Hey guys, and welcome to chapter 6 of The Vampire Diaries: Blood and Fate, Believer! It's 2:30 a.m. and clearly I am insane for staying up this late to finish a chapter. My eyes even feel so heavy... but I was so close that I couldn't help it!
Anyway, this chapter follows episode 4 of the main series, the day of the Founder's Party! I had a lot of fun with this one, since there's a lot of Bonnie in it, plus Vivian makes an important choice that is going to have a large impact on her personal story development in the next few chapters. So, yay!
Thanks for all favorites and follows, and let me know your thoughts if you have time! Hope you enjoy. I'm going to bed now, haha!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries.
Believer
"He killed Tanner."
"What was that?" I asked in a muffled tone, glancing up at Stefan who had just walked by the open bathroom door. Currently, I was in the middle of brushing my teeth, and I stuck my head out to greet him. "What's wrong?" I repeated, my mouth full of minty toothpaste.
Stefan came to a stop and turned around to face me, distress plain in his eyes. "He killed Tanner, Vivian."
"Who?"
"Damon."
"No, I figured that. Who's Tanner?"
With an exasperated sigh, he said, "The teacher. You know, the one we talked about the other day?"
Lightbulb.
"Oh, the history teacher and coach!" I'd already forgotten that Elena mentioned him at dinner. Frankly, that was the least memorable part of the conversation.
"Right," Stefan replied. "Well, he isn't either of those anymore. He's dead. God…" Dragging his palm down his face, he pressed his back up against the wall and shook his head. "Oh, can't believe this."
"So, back up," I said, pulling the toothbrush out of my mouth and spitting in the sink. "You're saying Damon killed your teacher? When did this happen? At the game?" How did I not know about this? I spent all evening at the school just to see Stefan play stupid football. Granted, I did leave early after it was over and there were hundreds of people running around. I guess I could have simply missed it.
"Yes, at the game—I provoked Damon and he lashed out… ripped Tanner's throat apart."
For a few seconds I considered what Stefan could have said that would have possibly provoked Damon into attacking a school teacher, and raised my eyebrows at him. This came as a surprise, since I wasn't under the impression that Damon really needed to be provoked into much of anything. "What did you do?"
"I made a fatal assumption," Stefan murmured. "I thought that I could prove he still had some humanity left in him…" He shook his head ruefully. "But I was wrong. He doesn't care about anyone—he's never going to stop. Not unless I make him stop."
Uh oh. "What are you planning, Stefan?"
His jaw set as his eyes met mine, he said to me, "Ridding myself and this world of his chaos, once and for all."
I had no idea what Stefan planned to do to Damon. And in all honesty, I wasn't sure that I wanted to be a part of it. Although Damon was a monumental ass and clearly enjoyed toying with his victims as much as possible, I had no real grudge against him. Stefan said his brother lacked any humanity, but if Damon felt he had to prove that, it had to mean the opposite. Pretending not to feel in order to avoid hurt and betrayal—that was typical vampire behavior.
I was actually surprised that Stefan didn't realize this.
As I headed out to the Grill to do some writing in a nice quiet corner, I wondered if maybe Stefan meant to kill Damon. Would he have the gall to go through with such an act? My gut instinct told me yes, if only because I had seen the darkest corners of Stefan's subconscious, and I knew exactly what he was capable of. I knew that he could, but the question remained if he would. After all, no matter what they put me through, I didn't think I could ever imagine killing my own brother or sister. They had both already been gone for almost a century, though.
Pushing away memories of the past, I stepped into the Grill and took in all the scents from the people and the food. But I never ended up getting to the writing part, or even the sitting down part, because as soon as I walked in I ran into a familiar face.
"Bonnie, good morning," I said, immediately slapping on my friendly face and smiling at her.
"Oh—hey Vivian," the girl replied with a hesitant smile back. "What's up?"
"Ah, I was just looking for somewhere nice to hang out," I told her. "It can get kinda dull at home."
She nodded, but at the same time I could tell she was struggling to find something to say. "Right."
I cleared my throat, and then nodded before starting to move past her. "Well, it was nice seeing you. Guess I'll just—"
"Um, actually…" I turned back toward her when she spoke again, still sounding slightly nervous but a bit more confident. "I also—I wanted to say I had a nice time at dinner the other night, and apologize for how rude I've been lately."
I found it hard to believe that anyone genuinely enjoyed dinner the other night, but I repelled my urge to point that out inappropriately. "Oh. Really? I didn't think you were rude. I know I tend to have a way of making people uncomfortable because sometimes my filter doesn't work right—"
"No, honestly," Bonnie said, shaking her head, "You did nothing wrong. It's just, stuff at home and weird witchy stuff freaking me out and—I've been paranoid. It's nothing you did, I promise. It's all me. Crazy. I'm just crazy."
