Hello to all my lovely readers!
So, a few of you have been asking if our two lovely characters are finally going to get together. Their union is not far now, but since Damon is one really complicated man, I plan on drawing the situation out a bit longer. I promise, it is worth it.
As usual, i own nothing but my OCs.
January 16th
Rayna POV
The next day, as I was having breakfast with my dad and Pearl, since Anna had most likely spent the night with Jeremy, I got a call from Elena.
"Morning El, what's up?" I asked as I munched on my cereal.
"Rayna, Stefan told me what happened at the Boarding house last night. We have to do something about those vampires, they are becoming a real problem."
"I know. I'll come over at the Boarding house so we can talk about any possible plans."
"Bring Anna and Pearl with you, they have to help, right?"
"They are busy today, but I will tell them or our discussion later today. We can't solve this in one day anyway."
"Okay. I'm starting in about ten minutes, do you want me to come pick you up?"
"No, I'll drive myself there. I'll see you soon El," I hug up, finishing up my cereal.
"What happened last night?" Pearl asked, sipping on her hot coffee.
"Two vampires attacked me, Damon and Stefan at the Boarding house last night. We killed one of them, but the other one got away."
"Did anyone get hurt?" my dad asked this time.
"Only Stefan, but he is going to be fine, the wound was not serious. We have to do something about those vampires soon, before things get really ugly."
"I will get in touch with Harper today, we need to talk to him about this. He deserves to live, unlike the others," Pearl said seriously.
"You do that. I'll talk with Damon and Stefan, see what we come up with, then I'll go over to Bonnie and her grandma. We need all the help we can get."
"Okay. Pearl and I have an appointment with Mayor Lockwood, to discuss the possibility of an apothecary opening here in Mystic Falls, so both Pearl and Anna can establish their stay here and assure everyone that they are human."
"Yikes, that is one meeting I don't want to attend. Be sure to keep your distance Pearl, the guy is really weird," I warned her as I got up.
"Rayna, you're exaggerating," my father scolded me.
"Yeah right. We are talking about the same guy that threatened Mr. Saltzman that he would lose his job simply because he tried to stop Tyler and Jeremy from fighting, something he was actually encouraging, so the boys could get their problems out and get them over with," I scoffed.
"He what?" my dad asked, his eyes wide like saucers.
"That's right. Don't think he is the kind man that cares about his people. That is just a façade to win votes for the elections," I winked, making my dad roll his eyes at me.
"I'll see you later everyone, I have to go. I'll let you know of any progress we make," I waved at them as I went out the door.
I reached my destination in a little over ten minutes. Elena was at the door, waiting for me. "Hey," she smiled as I got out of my car.
"Hey there," I smiled back.
Stefan opened the door when we knocked, letting us in. Damon was boarding up the window that the vampires had come through last night, and I could see he was really upset about it.
"What brings you to our humble abode witchy?" he smirked as he grabbed another board to finish his job.
"We have to talk about what happened last night, we cannot let this go on any longer," I sat on the couch across from Elena.
"I told you, nothing happened between your mom and I, you came in just in time to interrupt us. What more do you want as proof?" Damon groaned in irritation.
"Wait what?" Elena gasped as she looked at me, hoping that this was one of Damon's bad jokes.
"I'm not referring to that you moron, and I would appreciate it if you didn't mention that again while I am around. I am talking about the two vampires that tried to kill us and hurt Stefan last night. You should remember about that, you are boarding up the window they came through," I quipped, and he smirked at me as he nailed the last board in place and came to sit beside me.
Elena kept staring at me, but I offered no further explanation. It was definitely not the right time to talk about that, we had bigger problems.
"I say we go to their hideout, bust down the door and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night," Damon offered as he put his feet on the coffee table. I kicked them down, and he glared momentarily at me. It was his place, but still, such a nice coffee table deserves better treatment.
"Yeah, and then what?" Stefan interjected. "We turn to the rest of the house of vampires and say 'Oops! Sorry?'"
"Stefan's right, we need some sort of a plan, and a solid one," I agreed.
"We'll need all the help we can get. We have no idea where they are hiding, how many of them decided to stick around and what plans they have for the town. Pearl told me that there is one among them that is loyal to her, and can get us useful information. We have to come into contact with him first," I informed them.
