Disclaimer-I know it's been a while since I've said so, but I still do not own the Vampire Diaries. Only the stuff you don't recognize.
Chapter Twenty Five-Graduation
Audrey's P.O.V
"Are you okay?" I questioned Damon without so much as a hello as I stormed into our room, catching Damon looking at something in the mirror before turning to face me
"I'm perfectly fine, Audrey." Damon replied but it was blatantly obvious that he was lying to me. Before I could call him on it, he turned to the dresser and pulled a small box out from the top drawer, turning back to face me before opening it to reveal a small bottle that seemed familiar.
"Is that the cure?" I asked but immediately stopped myself before I completely fell for what Damon was trying to pull, "You're trying to distract me, Damon. Why?"
"I'm not trying to distract you." Another lie, he should really know by now that it wasn't that easy to trick me, "I just want you to focus on the cure right now."
"No! I am not going to focus on the damn cure!" I snapped, more worried than angry at this point
"Well, I guess that solves our sire-bond problem." Damon said and I felt stupid for not recognizing that earlier. Ever since I had turned my humanity back on I hadn't been feeling any sire-bondesque emotions…Damn it! He was trying to distract me again!
"Did you seriously just try to invoke the sire bond on me?" I questioned although I already knew the answer, "Well I guess that makes me feel a little better about what I'm going to do." I took a step forward and looked him straight in the eyes, "Take off your shirt, now." Damon scowled at me but did as I said. I felt my blood run cold when I noticed the wound on his shoulder hadn't healed yet, "Damon why hasn't that healed?"
"Because the bullet was laced with werewolf venom."
My eyes snapped open and I gasped as I took in my surroundings. It was the morning after Bonnie had temporarily dropped the veil to the other side and I was laying in bed next to Damon. I propped myself up on my elbow as I tried to calm myself down from what I had just seen and felt Damon stir.
"You okay?" Damon mumbled sleepily as he wrapped an arm around my waist
"Yeah. I'm fine." I lied easily, running a hand through my hair, "Just a bad dream."
"Dream or vision?" he asked as I moved out of his hold to grab his discarded shirt from where I had thrown it the night before and quickly pulled it over my head
"A dream, Damon, just go back to sleep okay." I replied as I got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. I wasn't sure if Damon had done what I had said because of how early it was or because of my freaky psychic powers but I was grateful either way.
I felt a wave of panic wash over me as I turned on the shower, my vision playing on repeat in my head. If it came true like every other vision that I had, then that was it, Damon would be dead. Klaus was in New Orleans which meant no cure. I couldn't let it get that far this time though, I had to do something to stop that from happening. One way or another I was gonna make sure Damon lived through the weekend. Now it was only a matter of how.
When I was done with my shower I wrapped a towel around myself and headed back into the room. I looked around in slight confusion when I noticed that Damon was no longer in bed, or anywhere else for that matter, but relaxed when I felt a presence behind me.
"You're right behind me, aren't you?" I questioned
"Yep." Came Damon's reply and I replaced the look of panic on my face with a smirk before turning around to face a half naked Damon, wearing only a pair of boxers and his signature smirk. Before I had a chance to say another word, Damon had me pushed up against the nearest wall, his lips meeting mine without so much as a second thought. I knew that there were much more important things to do at the moment than make out with Damon, like, I don't know, finding a way to save him, but he was very distracting. I kissed him back forcefully but was luckily saved by the sound of knocking at our door. Instead of moving back to let me answer the door, Damon just began trailing kisses down my neck and collar bone, allowing me the chance to reply.
"Yeah?" I called out
"Audrey, we need to talk." I heard Elena reply and Damon groaned into my neck in response before pulling back slightly, still keeping me pinned to the wall
"Can't it wait, Elena?" Damon asked, not even bothering to look away from me as he spoke
"It's important, dick." Both of our heads snapped in the direction of Jeremy's voice and I immediately pushed Damon back and headed toward the door, knowing that if he could hear Jeremy as well, then something was up. I made sure to tighten the grip on the towel I was wearing before throwing the door open to reveal Elena and Jeremy.
