus, her hopes and her friend being dashed in the same blow.
The pain erupted in Maggie's chest for a brief moment before her body went into shock. Kol let out an anguished cry, completely inhumane, feeling the similar pain in his chest. Everything went numb for her and her body began to squeeze up while her skin paled.
Kol couldn't tell if the noise escaping her lips was her throat clenching up or her last attempt at uttering the simple syllable of his name.
Her peripheral vision went first before she became faintly aware of what was happening, so quickly. She didn't see the way Stefan was restraining Damon from launching himself at Klaus as well. The shouting and cries in the room rose until they dulled into a hollow ringing and deafened completely.
Kol was helpless to the way her skin greyed and her eyes lulled shut, her vision failing with the last image of a dark angel breaking with anguish and pain. The black veins rose up around her neck and into her face, along her hands as well before her body slumped finally against the wall
Chapter Song:
Hoobstank – Out of Control
Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble
Scene: Town Square – end of chapter
Chapter One
Maggie stirred with a gasp. Her eyes shot open immediately and her back arched off the mattress. Even as her vision came into focus, she still saw the vision of the wood stake coming at her from Klaus and sinking into her chest. There was no shaking the image of Kol breaking in anguish in front of her eyes. His pale features faded into the dim lighting of the room around her.
Maggie blinked, panting heavily while her chest heaved. She was staring up at a basement ceiling and she caught the damp scent mixed with old stone. Her hand clutched over her chest immediately, rubbing harshly against her sternum but feeling no wood, or bruising, or even a scratch.
Did it miss her heart? It must have, Maggie figured as she slowly pushed herself up to a seat on the cot. Every joint protested in her body and her muscles ached to their fiber. If she thought getting her neck snapped, this was even worse. She felt so weak and fragile.
Maggie frowned, looking down at herself and her attire. She ran her hands over her jeans. This wasn't what she was wearing last night. She didn't know what to think of the stained and worn out clothing she had frequently wore on the run with the Atlanta group. She was more distracted by taking in her surroundings.
The boardinghouse basement cell.
She knew this place, knew it well and hated it for everything it stood for. Why in the world would Kol bring her back here? Her gaze paused at the two water bottles set at the foot of the cot. She nearly snorted. Her throat was burning and parched, but what good would water do?
"Damon?" Maggie called out, looking to the familiar barred window of the cell. Only this could be his bright idea, she thought sarcastically. Her voice came out hoarse and she found herself reaching towards the water bottle in spite of herself. She could find something better later, but now the air scraped against her throat.
She was through the first bottle before she tossed it carelessly aside. At least there was no vervain in it, she thought to herself. Maggie continued to frown and pushed herself up from the cot. Damon had to be in the house, but he didn't come at her calling him. She couldn't even hear him in the house.
Her irritation boiled up with agitation. She wanted out of this basement cell and now.
"Damon!" Maggie shouted as she came to stand at the barred window. She tried to peer towards the stairs, ignoring the chugging of the generator attached to the blood cooler across from the basement cell. She couldn't hear anything else over it.
"Damon Salvatore, get your ass down here and open this goddamn door!" Maggie shouted even louder, pressing her cheeks up against the bars of the window. "You know how much I hate it in here," She added on threateningly.
"Stupid vampire," She grumbled mostly to herself. This was probably another one of his misguided attempts at keeping herself after Klaus staking her. How he had gotten her away from Kol and Rebekah was beyond her though.
She heard some heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. They thudded against the wood, but moved briskly. Maggie pressed her face a little harder against the bars to try to glimpse of the newcomer.
She let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the jean cladded and plaid wearing school teacher.
"Ric! Thank god," Maggie relaxed. It wasn't Damon, but at least it was someone sensible. She didn't think too much of the perplexed and apprehensive look he gave her as he slowly approached the door.
"Let me out of here," She requested firmly, looking down between them at the offensive piece of wood and metal.
Alaric opened his mouth, hesitating on his words. He was going to ask her how she was doing, but she certainly seemed energetic enough.
"Yeah, uh…" Alaric hesitated, his eyes flickering briefly up to the stairs. "I can't do that. Damon's out now and if I do that…"
"Seriously, Ric?" Maggie scoffed. She knew they were best friends, but this was a bit much. The older man's brow continued to furrow deeply at Maggie addressing them like they knew each other better than they did.