"Can we trust him?" Stefan asked, rubbing Elena's hand.
"I have no idea," I shrugged.
"Great," Damon rolled his eyes.
Elena had stayed silent all this time, simply glaring at Damon. He seemed to notice that, since he sighed before addressing her.
"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"
"I'm not blaming you Damon. I've accepted the fact that you are a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities," Elena replied sourly.
"Ouch," Damon held his chest mockingly.
"Anyhow," I interrupted the glaring contest, "we have to make sure we have enough people with us. The two of you," I motioned to the Salvatore brothers, "Pearl, Anna, me, possibly Sheila and Bonnie, we make up a good team. We just need a plan of attack and we'll be rid of the tomb vampires in no time."
"Whatever," Damon muttered as he got up to leave the room.
"Damon, wait," I called out to him, but he ignored me and headed upstairs. I wasn't about to let him go so easily though, so I followed him.
As I entered his bedroom, I found him half naked, about to take his pants off. "You really have no idea of the word privacy, do you?" he smirked at me.
"Just like you," I threw right back at him.
"Well, I am beginning to think you just want to see me naked," he smirked as he closed in on me, sniffing on my neck as I stood, unmoving.
"Cut the crap Damon, I have to talk to you about something," I pushed him aside, making my way to the window.
"About your mom, I reckon," he replied as he sat up on his huge bed, folding his arms behind his head as he looked at me.
"Exactly. I just want to make it clear, I have no interest in what you two are up to, but I would appreciate it if you kept her alive. She might be an egoistic bitch that only cares about herself, but she still is my mother. I don't want to see her dead."
When he didn't reply for a minute, I turned around to face him, only to see that he was nowhere to be seen. "So let me get this straight," he came from his closet, with a towel wrapped around his hips. "You hate her for what she has done to your father and you, but you still want her to be alive?"
"Whatever she is, she is still my mother. A bad mother, there is no question about it, but still my mother."
He narrowed his eyes, and walked towards me, stopping right in front of me.
"How can you think like that?" he asked, his blue eyes full of confusion.
"I think it is quite simple Damon. I know from Stefan that you and your father were not going along so well, but you still felt bad when you heard about his death, didn't you?" I replied, and his gaze hardened.
"It's not the same. My father killed me, causing me to turn to a vampire."
"But we both know that deep down, your father loved you. Despite your fights, your quarrels, you still loved him, because he was your father, just as Stefan is your brother. You hate him for turning you, but when he was shot, you ran to his side first thing to see if he was okay."
"Nobody gets to kill him but me," Damon growled as he turned away from me.
"That is a lame excuse and you know it. Despite what you say, you still care about him, just like I care about my mother. Think about what I said," I looked at him one last time and left the room, leaving him to his thoughts.
After I left the Boarding house, I headed straight for Sheila Bennett's house. I had to make sure they were going to help us with the vampires. After all, they were servants of nature; they had to help us defeat those that were unnatural.
Bonnie opened the door as soon as I killed the engine, a smile on her pretty face.
"Hey, I was just about to call you," Bonnie said as she hugged me.
"What for?" I asked, returning the embrace.
"My grandma wanted to talk to you about the tomb vampires. Three of them tried to attack us last night, but we scared them away."
"So they didn't just attack us last night," I said to myself, but Bonnie heard me and gasped in horror.
"What?"
"I'll explain. Let's go inside, we have important things to talk about."
"So, what exactly happened last night?" I asked as we all sat in the living room, Sheila serving her homemade herbal tea.
"I was on my way home from the college last night when I noticed three figures waiting for me at the furthest corner of the road. I pretended not to notice them, when Bonnie came to pick m up with her car," Sheila narrated.
"I discovered a book that belonged to my mother in the back of my closet, and I wanted to show it to my grandma. It has a few of my mom's spells in it," Bonnie explained.
"Exactly. When we arrived here, the vampires were waiting for us by the door, and they tried to attack us. Bonnie lit one of them on fire, while I gave the others a migraine so we could get away. When we got in the house, the two had disappeared, but they left the third here to die. I buried the ashes this morning."
