FLASHBACK
"Speaking"
Chapter 5- You're undead to Me
*3 day's later… Salvatore Boarding House*
It has been three days since the Founders party, three days Nicole has been staying at the boarding house, helping Stefan with Damon.
Nicole was awoken by Stefan shaking her. "Nicole wake up. Get Dress. We have to go check on Damon before we leave for school" Stefan said as Nicole stood up. "Okay" Nicole said as she grabbed clothes for her bag and walking into the bathroom.
*Salvatore's Cellar*
Stefan and Nicole walked down the stairs towards Damon's cellar door.
"Where is my ring?" Damon said weakly as Stefan looked into the room. "You won't be needing it anymore" Stefan said. "How long have I been here?" Damon asked with a groan. "Three days" Nicole said as she stood next to Stefan. "What are you doing?" Damon asked. "During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment. They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them" Stefan said. "You know what will happen if I don't... Feed on blood" Damon said. "You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever" Stefan said. "So what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?" Damon asked looking at Stefan and Nicole. "I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate" Stefan said. "I'm stronger than you think" Damon said as he struggled to laugh. "You always have been. But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it" Stefan said as he turned away from the door. "I'm sorry" Nicole said looking down at Damon. "Didn't have to be this way" Stefan said closing the door. Stefan and Nicole walked back up stairs.
*Living Room*
"He's awake. He's weaks, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon. I'm not sure how dangerous he still might be" Stefan told Zack as Nicole and him grabbed their bags for school. "You're going to school?" Zack asked looking at the two. "Came here to live a life. It's about time I get back to that" Stefan said. "And Elena, if she's still speaking to you" Nicole told him. "Why haven't you called her?" Zack asked him. "What am I supposed to do, feed her another lie? I hate lying to her, Zach. I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something" Stefan said. "Well you are" Nicole said. "What choice do you have? You came here because you wanted to live as normal a life as you could. You knew this was going to be a part of it" Zack said. "See you after school Zack" Nicole said as she and Stefan walked away from him and got in Nicole's car.
*At School*
"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser, for god's sake" Caroline said handing out fliers as she walked passed Elena and Bonnie with two other girls.
"Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened" Elena said as she and Bonnie watch Caroline. "She's in denial" Bonnie said as Stefan and Nicole walked over to them.
"Hey" Stefan said to Elena. "Hey. You know, I gotta go. Be somewhere right now" Bonnie said as she walked away from them. "I'm so sorry I haven't called" Stefan said looking at Elena. "No worries. I'll live" Elena said. "I was dealing with Damon" Stefan said. "And did you... deal with Damon?" Elena asked.
"Yes. Yeah" Stefan said. "For four days?" Elena asked. "Well I asked him to help me with my community project with his uncle. I'm sorry" Nicole said. "You have every right to be upset with me. But can I explain it all to you? Please" Stefan said.
"Sure. When?" Elena asked. "I gotta be home after school, but The Grill, around four o'clock?" Stefan said. "Ok" Elena said. "Thanks" Stefan said as Caroline walked over to them. "Stefan, where is Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do" Caroline asked. "He's gone, Caroline" Stefan told her. "When is he coming back?" Caroline asked. "He's not coming back. I'm sorry" Stefan said as he walked away. "Caroline this is a good thing" Nicole told her best friend. "I know that" Caroline said.
*After School… Salvatore Boarding House….. In the Cellar*
Zack could her Damon coughing down in the cellar as he walked down the stairs and looked into Damon's cell. "I'm full of vervain. I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years. My blood will only make you worse. Damon?" Zack said as he walked slowly towards Damon's cell. "So it was your vervain. Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep" Damon said weakly as he lend against the wall.
"We're not family, Damon. Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you" Zack said. "I don't guess I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something? I'd settle for Stefan's diet at this point" Damon said as he looked towards the door. "You know I can't do that" Zack said. "You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit, either" Damon said as he breathe heavily. "But you don't visit, Damon. You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here. Hell, that you're permitting me to live" Zack said. "Someone had to mow the lawn" Damon said as Zack scoffed. "I came to say good-bye, Damon" Zack said as Damon speeds over to the door and grabs him by the throat. "Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach" Damon said as strangled Zack. "ZACK" Nicole said as she and Stefan came down the stairs and Stefan speeds over and wrestles Zack out of Damon's grasp.
"Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expend, the faster you'll go" Stefan said looking into the door as Nicole helped Zack stand up.
*Later at Mystic Grill*
"And there's Vicki, all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up" Elena said as she and Matt were playing pool. "Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird" Matt said. "Yeah" Elena said as her phone started to ring. "How late is he?" Matt asked as Elena looked at her phone. "Hitting the hour mark. Nothing's wrong though. Which means I'm not talking boy problems with you" Elena said as she shoots the cue ball. "Good. I mean, it's not like we were ever best friends or anything" Matt said as he takes his turn.
"Ok. Here goes- What do you think of Stefan? Is he a good guy?" Elena asked him. "Why? what's he done?" Matt asked. "Not any one thing. He's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more" Elena said. "Like what? Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?" Matt asked.
"No, of course not. But what do we know about him, really?" Elena said. "He's great at football. A little bit of a loner. And as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy" Matt said. "So you think I'm just being paranoid?" Elena asked.
"I think you should talk to him" Matt said. "Talk to who? I'm so sorry that I'm late" Stefan asked and he and Nicole walked up behind Matt. "What happened?" Elena asked. "I got held up" Stefan said. "Is everything ok?" Elena asked. "There was this thing with my uncle" Stefan said. "And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?" Elena asked him. "Ok. You three have fun" Matt said as he walks away. "I'm really sorry sis it was my fault" Nicole said as Elena looked at her. "It was unavoidable" Stefan said. "What was unavoidable?...Ok" Elena asked as she waited for Stefan and Nicole to answer then she turn to leave then they didn't. "Oh, uh, Elena, please..." Stefan said following her. "No, Stefan, don't you get it? Every question gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?" Elena asked as an old man walked up to Stefan. "I know you. My God" the old man said looking at Stefan. "I'm sorry?" Stefan asked as Elena and Nicole turned to look at the old man. "I know you. How can it be?" the old man asked. "I think you have the wrong person, sir" Stefan said.
"You haven't aged a day" the old man said. "I'm sorry. Excuse me. Hey, can we- can I take you home and we can talk about it? Is that ok?" Stefan said as he pushed Elena and Nicole towards the door. "Wait, what was that?" Elena asked as they stopped. "I-I don't know. uh, nothing" Stefan said. "Right, nothing. Ok, um... I gotta go, Stefan. Excuse me" Elena said as she leaves pulling Nicole with her.
*Later…. At Gilbert House*
Elena was sitting in her room when Jeremy and Nicole walked in. "You ok?" Jeremy asked leaning against the door way as Nicole went to sit on her sister's bed.
"Is Vicki in there?" Elena asked not looking at her siblings. "Don't answer a question with another question" Nicole said. "Maybe. What's wrong with you?" Jeremy asked. "I'm miserable" Elena said holding her teddy bear. "Well, you should go get something to eat" Nicole told her sister as Elena looked at her and got off her bed.
*Kitchen*
Elena and Nicole walked into the Kitchen to see Stefan standing there.
"Jenna? Jenna? Stefan? What are you doing here?" Elena asked looking at Stefan.
"Dinner. Jeremy and Nicole told me that Chicken Parmesan is one of your favorites, and I happen to be a good cook. The Italian roots demand it. I can even make my own homemade mozzarella. Only tonight, it is unfortunately store bought. Sorry" Stefan said as he started cooking the food. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish" Elena said walking towards Stefan.
"I'll just leave you two alone" Nicole said as she walked out of the house. She was going to check on Damon.
"You want to know me, right? Well, I figure if you're going to dump me, you should at least, um, know who you're dumping. So let's start with Katherine" Stefan said as Elena nodded her head. "Stefan..." Elena said. "She was... the most beautiful girl that I had ever met. She had this perfect olive skin. And she had this laugh. It was ridiculous. I mean, her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun. She knew how to have a good time. But Katherine was also very impatient and entitled and selfish, and, um, impulsive. Enter Damon. He claims that he was with her first. I don't know. I do know that I did some things that...I'm not proud of. And my biggest regret... Is not being able to make it right before she died. I miss her, but... I'm no longer crippled by her loss" Stefan told her as he continued to cook.
