With Florencia in his arms, he groaned at the healing wound in his left shoulder blade. The exit stood a couple feet away from them, tempting, but he was nowhere near capable of getting them out.
Yet, he had to try.
Stefan thought of something- even a half-assed plan was better than nothing- when the door opened.
His hand reached for the stake on the table in an instant as he shifted all of Florencia's weight to his right; ready to go down fighting.
"Damon?" Stefan breathed out, relieved to see his brother and not Frederick come into the room.
"To the rescue," Damon smiled, then noticed the redhead girl Stefan held close and shared a confused look between Elena, who followed him in along with Harper.
"It's Florencia," Stefan looked down at her, explaining. He put down the stake and turned her slowly so they could see her face clearly, "She was in the tomb with the others."
"Florencia?" Damon's eyes widened as he stepped closer, "Our Florencia?" Stefan nodded, fighting to stand upright, but was patient with Damon and let him process the news. "How did she-?" He didn't need to finish the question, the answer evident as he muttered, "Katherine."
Stefan's remaining strength finally ran out and he faltered back against the table, Damon grabbing Florencia while Elena rushed to his side.
"Elena…" He was grateful for the sudden warmth that her touch brought to his skin, although he worried for her, "You shouldn't be here."
"I couldn't just stay in the car," she stubbornly admitted, holding him up as best as she could with one of his arms thrown over her shoulder. Her own arm wrapped around his waist.
Stefan kept quiet, exhausted, but Elena's curiosity couldn't be stopped, asking Damon about Florencia instead, "Who is she?"
"An old friend," he said, passing the unconcious girl to Harper, who picked her up and carried her bridal-style. "Clothes," Damon reached for Stefan's black shirt and jacket on the floor and helped Elena put them on Stefan. "Alright, we gotta go," he hurried, already wasted enough time.
Grabbing the stake and the extra vervain syringes on the table, as well as anything that looked useful to fight the vampires on the way out, Damon directed at Harper and Elena, "You can get them in the car?"
"Yes." The stable boy answered while Elena questioned, "What about you?"
"You rescue, I'll distract," Damon told her matter-of-factly before hurrying them out. "Go."
Elena made it out with Stefan but Harper hit a stump when a couple of vampires jumped him on his way to the door.
Renzi woke up on the hallway floor. It took a couple of seconds for her vision to clear and she finally focused on Harper. The young man stood in front of her, fighting a vampire as two more closed in.
Another jumped from the staircase with a stake on his hand and she pushed herself up. Her small wounds had healed leaving nothing but drying blood on her skin. While vervain still burned through her system, she ran to Harper.
With his back to the blonde vampire, who carried a stake, he would've been easily killed if she hadn't jumped in between.
The stake punctured the right side of her chest and she screamed out at the pain of it as Harper staked his last vampire.
"Renzi!" He pulled the stake from the dead vampire and turned to her. The redhead slumped back in his arms and he settled her down gently against the wall, before he confronted the blonde vampire.
A stake shot into his heart from behind and the blonde turned ash-gray as he fell forward to Harper's feet.
Alaric stood with his stakegun pointed at Harper's chest, ready to shoot if Damon hadn't stepped out of the living room.
"No no no, he's a friendly." Damon motioned for Ric to put away the gun. The History teacher lowered it down when Harper dropped the stake he held.
Damon looked around the place, dead vampires scattered on the floor all around. Next to a black side table laid Florencia passed out and with a stake in her chest. "Damn it," he breathed out and ran to check on her. His hand slowly pulled out the stake from her chest while the other cupped her face. Pale and cold to the touch; she needed blood, and fast.
"She needs to feed," Damon turned and landed his eyes on Ric.
Alaric prepared to argue. He hadn't agreed to this, but a second look at Damon told him he wasn't asking, so the man sighed and stepped forward, "Not like I have much choice."
"You said it, Mr. Saltzman." Damon stood up and patted his shoulder as Ric rolled up his sleeve and knelt down in front of Florencia.
She heard the veins pumping under his skin. Smelled his blood like she had her father's. His wrist to her lips, she parted them enough to brush her fangs against the tender flesh before he pressed his arm closer and she reluctantly bit into him.
Alaric groaned, looking as she kept her eyes shut and brought her hands up to hold his arm in place while she fed. The blood trickling from her mouth as she swallowed made him finally turn his head the other way.
Suddenly, another group of vampires came through the kitchen's back door. Damon swore and picked up Alaric's stakegun, following Harper to the kitchen to fight them off.