"Before I say anything else, you both can see him, right?" I questioned and Elena and Damon both nodded
"We think something went wrong when Bonnie tried to put the veil back up." Jeremy told us
"Brilliant deduction, mini Gilbert." Damon said as he joined me by the door, earning a glare from both Elena and Jeremy
"We tried calling Bonnie, but she isn't answering." Elena directed her comment to me, deciding to talk to me instead of acknowledge Damon
"We'll figure it out, okay." I sighed, "I'll do what I can to find Bonnie, you guys just go about your day like you would if you weren't both semi-living." This time I was the one to receive glares from the siblings and I just rolled my eyes in attempt to cover up the worry I was feeling. Not only did I have to make sure Damon stayed alive but now I had to find my witchy best friend as well. This day was starting out fabulously. "We should probably get dressed first, though." I added before shutting the door in my cousins' faces.
When I had finished changing into a pair of acid wash jeans, a plain grey tee shirt, and a pair of grey converse I sat down on the bed and tried to call Bonnie. By the time I had left my fourth voicemail on Bonnie's phone, Damon emerged from the bathroom completely dressed in his usual black attire.
"Any luck getting a hold of Witchy?" he asked
"No, I'm starting to get a little worried." I said as I got back to my feet, "She should have called me back by now." It looked like Damon was about to say something but whatever it was, was cut off by someone turning on the living room stereo full blast. "Is that Bon Jovi?" I questioned as the familiar first few notes of You Give Love A Bad Name started playing
"Great." Damon groaned in annoyance before heading out of the room without so much of an explanation. I was about to follow after him when my phone started ringing. I looked down at the caller I.D. to see that it was Bonnie before I answered it.
"Bonnie, thank god, I've been calling you for like twenty minutes." I said before she could get a word out, "What happened?"
"I hit a little snag trying to put the veil back up." She replied, stating the obvious, "I didn't have enough power, I have to wait until the full moon tonight."
"So basically we're gonna graduate right in the middle of a ghost filled Expression Triangle." I said, running a had through my hair before walking out of the room and toward the sound of Bon Jovi, "Well, that should be interesting."
"Maybe we should just cancel." Bonnie suggested just as the music that had been filling the house cut off
"Well, I'm not gonna argue against you but good luck trying to convince Caroline of that." I told her as I made my way down the stairs, "She already made me promise to show up and frankly I'm kinda scared of what she would do to me if I didn't."
"Good point." I heard Bonnie chuckle slightly, "Look, I gotta go but I will meet you at the school, okay?"
"Yeah, just be careful." I warned her before hanging up just as I walked into the living room to see Lexi of all people walking away from Damon and toward Stefan
"So if you and Ric and little Gilbert are all flesh-like and real-seeming, that means something went terribly wrong when Bonnie tried to put the veil up. And here you two are having Dance Party USA." Damon told the two
"You're right." Stefan slurred, clearly drunk, "How selfish of me to be indulging in these moments with my formerly dead best friend. I should be sacrificing my own happiness for the good of others, right? I should be upstairs grooming my hero hair."
"Are you drunk?" Damon asked, obviously not amused by Stefan and Lexi's behavior
"I don't know mom, am I?" I rolled my eyes at Stefan before walking forward and taking a seat on one of the couch armrests as Damon picked up the nearest bottle of alcohol and took a swig.
"Well, I guess that's one way to celebrate our supernatural apocalypse." Damon shrugged, "Now, care to hazard any guesses on what went wrong?"
"Bonnie didn't have enough power to put the veil back up." I answered him, three pairs of eyes turning my way as I took the bottle from Damon and took a sip, "She has to wait until tonight to put it back up."
"Perfect." Damon said sarcastically before he reclaimed the booze
"Where are Jeremy and Elena?" I questioned, looking around to find no sign of my cousins
"They left a few minutes ago with Ric." Stefan said, and it if I hadn't been freaking out on the inside, than seeing him drunk would have been hilarious, "They said something about burgers and booze."
"Uh, okay." I said, not sure of what to make of that response. I immediately got to my feet as a feeling of dread washed over me and my head snapped in the direction of the front door seconds before it rang.
