"Here." Audrey tossed him a blanket and a pillow. Alaric picked both up and looked them over.
"So you want me to sleep with my arms and feet chained to the wall? On the ground? With this?" He asked with a slight sigh. "Are you at least going to join me?" He gave her his best seductive smile. She went completely red.
"Of course not."
"Why not?" He teased playfully.
"Because!" She sputtered.
"Are you saving your honor for marriage?"
He wondered if she might faint from embarrassment. He thought he may have crossed a line, finally, and prepared himself for a brain-splitting migraine. Surprisingly, she answered him. She seemed stuck in place, unable to move.
"Not exactly."
"Are you involved with someone?" He pushed his luck.
"Not exactly." She repeated in a completely different tone.
"Do you not find me… appealing?" He asked her with a knowing smile. Her mouth opened, but just barely. He'd never seen that shade of red on someone's face before.
"So what's the problem? I'm your captive for the night, might as well have some fun. Promise not to tell anyone." He crossed his heart in a sign of good faith. "Do you have any condoms on you?"
Her slightly open mouth fell into a full-on gape. God, she's fun to tease.
"I think I do." He rooted around in his pockets. He'd left one in the pocket of his jeans weeks ago and never washed his pants. The look on her face as he withdrew two condoms, linked together, from his back pocket was completely priceless. He really had to try not to laugh out loud.
"You just- you just carry those around."
"In case I meet a sexy girl like you and she chains me to a wall. Look at that- there's two." He purred.
She mouthed something, but no sound came out. Alaric really did start to laugh then, she was just so cute. Fury lighted her features and his brain exploded into two.
She let his screaming go on for much longer than usual. Alaric was so weak he couldn't even move when she lifted the pain from his head.
"You're just making fun of me!" She cried as she stomped out.
"I'm not…" Alaric protested, his voice barely a whisper. He was a fast healer, but not fast enough. She was gone by the time he recovered enough to sit up.
"Your brother-" Audrey stormed into their room so quickly Olivia barely had time to sit up. "Your brother!"
Olivia exchanged a look with Rose.
"Did you hurt him?"
"Just a little bit. He's fine." She huffed, pacing back and forth. "How do you control him?"
Olivia gaped at her. Like she was going to tell her captor how to control her brother. The girl honestly looked like she expected her to, though. Olivia was starting to wonder how much experience this girl had in holding people captive, or even being on her own at all. Where was Katherine in all this? What was her role, the extent of her relationship with this very young witch?
"What's he doing?" Olivia asked patiently.
"He's-" Audrey turned bright red. "he's-"
"He's Alaric." Rose finished for her with a pained, but knowing, smile.
"Nobody controls him. He does what he wants." Olivia lay back down, trying not to grin at the ceiling. "But I do kick his ass from time to time."
"Kick his ass, then!" She exclaimed. "Kick his ass!"
"You want to let me out of these chains?" Olivia joked, lifting her shackled hands from the floor.
"Yes!"
Olivia sat bolt upright, checking the witch's face to judge how serious she was.
"No, I can't do that." She shook her head, cooling off a bit. "No. I'm sorry, I'm not used to-"
"What?" Olivia asked, interested. Audrey was finally revealing something about herself. All it took was Alaric's teasing to rile her up enough to loose control.
"Boys." She finished at last. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight as the two girls stared at her.
"Why not? You're hot." Olivia asked, blunt.
Audrey gaped at her.
"I'm- I don't-"
"Yeah, seriously." Rose agreed. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"
"I didn't grow up around boys." Audrey burst out. "I was homeschooled for most of my life. Can't you- can you help me, please?"
"Are you serious?" Olivia started to say, but Rose cut her off.
"Sure. If you help us."
Audrey's mouth opened, then shut.
"I can't let you go. Not yet."
Not yet. So she does intend to.
"Let us out of our chains. We won't hurt you and we won't run." Rose tried, her voice soothing.
"But, Katherine said-"
"Screw Katherine. Look, you don't seem like a horrible person. Believe me when I say Katherine is a horrible person. I don't know how you got tangled up with her, but she lies to people and manipulates them to her own end. I'm willing to believe you just got mixed up with her without knowing that."
"I know what and who she is." Audrey sighed. "But I don't have anyone else I can trust."
"Then you don't have anyone you can trust because no one can trust Katherine." Rose sighed.
Audrey looked like she was really considering releasing them. After an immeasurable pause, however, she shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I know you're good people, but I can't trust you not to run away."
"What do you even want us for?" Olivia fell back to her lying down position, losing interest in the conversation. She heard the dull echo of a vampire speeding through the tunnels.
"Audrey, do you need something from these girls?" Katherine slinked out of the shadows, her eyes skipping between the three of them.
"No." Audrey said, uncertain.