"I'm an avid reader, a huge Fitzgerald fan, "The Great Gatsby", his masterpiece. But I'm no snob. I love some good Grisham. I think Seinfeld is the best American television show for the past 50 years, but "I love Lucy" is all-time. "The loving cup" episode was the best, I think. Huge Scorsese fan. I can watch "Taxi Driver" over and over again" Stefan said as he and Elena cooked together. "Here, let me" Elena said as she takes over chopping up the garlic. "As far as music, it's pretty much across the board. Um, Dylan, Hendrix, Patsy, Willie. A little Kanye. You know what? I even like that one Miley song. Easy" Stefan said noticing Elena's smirk. "I didn't say anything. Hey, this is for the garlic bread, right? Because I'm not eating garlic unless you agree to, too" Elena said as she looked at Stefan. "Are you kidding? I love garlic" Stefan said. "Ow! Ahh" Elena said as she accidentally cuts her finger with the knife. "You ok?" Stefan asked noticing the blood. "Yeah. Think so. Your face..." Elena said going over to the sink to wash off her hand. She looks in the window and sees Stefan's face transforming. "I-I, uh, I think I got something in my eye" Stefan said turning around with Elena turned to look at him.
"Stefan. Hey. Stefan! Um, I think that my paranoia has turned into full-blown hallucinations" Elena said when Stefan turned back around. "Part of your charm" Stefan said as Elena started to kiss him.
*Later after Dinner…. Salvatore living room*
Nicole as looking thought the book shelf when Stefan came into the house.
"So how was dinner?" Nicole asked him. "Amazing. Thank you for helping me. Anything from Damon?" Stefan asked as he took his jacket off. "Nope not a word" Nicole said as they started to walk down the stairs.
"I bet you two are feeling pretty good about yourselves, aren't you?" Damon said when he notice them standing at his door. "Not particularly" Stefan said as Nicole stayed quite. "You won. You got the bad guy. Now nothing could come between you and Elena. Except the truth. The lies will catch up to you, Stefan. As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are" Damon said.
"The beauty of you in there and me out here... Is that I can walk away" Stefan said as he and Nicole walked away.
*The Next Day…At the sexy suds car wash*
"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not" Caroline said to Nicole and Elena. "No we are not" the twins said together as Nicole put money in the box.
"Hi" Stefan said coming up behind them. "Hey!" Elena said as she stood up. "Hey Stefan" Nicole said. "The event is called sexy suds, you know" Caroline said to the three of them as she walked away. "Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asked the twins" "And judged, yeah" Nicole said as she took off her Rainbow Dash tank top reveling her Rainbow Dash two-piece as Elena laughed.
"I'm sorry, but I guess you're going to have to take that off" Elena said pointing to Stefan's hoodie. "I think you have to go first" Stefan told her.
"Ok. Ok, um-sorry, So not sexy. Ugh" Elena said as she pulls off her shirt but has trouble getting it off and Stefan helps her. "I disagree" Stefan said as he started to kiss her. "Umm okay I'm just going to leave you two alone" Nicole said awkwardly as she walked over to help Bonnie and Matt wash a car.
"uh-uh, no. None of that tortured pining stuff" Bonnie said to Matt as Nicole walked over to them. "I'm just observing" Matt said as he wipped the car down.
"Mm-hmm" Nicole said grabbing a rag. "Oh. Tiki. this one's yours" Bonnie said noticing a car pull up.
"Why do I always get the homely ones? Just to be clear, your car's a p.o.s. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a p.o.s" Tiki told the guy. "You don't have to be rude" Bonnie said. "Rude is uglying up the road with that junk" Tiki said as the guy throw his keys in the car and walked away.
Bonnie uses her powers to splash water on Tiki.
"Whoa! What the hell ?" Tiki said as Matt grabbed the shoes. "Wet and wild, Tik" Matt said giving Tiki a towel as Nicole laughted and walked back over to Elena and Stefan noticing they had stopped kissing.