"What's the real meaning of this?" Maggie gave a jerk of the bars as she questioned him. She expected them to jostle more than they actually did, they should have at least. But they didn't budge.
Alaric just opened his mouth and took a half a step back from the door when Maggie slammed a frustrated fist against the wood.
"I'm going to snap that overbearing neck of his when I get out of here," Maggie grumbled under her breath.
It was then she pulled her hand away from the door, she felt the jarring sensation throughout it, down to the very bone. It was sharp and painful. She unclenched her fist and frowned suddenly down at her hand. That hurt, like it really hurt, more than it should have for a vampire and the wood didn't even groan.
That was the moment she really became aware of her breathing, how needed each breath was, which came quick and panicked from the situation.
"What the hell?" Maggie muttered, suddenly ignoring Alaric.
Her hand was throbbing and aching from the new abuse, almost pulsating. Her eyes widened and she reached up with two fingers against her throat. Her hand began to shake, especially when she found the spot on her neck.
Her body froze and the air was still between them when she felt that distinctive rhythmic beat. To Maggie, it felt like the air was gone cold and her stomach dropped.
"How? How?" She began to murmured repeatedly, only faintly looking at a thoroughly confused Alaric.
She stumbled back from the door several steps. "I'm human, human," Maggie formed the foreign word on her tongue.
She dropped her hand from her neck and just stared at her hands. Each breath came faster and faster as the sickening realization sank in.
"Maggie?" Alaric called her name in sudden concern. He didn't know what to think of the gasping short breaths she was taking, her chest heaving with each motion.
Her hands visibly shook and her eyes darted frantically around the cell, seeing demons that weren't actually there.
"No, no, no," Maggie mumbled in horror.
She couldn't be human. She couldn't be weak and fragile again.
If she was human, what happened? She had died and turned, she was certain of that. She became a vampire, she liked being a vampire and she had her mate.
Her breaths were quick, but they weren't enough. The room was too small, the air too thick to breath. It was closing in on her. Her feet stumbled on the floor, it was moving before her. She had to get out of here.
She spun around back to the door in time to see Alaric reaching for the latch before her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Maggie dropped heavily to the ground in a thudding noise with Alaric shouting her name, echoing off the walls.
Maggie stirred with a groan, hoping it had all been a sick joke. She would wake up back in the Mikaelson mansion. Kol would be there with a blood bag to help her recover from the almost fatal wood stake. Klaus would be gone. They would be okay.
When her eyes blinked open, she didn't see the living room of the Mikaelson mansion. Instead she was the one of another eerily familiar home. The fireplace was empty before her, because it was still daylight out. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she realized she was on the red sofa of the boardinghouse living room.
"Finally, you're awake!" A familiar voice called out, causing Maggie to roll from her back and onto her side.
She used an elbow to start to push herself up. Her vision was quickly obstructed by the sight of Damon walking around the side of the couch, whiskey tumbler in hand before crouching down at eye level with her. She squinted at the piercing blue eyes of his, which held their usual confident snark masking genuine fascination at the moment.
"Whoa, easy there, Mike Tyson," Damon warned her, holding a hand out just above her shoulder to slow her down from lifting her head so quickly off the decorative pillow that was tucked under her. "There's a damn good chance you have a concussion," He spoke, having heard how hard of a fall she took from Alaric.
A groan passed through Maggie's lips while her hand went up to her head. She winced a bit when it rubbed against the sensitive and now swollen spot. Apparently she took a good crack against the pavement. Her stomach was still a tense knot, which she wasn't sure if that was from the growing panic as she became more alert or the possible concussion.
When she opened her eyes again, Damon was still crouched in front of her head and had his head cocked slightly. He was watching her closely, studying her. Maggie couldn't help but slink back in her spot on the couch, her back pressing up against the cushion at the attention.
"Who's Cole?" Damon asked bluntly, his brow line tense with curiosity.
"What?" Maggie blinked incredulously, her head was pounding still and for a moment she wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. He's joking, right?
"The name you were mumbling in your sleep…" Damon offered more specifically, the question still in the air. Damon wondered if that was the name of one of the survivors from the prison.
Maggie just stared at him.
She was too stunned to even get mad, but then again her head was throbbing too. It reminded her just how human she was all of the sudden and that prospect alone made it hurt even more to try to understand.
Damon let out a sigh.
He didn't know what to make of this. He was expecting more harsh glares, stoic responses followed by another assault from her, not this wide-eyed and confused woman.
