Bloodlines
Chapter 21: Fifty Shades of Grayson
Beta: PrincessOfSilence
Disclaimer: I own nothing of TVD. I only own my characters and my story.
Damon growled as he thrust his fist into the rock wall of his cell. Ever since Cassandra had been taken from her cell, he began looking for anyway to escape his own personal prison. His fist buried itself into the wall with each punch, but it hardly did anything. Rock dust flew through the air and little pebbles fell on the floor, but he wasn't making any headway with trying to get himself out. A hollow hole in the wall was all that was left from constantly punching it and his fingers were bruised, bleeding, and broken from the immense force that he was using. He was tired, he was hungry, and he was growing frustrated that he couldn't get to his wife. He was haunted the entire night by nightmares of Cassandra's screams and Wes' bloody hands reaching inside her body to pull out her organs or cutting out chunks of her chocolate brown eyes that saw the good in everyone. He steadied his exhausted body on his feet and wailed at the wall again, but only had the luck of a piece of the wall that came loose and fell to the ground. The vampire's sore hands grasped the rock and weighed it in his hands, thinking how he could use this to his advantage when it suddenly hit him.
"I wanna know the truth. When Elena and I met at Megan's memorial, she asked me a bunch of questions. And at the party the other night, you were asking me about my parents." While he spoke, he was loading a gun with wooden bullets in his shaky hands. Never handling a weapon before made Aaron a little nervous and he dropped a bullet on the floor.
Damon smirked. "Slick hands, cowboy."
Of course! His mind was already running at full speed with ideas once he realized that Aaron had dropped a bullet on the floor when he confronted them yesterday. If his plan would work, which he was 99.9% sure that it would, he would be out of his cell in no time. That bullet would be his ticket out of the cell.
If only he could find it.
A glimmer on the floor outside his cell gave him new hope and drawing closer to the bars, he saw the bullet nestled neatly in between some dips in the floor. The vampire laid down on the floor of his cell and reached his hand through the bars, but he came up just short of reaching it. He strained and cursed and wished he could just tear his arm off and grab the bullet. He pressed himself into the bars and finally, the nip of his middle finger nudged the bullet. He reached again and was able to retrieve the bullet with a triumphant grin. He placed the bullet in the keyhole of the cell's gate and took up the piece of rock from before. He smashed the rock against the bullet and it exploded. Hopefully this would allow the lock to break and the gate to open. When it was stuck, he pounded on the gate roughly.
"Come on!" He shook the gate furiously, just wanting it to open, but it didn't move. He then started kicking at the gate forcefully and in one, two, three kicks, the gate popped open. It creaked open slowly and Damon was now a free man.
Katherine Pierce tucked her long, graying locks under her baseball cap as she bounded down the steps of the boarding house. After last night, she managed to sneak out of bed, albeit waking up Stefan, but she had to stop him from seeing her hair which was quickly turning grey. She hadn't expected last night to happen the way it did, but she was thankful for it. She loved Stefan and would always love him. She reached the foyer just as Damon entered the house and her nose crinkled at his disheveled, bloody appearance.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"Ditto," he barely regarded her as he sidestepped her and searched the house. "Cassandra's not here by any chance, is she?"
"I haven't seen her, not that I've been looking." Katherine scrunched up her lips.
"Stef, you awake?" Damon yelled up the stairs.
"You know, he hasn't seen her either." She mentioned. "I know because we were together all night."
A look of pure disgust painted Damon's face. "Look. I've had a really crappy couple days, ok? If you're implying what I think you're implying-"
"Why? What were you thinking? That our hot, naked bodies collided in one unforgettable night of passion?" Katherine smirked as the heavenly memories from last night played over in her head. As she spoke, she swore she saw Damon turn green.
"I'm gonna barf."
"Great. Then my work here is done. Toodles." She waved coyly to the raven haired vampire before exiting the house.
Damon gave a visible shudder and made a face. "Ugh."
Cassandra swallowed thickly as she craned her head up to take a look around the room and she only felt more and more uncomfortable after surveying her surroundings. It hardly looked clean and the machines seemed to be on their last legs. Tools and other medical instruments were placed on tables, just out of reach, but from where she was tied down, they gleamed brightly. Hopefully that meant that Dr. Wes liked to keep his tools clean. She'd been awake for a few minutes, but she still felt groggy and weak from the vervain that was coursing through her veins.
The light above her was suddenly flicked on and she screwed her eyes shut from the blinding white light. She could feel it burning her retinas through her eyelids and she grew more panicked knowing that Wes was back. He stood above her, assessing her condition with his tape recorder in his hands. He snapped his fingers in front of her face and she slowly opened her eyes now that they were adjusted to the light.
"Subject 21365 appears conscious." He spoke into his recorder before placing it down on the table near him.
"Where am I?" She asked weakly and saw Wes rolling a machine towards her. "What is that thing?" She yanked on her restraints, trying to get loose but all they did was clank loudly. "What are you doing to me?"
Wes didn't answer her questions and that only made her more frantic. "21365 resume prep for blood dialysis."
Her eyes grew wide. "Blood, what?! No!"
"Just relax." He told her calmly as he brought a breathing mask over Cassandra's face. She could feel the gases wafting from it and knew that it would put her out if she breathed it in. Just as Wes brought it close to her face, she craned her head up and bit his hand with her fangs. He called out, shouting and cursing and holding his injured hand.
"Help! Damon! Damon, help me please!" She screamed desperately. As angry as she was at him, she needed him to rescue her. She needed to know that he was alright. Her back suddenly arched as an electric current surged through her entire body. More screams left her lips and she seized violently on the table. Unbeknownst to her, Wes had pressed a button on a remote that was in his pocket. The remote was connected to a collar that was strapped tightly around Cassandra's neck and it would send strong electric shocks through her. Once he had enough of her screams, he released the button and her body flopped back down to the table, boneless and weak. She gave involuntary jerks and could see that her skin had begun to burn from the shock.
