Chapter Three: Tick, Tick, Boom
With a pained voice, she spoke: "Tell me what the hell is going on with you. Tell me why you can't compel. Tell me how you killed Klaus and why isn't Katherine dead too."
Stefan took a deep breath. It was time to come clean about the last nine years so they could move on and fix the present.
"You made me tell you about Phillip . . . now tell me what was so important that you had to leave me." Elena's voice trembled.
And so . . . Stefan began. "Klaus wouldn't give me the cure to heal Damon unless I promised him ten years."
"But it's only been nine," Elena said. Her eyes narrowed and suddenly her entire body tensed. "Wait, are you here to . . ."
"The last three I've been trying to find a way to kill him," He told her. Her tension eased slightly and her shoulders relaxed. "While separated from him in Rio I ran into Lucy – Bonnie's cousin. I tried to kill her." He searched Elena's face expecting to find anger or fear or disappointment. All he saw was sadness though and that unsettled him even more. "She stopped me, knocked me out. When I woke up she had me bound in a circle of fire. She told me we were going to work together to take Klaus and his witches down for good and she did something to help with the blood lust. Brought me back to my senses. We've been searching for a way to kill him ever since."
"How did you do it?" Elena asked.
"Lucy found and did a spell a few months ago to weaken him and then I killed him," Stefan left it at that. She didn't need to know all the gory details. "But his witches . . . afterwards before Lucy could kill them they did something to me, some sort of spell. Lucy did kill them, but between taking out Klaus and that it nearly killed her. She wasn't strong enough to reverse the witches' spell. All she could tell me was that it would most likely be permanent. By the next morning, she was dead."
"Like Bonnie's grandmother," Elena said. Stefan nodded. "And the spell . . ."
"It's draining my vampire abilities," Stefan told her.
"You mean . . ." Elena's eyes widened.
"I'm slowly turning back into a human," Stefan sighed.
"But that's a good thing, right?" She said.
"I'm not sure what it means," Stefan shrugged. She adjusted the ice pack on her face, wincing. "Does it still hurt?"
Elena shrugged. "A little. I'll be okay."
Stefan studied her. Why did she seem so used to being hurt like this? "Elena, how long has Phillip been hurting you?"
Elena tensed, gulping. "What does it matter?"
"I just would like to know," Stefan pressed, but not too much to make her angry or uncomfortable.
Elena paused, setting the ice pack down on the coffee table next to her. A few more breaths and she let out a few breaths. "Um . . ." He continued to watch her, looking for signs of extreme distress. "Um . . . it started about a month after we married . . ." Her whole body froze, becoming tense – frigid, even. Her heartbeat quickened and he could smell the fear coming off of her in waves.
He decided she wasn't comfortable talking about this and it wouldn't do any good to bring it up before she was ready. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to keep going. It's okay."
She paused again, breathing in and out deeply. His gaze never left her, watching her like she was a ticking time bomb. After awhile she nodded, letting out a deep breath. "Y-Yeah . . . it's late. I should probably get some sleep."
Stefan nodded. "Tomorrow while you're out at lunch with Bonnie she's going to take you to sign over the Boarding House." Elena gave him a confused look. "She'll explain."
Elena stood and he noticed her cringe with pain. He hated this, hated it when she hurt and especially hated it when there was nothing he could do about it.
He blinked, finding her staring at him with a strange look on her face. "Stefan?"
He focused on her, rubbing his eyes. "What? Sorry . . . I was thinking about something."
She sighed, not even seeming to notice. "Will you stay close . . . in case he comes back?"
"Of course," He nodded.
She walked over to the key plate next to the door and walked back by him. She held out her hand, a silver key resting in her palm.
He looked up, searching her eyes for hesitation. "Are you sure?" He knew her sense of trusting others was probably severely damaged.
"I'm sure," She nodded. Her eyes didn't show any signs of hesitation or uncertainty. She let out a deep breath as he picked up the key and their skin made contact. He heard her heartbeat quicken but not with fear or panic. It was the way it used to beat when they'd first met. Her eyes found his and locked them in her gaze. "I trust you with my life, Stefan. And . . . and I need you."
He nodded, gulping. "I'll always be here for you. I won't ever leave you again."
He saw something in her eyes that he hadn't for a long time . . . hope.
A deep cough echoed from upstairs and their locked eyes blinked. Elena cleared her throat, her heart still beating rapidly.