"Wow, I guess those fiends have decided to take the town apart house by house," I shook my head, worried.
"So, what happened with you?" Bonnie asked this time.
"I was on a date with Ethan, when two of the vampires came in the Grill, and bumped into Elena. According to what she told Stefan, they thought she was Katherine, so that verifies that they are of those that were locked in the tomb. Before Stefan could get to them, they disappeared, only to appear later at the Boarding house. I went there to talk about the situation with Stefan, and they came through the window. Damon, Stefan and I fought them and Stefan managed to kill the one, but the other got away. We burned the body last night."
"Rayna, we have to do something about them, the situation cannot go any further," Sheila observed with a serious expression.
"That is why I'm here. Stefan, Damon and I think that we should gather as many people as we can and attack their hideout, eliminating every single one of them so the town can be safe once again. I am here to ask for your help in this mission."
"How do you plan to find their hideout?" Bonnie asked.
"It could be anywhere in the forest," Sheila agreed.
"Pearl says that she has an insider among them, someone who is willing to help us destroy the others, as long as we don't hurt him."
"Can he be trusted?" Sheila asked.
" I don't know," I shrugged. I plan on meeting with him very soon, so I can see if he can keep true to his word. If not, he dies along with the others." Sheila nodded, sipping her tea.
"Then we will help you," she declared, her face serious.
Bonnie and I left her grandma's house not long after that, to inform the others of our progress. We made our way to Elena's place, so we could tell her the news and hang out a bit. I was sure she had a million questions about what happened between my mother and Damon.
"So, let me get this straight. Damon was about to have sex with your mother and you walked in on them?" Elena asked as we all sat in her living room, eating sandwiches and drinking iced tea.
"Not exactly. I walked in on them groping each other, nothing more. It seems they were about to start the party when I interrupted them," I shuddered, remembering the sight I had come across last night.
"It seems he has a thing for mothers," Elena commented bitterly, sipping on her tea.
"Hey, you cannot judge your birth mother like that. You haven't even met her, you don't know what she is like, or what she was thinking when she offered herself to Damon."
"Okay, can we change the subject please?" Bonnie interrupted, looking uncomfortable. She was right; the topic was not a pleasant one.
"So, going back to more interesting subjects, have you spoken to Mr. Saltzman at all?" Bonnie turned the conversation.
"Yes. He has no idea how his ring works, but it was his wife, your birth mother Elena, who gave him his ring. Apparently, she knew what the ring can do."
"So that ring really brought him back from the dead?" Elena asked, still not convinced of the ring's powers.
You'd think with all the supernatural things she had seen so far, she would be a little more open-minded. "Yes, but according to Emily's grimoire, the rings can only protect you from supernatural deaths, not natural ones," Bonnie added.
"Wait, rings?" Elena asked. "Yes. According to Emily's grimoire, she made two rings, for Johnathan Gilbert, your ancestor."
"Not exactly my ancestor, remember?" Elena pointed out.
"That's not important right now," I shook my head. "What's more important is, where is the other ring?"
Elena's phone rang, breaking through the conversation.
"Uh, it's Damon, ignore him," Elena shook her head, turning of her cell phone's sound.
"Why would he call you?" Bonnie asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Most likely to apologize yet again that he turned my mother to a vampire. Ignore him, I have decided to pretend he doesn't exist."
"If only we could make that happen," I sighed, sipping my tea.
About half an hour later, we were deep into our conversation about the tomb vampires when Elena's phone rang for the sixth time in a row. "Does he ever give up?" I muttered as Elena ignored the call yet again.
"I guess not," I shrugged. Before we could start our conversation again, there was a knock on the door.
Elena went to answer and as soon as the door opened, I could feel the essence of a vampire. This was not good.
"You're ignoring me," Damon said as he made his way inside.
"Oh, you mean the 6 missed calls? Sorry, my phone was dead," Elena replied as she followed him.
"And you, don't even get me started," he pointed his finger at me.
"What?" I asked, not sure what he was talking about.
"What do you mean what? Did your phone die as well?" Damon threw back accusingly as he sat across from me.