Having given the girl enough blood, Ric pulled his arm away. But Florencia tightened her grip and held him in place.
"Hey, that's enough," Ric let out, scared she wasn't going to stop feeding. "That's enough," he said once more and Florencia let go.
She pulled away, savoring the last few drops of blood with a slow sallow. Her bloodshot, dilated eyes looked back at him as he stood up. She trailed her gaze down to the opened bite on his wrist dripping blood. His human heartbeat still drummed in her ears.
It was not enough.
With newfound strength, she stood and sped towards him before she slammed him against the wall.
Ric's voice raised in alarm, trying to fight her back, "What the hell-?"
The hunger inside her demanded for more. She couldn't stop. No matter how much he struggled for freedom, she found his neck and bit into it.
"Get off!" Alaric shouted but she only sank her fangs in deeper. "Damon! Damon!"
There were different kinds of feeding, Florencia started to realize. This one wasn't as desperate. It wasn't for need anymore, as she gave in to pleasure and pushed her body closer to the man. His racing heartbeat only pumped the blood faster into her mouth and it trailed down her throat as she drowned in it.
Harper tore her away from Ric when he came into the hallway.
"No! I need more!" The crazed look in her eyes and the fact that she was strong to fight back said otherwise.
"Renzi, calm down," Harper tightened the grip he had on her upper arms as she lunged forward. "You'll kill him, Renzi! Calm down, breathe. Breathe." She finally stopped and kept from crying as she looked at Alaric-what she did to him.
From behind, Harper let go of her arms and guilt came crashing down on her as she touched the blood on her chest. "Oh my God," she looked on the verge of a break down.
With shaking hands and shameful eyes, she looked at Alaric again. He almost felt bad for her, but then he remembered how she almost killed him.
"Son of a bitch," Alaric winced and went to grab a piece of tablecloth to wrap around his neck.
Damon didn't bother asking him what happened, simply staring at Florencia ahead. He'd seen it, the way she lunged at Ric, fangs bearing, and a bloodthirsty look in her eyes. He heard her growl at Harper like a wild animal.
She was barely recognizable when she turned to the kitchen-door and grinned at him. Blood all over her.
"Damon!" The tears in her eyes couldn't be held back anymore as she breathed out his name and ran into his arms.
Florencia's small frame pressed against him in an instant. He pushed his melancholy aside and hugged her back. For those few seconds, Alaric saw him falter-the stone-cold killer in Damon melted away as he ran a hand through the redhead's hair. And for a blinking moment, where her arms wrapped around his waist brought a comfort long forgotten, Damon felt like he's old, human self again.
Then Florencia pulled back, and Alaric noticed him revert to the Damon he knew and hated.
"Where is Stefan?" she remembered and looked around worriedly when there wasn't any trace of him. "Is he okay? He was in the basement with me." She followed Damon, who stepped into the kitchen and snatched a cloth-napkin from a counter. "Damon, where is he?"
"He's fine, Flor; his girlfriend's got him," he told her as he wiped some of the blood from her mouth.
"Girlfriend?" she questioned but Harper stepped down the stairs with news.
"Frederick's gone," he told them.
Alaric picked up his backpack and made his way to the front door, "Let's get out of here."
Damon finished cleaning her up and threw away the napkin, muttering, "I'm gonna kill him."
They all followed him to the door, where Alaric opened it and Damon held him back as more vampires came out of the woods.
"How many of those vervain darts do you have left?"
"One," Alaric pulled out the only vervain dart from his backpack and answered.
Counting at least ten vampires ahead, Damon licked his lips and shook his head at their odds. "Not gonna be enough." He pushed them back into the house and locked the door.
When Renzi got tired of staring at the front door, she turned to the men at her side and raised a question, "Are we to stand here until they burst through the door? There has to be another way out."
Harper looked over into the kitchen and glimpsed through the large window, shaking his head, "They have us surrounded."
"And outnumbered." Alaric shot an angry look at Damon, who rolled his eyes in return. "What you said to get me to do this, about my wife- It was a lie, wasn't it?"
"Yep." Damon's indifference didn't sit well with Renzi as she wondered what he'd falsely promised the man about his wife.
The opportunity to voice out her confusion was stolen when all their attention drew to the front door, someone fighting on the other side to get through.
"Stop!" Pearl's orders were heard from outside. The chime of keys as she fumbled with them, asking the rest of the vampires circling the house, "What's going on here?"
