Cassie Gilbert
You're Undead To Me – Part 2
Cassie's P.O.V
I awoke to the sound of someone knocking at my door. Loudly. "Cassie, are you in there? Come on, we're gonna be late for the carwash!" Elena called to me, I groaned and cracked open my eyes slowly and shut them quickly: bright sunlight was filtering in through my window and I didn't appreciate how bright it was. I heard the door suddenly open and footsteps entered the room, "Come on, Cassie. Get up!" Elena said far too loudly for my liking.
"I don't want to." I moaned, my head felt like there was a guy pounding away inside my temples and I knew it would be better for everyone if I sat this one out.
"Come on you have to go." Elena pressed, her voice getting louder and louder.
"But my head hurts." I whined, opening one eye and sending her my sad face.
"That's your fault," Elena scoffed and crossed her arms, "You're going whether you like it or not, I've bought some aspirin for you." She held up the box and I lazily reached out towards it, but my twin snatched it back, "You have to get up first."
"Really?" I sighed and slowly rose out of bed, I gave my twin a pained look but she raised an eyebrow.
When my feet eventually touched the floor she handed them to me, "Here, now come on, we're leaving in an hour."
Stefan's P.O.V
I walked down the stairs to the basement where Damon was laying weakly in the cell, the plan was going well; no one had died, and no one suspected anything... not even Elena anymore. Damon was sitting propped up against the wall with his eyes closed, "I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?" Damon coughed.
"Not particularly." I shrugged honestly.
But my brother cracked a smile, "You won. You got the bad guy, now nothing can come between you and the twins... except the truth," He frowned in mock concern as he looked up at me, a glint in his blue eyes, "The lies will catch up to you, Stefan, as long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are."
I sighed deeply, and ran a hand through my hair, "The beauty of you in there and me out here... is that I can walk away." I told him, and without another word I turned and left him alone with his thoughts, leaving him down in the gloom.
Cassie's P.O.V
Elena's aspirin had done wonders for my head, and I had allowed Elena to drag me out to the carwash wearing a dark red bikini top, black denim shorts and wedges. As soon as we arrived Caroline came up to us holding a clipboard, "So nice of you two to finally arrive." She smiled thinly at us.
I frowned and stepped over to her, towering her in my wedges, "Yeah well, I guess it was either homework or... this." I gestured to the carwash with disdain, then turned and gave Caroline a great big, fake smile.
"Mmm... Anyway, the rules are as follows; no friend discounts, no freebies, no 'pay ya laters'. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not." Caroline replied, busying herself by scribbling something down on her clipboard.
"No we are not." Elena echoed with a serious nod, I tied my hair back and put some sunglasses on to stop the sun from burning my delicate eyes out – I guess aspirin only did so much.
"Hi." A deep voice sounded behind us and I turned, a part of me hoping to be met with Damon, but it was -
"Hey!" Elena greeted Stefan happily with a quick kiss, I gave him a small smile and tried to fight down the feelings of disappointment that were welling up.
"And Elena," We turned back to Caroline, who clearly hated that she had suddenly lost all the attention, "The event is called Sexy Suds, you know." She scoffed, narrowing her eyes at her shirt before stalking away to shout at some jocks who were having a water fight.
"Ouch." I murmured, before giving my twin a parting smile and stepping over to where Bonnie and Matt were, "Hey guys." I greeted the two of them.
"Hey." Bonnie smiled at me before resuming her work on the windscreen.
I enveloped Matt in a tight hug, "I'm surprised you turned up today, you were completely out of it last night." He grinned at me.
"What, me? Please." I scoffed and grinned back.
Matt raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Well then prove it: take the sunglasses off." He challenged, his hand reaching for them but I slapped his hand away.
"No, my eyes are kinda fragile to bright things right now." I replied and Matt chuckled.
"I'm not surprised – you realise I had to carry you home last night? You even had me tuck you in." He laughed and I shrugged.
"Well, thank you for last night anyway. It was fun." I thanked him, Matt shrugged and his eyes wondered over my shoulder and his smile dropped. I looked around and saw he was watching at Elena and Stefan sharing another kiss. "Hey, hey!" I snapped my fingers in front of his face, "No, ok? None of that tortured pining stuff." I scolded lightly.
Matt caught my wrist, his gaze returning to mine, "I'm just observing." He defended.
"Observing my twin's repulsive make out session?" I frowned and Matt looked away.
"Tiki, this one's yours." Bonnie was saying to a class mate, she was quite close to Caroline and I never really had time for the girl, she was always so rude and dismissive towards others.
"Why do I always get the homely ones?" Tiki moaned to Bonnie, then turned to the driver, "Just to be clear: your car's a P.O.S. I mean, I could wash it, but it's still a P.O.S."