I looked at him for a moment, thinking he was joking, but when he simply stared back, I took out my phone and checked it. It was turned off. "I had no idea," I apologized as I turned it back on. The battery was almost dead, and everything made sense.
"Is Stefan here?" Damon asked, ignoring me.
"No," Elena replied. "Why? Something wrong?"
"He went out in the woods and didn't come back. I can't get him on his phone, so I figured he was with you," Damon shrugged. Elena whipped out here phone and tried to call Stefan. Nothing came however.
"Straight to voicemail," Elena stated as she ended the call. "Where could he be?"
"You're not going to like what I'm thinking," Damon shook his head.
"The tomb vampires," Bonnie breathed, frightened.
"Most likely. Stefan did murder that guy's girlfriend, he will want to avenge her," Damon assessed.
"We have to find him," I got up from my seat.
"And how exactly are you planning to do that?" Damon smirked. "The forest is huge, and even I cannot find him in time. If you call for Pearl and Anna, they might be of help, but there won't be enough time, even with them on the search."
"You have no idea what witches can do, do you?" Bonnie smirked at him as we headed to Elena's room.
"Elena, we're going to need something of Stefan's, anything that he gave you, and it has to be recent," Bonnie said as she started setting the candles in place.
"He left this jacket here yesterday, does that help?" Elena lifted a dark green hoodie from a chair by her bed.
"Perfect," I smiled, spreading the map on the floor, among the candles and placed a clear crystal on the center.
Bonnie and I held onto the hoodie, focusing our powers on the tracer spell, on finding Stefan.
As we started muttering the spell, I felt the draw towards the owner of the hoodie, I felt his emotions, and they were not pleasant. Bonnie whimpered, probably affected by the feelings Stefan was experiencing. As the crystal settled over a general location, I felt a sharp jab of pain, and Bonnie screamed, breaking the connection, ending the spell abruptly.
"What?" Elena gasped, her gaze flipping from me to Bonnie and back. "What did you see?"
"What was that Rayna?" Bonnie asked as she tried to get up, her voice pained.
"We created a connection through this item with the person we are trying to find, and for a moment we were able to feel whatever Stefan was feeling at the moment."
"And that sharp pain at the end?" she asked again.
"They are most likely torturing him. At least," I looked over the map, "we have a general area to cover. Any idea how many houses are around this circle?" I asked as I marked the area the crystal had hovered over.
"Only one," Elena replied as she looked over the area. "Only Mrs. Gibbons' farmhouse is in that area. Her husband wanted privacy, that's why he built their house so far from the town. They wanted silence and serenity."
"It's the perfect location. Far enough from the other houses so that no one would suspect them and yet close enough to the town so they can launch their attacks and cause chaos. I'm going there," Damon announced as he grabbed his jacket.
"I'm coming with you," Elena jumped up, grabbing her jacket and an umbrella, since it had started pouring outside.
"No you are not," Damon shook his head, stopping her from exiting he room.
"He's right, you are not," I agreed.
"Rayna, Stefan is in danger, I am not going to just sit on my thumbs while he gets tortured by those vampires."
"And what exactly can you do?" I asked her, folding my arms over my chest.
"Anything, but I am not staying here, waiting for you to bring him back."
"Then you might as well come with us, as long as you promise not to do anything reckless," I shrugged.
"Excuse me, come with us? You're coming?" Damon asked me, confused.
"You honestly thought I was going to let you go over there all by yourself? Besides, if Elena is coming with us, someone has to make sure she stays put," I glanced at my friend, who just rolled her eyes at me.
"Fine, but you two will stay at the car while I investigate," Damon looked at both of us seriously.
"I'm going to warn my grandma, we might have trouble tonight," Bonnie stated.
"You do that Bonnie," I nodded as we made our way outside.
We both nodded and we set off to Mrs. Gibbons' farmhouse. Damon parked the car quite far away from the farmhouse, so that the vampires wouldn't hear us coming.
"Okay, you two stay here, I'll take a look around," Damon announced as he got out into the rain.
Silence filled the cabin for quite some time, with Elena growing more restless with every passing moment. Eventually, she grew so impatient she decided to go after Damon and find out what had happened to him.