"Audrey, what is it?" Damon asked but I didn't bother answering him as I walked past him toward the door, using my powers to hold him, Lexi, and Stefan in their places as I left the room.
Somehow I knew this was it. Whoever was behind the door was the one that had shot Damon in my vision. All I needed to do was stop them and everything would be fine. I faintly heard Damon calling my name but ignored it as I slowly opened up the door.
"Vaughn?" I scowled as I stared at the hunter that had been a pain in my ass back on Cure Island. I was actually surprised to see him, with the whole werewolf venom laced bullets thing I had been expecting Connor. I saw the gun in Vaughn's hand and lunged at him, tackling him to the ground as I tried to get the gun from him. The gun shot off twice before I could get it out of his hands but as soon as I had it I turned it on him and emptied the clip into his chest. I got to my feet as the light in his eyes dimmed and hissed in pain at the sudden movement. I looked down and felt my heart drop to my stomach when I noticed that the two shots Vaughn gotten off had hit me, one in the stomach and one in the shoulder.
"What the hell was that?" Damon snapped as he, Lexi, and Stefan ran into the room
"Our friend Vaughn stopped by for a visit." I replied, biting back a scream as I removed the two bullets and threw them out the open front door, "In case you wondering, he is still as much of a douchebag as he was when we last saw him."
As the three of them looked down at Vaughn, I decided to run up to mine and Damon's room to try and get a moment to myself to think.
I stared at my reflection in the bathroom and winced at the sight of the skin around where I had been shot turning a deep purple color as the werewolf venom started to spread. Well, I guess this is what I got when I tried to change the future. I may have been able to stop Damon from getting shot but now I was dying. I pulled a clean shirt over my head when I heard the sound of footsteps approaching and made my way back into the bedroom in time for Damon to burst in.
"What the hell was that about?" Damon snapped at me, "Why the hell did you use your psychic powers on me when Vaughn showed up?"
"Did I?" I questioned, trying to sound as innocent as possible, "It must have been a fluke or something. I still don't have full control over them unless you haven't noticed." Hopefully Damon would just accept my lie because I honestly didn't want to explain the real reason I had done it, which would only lead to him finding out that I was dying with no way of getting a cure in time to save me. He seemed to accept what I was telling him, believing that I wouldn't lie to him which only made me feel worse for doing so.
"How are you?" Damon questioned instead, seeming to calm down, "It looked like Vaughn got you pretty good."
"I'm fine." It was official, I was getting way too good at lying. I decided to walk over to the closet to pick out my outfit for the graduation ceremony instead of lying straight to Damon's face. I heard Damon moving around behind me as I pulled out a black bodycon dress that had sleeves that were long enough to cover up the festering wound on my shoulder. When I turned back around Damon was standing in front of me holding the box that I had seen in my vision. He opened up the box to reveal what I already knew to be the cure.
"Consider it a graduation present." Damon said with a smirk as I stared down at the cure
"How did you find it?" I asked as he handed me the cure
"Alaric gave it to me after he took it off of Silas last night." He replied simply, " I thought that you could give it to Elena." As if she had heard her name, Elena knocked on the door frame, announcing her arrival.
"I take it by the dead hunter in the living room, that you guys know about the hunters threatening the entire town?" Elena asked as she walked into the room and Damon and I both looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Elena. Okay, so we had obviously missed something. "Or not."
"Gonna have to go for or not on that one, Elena." I said as I walked up to her, cure in hand, "But before you tell us of our impending doom, here."
"Audrey, I can't take that." Elena said sadly, immediately recognizing what I was holding
"Sure you can." I smirked
"It looks like it might be cherry-flavored." Damon added and I couldn't help but laugh at that comment while Elena remained completely serious
"I'm not saying that I don't want it, obviously I want it, but that's the only one." A very solid point by Elena, "There's only one cure. And the hunters have made it pretty clear that they're willing to kill everyone in Mystic Falls until they get it."
"I want you to understand the consequence of the choice you're making right now, Elena." I said slowly, "Because you are right, there is only one cure and if you go down this road there is no going back. You will be a vampire, forever."