Wes took up the mask again and pressed it against Cassandra's face seeing that she couldn't fight back even if she tried. "Count back from 10." The hybrid tried not to breathe, but the shocks and the gases were quickly lulling her to sleep. "9, 8, 7, 6, 5..." Cassandra's eyes had fallen shut before he even finished the countdown.
"Where the hell you been?" Stefan asked his brother as he was putting clothes away in his drawers. He and Katherine had done the deed and he now cleaning up.
A shirtless Damon leaned against the doorway. He felt much better after showering and getting the dried blood off of him. "Aw, you know, being held against my will, shot in the head, now I can't find Cassandra." He walked into the room and snatched up a new shirt from the bed. "How was your evening? Anything out of the ordinary happen?"
"Wait a minute. What do you mean you can't find Cassandra?" He asked.
"I mean, she's not picking up her phone, she's nowhere in this house, which leads me to believe that Dr. Creepy Ken-doll has her somewhere." Damon grumbled as he pulled on his shirt.
Stefan raised his eyebrows. "Are you talking about the Whitmore bio teacher?"
"Yeah, the one that operated on vampires during business hours, yeah, that one. Put your hero hair on, Stefan. Let's go get Cassandra." He patted his brother on the shoulder and started to walk away.
"You just said you don't know where she is." Stefan's words made Damon stop and turn around in the doorway.
"I don't, which means we're gonna have to find us some leverage. So come on." He smirked knowingly. Who else to use as leverage other than Aaron Whitmore?
Aaron scribbled away in his notebook as he listened to the music blaring from his iPod. He enjoyed sitting alone with himself plugged in; he felt like he could forget the world that way. He especially wanted to forget yesterday with Damon and Cassandra down in the cells. He shot Damon in the head, but left Cassandra alive. He threatened to shoot her too, but she held her hands up, begging him not to.
"Aaron, please. Just put the gun down. Don't shoot." Cassandra held onto her bars.
"Why shouldn't I?" He asked her with hate in his eyes. "You probably helped him kill my parents."
"I didn't. I had no idea that Damon had been killing Whitmores until right now." She defended. "Besides, you really wouldn't shoot a pregnant lady, would you Aaron?" She sized him up and watched his expression falter. The sound of a compressed air gun went off and a dart was embedded in the side of Cassandra's neck. She wobbled and fell unconscious, becoming even more drugged by the vervain and Aaron whipped around to see Wes cocking the gun back. He shot her a few more times to make sure that she stayed down before striding over and unlocking the cell door.
"Go upstairs, Aaron." He told him.
"What are you going to do to her?"
"Don't have sympathy for these creatures. She's singing you that pregnant story to make you feel sorry for her. My research says that vampires are unable to procreate." Wes took hold of Cassandra's leg and dragged her out of the cell.
"But she-"
"Aaron, get out of here now." The two men stood eye to eye with each other, daring the other to blink first, but Aaron took Wes' advice. He gave one last fleeting glance to Damon and then to Cassandra, knowing that he couldn't do anything to help them. He then bounded up the stairs, leaving Wes to do his dirty work.
The next song in his shuffle started to play and he tapped his pencil against his book to mimic the beat. He knew that he had to finish his work for his next class, but he couldn't focus. He concentrated harder, so much so that he didn't notice a figure slide onto the couch next to him. His left earphone was suddenly pulled out of his ear and he looked up to say something nasty to the person who did it, but he was quickly rethinking his plan.
Damon threw the Whitmore a smirk, watching him look around nervously for anyone who could help him. "Pop quiz. So, your wife is taken by a mad scientist. Now, do you: A, get a new wife; B, call the police; or C, kill someone close to the mad scientist?"
Aaron shot up off the couch and ran to get out of the common room. He didn't know how Damon escaped his cell, but he knew that the vampire would be going after him first. He thought that he could run from Damon, but he was quickly stopped when he ran into a hard body. A green eyed young man who shared some resemblance to Damon was looking down at him disapprovingly, his face hard and a glare in his gaze.
"Sit." Stefan commanded and Damon patted the spot next to him on the couch, inviting Aaron to join him.
"4.1 pints drained." Wes noted as he examined the blood bag that was strapped to an IV. Cassandra's eyes had fallen closed and her head was lulled to the side. He took a little flashlight from his pocket and shined it in her eyes. She recoiled from it, but opened her lifeless eyes just enough for Wes. "21365 still shows signs of consciousness. Note that 15 years ago subject 12144 faded into unconsciousness after losing 2.9 pints. Evolution or luck? Mystery for another day." Wes clicked off his recorder and pocketed it along with the flashlight.
"What are you doing to me? Let me go!" Her voice came out a lot weaker than she had hoped.
Wes stood from his spot and slid aside a curtain which hid his notes and he jotted a few observations down about his research on his newest lab rat. "Relax. I plan to once I'm through with you."
"My friends are gonna find me." She told him.
"Your heroic vampire friends?" Wed came back to her and punched some buttons on the machine that was taking Cassandra's blood. "Did you know Aaron Whitmore spent his entire life thinking his family was haunted by some death curse? Turns out that curse was your husband systematically killing every member on his family tree. I'm curious; how does one justify that in their mind?"
"You think I give a damn about Aaron Whitmore? I don't." Cassandra spat venomously. "And how do you justify this, doctor? Holding people against their will and torturing them?"
"Science." Wes replied simply and opened up a journal that was from the curtained off portion of the room. He opened up to a random page and began to read it aloud. "June 25, 1999. Incredible findings today. After enduring 3,000 volts of electricity, the subject continues to have a heartbeat. June 26. More success. Subject was exposed to 4,000 volts today. Seizing continues after electrocution. Flesh remains hot to the touch."
