Chapter 3: The Deal

All reserved by L.J. Smith and the CW Network.

Thanks so much to everyone who has read The Cell and loved it. I plan on continuing the story even after the episode premiers on Thursday. Now here's the chapter everyone's been waiting for.

Augustine's P.O.V

The news of 21051's capture was like music to my ears. My mind immediately jumped to possible experimentation's that would cause the utmost pain to subject 21051. He would regret escaping in the '50s. He will beg and plead for the torture to end and just when he thinks it's over, I'll increase his pain. But first, plans for the future must be made. He will not escape from me a second time. His troublesome friends and girlfriend will need to be convinced that, Damon is it, has left them and will never return, that he found a new, better life away from the heartbreak known as Mystic Falls. That way there's no chance for escape. Plans came to mind that would need to be shared with only a select few. But those plans could wait, first he wanted to have a one-on-one session with Damon, which, checking his watch, would be in the next few minutes.

Right on time, the two helpers arrived carrying Damon's unconscious body. Speaking to the two helpers he said, "Put the body on the medical gurney over there," pointing towards the middle of the room. The two helpers did as they were told and quickly left the room, not over excited to be in the presence of the Augustine vampire, no matter how long they've worked for him. Waiting. That's what he did for the next half hour or so, just waited for 21051 to wake up to the world he's most likely tried so hard to forget. Waiting to see the fear in his eyes. And when he saw that fear, he would increase it tenfold. He couldn't wait. To make time pass more quickly, Augustine prepared the essential tools for his session with subject 21051.

A noise soon stopped him in his tracks, a rustling. He slowly turned around and saw 21051 trying to remove the bullet Wes had shot him with, which soon turned to full-out thrashing. Not wanting him to receive all his pain from thrashing around on the gurney he purposefully made a noise, to alert the creature on the gurney of his presence. When both pairs of eyes met, Augustine saw the fear he had oh so missed in the past sixty years and could wait no longer to increase the fear. Breaking the silence in the previously deadly quiet room, he said, "Hello Damon. Long time no see." The returning answer, "Augustine," was uttered with a voice full of dread. The time to begin was now.

Damon's P.O.V

Upon being recognized, Augustine moved towards him. Damon tried to move away from the approaching figure, but could not. This seemed only to encourage Augustine to move faster towards the gurney, and before they both knew it, he was staring down at him. Damon, usually being a man of many words, was wordless in his absolute terror. "21051," said Augustine, "you are going to regret escaping my clutches all those years ago." Before Damon could comprehend anything else, he felt a blinding pain. The pain was caused by Augustine using his vampire speed to press the bullet, lodged in Damon's forehead, even deeper. Damon screamed and yelled for the pain to go away, but was ignored. Finally, however, the pain did end, only for a new, sharper, mental one to begin.

Augustine, growing tired of only causing pain to the forehead, quit pressing the bullet deeper and removed it all together. Damon released a sigh of relief. "Oh 21051, you don't really expect that to be it for the day do you?" asked Augustine. Damon, one to always laugh and be sarcastic in the face of danger, responded to Augustine's question with, "No. I expected a long soliloquy of how you are going to exact revenge on me for escaping in the '50s. Then I expected you to keel over and die. How am I doing so far?" "You always were a smart mouth, weren't you. Well, I hope to remedy that in the next few months to years," responded Augustine. "What are you talking about," exclaimed Damon. "I won't be here but a few days tops. Elena and Stefan will find me and break me out."

He could only hope that what he said would truly happen, but of course that hope was soon dashed when Augustine opened his mouth and said, "I wouldn't plan on any rescue attempts any time soon. I've already figured out exactly how to throw everyone you care about off of your trail, so you can stay here indefinitely. Would you like to know what my plan is?" Damon could only stare back at him, a face full of shock. "I'll take that as a yes. Wes has your cell phone. That is all I need to carry out my plan. I will send a message to Elena saying that you're done with the relationship and you're moving on with your life. We'll take photos from your photo gallery on your phone and Photoshop them to make it look like you're actually moving on. Elena believes that you compelled Wes to forget everything supernatural, so he will be an integral part in the plan. He'll be able to keep an eye on your girlfriend and be in charge of your cell phone. You will also play a key part in the plan," explained Augustine, who walked a short distance from Damon.