"Is that Millie?" Stefan asked.
Elena nodded. "She gets this cough in the middle of the night every once in a while. She has since she was a baby. The doctors say its normal . . . but sometimes it gets so bad she can barely breathe. She has medicine and an inhaler . . . it helps." She stood, starting to head upstairs to her ailing child.
He wanted to call after her or follow her, tell her he loved her and hold her in his arms and kiss her neck and make all her pain go away. Instead, he let her walk away.
He was gone before she came back down.
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A man and a woman walked arm in arm into the jewelry store, their hands intertwined. All eyes fell on the young, beautiful couple with stars in their eyes.
A young male sales associate eyed their lovey-dovey smiles and expensive clothing and jewelry and was immediately on them. "Good morning, sir . . . madam. Can I help you with anything in particular?"
"Yes," The man smiled a charming smile. He lifted his companion's hand and kissed her knuckles. She smiled, giggling. "I need something as beautiful and priceless as my lady is for her because she has finally agreed to by my wife."
"Ah," The young sales associate nodded, "You're looking for engagement rings."
"I want something sparkly and expensive!" The young lady giggled, staring into her older fiance's eyes.
"Anything you want," The man kissed his fiancé lightly on the lips.
"Well, is there a certain cut or stone that you'd be interested in?" The sales associate asked them.
The man leaned over, whispering, "You know, actually, we were looking for Sparky."
The young sales associate's eyes widened, "Oh . . . of course. Those rings are in the back. I will take you there myself."
The young couple nodded and the sales associate led and left them in the back room – which was basically a large storage closet.
Once the associate was gone, the blonde 'bride-to-be' sighed, dropping her smile. "So who is this Sparky guy again?"
Her 'fiancé' rolled his eyes, "I told you. He's a drug dealer that apparently ran into Stefan and Klaus a few years ago."
"Oh," the blonde nodded.
A few moments later, a small man with a large, banged up briefcase appeared from behind a hidden door. He was a tiny man with no muscle mass and pale, dirty looking skin. His eyes were bloodshot and there were heavy dark circles under them. "You two lookin' for Sparky?"
"We are," The man let go of the blonde's hand and stepped forward.
"You know my name . . . and yet I don't know yours," The tiny man, Sparky, eyed them – especially the girl. "I'd definitely remember meeting a fine lady like yourself."
"Damon," The man spoke and his lip curled into a smirk. "And . . . Caroline."
"So . . . what'cha lookin' for, Damon? X, special k, coke? What's your preference?" Sparky set the briefcase on a table and started unlocking it.
"Actually . . ." Damon pulled an 8x10 photo from his pocket. "We're looking for these two." In the photo was a blurred version of Klaus and Stefan. "We heard you had a run in with these two a couple years ago."
Sparky sighed, "You know, I've been having a real problem sellin' lately. Yeah, my money problems make my memory real foggy."
Caroline rolled her eyes as Damon pulled a wad of cash from his pocket. He peeled a fifty dollar bill from the wad and waved it in front of Sparky's eyes. "Did you see them or not?" Caroline said.
"Aw, baby . . . my memory don't unfog up for less than five hundred . . ." He winked. "Unless your puttin' yourself on the table . . ."
Caroline glanced at Damon who nodded. She turned back to Sparky and sweetly smiled. Her arm shot out at inhuman speed and she lunged forward – pinning Sparky to the wall. "Look, Sparky, you're going to tell us when and where you ran into these men in the photo. Then, you're going to tell us everything you heard and saw them do. Got it?"
"C'mon, crazy lady, chill . . . I got somethin' that'll calm ya down real good . . ." Sparky smirked. Caroline all but growled.
Damon chuckled, "I'd listen to her . . . she's not as sweet as she looks. She'll rip you apart before you have time to blink." Caroline tightened her hold on the drug dealer's neck and the tiny man gulped. "Now . . . you have two options. Tell us and we'll kill you fast or . . . tell us and we'll kill you painfully slow. What's it gonna be?"
"I'm . . . I'm n-not afraid of you," Sparky choked.
"Oh yeah," Caroline growled, her eyes reddening and her fangs showed.
"Aaahhh!" Sparky screamed, his eyes wide. "What the . . . what are you?"
"Tell us where and when you saw these two!" Caroline growled, snatching the photo from Damon and waving it in Sparky's face. "Tell us!"