Cassandra felt bile rise up her throat. "You're a monster."
"This isn't my journal, 21365. These are the hand-written medical findings of Dr. Grayson Gilbert, Elena's father." He showed her the scribbles in the book before closing it up and setting it aside. "Everything I'm doing to you I learned from him."
"I don't care who you learned it from! It doesn't make it right!" She hissed, her hybrid fangs dropping from her gums. She then felt a sharp pulse through her body, much like the one that hit her before when he bit Wes and she shook uncontrollably on the gurney. The collar around her neck burned the skin underneath and she clenched her teeth as the pulses died down. Her fangs retracted and she bucked wildly on the table.
"So, you creatures can be tamed." He produced the remote from his pocket to show her.
"Y-You-You're s-sick!" She stammered impulsively.
"Not sick. Driven." Wes answered and pocketed the remote as he walked to the IV bag to read how much more blood had been drained.
"What the hell did you jus-st s-shock me with?" She gritted.
"A simple shock collar that has been modified. I figured that since you're half werewolf that it could come in handy." He explained.
"So, you found out my little secret. You're smarter than you look, doc."
"It's all about observations. Speaking of which, I heard you telling Aaron that you're pregnant. Is this true?" Wes stood over her and Cassandra swallowed the thick lump in her throat. She didn't need Wes knowing the truth, but she knew that he was a man of science and would eventually figure out that she was pregnant.
"Vampires can't procreate." She replied.
"But you're a hybrid. Werewolves have no problem reproducing." He added and gripped the hem of her shirt. He lifted it up to rest just under her breasts and marveled at her growing stomach. "Which begs the question how Damon managed to get you pregnant."
Cassandra chuckled softly to herself. "Trust me, I know the reason and you're not gonna wanna hear it. Has to do with Nature and the Universe."
"Compelling argument, but it lacks scientific evidence." Wes tutted. "I'll have to do some other research." His phone rang in his pocket and left Cassandra who was still trying to break out of her restraints. He exited the office, heading up the stairs and out onto the street where he answered the call.
"Aaron, hey."
"Do you have Cassandra?" The teen asked anxiously.
"Aaron, what's wrong?" Wes could immediately pick up that something wasn't right.
"Uh, Stefan and Damon Salvatore are gonna kill me unless you give them Cassandra." He replied.
The doctor shook his head. "Damon Salvatore is locked in an impenetrable and inescapable fortified cell."
Aaron gulped and looked down to Damon who was licking over his sharp fangs with his tongue. "Or he's in front of me imagining what my kidney would taste like."
"Fine." He grumbled, clearly annoyed that Damon was able to escape his cell and that he and his brother were now on a mission to get Cassandra back. "Meet you in my classroom. Once I see you're safe, tell them I'll give them Cassandra." He hung up his phone and walked back into the building. He bypassed Cassandra's examination room and entered another where Enzo was lying still on his table. Wes removed the IV from Enzo's forearm and snapped his fingers in front of him a few times to wake him up.
"Enzo. Enzo, wake up." The vampire slowly opened up his eyes just as Wes pulled a syringe from his jacket pocket. "When was the last time you were out in civilization?" He then plunged the syringe into his arm, making Enzo groan weakly.
"What's that?"
"An insurance policy. Guarantees you'll come back to me. I'm giving you the day off," Wes replied as he took out some full blood bags from a case. Enzo's mouth watered at the thought of piercing his fangs through the cool plastic and sucking each back dry.
"You and Damon have some catching up to do."
"Which one is it?" Damon asked Aaron as he and Stefan walked down the hallways of classrooms.
"It's right here," Aaron replied, stopping at the door of Wes' classroom. The three of them entered the classroom and it was empty except for someone sitting in the back of the classroom with their feet up against the backrest of the chair in front of him.
"21051." The man called and Damon's eyes snapped up as a reflex. After all this talk of Augustine, he felt himself slipping back into the habit of being called that dreadful number. Damon's blue eyes widened in shock as his gaze fell on the man who was sitting in the classroom.
"Enzo?" None of it seemed right. Enzo died in that fire fifty years ago. He left his friend to die because he couldn't save him. Damon continued to stare at his friend while Stefan and Aaron passed glances at the two vampires. Enzo stood up, smirking proudly at Damon.
"It's been a while, mate." He remarked and walked down the side isle of the classroom to meet his former cell mate.
"Who the hell are you?" Stefan asked as Enzo met them at the front of the classroom.
"Lorenzo, but my friends call me Enzo." He greeted charmingly. "Ah; kidding. I don't have any friends. Stefan glanced down at Enzo's outstretched hand, but didn't take it.
Damon was quick to step between the two brooding vampires. "Enzo's another Augustine vampire. Our cells were next to each other." He looked to Enzo. "So we're here to meet somebody. Wes Maxfield; you know him?"
"That's your first question for me?" Enzo wondered, his nose scrunching. "Not "How are you? How'd you survive in that fire I left you to die in?""
"Uh, does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Aaron asked.
"I'd love to. Have a seat." He ordered the three of them to sit in the desk chairs as he hopped up on Wes' desk to sit. "Been waiting 70 years to tell my story."
"And where did you steal this from?" Cassandra grumbled as Wes wheeled an ultrasound machine into the room. "A lot of pregnant girls on campus?"
Wes didn't answer her as he turned the machine on and waited for it to warm up. "How far along are you?"
Cassandra clenched her teeth, not wanting to answer, but when Wes reached for the remote in his pocket, she quickly changed her tune. "Alright. Fine. About five months."
"Glad you're seeing things my way," Wes replied.