"I told you, I'll look after them. You work on the boy. You don't need to bother with these two."
"Yeah because you did so well with the witch before." Audrey addressed her with a cool look.
"Don't let them convince you to do something you'll regret. Remember why you're here, why you're doing this." Katherine skated past her accusation.
"I know, Katherine. I don't need a pep talk." Audrey said, irritated.
Katherine cast an evil grin at Olivia, then Rose.
"Alright. I trust you." She sank back into the shadows of the tunnel and Olivia heard her vamp off.
"Here." Olivia noticed for the first time that Audrey was carrying blankets and pillows under her arms. "Get some rest."
Hell hath no fury- Alaric was musing to himself as Audrey emerged from the end tunnel. He watched her warily as she fussed with the gate, unlocked it, and edged into the room. She still looked pissed.
"Good morning?" Alaric tried.
"Afternoon." She corrected him.
"Well, I'm in a dark tunnel, so sense of time kind of goes out the window."
"I brought you some food." She introduced the tray of food in her hands.
"Also, that's breakfast food, so you can't blame me for assuming."
"It's easy to make."
She set it down some distance from him and pushed it over with the tip of her dagger.
Alaric immediately set in on the waffles and hash browns. There was fruit, too, and orange juice.
"I didn't mean to upset you. I really wasn't messing with you." He said between mouthfuls. "I'm sorry."
Audrey blinked at him, some of the hostility seeping from her expression. She scooted closer, pointing to the butter packet he hadn't noticed with the tip of her sword.
"I'm sorry too. I think I overreacted and fried your brain too much."
"You want to share?" He asked, as innocently as he could muster.
Audrey blinked at him again before a soft smile, the first one he had seen from her, started on her face.
She reached for a grape.
Faster than most people could see, Alaric grabbed her hand and yanked her back flush against his chest, throwing her body over the distance between them. Audrey gasped as his hand closed around her neck in an iron chokehold, his other arm wrapping around her waist to hold her close. The breakfast tray became an upended mess on the floor.
"Unlock my chains. If you scream I'll snap your neck in half a second." He whispered in her ear, his voice low, quiet and deadly. Audrey's breathing kicked up and he could feel her pulse race beneath his fingers. "I don't think I have to mention that a witch headache is not a good bet."
Audrey took a few shuddering gasps, her fear getting the best of her.
"Hey Liv. Rosey."
The sound of a vampire speeding through the hallways accompanied the appearance of Alaric. Audrey gasped for breath as they slowed to a stop. She didn't seem to have much experience with vamp speed.
"Yo, bro. Took you long enough." Olivia smirked, sitting up in her cage.
Alaric turned so his lips were close to the girl's ear and his hand tightened on her throat. Olivia wouldn't have traded places with Audrey for the world. Alaric's calm disposition was absolutely terrifying when he wanted it to be.
"Open them."
Audrey swallowed hard, her face contorting in fury and fear. The locks on the cages clicked open. Rose rushed out of her cage and immediately rifled through Audrey's pockets. She pulled a small ring of keys from one pocket and set to work unlocking Olivia's shackles.
Olivia stretched and rubbed her wrists. She approached the quivering blond witch in Alaric's death grip.
"Now you're going to answer a few questions."
Damon sighed as he shut the door behind him. Elena came rushing around the corner, hope in her eyes that died when she saw he was alone.
"You didn't find them." He reluctantly shook his head.
"They didn't call?" He had to ask, his hands trembling as she, in turn, shook her head. He grabbed a stool and chucked it across the room. It hit the wall with a crash.
Elena closed the distance between them and rested her hand on his. They stood there together silently, drowning in the fear and worry together. Jeremy emerged from the bathroom, saw the looks on their faces, and sank down onto the couch, his eyes hollow.
The phone rang.
Elena glanced between the two of them, hope springing up though he saw her try to push it down. She reached for the phone with a quivering hand.
"Hello?"
"Mom!"
Elena's knees gave out and she sank to the floor. Relief flooded Damon as he recognized Olivia's voice. He searched for the extra home phone to give to Jeremy.
"Honey, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm ok! Alaric and Rose are here too, and they're fine. But, uh, we were kind of kidnapped."
"What happened? Who did this?" Damon hissed, though he didn't have a receiver he knew Olivia would hear him. Fury was already pumping through his veins.
"Do you know an Audrey Burns?"
Elena checked with him before replying,
"I've never heard of her."
"Well, she and Katherine Pierce abducted us."
Elena gaped at him and Jeremy, her hold on the phone tightening.
"Where are you now, baby? We'll come get you."
"That's the thing, uh…. They took us back to Mystic Falls."
So it occurred to me this morning that, even though Jeremy's back, they killed off Bonnie now so Rose still couldn't happen. The writers are determined to ruin my head canon of the second generation.