"Okay, okay, okay!" Sparky gasped, his eyes still wide. "P-Please don't kill me . . . I'll d-do whatever you want!"
"We want you to tell us where and when you saw these two and what did they say?" Damon repeated. Caroline squeezed his neck more.
"G-G-Georgia!" Sparky screamed, panting. "Atlanta . . . t-two and half y-years ago! Behind a b-bar call S-S-Skully's!"
"Caroline, let him go," Damon sighed. "He's not going anywhere."
Caroline just rolled her eyes, the redness and fangs disappearing. She released Sparky from her hold and stepped back. The drug dealer coughed, holding his throat.
"What were the two men doing?" Damon asked.
"Um . . ." Sparky coughed. "There was a girl."
"They attacked her?" Damon said.
Sparky nodded, "Hot chick . . . but what a bitch!"
"Really," Caroline said. "What did this 'hot chick' look like?"
"Yeah," Sparky nodded, "Long, curly dark brown hair. Legs that never ended, dark almost olive skin. Flirty little thing. She was real friendly with one of the guys you're looking for." Caroline held up the picture and Sparky pointed to Stefan. "Yeah, that was the guy she seemed to like. She was all over him. Seemed afraid of the other one though."
"You happen to catch a name for this flirty little brunette?" Damon sighed.
"Um . . . something. Hmm . . . I can't really remember but . . . I think it started with a C or a K or something . . ."
Caroline groaned, annoyed, and Damon rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, Katherine right?" Damon said.
Sparky nodded, "Yeah, that was it!"
"What were they doing with her?" Damon said.
"Well at first it was just her and the guy she was flirtin' with," Sparky said. "Then the other guy showed up outta nowhere and knocked the bitch out."
"And while all of this was going on you were . . ." Damon trailed off.
"Hidin' behind some old mattresses," Spark said. "This was about two blocks from the cemetery. The other guy knocked her out like gravity was nothin' and the first guy picked her up and they dumped her in a car."
"Where'd they take her?" Caroline asked.
Sparky shrugged, "Dunno . . . but they was headed to the direction where the cemetery was."
Damon and Caroline glanced at each other, both of them sighing. Damon turned back to the drug dealer. "Anything else?"
Sparky shook his head, "Told ya everything."
"If you're lying we'll know about it," Damon threatened.
"I swear," Sparky nodded. "That's everything. C-Can I go now?"
Before Sparky even knew what was happening, Damon lashed out and snapped his neck. The washed-up drug dealer's body flopped to the floor. Caroline didn't even flinch, just sighed and leaned into Damon's shoulder.
She yawned, "Drug dealers are so annoying. Can't even get a taste 'cause they taste awful."
Damon wrapped his arms around her as they walked out the back door into the alley behind the jewelry store. "Should we go find a frat party before we head to Atlanta, babe?"
Caroline licked her lips, nodding. She bent back her head and Damon leaned down to kiss her passionately. "Mmm . . . I can still taste that stupid hitchhiker. And . . . other things." She giggled, kissing him again.
They continued to kiss as they set off to find the nearest college campus.
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The next five days while Phillip was off in California on a business trip – at least that's where his secretary told them he was – Bonnie and Stefan formulated a plan to get Elena and Millie away from him.
Bonnie was helping Elena heal and get ready to leave her house. Stefan was cleaning up and making changes at the Boarding House for Elena and her daughter to stay temporarily.
They were also working on finding evidence for the court to grant a restraining order and domestic abuse charges on Phillip. However, since Bonnie's spells and organic remedies had healed all of Elena's physical wounds they didn't really have proof. There were no witnesses but Stefan and since he'd been technically dead for over a hundred years he couldn't exactly stand up and testify in a courtroom to testify.
Stefan's vampirism continued to fade – his enhanced speed and ability to heal himself and others were now completely gone. It was a hard adjustment but he ignored the muscle aches, lack of strength and agility, and almost constant need to sleep. There were other things to worry about and he certainly didn't want to add another thing for Elena to have to worry about. He needed her to focus on taking care of Millie and herself and finding the strength to leave her husband.
On this day Stefan was working on a room for Millie in the Boarding House. He wanted the room to make Millie feel safe and loved. Of course, he hadn't officially met Millie yet. Elena and even Stefan himself was worried that Millie would somehow hint to Phillip tat Stefan was back in town.