"I know but I can't take it knowing what those hunters will do to the rest of the town." Elena told me
I took a deep breath before shutting the lid on the box and turning back to face Damon. "Well, new plan I guess. You help the dick hunter that just woke up and Elena and I are gonna go graduate." I threw the box into his awaiting hands and turned to address Elena again, "You better go get dressed, if we're not at the school in thirty minutes Caroline will murder us." Elena nodded before walking out of the room.
"Silas is a calcified statue, we don't need to use the cure on him." Damon spoke up as soon as Elena was gone
"I know that." I said as I turned to face him once more, "All you have to do is distract him with the cure until Bonnie can put the veil back up in a few hours and we will have gotten rid of Silas and still have the cure." I could tell Damon was pissed that he was going to have to spend time with Vaughn but it was the only way to get rid of him again to he really didn't have much of a choice. He grabbed his leather jacket from the coat rack and threw it on before heading toward the door.
After I had changed into my dress, a pair of black wedges, and my leather jacket, I grabbed my keys and headed downstairs where Stefan and Elena were dressed in their graduation garb, standing near the door and having a conversation that only seemed to confuse both of them.
"What is Damon doing?" Stefan asked me as soon as I walked into his line of sight
"I told you Stefan, he's digging up Silas." Elena said, clearly frustrated that Stefan wasn't listening to her
"Sorry but he really isn't." I told her, holding back a wince as pain shot through me again, "Wherever Damon is taking Vaughn is just a stall. He hasn't had time to bury the body yet. You didn't really think I was gonna let you just give up on the cure like that, did you? But for now, all you have to worry about is graduation."
"Then it's settled." Jeremy said as he walked into the room with both mine and Elena's cap and gown, "You guys are going to graduation and Damon will worry about Vaughn and the cure."
"You both do realize that I never even sent out my college applications, right?" Elena said as I took my cap and gown from Jeremy
"Yeah, well, neither did I. We'll figure it out." Or not, since I'll be dead in a matter of days
"Plus, mom and dad would kill you if there wasn't a photo of you in your get-up." Jeremy added with a smile, as he handed Elena her gear, "And don't even worry about me because Lexi will keep me company."
"Let's go graduate." Elena said, returning Jeremy's smile
"That's the spirit. Now you two get going." I said to Stefan and Elena as I headed down the hallway, "I'll meet up with you there." I ignored the strange looks I was sure I was getting from them as I continued down the hallway to the door that led to the cellar. I ran down the stairs and quickly made my way over to the fridge that held the blood bags, feeling my hunger grow as soon as I laid eyes on them. I bit into one and drained it within seconds, immediately grabbing another after another until I had made my way through almost ten bags. As I dropped the last empty bag in the thrash I made sure to check over myself for any stray blood before heading back upstairs and out to my car.
~line break~
I walked across the grassy area that lead to the football field where the graduation ceremony was being held and smiled when I saw the sight of two familiar faces walking my way.
"Well, well, well. Jace it's been so long since we last saw each other." I said with a smile as I approached him and Aurora
"Indeed it has, Audrey, we must not let it be so long next time." Jace replied in the most ridiculous British accent that I have ever heard
"Oh my God." Aurora groaned as both Jace and I laughed, "You guys are so stupid."
"How dare you insult us!" Jace gasped over dramatically in his British accent and I tried my best not to laugh, "Audrey and I will not take this."
"Can we be serious for like five minutes so we can tell her." Aurora said and,though my interest was peaked, I couldn't stop.
"Jace, do not tell me you and my dear Aurora are with child." I pulled out the southern bell act, hell, if I was gonna die soon then I might as well have some fun with my friends while I can, "Everyone will think she's a common floozy."
"You guys can not be serious right now." Aurora rolled her eyes, "We wanna tell you that we got our acceptance letters to the University of Minnesota."
"Oh my god guys, that's great news." I said, dropping the southern bell act immediately and wrapping my arms around both of them, wincing when they hugged me back
"Yep, we're moving up there next month." Aurora said as we all pulled back, "You should come up with us. You know, visit everyone.
"Yeah, sure." I nodded, forcing a smile as I lied to my best friend, knowing full well that I wasn't gonna make it until then.