Renzi drew in a breath and held it as the door unlocked and cracked opened. Her back straightened as her eyes met both Anna's and Pearl's. A few inches behind the redhead, stood Damon with a bloodied stake in his hand.
"What did you do?" Pearl sounded more annoyed than surprised at the number of dead vampires trailing from the kitchen to the small foyer.
"I beg your pardon?" Renzi let out. If anyone should demand answers, it was her. "Or were you not the one who allowed Frederick and his vampires to spend the day torturing Stefan?"
"What are you talking about?" Pearl shook her head. "I never planned for this to happen." Her dark eyes looked over at Damon and the certainty in her voice proved to them she said the truth, "This was never supposed to happen. Trust me, the parties responsible for this will be dealt with."
"Then, exactly what were you planning; using me as leverage?" Renzi took a step forward, her eyes a vexed storm looming over the Zhu women. "Why was I not told about Stefan and Damon?"
"Because Stefan and Damon were going to kill everyone in the tomb the moment they opened it and realized Katherine wasn't there," Anna replied. The redhead looked back at her with confusion, but she continued without missing a beat, "You were never leverage, Renzi. You were our chance at our new start. We just needed to keep you away from the Salvatore brothers long enough for you to trust us. To fight with us."
"I don't understand- Why is this suddenly about Katherine?"
"Because it was always about Katherine, girl." Pearl couldn't help the smirk on her face as she glanced at Damon, who clenched his jaw and remained silent. "It still continues to be." Her eyes landed on Florencia once again. The young vampire trying to unwrap the riddle of her words. "You'll understand soon enough, when you meet Elena Gilbert." Pearl nodded at the girl's troubles, though her knowing smile was intended for Damon, "Right, Mr. Salvatore?"
Renzi turned to face him. "Come on," he avoided her gaze, hastily pushing through Pearl and Anna, "let's go."
Whoever this Elena Gilbert was, her name on Pearl's lips seemed to spark Damon's anger in a way Renzi itched to know why. But she'd seen that dark look in his eyes quite enough times before to know that it was better for her to keep silent as they walked out the door.
Harper chose a different path to take, while Renzi followed Damon and his partner to where Stefan and his girlfriend waited, in the nameless man's car.
Guilt settled in her heart once more, after realizing she didn't have a clue of the man she almost drained to death. With a sigh, she picked up her pace to meet with him. If he noticed her at his side, he didn't bother to even acknowledge her presence. His eyes kept forward, walking a couple feet behind Damon.
"I- um," she cleared her throat, not finding where to start when he finally looked down at her. The blood-stained cloth wrapped around his neck screamed how she could've killed him. How, in the blackest part of her soul, she had wanted to. "I must apologize." The words rolled out of her chest in a plea of forgiveness.
However, she wouldn't blame him if he denied her that. No matter how much she wanted it, she didn't expect it as she met his eyes, "You saved my life back there and I abused your help. I understand if you can't find it in yourself to forgive me, but just know that I am deeply sorry for what I did to you."
"You're forgiven." He would've liked for the sentiment to be more difficult, but it came easy after hearing the pureness of her sincerity. Too easy, he realized, for him to forgive a vampire. But that was it, though- Right there, she wasn't one of the monsters that killed his wife.
At that moment, he looked at her and saw a regretful young girl- so utterly human. She was so different than any other vampire he'd encountered. It left him feeling sorry for her as he stretched out his hand and said, "I'm Alaric, but you can call me Ric."
"Renzi," she took his hand in hers and shook it with a grateful smile.
"Flor..." Damon stopped and turned to them as they came to a stop.
She dropped Ric's hand and stared at Damon, his voice soft and careful as if he were treating with a feral animal. Although she grew a bit confused at his tone, her smile remained.
Only to be wiped away when Stefan and a young woman came into view.
Renzi's breath caught in her throat. The more she kept looking at the brunette girl in front of her, the more she saw the striking resemblance between Katherine. It wasn't until she glanced at both brothers, saw their fearful expressions, that her blood ran cold with shock.
"Katherine?" It was all she could say. Betrayal ran deep in her bones, seeing Stefan and Damon as they stood on either side of the woman who destroyed everything she ever loved.
Because it was her. Katherine's innocent, doe-like eyes that hid the true and vile she-demon behind, looked back at Renzi from between the Salvatore brothers. It couldn't be anyone else but her.
The one who destroyed everything.