He definitely didn't know what to make of the way Maggie leaned her head slightly forward, lowering her voice in a gesture of searching for reassurance. "Damon… what's going on? What happened yesterday?"
Damon's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion this time. The way she was looking at him threw him off, but he had to admit it was a relief from all the hostility he was getting from her lately.
"You don't remember?" Damon's eyebrows rose dubiously. He wasn't sure if he believed Alaric, but the blank look from her was making him start to wonder.
Maggie opened her mouth, but hesitated on the words. Remember what exactly? She wasn't sure where to begin. Something was definitely up. For a brief moment, the last image of Klaus flashing towards her and Kol screaming came to mind. But after that it was nothing, like say… how she became human and woke up was a void.
"Huh," Damon huffed out shortly, taking her moment of hesitation for a lapse of memory. "I guess you weren't kidding, Ric," Damon's voice rose, suddenly addressing over Maggie.
Maggie stiffened and shifted up in her seat a bit to follow Damon's gaze over the back of the couch, towards the infamous liquor table. She blinked at the sight of the familiar school teacher pouring himself a drink and reaching for a second glass, probably for Damon.
Alaric shook his head and mumbled something about telling him so. Maggie looked back to Damon with increasing confusion.
"He said you had a bad reaction to the vervain. You woke up delirious and cracked your skull when you passed out," Damon explained the unspoken question in her eyes, admitting the facts of the situation like it was no more interesting than the weather.
"Vervain?" Maggie repeated at a loss. There wasn't any vervain involved, she hadn't touched the herb since…
"Yeah, that's what Sheriff Forbes dosed you with… it's what was in your drink," Damon explained, his piercing gaze searching her expression once more. He didn't even have it in him to make snarky comments because he had never seen anyone have this bad of a reaction to it.
Maggie started shaking her head. None of this was making any sense now.
"You… do remember going to the meeting, right?" Damon started fishing for any sign of recognition on her face.
"Meeting?" Maggie blurted out uncertainly. If he meant the meeting at the mansion, then why was Sheriff Forbes there? She had nothing to do with this.
"The Council Meeting?" Damon prompted frankly, ignoring the curious look he was getting from Alaric behind the couch. "You were chatting it up with Little Gilbert?"
Finally, he got a reaction.
Maggie froze, her brows pulling into an apprehensive and dawning line. It made Damon worry even more the way her face paled more than it already was. Questionable head injury wasn't a good look for her, nor looking like she had seen a ghost.
"No, no," Maggie ran the hand through her hair again, mumbling faintly. "How is this possible?" She questioned aloud, momentarily ignoring the men in the room. That Council meeting was months ago, how could Damon just be acting like it had happened yesterday? Was this some sort of cruel joke? Alaric seemed in on it too.
Maggie started to sit up right, stirring with genuine panic again. The weird nightmare was still going.
"Easy there," Damon warned her, this time putting a hand on her shoulder to make sure she wouldn't fall over. He felt her stiffen briefly under his hand, but she didn't push it away. "Let's get some air, yeah? Supposed that helps clear up everything, right?" He flashed her a smirk.
"How? What the…?" Maggie mumbled, her eyes darting around frantically while she eased herself up to her feet. Her knees wobbled briefly and Damon remained hovering in front of her, like if she was going to fall to porcelain pieces. She glanced back briefly at Alaric, who just watched them and didn't take a step towards her.
No, it can't be the day of that Council meeting. That was months ago. It's impossible, right?
Maggie numbly took in the boardinghouse while Damon guided her towards the front door. He wasn't sure if it was reassuring that she wasn't trying to bolt or escape because she seemed so lost.
She couldn't help but search the hallway for any sign of familiarity of the time had passed. She needed to see the splinter in the wood from Stefan punching the wall after Klaus visiting or where she threw Damon against the wall after her transition.
She didn't get long enough of a chance to spot them before they reached the front door.
"Where are we going?" Maggie asked aloud, her brain finally registering the fact he suggested leaving the house.
Damon gave a shrug of his shoulders and spoke words that caused Maggie's to twist excruciatingly from their familiarity, "Downtown, to show you all that there is Mystic Falls."
Even rolling the window down to feel the wind against her face didn't help her rising anxiety. Maggie sat in the passenger seat of the Camaro, reluctantly at best and stared out around them as Damon started to weave through the streets. Her eyes darted around frantically, taking in the landscape, noting the differences. Even the weather didn't feel right. She didn't say anything because she was still waiting for him to say he was just teasing and pulling her leg. It couldn't be the same day that she got vervained at the Council meeting, right?