*With Jenna*
"All proceeds are going to the school's athletic department still healing from the tragic death of their football coach William Tanner. The citizens of Mystic Falls coming together in support of one of their own. Cut it" Logan Fell said as he talked into the camera. "Classy" Jenna told him as he finished. "Thank you" Logan said walking over to her. "But you're still going to video the girls in bikinis, right?" Jenna asked. "Well, 53% of Americans watch the news with the sound off" Logan told her. "Thank you for dinner. I had a nice time" Jenna said. "Do you remember the last time we were in the school parking lot?" Logan asked her. "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell" Jenna said. "Really?" Logan asked her. "Nada. Especially not having sex in the minivan" Jenna said. "That was a good day. What?" Logan asked as Jenna started to laugh.
*With Elena and Nicole*
"You're getting soap in that" Elena told Stefan as she pointed to his ring as they started to wash a car. "Oh, it's fine" Stefan told her. "I noticed that Damon has one, too. Is there a story behind it?" Elena asked. "Yeah, it's the family crest from the Italian renaissance" Stefan said. "Hmm. What's the stone?" Elena asked as she took his hand. "It's called lapis lazuli" Nicole told her sister. "Oh. You should really take it off, Stefan. I could put it in my bag" Elena told him. "No, it's- it's fine, really. Thanks, though" Stefan told her. "Ok. I'm gonna get some towels" Elena said walking away. "Ok" Stefan and Nicole said as they looked down at Stefan's ring.
*With Caroline*
"Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things" Elena told Caroline as she walked over to her at the money table.
"I'll go get some more. Mind the money" Caroline said walked into the school.
Caroline was walking through the halls of the school. She sees a shadow, she hears Damon's voice.
"Caroline. Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me. Help me" Damon's voice said as Caroline walked towards the voice.
*Outside*
"That'll be $20. I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine. At the grill?" Elena said as the old man from the grill last night. "Well, I-I thought it was somebody I knew" the old man said. "Stefan Salvatore" Elena said as Nicole walked over to them. "Nah, it can't be. It's just my mind playing tricks on me" the old man said. "Where do you think you'd seen him before?" Nicole asked him.
"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house" the old man explained to the twins. "Oh" Elena said. "Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack" the old man continued. "The attack?" Elena asked as Nicole looked at her. "His uncle got killed. Mauled by an animal in the woods" the old man said. "His uncle? Zach?" Elena asked. "Mm-mmm. Joseph" the old man said shanking his head no.
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't think we're familiar with the story" Nicole said.
"Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago" the old man said as Tiki walked over to them. "Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home. Ok?" Tiki said. "Ah" the old man said as started to walk away. "He wasn't bugging you guys, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer" Tiki explained. "No, he was sweet. Hey, sir, I'm sorry. Um, are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?" Elena said as she and Nicole ran up to the old man.
"Yes. I remember his ring and his brother-"the old man said. "Damon?" Nicole asked. "Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore" the old man said. "When was this?" Elena asked him. "It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953" the old man said as the twins looked at each other.
*Sometime later*
Elena and Nicole were walking around looking for Stefan. "Caroline finally freed you, huh?" Stefan asked as he walked over to them. "Uh, I don't know where she went. She abandoned us. Hey, I realized earlier, I had no idea that your family was from Italy" Elena said. "No? Last name Salvatore didn't do it for you?" Stefan said as he held Elena's hands."Right. Duh. Are there any other Salvatores in Mystic Falls?" Elena said. "His uncle Zach" Nicole told her. "Where did everyone else go?" Elena asked Stefan. "Kinda just spread out" Stefan said. "Why?"
" I'm just trying to learn more about you" Elena said.