"Elena, if you try to set one foot out of this car, I will personally bind you to one of those trees until you stop acting so foolishly!"
"Then how are we going to find out what happened to Damon? What if they caught him as well?"
"Then I'll go and see what is going on," I opened my door.
"Why you?" Elena asked, looking offended.
"Because I can protect myself from these fiends far better than you can. Not to mention you are emotionally attached, so you won't be thinking clearly. Stay here, and don't even think about following me, I can sense you," I glared at her as I got out, the heavy rain pounding on me, soaking me to the bone almost instantly.
I started walking towards the general direction of the farmhouse, my senses on edge, in case any of the vampires were lurking around. It wasn't long before I felt a presence somewhere close to me, and I prepared myself for any attacks, but they never came. Instead, I saw a soaked Damon making his way towards me, looking more disturbed than ever.
"What on earth are you doing out here?" he hissed as he reached me.
"I was worried that they had caught you as well, so I decided to come and take a look around," I huffed, offended by his tone.
"Whatever, let's go before they hear us," he gently but firmly pushed me towards the car. As soon as we got there, Elena came out of the car, looking really concerned.
"What happened? Where is Stefan?" she asked us, glancing from one to the other.
"They have him, but I can't get in," Damon replied.
"Why not?" I asked this time, before Elena could.
"Because the owner of the house is compelled to not let me in."
"I can get in," Elena offered.
"You're not going in there," Damon rejected her offer immediately.
"I'm going!" Elena insisted.
"Elena, there is no way you are going in there," I shook my head at her.
"Why are they doing this?" Elena cried, so disturbed it pained me to see her like this. "What do they want with him?"
"Revenge," Damon answered her question. "They want revenge."
"We gotta do something," Elena said as she tried to remain calm, though she wasn't exactly succeeding.
"I know," Damon nodded, his expression thoughtful.
"We can't let them hurt him, we gotta get him out of there," Elena pressed on.
"I know Elena, I know. The only problem is, I don't know how to get him out."
"I think I might," I offered, a plan already forming in my mind.
"What are you thinking?" Damon turned to me.
"I'll explain on the way. Get in the car, we have to go to the school."
"The school?" Elena asked, confused.
"Yes," I nodded, the idea sounding better and better in my head.
"Why do I have the feeling I am not going to like this?" Damon groaned, probably already on the same train of thought I was.
"Well, we can't always have things our way, can we Damon?" I retorted mockingly as I opened the passenger door.
The Mystic Falls High School seemed deserted of t students, but then again, it was Saturday, that was to be expected.
"This is not a good idea," Damon said for what I hoped would be the last time.
"Damon, if you have a better alternative, please, share," I folded my hands over my chest, waiting for his response.
When none came, I continued my way down the corridors, looking for Alaric. He was our only hope at this point.
"Damon, he might be the only ally we can use at this situation. Pearl and Anna are busy today, and I will not endanger them for something we can handle on our own," I concluded, and thankfully enough, he stopped nagging.
"Well, we are about to find out if he is helpful," Damon quipped as Alaric came out of a classroom, apparently unaware of our presence.
"Well, don't you look alive?" Damon commented, getting his attention.
"You can't hurt me," was Alaric's bitter response as he glared at Damon.
"Oh, I can hurt you alright," Damon threw back at him. I decided to intervene before Damon ruined things even more.
"Damon, enough. Mr. Saltzman, we need your help with something."
"We should talk in a more private place," Alaric motioned towards his classroom.
After Elena closed the door behind her, she started explaining the situation, starting with the whole mess on the night of the tomb, and everything that happened after that.
"So, Stefan is in the house, but Damon's a vampire, so he can't get in. I can, but these two won't let me," Elena finished accusingly.
"For obvious reasons," I quipped.
"Exactly," Damon agreed. "Her life is valuable, while yours…"
"What Damon is trying to say and is really failing to do so is that, while Elena can enter the house, she has no defense against the vampires. You have some sort of experience, you'll be much better in there when the fight starts."
"Are you coming as well?" Alaric asked me, his gaze filled with concern.
"I think you might need my magical assistance. Remember, this is not an annihilation mission. Our primary goal is to rescue Stefan. The slaughtering of the rest of the vampires can wait for later, when Stefan regains his strength and will be able to participate in the battle. So, are you in?"