"What's the date?" Maggie blurted out all of the sudden without looking at Damon.
The vampire quirked an eyebrow at the question. He was still trying to keep track of her erratic behavior. She went from being dazed and confused on the sofa, to sitting unusually quiet and cooperative in the car.
"Uh, the second week of May," Damon half shrugged with a hand on the steering wheel, not knowing exactly off the top of his head.
Maggie's eyes widened, her head turning towards him this time. At first she thought he had to be joking, but there wasn't any hint of attitude. He just shrugged at the casual bit of information. Her stomach knotted from that simple word; May. It should be almost fall…
She shook her head in disbelief, unable to form a response for him.
Damon turned back to the road, figuring she probably just lost track of time out on the road running from the walkers. It wasn't like they had a need for a pocket calendar.
The Camaro turned down a familiar street that caused Maggie to shift upright in her seat suddenly. Damon suspiciously watched her out of the corner of his eye but didn't say anything, just wondering what stirred her sudden attention.
"Damon, stop the car," Maggie demanded suddenly in a quiet tone.
"Excuse me?" Damon drew out the words, wondering where she got the idea it was okay to boss him around.
"Stop the car," She repeated without looking at him. Her eyes were in the street. There should be that red Camry, smashed in and beat up. But it was nowhere in sight and she couldn't even spot any shatter plastic or glass on the pavement.
"What for?" Damon didn't bother slowing down in the least, instead he was looking around to see what was panicking her. Everything seemed normal to him.
"Stop the fucking car, Damon!" Maggie shouted suddenly, reaching the end of her patience before they could drive past the house.
The Camaro lurched forward with the slamming of the brakes.
He realized no matter what the situation was or what was going on, something about hearing that level of distress in someone's voice caused him to do exactly that. Both hands were white knuckling the steering wheel when the Camaro came to quick halt.
He looked over at Maggie before he could ask what was going on, she was already opening the door and slipping out of the seat. He let a swear out under his breath.
"What did I tell you about trying to run away?" Damon drawled out in a bored tone, getting out of the car and assuming that was what she was doing. At least he would give her a bit of a head start just for fun, he decided.
Maggie ignored him.
Instead of taking off down the street, she went around the car towards one of the houses. There were no vehicles parked in the driveway. The walkway was cracked and overgrown. The bushes in front yard were neglected and unruly.
Her breathing began to accelerate with her dread as she got closer and closer to the familiar gray home. The wrap-around porch was uncared for and the paint was beginning to flake off. There was rust on the chains of the swinging bench. More importantly, no light or life came from the windows.
"No, no, no," Maggie began mumbling frantically as her boots pounded up the stairs and she went for the front door. "This can't be possible," She muttered. Her hands tried the front door knob, but it resisted. She jostled the wood angrily, trying to get it to budge and forgive.
Damon remained a few yards behind her with his hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets. He thought she was running, but now he was just trying to figure out why she was freaking out over an abandoned house.
"This can't be happening, how…" Maggie exclaimed to no one in particularly while darting to the front windows. She pressed her forehead against the glass trying to get a peek inside the home. It looked nothing like the way it was supposed to be. The furniture was overturn and different. Nothing was in the right place.
"My family," Maggie realized with horror. They weren't here and it looked like they never had been.
She spun on her heel to face Damon, approaching him with brisk and shaking steps.
"My family, where's my family, Damon? Where are they?" She barely registered the fact that she was starting to hyperventilate again or the way her hands shook when she reached out to grab at the sleeves of his jacket.
Damon pulled his head back slightly in surprise. "What are you talking about?" He pointed out. Did she just fly the crazy nest all of the sudden? Maybe that vervain had done some permanent damage.
"Where are they?" Her voice began to rise to a shout and she had to resist the urge to shake them.
Damon's eyes snapped into a defensive narrow at her tone. "I told you already. They're at the prison, I didn't do anything to them."
Maggie's hands let go of his jacket like if he shocked her at the word prison. She began shaking her head in denial, could they really all be back there? He was certainly acting like it.
"They could be dead," Maggie muttered bluntly, a hand ringing through her hair in agitation. A million possibilities ran through her mind. She had no idea what was becoming of them at the prison. She could barely wrap her head around how it was possible for them to be back at the prison and it was hard for her because she didn't want to understand it. She didn't want her family to be trapped there. It was nothing more than a tomb.