I laughed, partly to ease her discomfort and partly from the irony that she still didn't believe she was a witch. "Aren't we all? It's fine. I appreciate your apology, though."
"I was hoping you and I could be friends," she added, catching me off-guard.
Friends? With a normal, human girl who was quite possibly a witch and might try to kill me if she figured out I was a vampire? The tiny adrenaline junkie in me thought it was a spectacular idea. And besides, how could I possibly bring myself to refuse that adorable face?
Darn it. Stefan was right. I was such a softie.
"Sure, I would love that," I said.
She smiled then, as if relieved. "Then, as my new friend—I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"
Nice going, Vivian. What have you gotten yourself into?
"What is it?"
She bit her lip. "I was wondering if you'd go with me to the Founder's Party this evening."
"Founder's Party? They still do that?"
"Still?"
"Oh..." I caught myself and murmured, "I just mean—I haven't been here in a long time and I thought I heard… well, anyway, you don't have anyone to go with you?"
"Elena's going with Stefan and Caroline's going with Damon. And I don't have a date or anything, so I thought maybe… I'm sorry, it probably seems like I'm trying to take advantage of you—"
"Only a little," I said with a grin. "Actually, I'd really like to go. Only—I don't have anything to wear."
Her eyes widened. "You don't have a dress?"
"I didn't think to bring one when I came to Mystic Falls."
She bit her lip, as if under consideration for a few seconds. Then she smiled and tilted her head. "Well, we still have six hours. Let's fix that."
Okay, so, in my lifetime, I'd had a few girlfriends. I'd also gone out shopping plenty of times. But most normal people would probably laugh if they ever knew that I'd never gone shopping with a girlfriend—ever. Usually, I had other stuff to worry about, and the opportunity just never came around. But once I was in the store with Bonnie Bennett sorting through racks of dresses, I somehow found myself enjoying the experience.
"What about this one?" Bonnie asked.
I looked up from what I was doing to see the girl holding up a long, red, sleeveless dress. Very red. Pressing my lips together as I studied the garment, I scratched the side of my head with my index finger. "It's, uh…"
As I struggled to come up with an appropriate word to describe it, Bonnie twisted the dress around toward her and frowned. "Yeah, you're right. Too Jessica Rabbit."
She quickly stuffed the dress back on the rack and I smiled. "Good adjective."
"Okay, so what would look good on you?" Bonnie murmured, looking back and forth between me and each dress she glanced at.
"I don't know, I'm just not feeling it," I said. "I've never really thought I was dressy material, you know?"
"Oh, but come on, you're gorgeous!" she exclaimed. "I would kill for that natural chestnut look. There has to be something… Ooh, what about this one!"
Bonnie shoved a dress in my direction and studied me for a moment. The piece she chose was a medium cut pink dress, such a light color pink that it looked almost white. From the breast area down it was a little bit silky to the touch, but it covered the upper chest, shoulders, and wide neckline with a transparent lace pattern. Which at least meant I wouldn't have to try to hold up a sleeveless dress.
"What do you think?" she asked. "It looks like it'll fit. You should try it."
I sighed and took the hanger from her. "All right, let's check it out."
And so I headed into the dressing room to try on my new garment. As Bonnie predicted, the dress did indeed fit quite well. The skirt feel just below my knee and swished at my sides to give me some freedom. It was neither too snug nor too baggy, and accentuated my body type nicely.
Heading out of my stall, I held up my hands and twirled around to show off the look to Bonnie. "Well, tell me. Do I look like a sexy beast or what?"
She laughed. "Wow—yeah, you look nice! And it's not too much either—I mean, it won't make you look over-dressed at the party. I really like that on you, Vivian. It makes your brown eyes pop out. And it complements your rosy complexion, too."
"You don't think it's too girly?" I asked.
"No, not at all! I mean—I guess it's not what you want if you're going for 'naughty bitch' but this isn't really that kind of party if you know what I mean."
"Oh, I get you," I agreed with a smile. Then, nodding, I added, "Okay. I like it. Let's get this one."
Bonnie's eyes lit up. "Awesome! It really does look pretty on you."
I dashed into the changing room and shimmied out of the dress so I could get back into my regular clothes, after which I emerged and headed with Bonnie to the shoe store. Picking out shoes, in my opinion, was far more difficult than picking out a dress. I was extremely choosy about my footwear.
"So, what do you think?" she asked.