"No, I just don't want to be shocked anymore." She countered. "By the way, you think you can make this thing a little looser? It's terribly uncomfortable." She craned her neck around, the muscles becoming sore from having the collar around it.
"Nice try, but I don't want to be bitten again." Wes held up the hand that she had bitten before. It was bandaged up with gauze and Cassandra smirked triumphantly.
"Now you'll always have something to remember me by."
Wes ignored her again and lifted her shirt to slather gel on her stomach. Cassandra shivered, the ice cold gel felt shocking against her skin. He pressed a few buttons on the machine and held the wand against Cassandra's belly. His eyes were focused on the screen, not straying for a second as he rubbed the wand over Cassandra's gel covered belly. He squinted his eyes when something came up on the screen and he awed at the sight once he positioned the wand in the correct way.
"Fascinating." He hushed as Cassandra's baby came into view.
"What's the matter, doc? Never seen a..." Her thought process trailed off when she looked at the screen. There she was; her little baby girl. Even as a black and white pixilated image she was precious. Nothing could have prepared her for this moment and she felt herself smiling just looking at the screen. A solid heartbeat echoed in the dingy room and Cassandra let her eyes drift closed for a moment as she listened to it. Goose bumps prickled on her skin and she could hardly keep tears of joy from streaming down her cheeks.
"Heartbeat at one hundred and forty-two beats per minute." Wes said into his recorder and that broke Cassandra from her happy revive. He started reading off other measurements about the baby when she suddenly felt guilt wash over her. Damon should be here, she thought. He should be sharing this moment with her, but instead his place was taken by a psycho doctor who did experiments on vampires for a living. Then again, Damon also didn't care enough to leave his pregnant wife home alone while he killed off members of the Whitmore family, so why should he get the chance to see his baby? She was still so angry with him that he hid secrets from her. Her anger rose and she turned away from the screen, not wanting to be a part of this anymore. Wes took the hint that she was getting anxious and shut the machine off, but not before he printed out some photographs to place in the pocket of his lab coat.
"Well, I have some good news; your baby girl is healthy." He told her as he wiped the ultrasound gel off her stomach and pulled her shirt back down.
"What are you going to do with her?" She asked fearfully.
Wes raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Aren't you going to cut me open and take her from me?"
"No, no I won't." He shook his head and Cassandra let out a silent sigh of relief. "If I take the baby out of you at this stage of development, it will never survive. But, that just means you'll just have to stay here until you're full term and deliver her."
Cassandra's eyes suddenly grew wide with horror. "What?!"
"Your baby could substantially further my research. Her DNA could contain information that could cure incurable diseases." He said.
"You're a monster!" She hissed and lunged for him, but she was still held in by her restraints. "I will not have you lay a finger on her!"
"Mrs. Salvatore, there is no need to get riled up. I can assure you that you'll both be taken care of here." Wes turned his back to write in his notes and slide the photographs of Cassandra's baby in between the pages.
"I know that Damon and Stefan are on campus. I heard you talking to Aaron. I just hope that they save me a piece of his liver when they rip him apart." She growled.
"I'm still trying to figure out how Damon managed to get out of his cell. Guess that means I'll have to reinforce it." Wes said. "Then again, it isn't the first time a vampire was set loose on campus."
"What the hell are you talking ab-" She stopped herself mid sentence as her answer came to her. "Enzo. Enzo was the Augustine vampire that killed that girl. She found him in his cell."
"And being clueless to what a starving vampire will do around fresh human blood, I'm guessing she got too close."
"Where is Enzo now? I know he's here. I saw him when I woke up down here." She asked.
"He's on a little day trip. Apparently he had some unresolved business with your husband." Wes replied.
Cassandra's blood ran cold and she struggled to sit up. "What did you do?" She snapped her fangs at him venomously. "What did you do?!"
Wes busied himself around the office as Cassandra squirmed around. "Conserve your energy. I've drained enough blood to start phase two."
"Let me guess. You're not gonna tell me what phase two is, are you?"
"If it works, you'll be the first one to know." He took a box off one of the shelves and opened it up. It smoked as if it was filled with dry ice and took a few drops of what was inside. He then placed those droplets to the dialysis machine before starting it up again. Wes' phone rang again and he sighed wearily, clearly annoyed with all of the distractions that he'd been having today.
"Where's Cassandra?" Stefan demanded and the hybrid's ears perked up at the sound of his voice.
"Who's this?" Wes asked.
"We have Aaron, and we're trying to decide how to kill him." The vampire answered.
Stefan paced anxiously outside the classroom as he waited for Wes' response. Today was just too hectic of a day for him. First he found out his brother was captive in Augustine during the fifties where he was experimented on, that Cassandra was an experiment of Dr. Maxfield, and that a ghost of Damon's past had come back to haunt him. He hoped that Wes would crumble and give back Cassandra because he knew that Wes was Aaron's guardian.
"Funny. I have Cassandra, and I'm wondering how she'll function without her cerebral cortex." The doctor threatened and Stefan stiffened visibly.
"Oh, yeah? Try that and you'll have to figure out how to stand without a spine!" Cassandra shouted angrily.
"Look, Wes, just let her go and nothing will happen to Aaron." Stefan tried to reason with him.
"Touch Aaron, and you'll never see Cassandra or her child again."
"That threat works both ways." Stefan warned and hung up just as he entered the classroom.
"He's not sending her," he said to Damon.
"Tragic." Enzo pouted. "Can I continue my story now, please?"
"Doesn't he know we have Aaron?" Damon asked, completely ignoring his friend.
Stefan shook his head. "He doesn't care. He's willing to risk it."
Aaron suddenly panicked and looked between both brothers. "What? Let me to talk to him! He'll listen to me." Enzo jumped off the desk, quickly growing tired of being ignored and stalked to the first row of chairs in the class.