"I have little to no experience with vampire hunting, how am I going to survive?" Alaric tried to avoid helping us again.
"Rayna told me about your ring," Elena replied.
"What about it?" Alaric asked her.
"Let me recap," Damon cut in. "You tried to kill me. I defended myself. You died. Then, according to my brother and our witchy friend here, your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving something out?"
"Yeah, the part where I try and kill you again. Only this time, I don't miss," Alaric taunted Damon.
"Bring it on," Damon challenged.
"Mr. Saltzman please, Stefan is in danger," Elena pleaded, cutting through the macho competition.
"I'm sorry Elena, but it's not my problem," Alaric shook his head. He turned around and started tidying up his desk, not even glancing at us.
"Come on, he's not gonna help," Damon shook his head, already on his way to the door. I decided to play the last card I had, even if it wasn't exactly ethical.
"If you help us, I promise to help you track down your wife," I offered, making everyone in the room freeze in their spots.
"You're lying," he growled, glaring at me.
"A witch's promise is a binding contract. If you have something of hers, I can track her anywhere in the world, provided of course that you help us rescue Stefan," I replied, holding steady under his gaze. His glare lessened, and turned to a calculating gaze.
"No," he shook his head again after a few moments.
"Suit yourself," I shrugged, turning to leave. Before I could reach the door, he spoke again.
"All right wait, I'll go," he sighed, defeated. I smiled to myself. The plan had worked perfectly.
Alaric took us to a private storage area he had within the school and pulled out a gym bag, filled with vampire hunting gear.
"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," Damon commented as he took a look at all the weapons Alaric had.
"I have you to thank for that," Alaric threw back at him. He was good at comebacks, I'd give him that.
"What are these?" Elena lifted a dart filled with a light blue substance.
"Tranquilizer darts filled with vervain," Alaric replied.
"Just get me in, I'll get Stefan out," Damon told him as he put one of the crossbows down.
"That's your plan?" Elena asked, not convinced that this would work.
"She's right," I nodded. "You're just gonna take on all of them by yourself?"
"Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully."
Elena started picking up a few of the darts, as if she was gearing up to join Damon in the attack.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" Alaric stopped her.
"I'm going with you guys," she said matter-of-factly.
"No, no way," Damon shook his head, and I joined in. There was no way I was going to let her go in that house.
"You need me," Elena insisted. "I'll get in. You could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out."
"You'll get yourself killed," Damon shook his head again. "You're not going in there."
"I'm going," Elena insisted. Damon just ignored her and turned to Alaric.
"So, when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."
"Damon, now is not the time to be the lone ranger. I'm coming with you, I can protect myself against them just fine," I offered.
He looked at me for a moment, then sighed. "Well, I guess you can be of help," he admitted.
"I don't care what you guys say, I'm going with you, " Elena stomped her foot on the floor, as if she was ten years old.
"Fine, you can drive the getaway car. Rayna, you're coming in the house with me, and you fancy teacher will get me inside. But you Elena are staying in the car, no matter what," Damon caved in, not lasting for long under Elena's persistence.
"You can't stop me from going in there. It's Stefan we're talking about. You don't understand," Elena exclaimed, frustrated.
"I understand, he's the center of your universe, he's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong, I get it," Damon mocked her.
"Can't you just not joke around for 2 seconds?" Elena retorted.
"I can't protect you Elena. I don't know how many vampires there are in there. Rayna is a witch, she can protect herself, you have no defense against them apart from the pendant Stefan gave you. You don't ingest vervain, but even if you did, you wouldn't last 2 seconds against them, 'cause that's how long it takes to get your head ripped off. We have to be able to get in and get out. We can't be distracted with your safety, or this will end up in a bloodbath that none of us will be able to walk away from, including Stefan."
Damon's words seemed to affect Elena in the right way, and she didn't respond, just lowered her head. "If we're gonna go, we should do it now," Alaric said, and we all nodded in silence.