"You don't have to be rude." Bonnie crossed her arms and frowned at the girl.
"Rude is uglying up the road with that junk." Tiki replied.
"Tiki?" I called to her in a sweet voice.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." I told her in a simpering tone, Tiki scoffed and glared at me, opening her mouth to say something. But before she could, the water from the bucket she was holding suddenly splashed and she squealed, the water drenching her face and her hair.
"Whoa! What the hell?" Tiki cried and I laughed.
"Wet and wild, Tik." Matt chuckled and we turned away.
Later
After I helped Matt wash several more cars I reluctantly walked over to Caroline, where she was managing the money. "Here, this is from Team B." I told her, handing her the wad of cash.
"Thanks." Caroline said, putting it in her box of money. I nodded and looked away awkwardly, unable to think of anything to say.
"Hey, we're out of towels." The silence was saved by Elena coming over.
"Ok, I'll go get some. Mind the money for me?" Caroline replied.
"Sure." I shrugged and leaned against the table, Caroline walked away and I looked at my twin, "So, you and Stefan are getting along better than yesterday."
"Yeah, last night he came over to mine unexpectedly and cooked me dinner, it was so romantic." Elena gushed.
"Awww." I couldn't help but smile.
"I know! It was amazing, and you know how some guys can't cook? He can, and we just talked for hours and had some wine... it was perfect." She sighed.
"It sounds like you guys are doing fine then." I observed.
"Yeah," Elena nodded but then frowned, "I still feel like he's keeping something from me, you know? There's things that I ask him about, and he sort of closes up. It's weird."
"Huh." I muttered, glancing over to where Stefan was.
"Oh damn!" Elena suddenly hit her head, "I forgot to ask Caroline for those shimmy things."
"Oh, I'll go get some." I offered, leaving her at the stall alone.
The hallways of the school were dark, it felt weird to be here at the weekend. I spotted A paper sign on a classroom door that read:
Sexy Suds Carwash Supplies
I pushed the door open and spotted what Elena wanted straight away, walking over to the desk and picking several up triumphantly. I left the classroom and shut the door behind me, walking back down the hallway, trying to ignore how loud my wedges sounded on the floor. Out of the corner of my eye I swear I saw a shadow flit across the walls, my pace slowed down and I turned curiously, "Cassie," An icy tone pierced my head and I halted, "Cassie, help me. Cassie, help me," I knew that voice from somewhere, "Help me." It was Damon. I couldn't help it. I remembered something that he had said to me when we first met him in the Boarding House:
"Come back soon won't you?" His blue eyes bored into mine, my mind went blank and I found myself nodding.
"I will." I replied, he smirked and kissed my cheek.
I exhaled and found myself turning and walking out the school, discarding the cloths I was holding and walking away from the carwash, my mind was on one thing: help Damon.
Salvatore Boarding House
The walk to the Boarding House was surprisingly quick, the front door was locked but luckily the French windows weren't. I entered quickly and entered the house quietly, "Cassie, in the cellar. Help me." I heard Damon's voice echo around my head and I walked through a door and down some cold stone steps. The steps led to a gloomy concrete hallway with nothing down here but the cold, "Cassie, help me." I heard Damon's voice again, it was much louder now, "Help me, Cassie." I walked to the edge of the hallway and peeked through the bars of the door at the end of it, Damon was leaning against the wall of the cell weakly, his skin was pale and his gorgeous blue eyes were hollow.
"Damon?" I whispered, "Damon! Oh my God, what is this?" I frowned and looked at the bars on the door, "How did I know that you were here?" I wondered, suddenly feeling that all-too-familiar feeling of confusion well up inside me.
"Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly. Let me out of here. Please." Damon asked, his voice was scratchy – as if he hadn't had a drink in days.
I looked down the door and saw the locked bolt, my hand moved towards it but I suddenly stopped, "I – I... You bit me." I whispered in realization, I remembered it now: the night we tried to find Vicki, Damon had her on the roof. I remembered his face, the red veins and the dark eyes. The fangs. I remembered the pain I felt when he bit my neck.
"You liked it. Remember?" Damon said to me sternly, suddenly my memory was lost in a very thick, confused fog. When it disappeared I couldn't conjure up what I'd just had.
"Why can't I remember anything with you anymore?" I wondered, suddenly scared.
"You remember what I want you to remember. I'm gonna guess Stefan only had enough vervain to give Elena, so what I want you to do, Cassie, is open the door." Damon commanded weakly, my hand moved to the bolt but I hesitated again.
"Open the door?" I repeated with a frown.
"That's right, you're gonna open the door," I felt Damon's words wash over me, "You're gonna open the door, and wait with your hand held out so I can get a drink."