I shook my head and shrugged. "Pretty much anything but heels."
"You don't like them?"
"I think they are vastly overrated, unless you're using them to stab an attacker or something."
Bonnie cracked a grin as she scanned down the row of shoes. "Fair enough. Would you wear wedges?"
"Small ones," I said with a shrug, pulling out a pair of hideous flats and then returning them to their original spot.
Eventually, we went with a pair of white wedges that were in my shoe size and moderately comfortable. Afterward, we went to get something light to eat together so we wouldn't be starving by the time evening came around. And then Bonnie drove me home, despite my insistence that it wasn't necessary. When we pulled up at the Boarding House, I couldn't help but notice the girl's slight uneasiness by the change in her heart rate. But I pretended to be oblivious and instead simply agreed to meet her at the party and said "tata for now," before she drove away.
Early evening crept along slowly, and after I got myself all dressed up for the party I ran down the hallway to find Stefan and Damon.
"Here's to history repeating itself, huh?" I heard Damon murmur.
"Knock knock," I said, tapping my index finger in the doorway. Stefan sat in a chair, still not ready with only a white tank top on, while Damon was already mostly dressed up with a black button-down pulled on. He had a drink in his hand and was about to take a sip, but he paused when he saw me in the door.
Both of them seemed surprised by my presence, either that or what I was wearing. I wasn't sure which at first, until Damon cracked grin. "Well, look at you, cleaning up nice. I like it." He winked at me playfully, and I smirked at him in return.
"Why, thank you. It's not all Muppet pajamas and fluffy slippers, you know."
"I didn't realize you were going to the Founder's Party," Stefan said. Before opening my mouth to reply, I noticed a little bit of distress in his facial expression, as if something had tipped him off.
Stepping into the room and sitting down on one of the chairs, I replied, "Well, really, how could I miss it? I mean, I may not represent one of the official founding families, but Mystic Falls is my home. And I was invited. Bonnie needed a friend to go with."
Damon scoffed. "Bonnie Bennett? Good for you. It's nice making little human friends, isn't it? Yum."
Stefan gave his brother a dark look, but I just rolled my eyes. "I am not eating my date, Damon. God."
Damon let out a sigh and groaned slightly. "Well, gee, I thought you were at least more fun than my brother, Viv. But I forgot you just like to drink from blood bags. I'm starting to think you're as boring as Lexi." When he finished speaking, Damon brought his drink up to his mouth again, but this time, he paused. And after a second, he tipped the glass and poured the drink on the floor.
"Gotta admire your effort, Stefan—pouring yourself a drink and then spiking the bottle with vervain. But I'm not some drunk sorority chick. Can't roofie me." He let out a small breath, as if genuinely disappointed. "But I can't helping feeling a little used. I kinda thought we were all having a moment, here. Now I guess I'll have to go to the party angry. Who knows what I'll do."
As Damon started walking away, I found something about what he said terribly funny and I couldn't help spitting out a tiny fit of laughter. "Ha, Damon, you are such a riot, honestly."
He stopped and raised an eyebrow, and even out of the corner of my eye I noticed Stefan watching me like I was insane. I grinned up at Damon through my laughter. "I'm sorry—it's just hard to take you seriously like this. I mean—come on, was that supposed to be a threat? Are you that desperate for attention? You're cute, Damon, but come on…"
Before I had a chance to finish, Damon cut off most of my chuckles with a burst of speed that had him leaning over me, his hands grasping the arms of the chair. Instinctively, Stefan jumped up, but I put my hand out to stop him, without ever taking my eyes off Damon's.
"Do you have personal boundaries?" I asked softly, holding my composure perfectly. "Because I do."
The elder brother still had a tiny smirk on his face, but all the humor in it was gone. "You have a problem, Viv. You have a problem because you seem to underestimate what I can do. What I will do. I've been generous with you, allowing you to live in this house, being as chivalrous and kind as I possibly can. But if you piss me off, I won't be so kind."
I smiled sweetly, leaning in so that my face was only inches from his. "Sorry to have offended you, Mr. Big Bad Man of the House."
He didn't make any move to reply, drowning us in several seconds of silence as his eyes briefly narrowed on my mouth before he pushed away from the chair. "Have fun at the party," he said, almost as if the whole ordeal hadn't happened—but I still heard a tiny edge in his voice. "Save me a dance." And with that, he was gone.
Stefan sighed, as if releasing a breath he'd been holding for several minutes. "Well, that wasn't your finest moment."
"Hey, don't look at me," I told him as I stood up from my chair. "You were the one who decided it was a good idea to spike his drink. Did you really think that would work?"