Renzi wanted to kill her. Take her heart, like she took her life. She wanted to scream out all the pain she felt for over a hundred years because of her. But she couldn't. Terror crushed her chest, restricting air into her lungs, the longer she kept looking at Katherine.
It was maddening how even after so much rage, so much hate, Renzi's fear was greater.
Without a second thought, she pushed through the shock and ran away, far from Katherine and the brothers' betrayal.
She understood now, why Pearl and Anna had kept the truth from her. She realized who Elena Gilbert was, another alias of Katherine Pierce- much like Renzi was deemed hers.
But how- how could Stefan and Damon be with her? At her side, like nothing ever happened?
"Flor!" Stefan shouted after her. "Florencia, wait! Please-," his fingers wrapped around her arm, pulling her to a stop. "It's not what you think-"
"How can you say that?!" She pushed him away, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "I saw her- I saw you with her! The both of you alongside Katherine- After everything that she has done, how can you?!"
"She's not Katherine, Flor. She's not her," Stefan tried to explain but his words were lost on her. She'd seen Elena, believed it was Katherine, and now the shock of it all had her convinced they were the same person.
They should have eased her into this. He cursed to himself, watching old wounds bleed open in her again.
"She killed my father! She turned me into a vampire!" Her hands shot up around her neck and gulped down the memory of her breaking neck as she hiccuped with sobs. "I endured 145 years of desiccation because of her!"
"Listen to me, Florencia! It's not Katherine, I swear!" He raised his voice above hers, lowering it down when she fell quiet, "I swear it's not her."
"Then why does she wear her face, Stefan?" It came out in a small cry, a desperate need to understand.
"I don't know," he sighed, but it was honest. Slowly closing the space between them, he placed his hands gently on each side of her face. Wiped away the tears on her cheeks as he said, "But she's not Katherine."
His touch dropped to her upper arms as he explained, "Her name's Elena, and she's human." He turned to the brunette standing worried a few feet away. A smile rose on his lips before he looked back at Renzi. "She's also kind and caring and selfless, much like you…" He took her right hand in his, stopping to let the information sink in.
Renzi looked over his side at Elena, wanting badly to believe that she was not Katherine no matter how much she looked like her. After a second, her ears rang with a quick buzz and she was able to hear the girl's human heart beat.
Alive.
Not undead.
Not Katherine.
"Do you trust me?" Stefan asked, hopeful.
Renzi blinked and her hearing returned to normal as her eyes fell upon Damon. His arms crossed over his chest, hands tucked under them, just as worried as Stefan, she realized.
With a small squeeze on Stefan's grip, she met his gaze and nodded with a sigh, "I do."
A/N: And that is the concluding chapter to the Let the Right One In epsiode!
After leaving you guys without an update forso long, I didn't think I'd get one review, much less a handful of wonderful ones! Seriously, thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, follows!
With that said, here are the review responses to the previous chapter:
RHatch98: Thank you for the review, especially after your last one was made in 2015! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! :)
Guest: I don't know who you are or what I did to deserve such a nice review after going AWOL, but thank you for reading and reviewing! And with Stefan being one of my favorite characters in TVD, I agree that there should be more oc's paired with him. But I've thought so much about who Renzi should be paired with, and while I would love it to be Stefan, there's a little something that drives me to the idea of Renzi and Damon, and I'm so stuck?! Lol who knows, maybe I'll end up pairing Renzi with someone else entirely, like one of the Originals or a TVD Lady? Nothing is set in stone. :)
PowerHero432: Your? Review? Was? Everything? Omg I cry! The part where you said Renzi's character made up for something that you didn't specifically like, it literally had me smiling the whole day! It's ridiculous how flattered I felt lol And don't worry, I don't even know who Renzi is gonna choose and I'm the writer, so it's safe to say that question will not be answered for a while.
LapisLazuliRose: Ahhh thank you so much, I'm so happy you love how this story is going! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! :)
Only Reviewer: Thank you so much for your review! There wasn't so much cute awkwardness with Renzi in this chapter, but seeing as in the next episode the Founders Day Kick-off Party will be held, there would be more opportunities for Renzi to react to the craziness of the modern world! And yes, Stefan drinking human blood and having trouble resisting it will be an interesting side to him that Renzi will have to see and experience, and I hope I do your expectations justice :)
Riana Salvatore: Lol no, I was just suffering from a horrible writer's block. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the updates constant now that I'm back though! :)