"I'm gonna open the door," I repeated monotonously, "And wait with my hand out." Without another word I unbolted the door in one smooth motion, suddenly someone was shoving me aside roughly.
"No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" The man was saying, I recognised him as Zach Salvatore. Instead of running I frowned and cocked my head, my arm extending.
"I can't move." I whispered in fright, "He told me to wait."
I watched as something dark blurred from the cell, Damon pinned Zach roughly against the wall, I watched as he snapped the man's neck in one, smooth motion. I cried out when Zach's limp form fell to the ground, and Damon turned to me and smiled a predator's smile.
Sexy Suds Carwash – Stefan's P.O.V
I finished cleaning yet another car and threw the sponge into the water bucket, looking around at the dozen teenagers working away, chatting excitedly amongst themselves. I frowned when I couldn't find two of them, "Hey, have you seen Elena or Cassie?" I asked Matt, who was passing by.
"No, not for a while." Matt shook his head and frowned.
"You think they went home?" I asked.
"Not sure," Matt pulled a face and then smiled, "Cassie probably would have: she's so hungover after last night."
"Right, right." I nodded, remembering Cassie's drunken state as Matt carried her through the door and put her to bed, "That was good of you last night, to take care of her like that."
"Yeah, well," Matt shrugged, "Between you and me: I know Cassie better than even Bonnie, and she's being self-destructive, man, her way of coping with her parents death by partying? It's not a good option, the night we were trying to find Vicki? She said she passed out somewhere – couldn't remember anything that happened, or might've happened to her." I nodded in understanding, but my insides turned cold at the memory of that night on the roof, "Anyway, somebody's gotta look out for her, might as well be me." Matt shrugged again.
"You're a good friend, Matt." I smiled.
"And hey, I'm not saying this for you, I'm saying this for Elena: but she's big on trust, so whatever you're holding back from her, the more you try to hide it, the more she won't stop until she figure it out." Matt told me, his blue eyes suddenly hard. I stared at the boy for a long time before nodding once.
Salvatore Boarding House – Cassie's P.O.V
I stared at Damon for a long time, my brain screamed at my legs to move, but they couldn't. "You killed him." I said in a small voice.
Damon smiled wider, "Yeah, I did." He began to walk towards me.
"Are you're gonna kill me too?" I whispered.
When he reached me he looked deep into my eyes, "Honestly? Probably, but not yet." He answered, then his hands reached up and I flinched, but he was merely taking off my sunglasses that protected my hungover eyes from harsh light.
The light made my head begin to pound and I almost groaned in pain, "I need those." I told him.
He looked amused, "Why are you wearing them inside?"
"Let's just say my eyes are kinda... sensitive to light today." I told him, to my surprise he chuckled and then looked down at my out stretched wrist.
"Now hold still." He said, the laughter dying, I nodded once, feeling that instinct to obey wash over me again. In an instant Damon had me pinned to the wall, he looked down at my hand and then stared at my neck, I watched with wide, terrified eyes as he brushed my hair back with slow, deliberate movements. His eyes darkened and veins flashed beneath his once-blue eyes, he opened his mouth to reveal lengthening canines. It all happened quickly, he swooped and bit into my neck, it stung, but it wasn't the agony I was expecting. I stood there numbly as Damon drank deeply from my neck, all instincts were telling me to run, to get away from here, from him. But I couldn't, and I think given the choice if I could, I think that part of me wouldn't have wanted to either.
After a few more moments I was starting to feel tired, my eyelids dropped and my legs felt like lead, "Da – Damon," I whispered weakly, "Damon... I can't..." I trailed off, trying to think of what to say. Damon finally stopped and let go of my neck, when he pulled away I saw through my blurry eyes the red that was stained around his mouth. He said something but I couldn't hear him properly, the sound of my heart drumming away was too loud. My knees suddenly buckled and I found myself falling, Damon caught me quickly but sleep was already taking hold.
Salvatore Boarding House – Damon's
She looked so scared, stood there shivering in her bikini top and black denim shorts, her eyes shielded by dark shades. "You killed him." She said in a small voice.
Despite everything, I found my smile growing wider, "Yeah, I did." I shrugged and began to move closer to her.
"Are you're gonna kill me too?" Cassie whispered.
I waited until I was stood right in front of her to speak, "Honestly? Probably, but not yet." I shrugged, my hands went up to her sunglasses and she flinched, but relaxed a little when she saw I wasn't going to hurt her.
"I need those." Cassie pulled a face and blinked slowly in the light.
"Why are you wearing them inside?" I smirked at her, she was so amusing in so many different ways.
"Let's just say my eyes are kinda... sensitive to light today." She replied, I chuckled and then my eyes fell to her wrist.