"I gotta find them, I gotta keep them safe. They aren't safe there," Maggie murmured frantically starting to walk away from Damon without really seeing him.
"Hey, you need to relax," Damon called out to her, seeing the way she was hyperventilating. At this rate, she would deprive herself of oxygen and pass out again. He followed after her briskly, not sure where she was intending on heading down the sidewalk.
"No, they're not here. I'm not going to relax until they're here," Maggie pointed a frustrated finger towards the ground as she spoke, almost shouting. Her boots sounded heavily against the sidewalk.
"They should be here. They have to be here. They need to be here," Her last sentence came out more like a desperate plea. Mystic Falls wasn't the safest place, but at least it was free of walkers. She needed her family.
The tears that started to sting at the corner of her eyes were because of her need for her family for a different reason than safety.
Damon appeared in front of her suddenly, blocking her path with a determined look on his face. He reached out to catch her shoulders.
"Maggie," He said her voice in a gentle, but commanding tone, leveling his face with hers. "I need you to calm down," The frankness of his tone caused Maggie to halt and really look at him.
That was when she noticed his eyes and the odd flicker of them.
There was a sharp crack in the air.
Damon closed his eyes and his mouth hung openly briefly. He wasn't sure what hurt more, his ego or the stinging of his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Maggie pulling her hand behind her back, he wasn't able to see the way she shook out it because he was distracted by the sharp venomous glare from her.
"Don't you compel me to calm down," She growled out at him before circling around him and continuing on down the sidewalk with renewed vigor.
For a brief moment, she had thought she got Damon to go away and leave her alone. It was quiet around her and she didn't hear his footsteps coming after her. At least, she thought she had stunned him, until she heard the rumbling of a car engine behind her. She didn't bother turning her head, but she could sense the vehicle slow down to a crawling pace next to her as she marched on determinedly.
Of course he wouldn't want to leave his precious car behind, Maggie shook her head at the thought.
"Where do you think you're going?" Damon asked in a sing-song tone, clearly trying to pretend that she didn't hurt his pride or anything by slapping him.
"To find Sheriff Forbes," Maggie declared bluntly. Her mind was still spinning and struggling to grasp with reality, but now she was angry to top it off. She couldn't believe he had the audacity to try to compel her. The Damon she remembered wouldn't do that after everything they had been through. Even if this was some sort of Damon that couldn't remember anything that happened, she was still annoyed he would even try it. She didn't take to being manipulated like some sort of puppet too well.
"The police station is the other way," Damon threw a thumb over his shoulder, back in the direction that they came from.
"No, it's not. It's downtown," Maggie called his bluff, pointing forward to where she was going. "And the boardinghouse is back that way."
"Damn," Damon muttered in frustration at the failed attempt. His eyes then narrowed on her suspiciously though, "How do you know that?"
Maggie clenched her jaw and very pointedly kept her gaze away from him at that. Everything was messed up sideways right now, but she had to recognize for some reason that Damon was convinced she only knew as much as she did that day at the Council meeting.
"I… saw it the police station before the meeting," Maggie lied quickly, and hopefully convincingly. Let's just say if, and not that she really believed it but for hypothetical sake, it really was that day then it would be odd for her to suddenly know the ins and outs of Mystic Falls.
She didn't get a response from Damon, but she could feel his cool calculating gaze on her as the Camaro continued to crawl to match her pace.
It could be a valid answer, but he didn't buy it completely. She wasn't even hesitating about what streets to go down and that would be pretty impressive to know after driving down them one time handcuffed in the backseat of Alaric's car.
"I'm going to find Sheriff Forbes and get my family back," Maggie declared, trying to force her mind on that one simple task. Just force yourself to deal with one issue at a time, Maggie told herself. It was the only way she could stay remotely sane right now.
She couldn't let herself think about the fact she was human now. She couldn't let herself dwell on how weak and vulnerable that made her right now. Nor could she think about everything she didn't have right now, her family, her sister. Most of all, she couldn't think let herself think about how her mate was nowhere in sight. If she was human, was he still her mate? No, she couldn't think about that.
"How about we just stop and talk this out like two semi-sane and mature adults?" Damon suggested, getting impatient with Maggie's behavior but not stepping too close to her.