Night had fallen all over the place as we drove in silence, not even the radio on to break the tension we all surely felt. We parked the car as close as we could to the house and Alaric went in first, taking a deep breath. I took my place in between the wet bushes, ready to interfere if they tried to attack him at the doorway.
He knocked, as we had discussed, and one of the vampires answered. Alaric said the story we had come up with, that his car had broken down nearby and he needed to make a phone call. They let him in, and the door closed. Damon crouched next to me, not uttering a single word. We waited, until the door opened again, and Alaric showed up, with Mrs. Gibbons in tow.
"Could you let this man in?" Alaric asked the woman politely.
"I'm sorry, he's not supposed to come in the house," she replied, and I sighed.
"Just bring her outside," Damon simply said.
"Now Mrs. Gibbons, do you have any family, a husband or kids?" he asked the woman.
"No, my husband died three years ago and we never had any kids."
"Any other family you might have, relatives that could inherit this house?" he asked again, and I realized what he was about to do.
"No," she replied. Before I could stop him somehow, he had broken her neck, her dead body collapsing in front of him.
"This was not in the plan," Alaric exclaimed, disturbed.
"Damon, why did you do that?" I huffed, irritated that he had killed someone for no apparent reason.
"We had no other choice, she was never going to let me in. Now, you go," he pointed at Alaric, "and you, come with me," he turned to me. "And get rid of that body, will you?" he asked Alaric as we made our way in the house.
We slowly moved around the corners, my senses on full swing, searching the entire house for its occupants. I felt a faint pull towards the living room, and I motioned for Damon to go that way. He nodded and disappeared, leaving me alone. I tracked down another one of those creatures, stood right behind him and drove the steak right through his heart, before he could make a single sound. I held the body as it fell and eased it on the floor, to reduce the sound it made. Damon came from the doorway to my left, smirking.
"You are really fit to be a hunter, aren't you?" he whispered, and I rolled my eyes at him.
"Have you found Stefan yet?"
"No, but I killed two of our buddies here."
"And this one makes three. Let's keep searching, before the others realize we're here," I said and he nodded.
We heard a noise from our left and Damon motioned for me to go first. I nodded and tiptoed to that direction, with him right beside me. I caught sight of a male vampire about to open the back door, and Damon hurried to take him out. Before he could however, Elena had appeared out of nowhere and had stabbed him with one of the vervain syringes.
"Are you insane?" Damon whisper-yelled, glaring at Elena. She just looked at him sheepishly, so I decided to cut in.
"Come on, let's look in the cellar."
We went down the stairs that led to the cellar of the late Mrs. Gibbons and Elena almost crashed in the room, looking around her in a state of frenzy. As I went in after her, the sight before me was mortifying to say the least. Stefan was hanging from the ceiling by a rope, shirtless and wounded, while another vampire was staked to a chair, with ropes holding his arms tied to the back of the chair.
Elena hurried to Stefan's side, and he moved his head to look at her, even though the movement seemed to hurt him a lot.
"You…you shouldn't be in here," he said in a voice that sounded like he was on his deathbed.
"She was supposed to stay in the car," Damon quipped as he moved to stake the vampire that was tied on the chair.
"Damon, no!" I hurried and stopped him before he could drive the stake through the poor fellow's heart.
"Why not?"
"Why don't you use those beautiful blue eyes of yours and look at the state he is in?" I motioned to the man. Damon looked more than confused.
"If they have him tied up and staked here, that must mean he is their enemy for some reason," I assessed as I moved to stand in front of the vampire.
"I take it you are Harper, right?" I asked him gently.
"Yes ma'am," he nodded uneasily.
"Don't fear. Pearl sent me, you are safe with us," I assured him as I pulled the ropes off of his hands.
"Whatever, let's get my brother down," Damon shrugged as he moved to untie the ropes that held him up.
"There's vervain on the ropes," Stefan managed to say.
"Elena, untie that," Damon pointed to the rope that was tied to a nail on the wall. Elena nodded and went to untie the rope, while I pulled the stakes off of Harper's legs.
"Uh!" he groaned, and I cringed at the sound of it.
"I'm sorry, but it has to be done if you are to come with us."
"With you?" he asked, confused.
"Unless you want to stay with them of course," I shrugged, and he blanched in horror.