Stefan had just finished setting up the small twin bed and was trying to decide between which sheet set to use – Disney princesses or multi-colored butterflies. He held the two boxes up, staring back and forth between them.
"The butterflies."
Stefan jumped, turning to the door. Elena stood in the entryway, a mug of tea in her hands. She wore a pair of blue jeans, a simple white peasant blouse, and black flats.
She smirked, taking a drink. "Jumpy today?"
He sighed, his lip curling, "Still getting used to this whole lack-of-abilities-I've-had-forever thing."
Elena nodded, setting her mug down on a small table. "Were you jumpy the first time around?"
Stefan shook his head. "Not really. I mean, not more than any average teenager. I'm just not used to it right now. Technically I was a vampire longer than I was alive." He cleared his throat. "How are you doing? Any pain?"
"Not really," Elena shrugged. "Whatever Bonnie's doing is helping. I don't think I've felt this good in years."
A somber moment fell between them as they both thought of the source of Elena's constant pain.
Stefan set down the package of princess sheets and started opening butterfly ones. Halfway through he stopped, letting the half-opened sheets fall the few inches to the bed. His voice was full of emotion as he whispered her name. "Elena?"
Elena had been sifting through the children's books on the shelf that Stefan had bought for Millie. She sensed the shift in his voice and she felt a lump of emotion jump up in her throat. "Yes?" She croaked, her throat suddenly dry.
"I know I've said it a lot this last week and I'll probably say it again but . . . I am so sorry for leaving you. If I hadn't left . . ." He trailed off.
She swallowed, trying to will the emotion that was building to go away. Despite that, her voice was strong. "Then . . . Then your brother would have died and you would never have been able to live with yourself. You know that . . . you love your brother, Stefan."
He sighed, nodding, but . . . "If I hadn't left you wouldn't have been hurt so much . . ." A dull, aching pain clenched at her heart. He sunk down to the bed, his head between his knees. "I think about how long I was gone, all those hours and months and years I left you alone . . . " A tear gathered in the corner of his eye. "I can't stop thinking about it and I can't turn the emotion off any more . . . I can't push it away . . ." His breath came out shallow as if his guilt was literally cutting off his air supply.
Elena swallowed again, feeling her tears swell too. "It's okay . . ."
"No," He shook his head, wiping furiously at his eyes. "I left and you were alone and vulnerable and being hurt and . . ." He choked on his grief and guilt. "How can you even look at me?"
She dropped the book she'd been holding and crossed the room quickly. She knelt down on the floor beside him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders. Tears tracked down her face. "I'm okay, Stefan. I am okay and I have never blamed you for anything." She lifted his head. "I don't blame you at all, Stefan. It was Klaus that took you away from me. He's the one to blame and you killed him so we don't have anything to worry about. Okay."
He nodded, sniffling.
"In all these years the only thing I felt for you was love. I missed, I worried about you, I wished you could be with me but I never blamed you." Elena told him. "Never, not once."
He cleared his throat, wiping his face. "I'm sorry . . . I'm―I guess I'm having a hard time getting used to my human emotions." He chuckled, sniffling again.
She nodded. "It's okay." She remembered when she'd been pregnant with Millie and her emotions and hormones had been all over the place. However, thinking about that brought up other memories . . . painful ones. She looked around the room, trying to find something – anything – to change the subject. "The room's really looking great." She sat up on the bed a few inches away from him.
"I just want her to like it and feel safe here." Stefan shrugged, running his hands through his hair. He looked up. "I want you to feel safe."
"With you I always do," Her voice was quiet.
With his enhanced hearing fading he barely heard it but he managed to get every word. The moment hung in the air as she scooted closer to him. Memories of the past and current emotions were running high and the two of them were breathing heavily. Elena continued to lean closer to him, their eyes locking in place. Stefan felt his hand rise to meet just above her ear. He let the silk of her grown-out bangs run through his fingers and she inhaled when his skin brushed the side of her face.
He leaned his head forward, closer to hers, so that they were only inches apart. Their gaze on each other broke and Stefan found that eyes were now focused on his lips. Their breath quickened and the emotions between them grew intensely. Their lips were now only a few centimeters apart and Stefan could feel her warm breath. Elena sighed contently and Stefan was about to lean in to eliminate any space between them –
―then with a blinding pain and the distant sound of Elena screaming everything went black . . .