"What part of 'he doesn't care' are you not registering?" The raven haired vampire said. All three heads snapped to the window just as Enzo launched a chair out of it. Glass shattered loudly and everyone remained quiet.
"Where were we? Uh, ah, right. I was telling my story, and you were all politely listening." Enzo recalled tensely and sat back up on the desk. This time, no one interrupted him as to not anger him further. "So I'd given Damon all of my blood ration so he'd have the strength to escape and save me in the process. Our plan began perfectly, didn't it? I was waiting in the cage for him to release me, waiting for my friend, my cellmate, the only soul with whom I'd connected with in all those years of captivity. Then a fire starts, burns out of control, but Damon just can't get the damn cage open." As Enzo retold his story, Damon shrank further into his leather jacket, not wanting to relive the past again. "He looks me in the eye as if he doesn't even recognize me, turns around, saves himself, leaving me to die."
"Well, you didn't die, obviously." Stefan broke the mood and Enzo stared back at him.
"No. Unfortunately I lived. I was spared by one of the scientists so I could spend another fifty years on a table being opened and closed." He then hopped off the desk again and strutted to the door of the classroom. "Now that we've all been acquainted, I'm gonna find something to wet my whistle."
Stefan looked to his brother. "You didn't tell me about him."
"It was the 1950s. I'm supposed to remember every moment of my life?" Damon grumbled to himself before nodding his head to Aaron. "Do you want to kill Aaron, or should I?"
Stefan rolled his eyes. "This guy was your cellmate for 5 years, you left him to die, he comes back, and you're completely unfazed?"
"Fine. I will." He flashed up to the row where Aaron was sitting, a look of murder in his eyes.
Aaron rose from his chair, clearly afraid of Damon's wrath. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on, hold on, hold on! Wes gave me a bunch of files on my family history. They're in my dorm, ok? Maybe there's something in there you need, a name, I mean, another lab."
"That's a timely revelation." Damon took a few steps toward Aaron.
"Yeah. Well, you know, he's not gonna help me, why should I help him?"
Damon flashed his sharp teeth at Aaron who held his hands up in surrender. Each step Damon took, Aaron was sure to take two steps away from him, trying to distance himself from the vampire. "I don't like you, I don't like your family, I don't like you messing up my marriage. If you're lying, I'm gonna take my thumbs, and I'm gonna gouge out your sad little eyes out of your sad little head!"
The tense moment was broken by Enzo walking into the classroom with two bottles of alcohol that he swiped from a dorm room. "Ah. It's frightening what you can find on campus these days."
"Knock yourself out. We're going with plan B." Stefan turned to leave, but Enzo's voice stopped him.
"Damon's not. Damon's staying right here." He poured the alcohol into two glasses. "He knows all my secrets, so he knows how ornery I can get when I don't get my way."
Damon clenched his fists, but he knew that he had to indulge Enzo for a little while. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could Enzo to tell him where Wes was. He glanced hopefully at his brother and then jerked his head in Aaron's direction. "Call me if you find anything, kill him if you don't."
Stefan gestured for Aaron to come with him and he did willingly, knowing that he'd probably have a better time with Damon's brother. "Let's go."
Cassandra's eyes drooped weakly as the dialysis machine continued to extract blood from her. Every muscle in her body throbbed and she was quickly losing hope that Stefan and Damon would find her in time. She wanted to close her eyes and surrender to unconsciousness once more, but the motion of Wes taking the IVs from her jerked her awake.
"Good news. The sample cells mutated. My compound worked." Wes told her with a wide smile.
"I don't follow." She groaned groggily.
"You've heard of Pavlov? Conditioned his dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. This compound is like that bell except instead of a ding, your body will salivate at the smell of vampire blood," he explained.
"That's what you did to Jesse. You turned him into some rabid vampire who only wanted to feed on other vampires." She recalled.
Wes tutted at the loss of his test subject. "Jesse was a fantastic case study, but he took too long to condition, and considering the size of the vampire population, a single-dose injection is much more efficient."
"But Jesse couldn't stop feeding. He tried to kill Damon."
"Exactly. Vampires are now one shot away from craving their own kind and you're about to be patient zero." Wes slipped a pair of latex gloves on his hands as he filled a syringe.
"What? No! No, you can't do that to me!" She swallowed hard and struggled even though her energy was nearly spent. If he injected her with that compound, she'd kill any vampire in sight. "You'll turn me into a ripper."
Wes smirked triumphantly. "I know."
"No, no, no! Wes, I'm begging you. You can't do this to me!"
"You don't seem to understand. Creating a vampire that feeds on other vampires has been Augustine's project since it began. With each new set of test subjects and the advancements of technology, they have become one step closer to figuring out the answer," he said.
"No, you don't seem to understand what it will do to me! With that compound, I won't be able to stop feeding. I had to kill Jesse in order for him to stop." She tried to sit up against her restraints. "What about my baby? What will this compound to do her?"
Wes thought about it for a moment or two. "I'm not sure, but I can't wait to find out."
The sun had begun to set and Damon was quickly growing impatient with Enzo's questions and subtle digs at him about him leaving his friend to burn to death. The raven haired vampire hadn't touched his drink while Enzo had finished one bottle on his own. He needed to get to Cassandra; he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait for Stefan to get back to him with answers about what he'd found at Aaron's dorm room. His hand tightened around his glass as he thought about his wife in the hands of the mad scientist and he could hear it creak under his hold.
"What about cricket? That ever become a thing here?" Enzo asked curiously.
Damon rolled his eyes. "No."
"Oh, shame. Fun sport. Not that I can play." He shrugged uncaringly. "Took up drawing for a while. Of course I had no pencil, so I'd just prick my finger and paint the cell wall with my blood." Damon's glass was suddenly thrown against the wall in a fit of rage and Enzo threw him an amused look.