"I thought so. Now come on, we have to go," I motioned for him to stand up and follow us.
"Can you get him to the car?" Damon asked Elena.
"Yes," Elena nodded. "What are you going to do?"
"You rescue, we distract," I cut in. "Now go."
"What about me?" Harper asked us.
"Do you remember the old Silverstone mansion at the south side of the town?" I asked him.
"Of course, where Miss Pearl and her daughter Annabelle live," he nodded.
"Go over there, and ring the doorbell. If a man answers the door with the same shade of eyes as mine, that's my father. Tell him who you are and he'll let you in. Don't try to compel him though, he is on vervain."
"I will ma'am," he nodded as we made our way upstairs.
Elena, Stefan and Harper made their way out of the house, while Damon and I made our way to the room where I felt most of the vampires were. We could see the shadow of a woman that was standing in the doorway of the room. Damon motioned for me to go from the other side and surround them, so that nobody could escape. I nodded and made my way to the other door, but before I could see if there was a vampire there, somebody had grabbed me from behind, dragging me to the floor with him.
"Curiosity killed the cat darling," a vicious voice whispered to my ear as wondering hands started groping every part of me they could reach.
"Thank God I've got nine lives then," I growled as I stabbed him with my stake on his leg, and he groaned in pain as he let me go. I wasted no time and turned around, grabbed the stake and drove it through his heart, killing him for good. One down, who knew how many more to go.
It was about half an hour and three vampires later and they seemed to never stop coming out from all over the place. My powers were starting to fail me, and I had no idea how long I would stand to keep killing the vamps. We had to go, and fast. I finally found Damon again, talking to Alaric over the dead body of another vamp.
"Can we please go, I'm not going to last much longer," I sighed as I leaned on the wall for support.
"She's right," Alaric nodded.
"You two get out of here. I'm going after Frederic," Damon said angrily.
"Who?" I asked.
"The son of a bitch that attacked us last night," he replied before disappearing. Another vampire came at us and we both set off to neutralize him.
After another two vampires fell dead, Alaric cocked his crossbow once again, only to realize he was out of ammo.
"We gotta get out of here, I have no more stakes."
"And I'm two spells away from fainting, so let's go," I nodded, breathing heavily. Dizziness was closing in, and if I fainted, it would be the death of us both.
Damon almost collided with me as we walked though the hallway.
"Good Christ Damon, you gave me a heart attack," I gasped as I held on to him so that I wouldn't fall down.
"Frederic is gone," he growled, frustrated.
"You can get him tomorrow. Can we leave, before the others find us and tear us to pieces?" I pleaded. He nodded, looking a bit worried I thought. As we exited the house, a half circle of figures surrounded us, all looking angry.
"Now that is not pleasant nor fortunate, at all," Damon said warily as he started backing up.
"I can create a way for us to pass through, but one of you will have to carry me when that happens. I won't withstand the aftereffects," I whizzed, the dizziness stronger now.
"I got you," Damon whispered as he came up behind me, so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.
I nodded, focusing the last remnants of my powers and visualized strongly on my goal. Suddenly, a large ring of fire appeared around us, separating us from the vampires. They scattered about, frightened. After all, fire is lethal to vampires. The dizziness all but consumed me, but not before I felt a strong pair of arms catching me. It had a feeling of deja vu, like the night of the tomb opening, when Damon had carried me out of there. He got me in his car, while Alaric sat in the back. We dropped him off at his house, and at least he bid us goodnight before he disappeared behind his door. I was half unconscious the entire time, but I understood my surroundings. When we finally arrived at my house, Damon killed the engine and turned to look at me.
"Wake up sleeping beauty, you have arrived at your destination." I groaned, stretching to shake off the dizziness.
"And I thank you for the ride Damon. You should get some rest as well, after you make sure Stefan is alright, yeah?"
"At your command your highness," he bowed his head mockingly.
"You really can't stop joking, can you?"
"Not if I can help it," he winked as he started his car again, backing away and driving into the night.
Despite his bad ways and rude behavior, Damon's spirit could still make me feel better, for whatever reason. I wondered if that was good or bad. I decided to ponder over that tomorrow, when I would have the strength to do so.