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"Momma, more Wiggles!" Three-year-old Grayson Jack Gilbert – though he was just called Jack – pointed at the television screen with an angry pout. "More Wiggles! More Wiggles!"
Bonnie sighed, her hand on her always-sore back as she glanced at the screen which was now playing Dora the Explorer. "Honey, the Wiggles are only on for half an hour. They're done for the day."
"More Wiggles!" Jack insisted, his eyes watering.
"What's wrong with Dora? You like Dora," Bonnie said.
"WIGGLES!" Jack shouted, plopping on the floor with a thump. "Jackie want WIGGLES!" Within seconds, the small boy's cries had grown into a full-blown tantrum. He kicked the floor furiously and repeatedly, his arms crossed.
"Jack, that is enough!" Bonnie scolded her son, her voice firm.
Jack froze, startled. His little eyes flooded with tears and his bottom lip quivered. "I sorry Momma . . ."
Bonnie sighed, going over to turn off the television set. She knelt down in front of her son, holding her rounded belly. "It's okay, honey. You just need to learn to be patient, okay?"
Jack nodded, sniffling. "I like Wiggles."
"I know you do, baby." Bonnie chuckled, using her thumb to wipe away the boy's tears. "But the Wiggles aren't on tv all the time. They have families they have to be with and take care of like your daddy takes care of us." Jack nodded. "Would you want Daddy to be gone all the time?"
"No," Jack sniffled.
"Exactly. So while the Wiggles aren't on the tv they're at home with their families."
"Okay Mommy," Jack sighed, sniffling again.
Bonnie nodded, gently holding on to Jack's shoulder for support as she pulled herself up. "Why don't you go up to your room and play for a bit while Mommy makes lunch. Okay, sweetie?" Jack nodded. He stood up and wrapped his little arms around his mother's legs (he was only as tall as Bonnie's knees) and hugged her tight.
"Love you, Mommy," Jackie mumbled into the fabric of his mother's maternity sweats.
Bonnie ruffled his hair, "Love you too, baby boy."
After a few more seconds, Jack's short attention span kicked in and he ran off upstairs. Bonnie lay her hand on her belly, smiling. She could feel the baby moving, kicking his little legs.
The front door lock clicked and then the door opened. Bonnie smiled again, turning around. Jeremy was home for lunch.
"Hey babe," Her husband wrapped his arms around her, laying his hand on her belly and kissing her cheek.
"Hi hon," Bonnie kissed him back. "How's school this morning?"
"Good," Jeremy nodded. "The kids all like the new sculpting technique I taught them and they seem to be picking it up well."
"I knew they'd get it," Bonnie said. "You're always a good teacher."
"How's Jackie and our little man today?" He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on her belly.
"This one was kickin' up a storm but your other son had quite the temper tantrum when the Wiggles were over." Bonnie told him. Jeremy sighed, nodding. They'd always teased the fact that Jack inherited his aunt Elena's stubbornness and occasional tendency to threw a tantrum when she didn't get what she wanted.
"I'll talk to him when I get home later," Jeremy said.
"Thanks, babe," Bonnie said. "I was just about to make lunch. Any suggestions?"
"Hmm . . ." Jeremy said. "How about grilled cheese?"
She nodded, "Mmmm . . . my favorite."
"I know," Jeremy shrugged, kissing her lips.
They were interrupted by the sound of Jeremy's cellphone ringing. They kissed again and Bonnie went into the kitchen to start making lunch for the three of them.
She had only just opened the refrigerator to get out the cheese slices when a worried Jeremy ran into the kitchen. His cell phone was still to his ear. "What's wro―"
"Millie's missing," Jeremy blurted. He was dialing another number on his phone. "The school called and they can't find her and Elena's not answering her phone."
Dread filled Bonnie like a dead weight.
"What if it's Klaus, Bonnie? What if he's back? O-Or Katherine?" Jeremy dialed another number. "Damnit Elena, answer your phone. Why aren't you answering?"
Bonnie shook her head, breathing deeply. She could barely breathe. "N-No, Jeremy . . . Klaus is dead. It's Phillip." She heaved, her heart hammering in her chest. Jeremy's eyes widened. "It's Phillip . . . oh god . . ."
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"Gah! This is useless!" Caroline kicked the hard stone of the mausoleum wall and a left a hole the size of her foot. Concrete crumbled to floor around her. "Five days searching this damn cemetery and we're no closer than we were nine years ago!" She sank to the floor.