"Hey, guys!" The sound of Caroline's voice was unmistakable and all three of us turned to see her waving us over to where her, Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, and Elena were standing. We all smiled at each other before heading over to them.
"Thank you guys for today." Elena said to all of us when we were all standing together
" I can't believe it." Caroline said in disbelief, "We're actually all here. We are all here together."
I found myself tearing up at Caroline's words despite myself and of course it didn't go unnoticed by the blonde.
"Audrey Darke, are you crying?" She asked and everyone turned to face me
"This is it guys, our last hurrah before you go to college." I replied, feeling as if a half truth was my best bet at the moment
"Before we go off to college." Caroline tried to correct me
"I kind of sort of missed the deadline, you know, being an emotionless bitch and all." Elena spoke up from beside me
"Same here." I said with a shrug that was actually quite painful to say the least
"Well, the perks of being a vampire, we can go wherever we wanna go." Caroline said, ever the optimist, "We can choose our own roommates. We could get a quadruple room. Is that even a thing? You know what, we can make it a thing."
"I'm happy we're all here." Bonnie said with a smile as she grabbed a hold of Caroline's hand.
"Aw, group hug." Care suggested, jumping up and down
"Ah, I don't hug." Stefan pouted but there was no way he was gonna get away that easily
"Get over yourself, Salvatore." Aurora said as she pulled him into the hug. I let out a sigh as I enjoyed one of my last moments with my friends.
After we had all gone through the graduation ceremony and we had all gotten our diplomas and did the extremely cliché cap toss thing, Elena, Stefan, Caroline, and I met behind the bleachers to talk about the ghosts that were currently plaguing the town.
"So what are we supposed to do, just wait until the moon rises and hope that Bonnie can put up the veil before they do any serious damage?" Elena questioned from where she stood next to Stefan and Caroline, were as I was leaning against the bleachers finding it increasingly more difficult to hide any and all signs of the werewolf bite
"I guess that's all we can do." Stefan answered her, "Even if we do kill them they will only come back, twice as pissed as before."
"Audrey, are you okay?" Caroline asked as she stared at me, sending Elena and Stefan's attention my way as well, "You seem a little pale."
Just as I was about to deflect her with some b.s. answer, her, Stefan, and Elena began screaming as they clutched their heads. I turned to find a group of witches walking up to us and was slightly confused, yet fully appreciative, of why I didn't seem to be affected by their witchy migraines.
"Remember us, Caroline?" Who I assumed to be the leader said as she held her hand forward
"She might, but I sure as hell don't." I snapped as I moved in between the witches and my friends. By the look on the main witches face it was evident that she was also confused as to how I was still having a conversation with her which led me to believe it had to do with my psychic abilities, "Unfortunately for you, you just got on my bad side and let me tell you, that is not a place you wanna be." I took a deep breath before focusing on the eleven witches surrounding the leader and smirked when they began screaming out in pain, the sound of breaking bones loud enough for someone without supernatural hearing to have heard. "You hear that, Witchy? That is the sound of each and every one of your little witch friend's chest cavities collapsing in on itself."
"You must be the psychic." The main witch shouted back over the sound of the witches and my friends screams. "I should be honored that I am the one that gets to end your life."
"Sorry, but someone already beat you to the punch, cupcake." I growled back at her, watching as her coven members fell to the ground holding their chests in pain, a few coughing up blood.
"I see, werewolf venom is pretty fatal to a vampire." She drawled out, and after a moment a smirk broke out across her face, "I may not be able to kill you myself, but I do have a way of speeding up the process." With that she began chanting some spell in Latin. I was unable to stop her because if I did, I would break whatever focus I had on the other witches and they would just continue where she left off anyway. I watched as each of her witch friends became deathly still and just as the last one fell to the ground the head witch finished her spell. I ran forward and picked her up by the throat but instead of instilling fear in her like I had hoped, she just laughed at me, "Go ahead, kill me, it won't matter. You'll be dead within the hour."
"Yeah, well, it will still make me feel better." I snapped before ripping out her heart, tossing both her and her heart to the ground
My friend's screams cut off immediately and I bent down to clean the witches blood off of my hand with her shirt before turning to face Caroline, Elena, and Stefan again. Just by the look on their faces I could tell that they had heard what the witch had said.