*Later*
"Your car was done an hour ago" Nicole said as she and Elena walked over to their aunt. "You're saying that out loud why?" Jenna asked. "Hi. Elena, Nicole, right? I think I met you both once when you were 9" Logan said walking over to the mini group. "Oh" Elena said as Logan shock her and her sister's hangs. "Your emotional maturity level when we were together" Jenna said to Logan. "Ouch. Here I thought we were making progress" Logan said. "Is he enough in your good graces that we could ask him for a favor?" Elena asked Aunt Jenna. "If I do them a favor, will I get back in your good graces?" Logan asked Jenna. "Uh, a very reluctant maybe to both" Jenna said. "Done. Wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house" Logan said. "Fine. But you're eating leftovers" Jenna told him. "Ooh. What do you need?" Logan asked the twins. "Do you have access to old news stories, say, fifties?" Nicole asked him. "Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the Internet, we pretty much have everything" Logan said. "I have this report way past due. It'd be a life saver" Elena explained. "Heading there now. Let's go" Logan said. "If anyone asks, you don't know where we went. I don't want Caroline to know that we left" Elena told Jenna as she and Nicole followed Logan to the truck.
*Salvatore's House*
"Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me" Damon's voice said as Caroline enters the house and walks down to the cellar. "Damon? Damon? Damon? Oh, my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?" Caroline said as she walked over to Damon's cell. "Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly. Let me out of here. Please" Damon said weakly as he got up slowly. "You bit me" Caroline said. "You liked it. Remember?" Damon told her. "Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?" Caroline asked him. "You remember what I want you to remember. And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do" Damon told her. "What am I about to do?" Caroline asked. "You're gonna open the door. You're gonna open the door" Damon compelled her. Caroline grabbed the handle and started to open the door. "No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" Zack screamed as he held the door close. Caroline starts to run and Damon pushed the door opened, killed Zack and ran after Caroline thought the house but the suns starts to burn him as she ran out the front door.
*Later…At the Station*
"We digitized all our archives last year. You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen. What is it exactly you're looking for?" Logan said to Elena as he showed the twins into the room. "An incident from 1953. If it even happened- At the old Salvatore boarding house" Elena said as Logan's cell phone began to ring.
"Sorry, one second. Yeah? Fire? All right, be right there. I gotta go. You believe there's actual news to cover in this town? All right, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate. And Brady down in tech will help you out with anything you need" Logan said as he had to run back to the school. "Ok" Nicole said. "All right? Oh, hey. Could you two put in a good word for me with Jenna?" Logan asked before he left. "You got it" Elena told him as she and Nicole sat down at the computer. "All right. Good luck" Logan said leaving them to their search.
*Later*
Nicole and Elena were looking at some footage.
"This is Franklin Fell reporting to you from the Salvatore Boarding House, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy. Ok, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer. Is that the nephew?" The video said as the camera zoomed in for the twins to see Stefan standing in the background. "Oh my god" Elena said as Nicole's phone started to ring. "Hello?" Nicole said into her phone. "Nicole, its Stefan. I need you to get yourself and Elena home right now. Damon is lose and he killed Zack" Stefan said. "What?" Nicole said. "Listen just get yourselves and Elena home… Okay" Stefan said. "Right okay…bye" Nicole said hanging up the phone. "Elena lets go home". "Okay" Elena said not understanding how Stefan was in the video as they walked out of the Station.
*That Night…Elena's room*
"Dear diary, I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There's nothing that defies rational thought. People are supposed to be who they say they are. And not lie or hide their true selves. It's not possible. I'm not a believer, I can't be. But how can I deny what's right in front of me? Someone who never grows old...("1953" the old man said.)Never gets hurt...("Oh, my god, your hand! Is it deep? How bad is it?" Elena asked.)Someone who changes in ways that can't be explained...("Hey, um, are you ok? Your eye. Your face" Elena said")
Girls bitten... ("What is that? Oh, my god, what happened to you?" Nicole said as Elena moved Caroline's shawl. "It's nothing!" Caroline said.) Bodies drained of blood... ("Did she say what kind of animal it was?" Elena asked Matt. "She said it was a vampire" Matt said. "A vampire... Really? What's next a werewolf?" Nicole asked sarcastically.)" Elena wrote in her diary. Elena puts her diary down and grabs Nicole from her room, pulling to her (Nicole's) car. "Where are we going?" Nicole asked as she got in the driver seat. "Salvatore Boarding House" Elena said as Nicole started to drive.
*Later… Salvatore house*
Stefan opens the door to see Nicole and Elena standing outside it.
"What are you?" Elena asked him.