Within minutes, they reached the downtown area, just at the edge of the town square. The vampire parked in the Camaro and was at her side in a blur of a movement. She didn't even jump at the action, which Damon found interesting considering how jumpy she had been before this morning.
He tried questioning her more on the way, but he didn't get much out of her.
Maggie stopped in her strides briefly to look at Damon, who had his hands up in the air in a non-aggressive manner. She didn't even have the energy to address the way he was looking at her like an animal about to snap.
She was about to snap, truth be told.
"Fine," Maggie clipped out, she glanced across the town square and she could see the large hands of the clock tower. At least the police station wasn't far away.
Damon nodded, at least a little relieved to get that cooperation out of her. The heated march downtown helped burn off some of her raw energy, but he could tell that she would explode again if rubbed the wrong way.
He led the way through the line of trees that edged the town square and broke through them in a couple of strides. Maggie followed him and felt her blood run cold again when they stepped through.
Her eyes settled upon the familiar picnic table, one that she had many conversations with him before.
Damon nodded towards it pointedly, encouraging her to take a seat. But she didn't, she couldn't sit there and pretend that everything was going to be okay. Maggie remained standing, causing Damon to quirk an eyebrow awkwardly and remain standing with her beside the table, in case she decided to bolt again.
"Okay…" Damon drew out in the tense silence. Maggie eyes flickered upon him briefly before looking around them and across the town square. They lingered the yellow buses in front of the Mystic Grill. She felt a lump form in her throat. She didn't need him to tell her that one bus was going to the school and the other was going to the construction projects.
"I take it you figured out what I am," Damon cocked his head slightly at her.
Maggie nodded. "A vampire," She responded to him flatly, her eyes following the forms of people with familiar brown bags getting on the buses and hugged their loved ones goodbye for the day. "Jeremy told me," She used the meeting as an excuse. She tried not to think about the taste of acid at the back of her throat.
Her head was still throbbing too, the heating beating down on them wasn't making the pain any better.
Damon blinked and watched her closely. He could hear how frantic her heart was beating, but her expression was largely composed in that moment. She just admitted it so casually, he wondered if she was still in denial about it. "I know, I heard. But how do you know about compulsion?" He questioned. Little Gilbert only gave the suggestion of vampires, no specifics.
"What?" Maggie's head snapped back to Damon briefly.
"How did you know I tried to compel you?" Damon repeated bluntly, stepping closer to tower over Maggie.
The action caused Maggie to take a pointed step back from him. She started shaking her head. She looked around her, she felt sick when she spotted the same group of children playing a hand game in the town square. They were the same children, ages four to six, wearing the same light summer clothes. Even the gestures were the same ones that she remembered.
"I can't do this," Maggie deflected, unable to answer his question. This was just some sick nightmare on repeat in her mind, she decided. "I can't take this. I can't do this, Damon," Maggie began to repeat, pulling at her hair again while spinning on her heel to take in everything going on downtown.
The buses were parked in the same exact spots. The same people, wearing the same clothing, hugging the same people in the same places. The same children, the same bags they carried. It was too much.
"Do what, Maggie?" Damon gave an exasperated sigh, stepping closer to follow after her, but not touching her. She looked like she was one push away from a psychotic break. "What did I do?"
"I can't just sit there," Maggie's voice rose to a shout as she pointed towards the picnic table. "And pretend that everything is just okay. I can't sit there and listen to you tell me about vampires and doppelgangers, like I haven't heard it before. I'm not Rose, but I know I'm a doppelganger!"
Damon's mouth fell open and he froze in his steps while Maggie continued to back pedal away from him.
"I need to find my family! And I need to figure what is going on. I need…" Maggie voice's trailed momentarily as an idea dawned on her. Her thoughts poured out of her mouth, regardless of Damon or whoever may also be listening to her shouting.
"I need to find a witch! A witch, right now. They can fix this," Maggie's hands waved in the air and she turned on her heel, leaving a rather flabbergasted Damon behind her. She was going to find Bonnie or Lucy, or whatever witch she could find, and God be damned anyone who tried to stop her.
With that thought, she darted through the trees to head back towards the Camaro.
And when that was when she collided in something that wasn't solid enough to be a tree.
She stumbled back from his chest, catching herself immediately. Maggie looked up and froze at the dark predatory gaze staring back at her. A confident smirk played out on his lips while he cocked his head with interest at her. His hands were stuffed lightly into the pockets of his jacket.