"Why was she talking about werewolf venom, Audrey?" Elena asked somberly, tears already welling up in her eyes
"Well, funny story actually-" My explanation was cut short by an extreme amount of pain washing over me and I let out a scream, clutching my stomach as I fell to my knees.
"Oh my God." I could barely make out what Caroline had said as my screams were quickly taken over by violent coughs. When I finally pulled my hand away from my mouth it was sufficiently covered in blood
"Vaughn's bullet's were laced in wolfsbane." I choked out before an immeasurable amount of pain consumed me and I let out another blood curdling scream, collapsing all the way to the ground.
Third Person P.O.V
Elena, Stefan, and Caroline were at Audrey's side before she could hit the ground and they all looked at each other in worry as Audrey continued to scream out in pain.
"What are we going to do?" Elena asked, tears already making their way down her cheeks as she thought about having to lose her last family member
"I'll call Klaus." Caroline said as she pulled out her phone, but the blonde knew that if what the witch said was true then there wasn't nearly enough time to get Klaus all the way back to Mystic Falls
"We should move her before the hunger sets in and she tries to eat the entire senior class." Stefan spoke up, picking Audrey up bridal style and heading in the direction of where she had parked her car earlier just as she switched back to coughing.
"What about the cure?" Elena questioned as she and Caroline followed after Stefan, "If she's human than the werewolf venom can't kill her."
"No." Audrey groaned out as she shook her head, only semi-conscious at this point
"What do you mean no?" Elena asked in confusion and worry, "If you don't take it then you'll die."
"No." Audrey repeated as she continued to shake her head, only stopping when another scream tore through her
"Elena, call Damon." Stefan told the doppelgänger somberly as he opened the door of Audrey's Impala and set her in the back set, catching sight of the veins around her neck begin to turn a deep purple due to the werewolf venom in her system
Elena pulled out her phone as soon as the words were out of Stefan's mouth and quickly dialed Damon's number. Elena started tapping her foot impatiently when the older Salvatore didn't answer his phone right away but after the third ring he finally picked up.
"Well, good afternoon, Elena." Damon answered the phone sardonically, as he kicked Vaughn's, yet again, lifeless body into the quarry, "What can I do for you?"
"Damon, it's Audrey." Damon knew just by the sound of Elena's voice that the next words out of her mouth were not going to be something he was going to like to hear. Damon immediately vamp ran to where his Camaro was parked, got in, and was about to start the engine when Elena's next sentence stopped him in his tracks, "It's werewolf venom, Damon. Vaughn's bullets were laced with them."
"Tell Blondie to call Klaus and get his ass up here." Damon replied as he started his car and peeled out of the woods
"She's trying but he's not answering." Elena said and Damon winced when he heard Audrey scream in the background, causing him to drive even faster toward the school, "Even if she does get a hold of him, Damon, there isn't enough time."
"Of course there's enough time." Damon snapped, he could not, would not, believe that there wasn't enough to save Audrey, "It was only two bullets and they were only laced."
"This witch cast a spell on her to speed up her death." She replied, "She told Audrey that she only has an hour left."
"I'll be there as fast as I can." Damon told the doppelgänger before hanging up and throwing his phone to the side. Driving as fast as his Camaro would take him down the road.
Damon pulled into the Mystic Falls High school no more than five minutes later. He didn't even bother turning off the car before getting out and running over to where the Impala was parked, Elena and Stefan standing near the open back door as Caroline stood a few feet away still trying to get a hold of Klaus.
"Move." Damon demanded his brother and Stefan moved to the side silently, knowing that it was best not to say anything to Damon right now. Damon slid into the seat next to Audrey and winced at the sight of her extremely pale skin and the werewolf venom turning her veins a deep purple. "Audrey." Damon said softly as he gingerly took her face in his hands.
"Hi." Audrey replied with a weak smile before her smile turned into a grimace and she pulled out of Damon's hold. She bolted out of the car and to the nearest trash bin, emptying her stomach of all the blood she had downed before she had left the boarding house. Damon made his way over to Audrey and rested his hand on her back. When she was done, Audrey stood back up shakily and ran the back of her hand across her mouth to get rid of any extra blood before she turned to face Damon again. "I don't think I'm doing so good." she added moments before she passed out, Damon just narrowly catching her before she could hit the ground.