"Patience, babe," Damon sighed, moving the stone lid off a coffin and exhaling when he only found the decayed remains of a civil war soldier.
"What if Sparky was lying?" Caroline said.
"Trust me, he wasn't. Don't you remember that mob guy in Reno a few years back? When you're scared out of your mind you tend to tell the truth," Damon reminded her. She nodded, smirking as she thought of the fun they'd had torturing said mob guy in Reno.
"Well, then where is she?" Caroline stood.
"We'll find her eventually," Damon shrugged. "Come on, next mausoleum."
Caroline nodded and the two left the mausoleum. They crossed a few yards to the next one, watching and listening for anyone who could cause trouble for them. Once they'd forced their way inside the next mausoleum – this one for the Webber family – Caroline sighed. "Damon, do you think we should call and check in Mystic Falls again? It's been over a year."
"It's been over two, actually," Damon told her. "We'll call when we have news. No use bringing anyone's hopes up. Besides, they've all got kids to deal with now. They don't need anymore vampire problems."
Sighing, Caroline nodded.
The two began to search the room for any signs of Katherine. They'd thought of looking for her years earlier but they'd heard that Klaus had caught her again so they'd moved on to whatever lead came next. Now she could be the key to everything. Problem was, they just had to find her. It was like finding one specific needle in a pile full of a million needles.
"Hey, what did that cemetery groundskeeper say again?" Damon hefted a stone lid and threw it across the room. "Damnit!" He cursed when he saw that the only corpses inside this coffin was a recently dead old woman and her cat. She hadn't even really decayed much. His lip turned up in disgust at the horrid smell.
"Not much – they must've compelled him," Caroline said. "All he knew was that he couldn't remember what he'd been doing that night that Sparky mentioned. That's it."
Damon shook his head, "You're right, this is useless."
"Told ya," Caroline shrugged.
"Well . . . we don't have much of the cemetery to go. Just a couple mausoleums to check," Damon sighed.
"What if they buried her underground?" Caroline said.
"Way to be positive, blondie," Damon groaned, rolling his eyes.
They resumed their search of the Webber crypt only to come up with nothing – again. Then they moved on to the Gristler, Arnold, and Mrotek buildings. Again, nothing – in any of them. They only had one to go – the Grant building. By this time it was nearing dawn. They had to leave soon before the cemetery staff came in for work.
Damon held open the old, heavy, wooden door as Caroline snuck inside. Then Damon let go of the door and used his vampire speed to run in before the door could close. It slammed shut with a heavy thud, kicking up dust everywhere. Damon and Caroline coughed, waving the dust out of their faces.
"See anything?" Damon said.
Caroline coughed again, brushing off her clothes. "Um . . . no. But do you feel that?"
Damon stilled, honing his senses. "Yeah, I do. There's something in here, that's for sure."
"Could be an animal," Caroline shrugged.
"Or . . ." Damon scanned the room, smirking when his eyes landed on a child's coffin at the other end of the room. None of the other mausoleums had children in them. He crossed the room, careful to look for any surprises – whether it be traps or witches or compelled minion guards. Caroline followed him. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the small, concrete coffin. No amulets or ropes or chains or anything. Just layers upon layers of dust and cobwebs. "This has to be it." Damon raised his hand letting it hover over the concrete lid.
Together Damon and Caroline pushed the lid off toward the wall across from them. The stone slab tipped over the side, falling and shattering on the ground loudly. Caroline inhaled. "We did it – we found her . . ."
Sure enough, crunched in the fetal position in a ball inside the miniature coffin was Katerina Petrova. Her skin was as grey as her stone coffin – but there were no dark lines indicating death. "She's still alive." Damon said out loud. He thought he saw the crouched figure flinch. "She's dessicated . . . looks like it's been about two years. Guess Sparky's story checks out."
"But why didn't Klaus just kill her?" Caroline asked.
"He wanted to punish her for running and becoming a vampire," Damon said. "What better way than to let her live but not able to move or feed or do anything."
"True," Caroline shrugged.
"You still got the blood?" Damon asked. Caroline nodded, reaching into the duffel bag on her shoulder for the bloodbags. This time, Damon knew he saw Katherine flinch. "Here, give me the gloves." Caroline did as he said and Damon put the thick leather gloves on his hands. Then he dug through the duffel bag for the plastic bag. He untied the handles and pulled out the vervain-soaked ropes. "Let's wrap her up and tie her up with the ropes before we give her blood."