"What do you want? You want me to feel guilty?" Enzo didn't reply, so Damon continued. "I couldn't save you. There! Now where is Cassandra?"
"Cassandra," he tapped his chin and thought on the matter for a few moments. "Ah, you must be referring to the delicious brunette that Wes brought into the lab last night. Dark long curls, warm, brown eyes and a smile that could light up a room?"
"Enzo, she is my wife." Damon nodded. "I have to find her. Please, tell me where she is."
"Wife?" Enzo whistled low. "Who knew that Damon Salvatore would become a married man. I'm guessing my wedding invitation got lost in the mail?"
"Where is she?"
Enzo opened his lips to reply, but all that left his mouth were a series of pained grunts. He leaned over the desk and gritted his teeth until the pain subsided.
"What's wrong with you?" Damon asked.
"Wes injected me with poison that will stop my heart. I'll desiccate if I don't return for the antidote." He replied.
A flicker of hope fueled Damon's fight. If Enzo had to return to Wes, surely he could find Cassandra now. "All the more reason to tell me where he is. Look. You get the antidote, I'll save my wife, we'll kill Wes together."
"Did you even think about it after you left? The experiments? The cell? Or did you just go out and live your merry life to its fullest?" Enzo has vehemently.
"Look at me." Damon took his friend's shoulders firmly. "If you go back, we go back together. We finish this for good. Come on." He held out his hand for Enzo to take and Damon never felt time move more slowly than it did in that moment.
Enzo leaned forward and grasped Damon's hand, pulling him closer to him. "You're not gonna see your girl again, Damon." He squeezed hard, crushing Damon's hand. "Because I want the antidote and Wes told me not to come back until you were dead." In a flash of movement, Enzo took Damon by the neck and propelled him outside the classroom window. Damon's body landed on a car and the metal crunched loudly under his weight. He groaned aloud, but thanked his lucky stars he had landed on the car and not on the concrete.
"I imagine you just broke your clavicle. Probably a few lumbar and thoracic vertebrae." Enzo guessed as he walked towards Damon who was struggling to get off the car. "It's funny what you learn about your body when it's taken apart like a bloody automobile right before your eyes!"
"I'm not gonna fight you, Enzo." He told him. Enzo glared and punched Damon across the face. He stumbled back, cradling his broken jaw.
"What are you gonna do then, run? You're good at that." Enzo smirked and moved to punch Damon again, but his fist was in Damon's grip. The blue eyed vampire easily crushed Enzo's hand, splintering the bones.
"I want to find my wife." Damon hissed and threw Enzo away from him.
"And I told you that you won't get to see her, mate. Even if you do get past me, she'll probably be a bunch of pieces by the time you get to her." Enzo cackled and Damon hoisted him off the ground. He fisted the collar of his shirt and shook him.
"Where is she?!" He demanded, his anger growing out of control.
"In all my years, I don't recall Augustine having a female patient. Oh, the things Wes will do to you wife. I only wish you could be there to hear her scream."
Damon slammed Enzo against the car he had just landed on a few moments ago and hissed furiously. "Where is Cassandra, Enzo? Where is she?! Talk, or you're dead!"
The vampire doubled over and his skin had started to turn grey. Wes' poison was taking hold and Enzo was finding it difficult to fight. "Bloody poison!"
Damon dropped with Enzo to the ground and desperately tried to get him to speak. "Enzo, look at me. Where's Cassandra? Tell me where she is!"
"Or what?! You never see her again? It might be good for you to know what it's like to miss someone for the next 60 years!" Enzo bit sharply as his body shut down. Veins covered his skin and his breathing was becoming labored.
"Enzo, look at me. Hey! Enzo! Where is she? Where is she?" Damon begged for him to answer, but Enzo's lifeless eyes stared back up at him.
"Subject 21365 prepped for compound injection." Wes spoke into his recorder and squeezed some excess air out of the syringe.
Cassandra roared and thrashed about on the table. "No! Please! You can't do this to me!"
"You'll be doing the world a favor, Cassandra." He drew closer, sitting beside her and she struggled harder. Hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, knowing that once Wes injected her with this, there was no going back. "I might not be able to kill vampires,"
"No! Let me go!" She screamed, shying away as the needle came closer to her skin.
"But you will." Without further warning, Wes plunged the syringe forcefully into Cassandra's chest cavity.
"AH!" Pain surged through her heart as the needle punctured the organ. She felt the chambers of her heart tear and heal over again around the sharp needle and Dr. Maxfield readied himself to push the plunger down.
"Cassandra?" Stefan's voice came from the staircase.
"Stef!" She shouted back to him and Wes was distracted by the new presence that was coming into his lab. Cassandra noticed that he hadn't pushed the plunger down yet and she took the opportunity to throw her head back against the gurney and head but the doctor in the head, hard. Stars danced before her vision and the loud smacking of her forehead smashing into his was enough to send him toppling to the floor. She groaned as Wes took the syringe with him when he fell and she watched as the hole in her chest healed up.
"Stefan! I'm here! I'm down here!" She shrieked, hoping that he hadn't gone away or imagined that he came for her.
The green eyed vampire descended the staircase and he could hardly believe his eyes. He had literally walked into a vampire torture chamber and he grew sick that Damon and Cassandra spent time down here.
"Oh my God," he hushed as he slowly stepped over to Cassandra. He also noticed an unconscious Wes and a full syringe. He'd come just in time.
"Please, Stefan. Get me out of her." She cried to him and he ripped the braces that held her to the table. He then grabbed the collar and with a little more force, he broke it from around her neck.
"Come here. It's okay." He held out his hand and eased her off the gurney. She cautiously slid to the edge and tried to stand on her own, but she collapsed under her own weight. Stefan caught her in his arms and cradled her weak form to him. "Woah, it's okay. I've got you. You're okay now."