Damon, who had become more wide-eyed by the minute, began to laugh when Augustine said that he would willing help in this loony plan of his. "You honestly think that I'm going to going to go along with this," Damon asked Augustine, with a voice full of humor, which slowly changed to one of complete seriousness. Augustine, who had walked a fair distance from the gurney, turned and looked Damon in the eye and said, "Of course I do. See I want to make a deal with you." Damon continued to stare at the vampire but asked, "What do you mean a deal?" "I mean Damon, that you love Elena right? What about Stefan? Caroline? Would you risk any of them ending up in here. My deal is that you go along with this plan and your family, girlfriend, and friends will be unharmed and never be inducted into my research. Any suspicion of Elena and Caroline at the college will be lifted. Your brother probably wouldn't even notice you were gone until Elena said something, so we wouldn't have to worry so much in that department, would we? So Damon, could you bear to see any of them in here with you, having one-on-one sessions with me," asked Augustine. Damon thinking quick on his feet, but not literally since he was strapped to the gurney, replied, "How can I trust you? That you'll pull through on your part of the deal?" "You can't, but I will give you weekly updates to prove that they are safe and sound. I also don't want you escaping anytime soon and if I have to give up a few vampire candidates, than so be it. I want you to suffer for escaping. Do we have an agreement?" asked Augustine. Damon didn't want to give up all hope of escape, but did not want Stefan, Elena, heck even Caroline, to experience the pain he had and was experiencing. So with a heavy heart, Damon uttered the three-letter word that would seal his fat. "Yes." Augustine pulled out his cell phone a typed a quick message and pressed send. "Now we can get started with the medical advancement procedures I've come up with," exclaimed Augustine, moving with vampire speed to stand next to Damon, holding a sharp, metal scalpel. Damon felt his stomach drop to his feet, not just from seeing the scalpel, but for agreeing to go along with the plan.

Wes's P.O.V

While preparing for his next class, he felt a vibration in his pocket. Pulling out his cell phone, he noticed a message from Augustine. He opened the text he had received and read, 'Put the plan into action.' Wes knew exactly what the message meant since Augustine had told him earlier in the day of his plan to prevent Damon from ever escaping again. While he believed that the friends of the said vampire should be captured and fixed, he did not voice his opinions in his fear of angering Augustine.

Closing his phone, he replaced it back in his pocket and pulled out the phone belonging to Damon. Scrolling through the contacts, he found the name of who he was looking for: Liz Forbes. He soon typed out a message reading, 'Hey Liz. I just wanted to let you know that I'm done. Done with life in Mystic Falls. I told Elena that I went back to Mystic Falls to help you out with a problem, but really my foot is heavy on the gas pedal. Elena was a big part of my leaving, so please go along with it if she or Caroline calls you looking for me. I'm not asking for you to lie forever, only a few days or so, that way I can get far away from Virginia. Stefan will hate me for this and Elena will surely want to kill me for leaving, but Liz, I can't take it anymore. Elena is destined to be with Stefan, which means she can never truly love me and I love her so much. Being around them would hurt too much. You've been a great drinking buddy and I'm going to miss you. Don't worry about the Boarding House, Stefan will take care of it. Bye.' Wes finished the message and pressed send. He then put away the cell phone. Looking at the clock, he noticed that his class would begin in just a few minutes. He finished preparing for his class and waited for his students to finish filing into the classroom. He then began to teach.

Check back in a few days for the next chapter. I love how the story is going so far! I hope you all are as well. Reviews are always good ways to speed up the writing process.