Audrey's P.O.V
I was slightly confused when I opened by eyes to find that I was standing back in mine and Damon's room, the pain seeming like it was worlds away. I looked down at myself and found that there was no trace of werewolf venom but instead of the dress that I had been wearing, I was now standing in a matching pair of red lace bra and panties as well as one of Damon's black button ups thrown over top, only half buttoned. I heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and turned around to find Damon laying in bed only wearing a pair of boxers. I smiled and ran over to the bed, not wasting any time bringing Damon's lips to my own. As soon as our lips met, I knew something was off and I pulled back instantly.
"Wait a minute, this isn't right." I frowned as I propped myself up on my elbows, "We were just at the school. I'm dying. Are we in my head right now?"
"Yep, it was the only place I could have a full conversation with you." Damon replied as he wrapped his arm around my waist, "Listen, Audrey, you're running out of time. You have to take the cure, it's the only thing that will save you."
"No." I told him, "And before you freak out just answer me one question. If the roles were reversed, would you?"
"No." Damon said immediately, refusing to look at me, choosing to look at the ceiling instead
"And I'm sure you already know why I don't wanna take it." I assumed, running my hand through his raven hair, causing him to close his eyes, "There's no point. If I take the cure its only a matter of time before I die or get killed off by some supernatural douche bag and we will be in this same exact spot."
"I can't lose you, Audrey." Damon said, turning his baby blues onto me and I could have sworn I felt my heart break at his words "What's to stop me from forcing you to take the cure?"
"I'm asking you not to, Damon. Please respect that." I told him right before the familiar pain returned. I guess this was it. "Damon, just remember that I love you and this isn't your fault."
Just as Damon was opening his mouth to respond this weird look passed over his face than was replaced with a genuine smile.
"You aren't dying today." he sighed in relief and before I could try to talk him out of his delusion he disappeared along with the faux world he had created in my head, leaving me in the dark.
Third Person P.O.V
"Klaus." Damon had never been as relieved to hear the Hybrids name as he was in the moment he heard Caroline say it just then. Damon opened his eyes as he returned to reality, moving as fast as inhumanly possible from the backseat of the Impala ,where he had moved Audrey back to after she had passed out, to where Klaus and Caroline were standing, "How did you get here so fast?"
"I was already on my way here to give you your graduation gift in person when I received your first message, love." Klaus looked toward Audrey before continuing. "Looks like Audrey picked a fight with the wrong ghost."
"We don't have time for chit chat, Klaus." Damon snapped impatiently, "If you don't feed her you're blood she is going to die."
"Oh I know." Klaus said, moving to look at Damon, "But I can't help but wonder why I would do something like that. I mean, she no longer holds the power to help me create my hybrids and she has tried to kill me more than once. So why go through all the trouble?" Damon actually found himself growling in anger at the Originals comment and even thought about breaking Klaus's neck so he could feed Audrey Klaus's blood himself. Had it not been for Caroline, he more than likely would have.
"Klaus…" Caroline pleaded and Klaus turned back to face his blonde obsession, "Please, she's my friend."
Elena, Stefan, and Damon all waited impatiently as Klaus and Caroline stared each other down, hoping that the hybrid would just give in and heal Audrey. Without so much as a word, Klaus broke the stare off and headed over to the Impala and Damon sighed in relief as he Klaus slid into the seat next to a barely conscious Audrey that was growing a sickly shade of grey. Klaus bit into his wrist and brought it to the psychic's lips, knowing that she would be too weak to bit into his wrist herself. Within seconds, Audrey was drinking Klaus's blood like her life depended on it, and seeing as it did it really wasn't that hard, and Stefan, Damon, Elena, and Caroline all relaxed as Audrey's skin turned back to it's natural color and the purple disappeared from her veins, a clear sign that their friend was going to be okay.