"No," he said quietly. "I didn't. I have another plan."
"How did you even get the vervain?" I asked.
Even though Damon was already gone and there was no chance of him hearing us, Stefan leaned closer to me and lowered his voice. "Zach has a stash downstairs. Tonight I plan on sneaking some vervain into Caroline's drink, and hopefully that will be enough to fool him."
I frowned. "Okay. So you pump Damon with vervain. Then what?"
"Then I lock him up."
"You're going to let him desiccate?" Starving a vampire to the point of desiccation was practically a fate worse than death.
Stefan nodded. "It's the only way. It's the only way to protect the people of Mystic Falls."
I scratched the back of my neck and turned away from him. In truth, I didn't really like this plan at all. But I had to look at this with some perspective. This wasn't just about the way Damon chose to enjoy his dinner. It was about the fact that he would continue to torment Stefan no matter where he went. About the fact that, if Damon stayed in Mystic Falls, Zach was in danger, Stefan's new girlfriend was in danger, even I was in danger. I could deny it and say I could take care of myself all I wanted, but if I made a wrong move or Damon decided he wanted me gone, I would be at serious risk. I couldn't sit around playing the middle-man. Stefan and I had to look out for on another.
I folded my arms across my chest with a sigh, and met his intense gaze. "Okay. Let's do it."
Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, and I all entered the Lockwood residence together when we arrived. And the man I guessed to be Mayor Lockwood stood by the door to show us in as soon as we finally made it through the ridiculous line of people leading up to the house.
Mayor Lockwood already had a drink in his hand and greeted us cordially upon our entrance. "Hello, Mayor Lockwood," Elena said with a smile.
"Hey, guys, please come on in."
"Thank you," Stefan and I both said simultaneously, causing me to grin at him.
"Jinx! You owe me a soda," I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear, and he smirked.
I decided to give Elena and Stefan some time to themselves while I wandered around admiring the décor with Bonnie. While I did have other concerns on my mind, mainly Damon and this plan of Stefan's, I remained as faithful as I could to Bonnie for most of the evening.
However, I did get a front row seat of Stefan isolating Caroline and spiking her drink with vervain.
"You're so protective of him," Bonnie observed, smiling at me while so very ignorant of the truth around her. "It's cute."
I laughed, quickly coming up with a valid excuse. "I'm just making sure Caroline doesn't try to jump him like she did when they first met. I mean, I know she has Damon, but now she has a drink in her hand so, you never know what could happen…"
The young girl bit her lip. "Tell me honestly: what's Damon like? I mean, the kind of person he really is?"
I found the irony amusing that she would ask me what kind of person Damon was, considering I had known him hardly longer than she had. But I shook my head slowly, fishing in my mind for as honest an answer as I could give. "He's pretty closed off. And complex in that he's been through a lot. Take what I say how you will, but I think he's just the kind of guy who hides his own pain behind humor and a tough act. And—those are typically the most dangerous ones."
She hesitated. "Do you think he's good for Caroline?" Her voice was careful, as if she realized that she was unsure about the territory she was treading.
I simply pressed my lips together. There was no possible way to give a straight, honest answer to that question. "I guess only time will tell that…"
Luckily for Caroline (and Bonnie, for that matter) none of us would have to find out.
The two of us hung out and chatted for a little while longer, until Bonnie mentioned to me that she had to go to the restroom. So while I waited, I walked around looking at the tiny pieces of history scattered about the house. This included an old registry from the original Founder's Party, which had both Stefan's and Damon's names signed in it. I wondered how they managed to talk their way out of that one to Elena.
Since Bonnie wasn't back yet, I decided to take a quick peek upstairs to see what the second floor looked like. However, I stopped half way when I heard two familiar voices.
"What is that?" Caroline asked.
Damon's voice was the one that piqued her interest. "A very important crystal."
"How did you even know that was there?"
"Because I put it there."
What?
"When?"
"A long time ago. And tonight, I'm taking it back, thanks to you."
"But what's it for?"
"Never you mind—"
"You can't just steal it—"
"It's not stealing if it's mine. Now, come on."
As soon as I heard their footsteps, I quickly retreated back down the stairs and into a different room, as to not look suspicious.
A crystal? While I occupied my body's motions by taking a quick drink from a butler walking past, I wondered what crystal Damon could have been referring to. Did it have something to do with his master plan? His reason for returning to Mystic Falls? But I still had to wonder how a simple crystal could be of use in any form. Unless, somehow, there was magic involved.
"Hey, Stef, what's up? Have you seen Bonnie?" I asked casually as I passed Stefan in the hallway, too busy with my own thoughts at the moment to even wonder why he didn't have Elena with him.