"Well, aren't you quite the firecracker, darling," His voice drawled out the same British accent that gave her chills.
Despite the frantic beating of her heart, she couldn't help the relieved sigh that immediately passed her lips at the sight of him. She had to resist the urge to hug him and run her hands through the windblown locks of hair.
"Kol," Maggie sighed out of his name, immediately forgetting about yelling at Damon only moments ago.
The smirk on Kol's face faltered immediately and disappeared. He blinked at her oddly, really regarding this apparent doppelganger closely.
"I'm sorry," He drew out in a tone the only carried the formality with genuine curiosity. "But have we met before?"
Maggie's shoulders sagged and she opened her mouth, but her throat was dry. She felt thoroughly sick to her stomach, seeing the complete of recognition on Kol's expression. He honestly he had no idea who she was.
"Yes," Maggie barely whispered, the tears starting to form immediately at the corners of her eyes. This couldn't be happening.
Kol's expression set into a thin line as he watched her, trying to decipher the sudden strong emotional reaction from someone he never met before. She looked, for lack of a better term, devastated by his question.
For the first moment, her mind really started to accept what was going on. Kol was looking at her like a complete stranger, and there was a chance that maybe he really was right now. There was a chance he had none of the memories that she did. That was a thought that made her skin absolutely crawl and her want to claw her way out of this horror.
"Stay away from her, Kol," Damon's voice interrupted, the vampire suddenly blurring between the two of them. He pushed one hand behind him at Maggie, to put distance between her and the Original.
"No!" Maggie snapped out, swatting Damon's hand away from her. She couldn't take anyone touching her. She stumbled away from the two, ignoring the perplexed look from the both of them. Kol's was pulled into a more calculating gaze than anything else, his impassive stare making it hard to read what he was thinking.
She couldn't stand here and listen to the two vampires threaten each other again. She can't handle the idea of Kol being a stranger. The words were already too familiar. She couldn't listen to them threat the other, then hear that Kol was on his way out of town but tauntingly promise to see her again.
"Maggie, wait!" Damon called out after her, but she didn't answer him.
She left the two vampires behind and marched towards the Camaro. The first few tears ran down her cheeks when she reached the passenger seat and sank into the seat hopelessly. Her stomach lurched this way and that. If she had eaten anything, it would probably be on the pavement by now, she thought bitterly.
She sank into the seat defeated and leaned her head against her hand on the frame of the door. Seeing the completely blank and impersonal look from Kol was the one that cut her the most. Her heart twisted and broke.
But she couldn't let herself cry now. If she cried now, she would completely break down.
Maggie sniffled and forced herself to calm her breathing down. She wiped her face off on the collar of her shirt. It still reeked of the sweat and blood of running on the road from the walkers. Everything was just too realistic to be some nightmare, Maggie realized.
Several minutes went by and Maggie was silently cursing and blessing Damon for giving her a few moments alone. Her body ached, so much from the emotional turmoil and the physical exhaustion. She rubbed on her eyes, her vision being a little wobbly at best. Perhaps this wasn't the best thing to be doing with a concussion.
She heard the driver's door open and the sound of someone sliding into the seat. Maggie refused to lift her head and look at Damon. She was just exhausted and she knew that she would be getting another round of interrogation for that. She still had to get to the police station and find out what was really going on from one of the witches.
"Damon, whatever lecture you're building up in your mind…" Maggie picked up her head reluctantly, biting out bitterly. "I'm really not in the mood to hear about staying away from…"
Her voice trailed off weakly when she looked towards the driver's seat.
He had one hand placed casually on the top of the steering wheel and the other arm draped over the back of the Camaro seat. He flashed her a confident and amused smirk at her wide eyes.
"Staying away from who, darling?" Kol Mikaelson teased lightly and ominously.
Author's Note: Surprise! Kind of a mean cliffy, I know!
For those who followed Irish Rose, I know I said I would take some time off but I figured I would start posting this story to help hold over my Kolie fans until Emerald Rage. Like I said before and now you can really see it, this story is going to stray far from the plotline of Irish Rose but it does pick up from chapter six and onwards. So I won't have a definite posting schedule for this story, I'll get to it when I get to it, but the reviews are a huge huge motivator!
I know some of you are going to be like, "Maggie, why you freaking out so bad?" but come on, put yourself in her shoes and don't tell me you wouldn't too. And now she's stuck in the Camaro with an emotionless Kol. Let me know what you think! Please please review!