"Where is Damon? Is he alright?" She asked worriedly.
"He's fine. Let's get you home." Stefan told her and started to walk back towards the stairs, but Cassandra tugged on his shirt.
"Wait." She knew that she couldn't leave here without taking something, so she reached for Dr. Gilbert's and Dr. Maxfield's journals from the table. Stefan brought her closer and her shaky hands grasped the journals. She held them close to her chest and Stefan vamp-sped from the underground lab.
Cassandra's soft brown eyes trailed over the ultrasound picture that was in her hands for the thousandth time. She was finally safe at home and reunited with Damon, but a million questions still raced through her brain. Damon's secrets of his past haunted her and she was still rocked by the news that he was still slaughtering the Whitmore family, but leaving one alive to continue the family name. It was a dark secret for him to keep and she understood why he did what he did, but why the secrets? She never hid anything from Damon. She shared every memory with him and here he was, keeping things from her. She was so angry when she first learned about Damon's vendetta and a part of her still was, but that anger gave way to suspicion and doubt. It seemed like everyone has their own secrets to keep, including Elena's father.
She'd given Elena her father's journals and the young vampire remained locked in her room for the entire night. Cassandra could hear Elena's tiny whimpers as she read over the pages documenting years of torture and suffering and wanted to comfort her, but she remained rooted to the couch in the living room. She wondered what other secrets Damon was hiding from her and the very thought of the unknown taunted her like a petulant child. She'd burned Wes' journals, tossing them into the fireplace without so much as a second thought and she was more than happy to get rid of it. She was sure that he had copies or at least some notes on his recorder, but she felt a little more at ease with the notebook crackling in the fire. She wished that she could throw the rest of her problems into the fire, sealing them in an ashy grave.
"You coming to bed?" Damon asked as he entered the living room, but she could hardly think about going to bed now.
"I can't sleep," she mumbled under her breath. She hadn't even lifted her eyes to look at him. "Too much on my mind."
Damon had made his way through the room and was now standing in front of her, but he was facing the fire, clearly deep in thought. "Me too."
Cassandra tucked the photo of their baby into her pocket and rubbed her temples. She knew that this wouldn't end well, but she needed to hear answers from him. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"About Augustine or me killing off the Whitmore family?" He wondered, his face shrouded in a mixture of light and shadow from the dancing flames.
"Everything."
"Well, neither topics are exactly conversation starters."
"That's not an excuse." She countered and stood up. "Why didn't you tell me about all of it?"
"My days as a part of Augustine were over as soon as I escaped. There's no need to relive it." Damon shrugged.
"Damon, you were there for five years. You were tortured and experimented on."
"Exactly my point." He cut her off sharply. "No need to relive it."
"As much as you've tried to forget it, it's still a part of you. It's a part of your past and apparently your present too." She added venomously. "Or else you wouldn't be leaving me to take a weekend trip to kill members of the Whitmore family."
Damon swallowed his reply; he knew that she would bring his past up when they saw each other again and now he had to face her and explain why he did what he did. "I don't need you to defend my actions. I don't want it."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "We're really going to play this game? I understand why you did it. I do, because I would have done the same thing to the people that locked me in a cage and poked and probed me for five years."
He finally turned to face her, anger burning in his chilling stare. "Good. So, now that we're on the same page; drop it."
"No, I will not drop it." Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides. "Your past is every part of you as it is a part of me. We share a life together, Damon. We're married for God's sake. Why did you feel the need to hide this all from me?"
"People keep secrets from each other. It's nothing new." He was trying to deflect her argument, but she refused to back down from him.
"But it shouldn't be that way. I shared everything about myself with you. I didn't hide my past because I was ashamed of it."
Damon squared off his shoulders as his anger mounted. "I'm not ashamed of my past, Cassandra."
"Then why hide it?" She threw her hands up in the air out of frustration. "Why, Damon? Why did you hide it from me?"
"Because I didn't want to give you another reason why I'm bad for you, okay?!" He snapped loudly and Cassandra froze in her spot, her feet seemingly rooted to the floor. "I'm bad for you, Cassandra. I do bad things. I kill people and I like it. I'm bad for you and I'm bad for our daughter."
As if on instinct, she patted her stomach and frowned. "What brought this on? Why are suddenly doubting yourself?" She saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes and she felt like she was hit with a brick. "Enzo? Enzo told you this?!"
"Cassandra-"
"No! He shouldn't even...God! Is he for real?! I could strangle him!" She hissed. Enzo had no right commenting on their situation and she wanted to rip his head off. "What else did he tell you?"
"It doesn't matter. All that does matter is that it's true." He murmured. Enzo had gotten in his head after he gave him the antidote to cure him of Wes' poison. He told Damon how bad of a father he would be and the raven haired vampire couldn't help but think about his own father. He hated his father and a new fear emerged from inside him that his own daughter would grow up to hate him.
His wife's eyes bugged out of her sockets, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. "What? What do you mean it's true?"
"I wanted my revenge on the people who locked me up and experimented on me, so I took it. I didn't care who I killed or what I did to them. I just wanted them to suffer like I suffered. That makes me just as much a monster as Augustine." He told her and Cassandra palmed her face in her hands.
"I can't believe that I'm hearing this from you. Damon, this child is something we've wanted and wished for since we got married. We were even so crazy to think about taking the cure and becoming human forever. We fought so hard for our daughter." Her heart sank in her chest as she tried to plead with him, but so far he was blankly staring at her, his face a clear mix of emotions. "I wouldn't want anyone else to be the father of this child but you."
"Why? So, our daughter can grow up and learn about how her daddy rips people's heads off their shoulders?"