"I, uh, think I saw her go toward the living room?" he said, almost in the form of a question which told me he wasn't certain. "Hey, are you okay?"
I met his eyes briefly. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Remind me, though, I have something to tell you. Don't let me forget, okay? Great."
Then, without giving him a chance to answer, I headed in the direction of the living room as Stefan told me. And there, I witnessed something that surprised even me. Each and every candle in the room lit up by itself, all at once. Just like magic. And Bonnie was at the center of it all. There was no doubt in my mind now that there was one powerful witch inside that tiny body. For an untrained witch, this was seriously epic.
As I stood in the doorway, Bonnie Bennett turned toward me hesitantly, a visibly frightened expression on her face. "Did you see that?" Her voice was broken and soft—completely mortified, as if she was a guilty party caught in some heinous act. And in the moment, felt terribly sympathetic toward the girl.
"Yeah," I murmured, stepping forward. "Bonnie, are you all right?"
Stricken, she put a hand over her mouth and shook her head. "Oh God… I have to get out of here."
"Wait, Bonnie—" I attempted as she brushed past me to escape. "Bonnie, stop, it's okay!" Although I did follow her as far as outside, I could hardly cause a scene in this setting, and so the girl got away, leaving me dateless. Well, I supposed she could hardly remain in denial about being a witch now. Ugh.
"Hey, what's going on?" Stefan asked, coming up to me with concern in his eyes. "What happened?"
I sighed in exasperation. "It was Bonnie, she witched out on me and then ran off in exactly the way you might expect a hormonal teenage girl to do. Really nice of her to abandon her escort at the party, I guess."
"Stefan!"
Oh, what now?
Elena called out my fake cousin's name and ran up to us, nearly frantic. I moved out of the way between her and Stefan as she spoke. "Listen, I'm sorry. Everything I said before, I take it back. You were right about Damon."
"What?" I asked instinctively. What did I miss?
Elena glanced at me, as if only then noticing my presence, but then moved closer to us both carefully. "There are bruises all over Caroline's body—bite marks—and he has her all messed up in the head…"
I felt my lips pull down into a frown. Oh… so the shoe finally drops. Yikes.
All of the sudden, however, Elena's expression shifted from horror to confusion. "Neither of you—really look surprised."
Stefan stuck his hands in his pockets, clearly uncomfortable with the lie. "Uh—we're handling it."
Oh, great answer, dude.
"Handling it?" She shook her head, not understanding. "You should be having him arrested."
"Oh, believe me," I cut in before Stefan could say anything even more stupid than he already had. "Damon is going to be in a crap load of trouble. And I mean that in the most horrible way possible."
Elena shook her head. "What do you even—"
"Please, Elena," Stefan begged softly. "There are things we just can't tell you right now, as much as I wish… You're just going to have to trust me."
"Trust?" Elena raised her eyebrows, glancing back and forth between the two of us. "Trust is earned. I can't—just magically hand it over."
As the overly-emotional girl spoke, I glanced right field and saw Damon in the distance. "Looks like it's time for us to make our exit," I said, patting Stefan on the shoulder and completely forgetting to acknowledge Elena. He said something to her before leaving but I didn't pay close enough attention to know what it was.
Stefan and I inconspicuously approached Damon, who currently had Caroline trapped in his arms. And I consciously ignored the sound his teeth made when they pierced her neck, as well as the sound of his gulps and scent of her blood in the air. In a playful gesture, I reached over to pinch Stefan's nose so he couldn't smell the blood, but he swatted my hand away and gave me a dirty look. I just shrugged at him, only to tense again when I saw Damon push Caroline away, coughing and collapsing weakly on the ground.
"What the hell?" he choked miserably, writhing quietly in the grass.
As Stefan and I emerged, Stefan said quietly, "I knew I couldn't spike your drink—so I spiked hers."
Damon hardly moved in response, but coughed and wheezed out one more sentence before falling unconscious due to the fatigue and the pain. "Et tu—Vivian?"
After the elder brother was out cold, I bent down to help Stefan pick him up and sighed. "Well, I guess that's one way to guilt trip somebody."
"Do you feel guilty?" Stefan asked after a short pause.
I held one of Damon's arms against me tightly. Even as a little voice inside me said otherwise, I simply brushed it off and murmured, "I just want to get this over with." And the two of us dragged Damon away, leaving Caroline passed out in the yard for her friends to find later.
Unfortunately, with everything else on my mind that night, I completely forgot about to tell Stefan about the crystal Damon had stolen from the Lockwood residence. And little did I know that the artifact would soon be far out of my reach.