"Sounds like a good idea," Caroline nodded. The blond dropped the duffel bag on the ground and reached into the coffin. She picked up the inanimate 500-year-old vampire and set her on the ground. Still crunched up in a ball, Katherine wasn't moving but her dry, cracked lips and closed eyes twitched with desperate hunger. Caroline chuckled, "It's almost too easy. We could just kill her now and not have to deal with her anymore ever again."
"Yeah," Damon agreed, sighing. "But she's kinda our only lead on Stefan. We'll kill her later."
"Okay," Caroline shrugged, straightening the dessicated vampire's body. Damon wrapped and tied the vervain ropes tightly around Katherine. The grey, dessicated skin sizzled, burning. A weak, strained moan pushed between Katherine's cold, dead lips.
"Talk about a wake-up call," Damon smirked. "Just give her a taste, just enough so she can move her face a bit."
Caroline grinned mischievously, pulling the blood bag open. She lifted the elder vampire woman's head and rested the opening of the blood bag against her mouth. "Hello, Katherine." The blood slowly ran down Katherine's throat and soon she sucked greedily. Color started to return to her skin.
"That's enough," Damon shouted. Caroline pulled the bag back. Katherine breathed heavily, opening her eyes. Anger flared from the vampire's brown eyes. "Rise and shine, bitch."
"D-Damon," Katherine croaked, her voice scratchy and unused.
"So . . . stuck back in a tomb," Damon smirked. "You just don't have much luck, do ya?"
"W-What'dya want?" Katherine's skin continued to sizzle.
"Stefan and Klaus," Damon shrugged. "We hear you had a little run in with them. Guess Stefan didn't wanna get back together. And Klaus . . . well, guess you're finally paying your dues."
Katherine's eyes narrowed. She strained against her vervain restraints. "If you know then why are you here?"
"We want to know where they are," Caroline said.
"Yeah, and why the hell did you put yourself in the open? Did you get stupid in the last nine years?" Damon said. Katherine coughed, choking on the dust and decay still in her throat. "Give her more." Caroline nodded, putting the bag back to her lips. Katherine gulped down the other half of the bag in a split second. Caroline threw the empty blood bag on the ground.
Katherine cleared her throat. "Much better. Now . . . can we ditch the ropes? I can't concentrated with all this vervain."
"Guess you'll just have to make do until we have some answers," Damon shrugged. "Now where's Klaus and Stefan?" Damon noticed the confused look on her face. "You know, we could always put you back in the coffin – with the vervain ropes. Then we'll seal up the tomb so you're really down here for awhile." Katherine still looked confused. "Did you lose your mind down here? Where's Klaus and Stefan?"
"You really don't know, do you?" Katherine's eyes narrowed again.
"Know what?" Caroline said.
Katherine scoffed. "Klaus is dead. You've been tracking him and you didn't know?"
"Dead? Wait, what?" Damon said.
"When they left me down here, Klaus compelled me not to move a muscle unless he told me otherwise," Katherine said. "It wore off a while ago – maybe two months or so? . . . but by then I'd been without blood so long I couldn't move anyway."
"So . . . where's Stefan then . . ." Caroline stared at Katherine.
"Beats me," Katherine shrugged. "Probably out killing and continuing his Ripper ways."
"There haven't been any reports of killings in months . . ." Caroline said. "That's why we came looking for you . . . we didn't have any other lead to go on." Damon was just staring out into space, thinking. "Damon, where is he?"
"If there haven't been any killings . . ." Katherine trailed off.
Just then, a cell phone echoed throughout the mausoleum. Caroline pulled her phone out of her pocket, her eyes wide. "It's Bonnie . . . she's calling from the phone we gave her in case of an emergency." Damon and Caroline just stared at each other, both eyes wide and fearful of the worst, both thinking about their friends and their families . . . the kids . . . both thinking of the countless number of Stefan's torn-in-pieces-and-put-back-together victims they'd seen over the years.
"Guess Stefan decided to go home . . ." Katherine smirked.
To Be Continued . . .
A.N. A missing kid and a sudden attack and the return of Katherine . . . oh boy. Sorry for lack of updates lately. Hope the longer chapter makes up for it a little. Let me know what you thought and hope you enjoyed. :)