"Now, hold still." I told her, looking into her dark chocolate eyes, it was amazing how quickly the fear drained from her face, she nodded once and seemed to freeze up. I blurred towards her and pinned her against the wall, careful not to damage her at all, I looked down at her wrist and then looked up at her neck, her rich, wavy hair covered the bare skin. I reached up and slowly pushed back the curtain of hair, revealing her olive-skinned neck, after a moment I switched my gaze from Cassie's neck and admired how much she looked like Katherine, she was everything I imagined Katherine to be when she was a human, and I got to enjoy it all. I sighed when I felt my face changing, revealing the monster beneath, she watched me with uncharacteristically terrified eyes and I couldn't resist any longer. I swiftly bit into her neck, my teeth pierced her soft flesh and I drank greedily from her. It may have just been the fact that I had been starving for days, but Cassie's blood was unmatched, it was possibly the best I'd ever tasted... and I didn't want to stop.
Eventually I felt Cassie straining against me, "Da – Damon," She whispered, her voice weak, "Damon... I can't..." She trailed off tiredly and I contemplated letting her go or finishing her right here. I tore myself from her neck and lipped my lips, she swayed a little but she otherwise seemed ok.
"You'll be fine." I assured her, but she didn't respond. Her knees suddenly buckled and she toppled feebly towards the floor, I stepped up and caught her before she hit the floor, brushing some of her hair away but she wasn't conscious. "Come on then." I sighed and carried her upstairs, stepping over Zach's body and leaving the basement without another glance.
The Woods — Cassie's P.O.V
I opened my eyes to find myself in the middle of a dark forest, I groaned and slowly rose to my feet, groggily blinking in the dark. In the distance I swear I could hear screaming, but I felt too dizzy to even begin to move towards the noise. I simply stood amidst the trees and blinked slowly, concentrating on my breathing, after a few moments it worked and I felt well enough to walk. I decided to try and locate the distant yelling, the smart part of my brain was trying to persuade me to get as far away from the potential danger, I was feeling way to drained to even begin to contemplate turning around. I kept my eyes on the dull amber glow of the dying embers of a camp fire and squinted: in the distance I saw two figures silhouetted against the firelight. As I stumbled nearer to the two people I saw that the taller male was holding a female, he was clad in dark jeans and a leather jacket and was kissing the side of the girl's neck. As I neared the girl suddenly fell to the floor and the male turned. My eyes widened when I recognised Damon and I backed away in shock. "Damon." I whispered, my eyes lingering on the red stains around his mouth.
He tilted his head and looked behind him, I followed his gaze and gasped when I saw: bodies lay strewn out carelessly, scarlet staining their necks and clothes.
"You killed them," I realised in a hollow voice, looking back up at Damon, "You killed them! And I – And you," My eyes widened as I suddenly remembered something and my hand flew to my neck, I felt ridges and a hot wetness, when I withdrew my hand I saw in the fire light it was coloured crimson, "You're a monster." I cried, backing away from him.
Damon advanced, a wolfish smile on his face, "Oh, but Cassie, I'm pretty sure you like it." The words died on my tongue and I simply glared back, making Damon's smile grow wider, my back hit a tree and I pressed myself up against it, trying to melt into the bark to get away. When Damon showed no signs of stopping his advance I slid down the tree and hugged my knees to my chest, my dark wavy hair fell around me. Damon sighed and crouched down to my level, "Cassie, Cassie, Cassie," He sighed, I hated his tone. It sounded like he was an adult reprimanding a child. Damon's arm moved and brushed my hair behind my ear, "What am I to do with you?"
Salvatore Boarding House – Stefan's P.O.V
I walked home in reasonably high spirits – the carwash had been bearable, and I had a great time with Elena, it was good to know she and Cassie were safe with Damon locked safely away, unable to hurt them. Although I was fairly concerned when Cassie and then Elena disappeared mysteriously, they were there one minute and then they were both just gone. It was probably nothing, but I couldn't help but worry for them – Elena especially. I shut the front door and frowned when I couldn't see Zach in his favourite chair in the living room, where he usually was. "Zach?" I called, listening out for his heartbeat, I quickly moved to the door to the cellar and turned cold when I saw the door was ajar. I pushed it open and gasped in horror at what I saw: Zach's broken form lay limply with the door to Damon's cell wide open, I ran over to Zach and knelt down, "Zach, no, no, no." I murmured, holding his body and checking for a pulse. My head bowed in defeat when I realised he was dead. My phone rang and I answered it, "Hello?" I asked.
"Guess who." I heard my brother's smug voice on the end of the phone and my jaw clenched. This was it, I was gonna kill him and end mine, and everybody else's suffering. Damon was saying something into the phone, but I wasn't listening, I cut off the call and grabbed a stake and ran up the stairs, pulling open the door to reveal Elena standing there with teary but firm eyes.
"What are you?"