Cassandra growled low at Damon's jab and wanted to take him and shake some sense into him. "Oh, and like my daughter won't hear about some of the bad things I've done too? We're not perfect, Damon. No one is. We've all done our fair share of bad things. I still love you because I know that you're more than your choices."
"Stop defending me! Just face the truth that the both of us shouldn't be having a child! We're bad for our daughter, Cassandra. Admit it!" He shouted.
"I won't!" She screamed back at him, a dark glare in her eyes. "Why don't you just admit that you're scared about being a father?"Don't you think this scares me?" Cassandra fought as little tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her body shook with anger.
Damon rushed right up to her, staring her down. "Of course I know that it scares you, Cass, because it scares the hell out of me too!"
Cassandra gritted her teeth just as one lone tear streaked down her cheek. "Why are you so upset about this, Damon?"
Damon suddenly exploded like a ticking time bomb. His body tensed visibly and the veins in his neck were bulging as he roared. "Because it wasn't supposed to happen!" Paintings trembled on their mounts on the walls and the fire seemed to shrink away when he yelled at her. Cassandra even recoiled from the loud noise and she hugged her body protectively. His words sliced through her skin like a knife and white hot pain curled its burning hands around her. She'd seen Damon angry on many occasions, but none so extreme as this occurrence. She tried to get through to him, but he was so blinded by his own thoughts of revenge and his past continued to haunt him.
She reached out for his forearm in an effort to calm him, but he yanked his hand away as if she was going to stroke him with flames. "Damon..."
Unable to stay in the room for a moment longer, he stalked away, leaving his wife confused, upset and alone. The tears began to fall immediately and she slumped onto the couch in a fit of anger and frustration. She was at a loss for words and all she could do was sob silently. The pregnancy, Damon's past, Enzo, it was all testing their marriage and it looked like they were losing ground fast. Cassandra's shoulders shook, her whimpers mingled with the crackling fire and she looked down in her hand to see the ultrasound picture crinkled from clutching it in her hands. She wanted to show Damon the picture, knowing how happy it would make him, but she now knew that it would spark a complete and total opposite emotion from him.
She was now standing over the fire, ready to have the picture join Wes' charred and blackened journals, but as she prepared herself to let go of the paper, she realized that she couldn't. How could she let something so precious to her burn in the flames? How could she let herself give up on her daughter? Damon might be unsure about being a father, but she was sure as hell she'd be in her daughter's life. Cassandra smoothed out the crumpled image on top of the mantel before kissing her daughter's forehead.
"I'm sorry." She whimpered gently. "Your father is a good man, I promise. He just doesn't know if he's ready for you yet. He...he will be. Just be patient." She then folded up the picture and tucked it neatly away in her pocket. Strong kicks from inside her womb made her groan slightly; she guessed her daughter was as angry with Damon as her mother was with him. Cassandra brushed her hands over her belly as she cried in an effort to soothe her baby, but nothing seemed to work. The both of them were on edge, Damon probably more so than Cassandra, but it seemed like the weight of the world was sitting on their shoulders and growing heavier with each passing second.
Hi everyone! I decided to update tonight because I got the results of one of my tests back! I passed with flying colors and was in such a good mood that I wanted to update for all of you lovely readers/reviewers! I hope you all enjoyed it and please review! Well, it looks like Damon and Cassandra are on two completely different pages when it comes to their unborn child. Will they be able to work their issues out? Or will something or someone get in the way of their happiness?
grapejuice101: Hehe, it is kinda a love square, right?! I'm glad that you're enjoying it and I hope you liked this update! Thanks for reviewing.
Daisy96: Thanks so much for reviewing! I do want Elijah and Giuliana to get together already too, but they are very stubborn when it comes to admitting their feelings for each other :-P I have never watched Supernatural, but the idea sounds SICK! And sick, meaning FREAKING AWESOME!
twin of a sister: Thank you for your review, Lindsey! The "father of the year" line made me laugh too! These shows have a lot of great one-liners. I think Elijah's and Giuliana's relationship is very special and unique, while they don't want to admit their love for each other, they themselves are realizing how much they need each other. A very interesting dynamic, I think! As always, thank you for your kind words and I hope that you enjoyed this next update!
binks13: Hey giiiirrrlll! Glad you enjoyed the chapter! I am really enjoying writing Hayley and Giuliana as friends because they started off as an unlikely pair, but now they have become fast friends! The Klaus/Giuliana/Elijah dynamic is very interesting too! I can't decide who I want Giuliana with more! Both men are just so...delicious ;) Hope you liked this update!
SomebodyWhoCares: Don't feel bad, honey. I ALWAYS swoon at Elijah. Annnndd any other man that graces my screen ;) I wish that he would stop running away too, but he is full of pride and loyalty for his family.
Guest: Thank you for reviewing! I do hope that things work out for them too! And yes, Cassandra is about 5 months pregnant.
Guest: Yeah, I'm baaacckk! I'm so glad that I could make your day! Whenever I get a review, it makes my day! Hehe, Elijah and Giuliana will get their chance...eventually! Thank you for reviewing and I hope to hear from you again!
Shining Ruby: Thanks for reviewing! A lot of readers are torn between Klaus/Giuliana and Elijah/Giuliana (I am too!), so don't feel bad! The Giuliana/Hayley friendship is awesome too! They have really grown to be awesome friends. I hope that you enjoyed this update :)
Guest: Hi there! I do hope that everything works out for Damon and Cassandra too, but they do have to work out their problems like adults. Well, they got married in the beginning/middle of season 4 and they are married for almost a year. This is on or about because the timeline of the show is a little messed up and hard to follow at times. I would love to find an accurate timeline and find out for sure. Thanks so much for reviewing!
DritneyForever: Thank you for your review! So glad to hear that you're enjoying the story. Hope you liked reading this update :)
st321: Thank you and thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!