Audrey's P.O.V
Eyelids felt heavy as I forced them open, groaning at the offending light that was shining from overhead. I tried to roll over but a strong arm was wrapped around my waist, stopping me from doing so. Suddenly the memories from everything that had happened earlier hit me, my eyes snapping open as I tried to sit up, only to be held back by that same strong arm.
"Woah, Audrey, take it easy." Damon's voice rang out and I instantly turned to face him, seeing a look of pure relief written on his face
"I'm alive?" I questioned in disbelief, "How-how am I here right now, Damon? I should be dead. Oh my God, I'm dead aren't I? This is my version of heaven, isn-"I was suddenly cut off by Damon's lips meeting mine. I was in shock and by the time I had recovered enough to react, he was already pulling back.
"You know, I'm flattered that your idea of heaven is spending time in bed with me, but you are alive, Audrey." Damon said with a smirk, bringing his hand up to cup my check, "Klaus showed up when I was in your head. Guess he was already on his way to visit Vampire Barbie. Just in time too."
"I'm alive!" I repeated with a chuckle, "Oh my god, I'm actually alive."
Without so much as a thought, I leaned forward and brought my lips to his, surprising Damon by my actions. While Damon was stunned by my actions for a few moments, it didn't take him long to catch on and kiss me back. Our lips moved in sync and as the kiss deepened, we rolled over so I was hovering over Damon, my fingers making quick work of the buttons on his shirt before ripping it open and running a hand over his toned chest. Damon's hands moved down to the bottom of my dress, grabbing the fabric and removing it in one fluid movement, breaking the kiss for a fraction of a second as he did so.
Damon flipped us over before pulling back and smirking down at me, my heart skipping a beat in response. He began planting kisses up my abdomen, continuing up to my collarbone, my back arching in response every time his lips made contact with my skin. I moaned as he began nipping my neck, his hands moving slowly up my sides as he did so.I brought his lips back to mine with a sense of need I didn't seem to realize I had until his lips were off of mine. I wrapped an arm around his neck while the other hand trailed down his chest to the top of his jeans.
"OH MY GOD! WOULD YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF?" The aggravated voice of Alaric coming from downstairs broke up out moment, making me laugh as I pushed Damon onto the bed before getting to my feet and heading over to the closet.
"Seriously, Ric?" Damon groaned in response as I grabbed a pair of jeans and a black v- neck out of the closet and threw them on.
"Yeah, Damon, there are five vampire's down here who do not want to hear you two going at it." Alaric snapped back
"This coming from the guy that I ran into only wearing boxer briefs and holding a bowl of chunky monkey his first time you were with Jenna." I retorted as I put my hair up into a loose bun, smiling when Alaric didn't respond, "Thought so." I moved back to the bed and leaned over to give Damon a slow kiss before pulling back and whispering , "We'll finish this later." low enough so only he would hear, smirking and I stood up straight and headed to the door to meet up with my friends.
I wasn't sure why or how, but after I had gotten through a bunch of "Thank God you're okay's" from Alaric, Elena, Stefan, and Aurora; Elena had convinced me to leave the boarding house in search of Jeremy who had been AWOL since we had gone to graduation. And here I thought I would be able to stay in bed for the rest of the night and get over the whole almost dying thing but I guess not. Elena had brought me to the school since Alaric had said that Jeremy was going to talk to Bonnie and the last place that anyone had seen said witch was there. We ended up splitting up as soon as we arrived, Elena taking the first floor and me taking the second to try and find our missing family member. After searching through every room on the second floor, I came to the conclusion that Jeremy wasn't up here and quickly made my way back down stairs. I walked down the hall, trying to find Elena now that I had lost her as well, and was about to turn down another hallway when said cousin was launched across the floor, face covered in blood.
"What the hell happened to you?" I questioned as I helped her to her feet
"Katherine." Elena spat out seconds before I felt myself being thrown into a row of lockers
"Hello Audrey." Katherine drawled out, grabbing me by the throat and lifting me off of the ground, "It's actually a good thing you're here. Now I can kill both of you."
"You know, you're the third person to try and kill me today." I choked out, grabbing a hold of Katherine's wrist and twisting it until a loud crunch filled the room, followed by a hiss of pain, "I'm really started to get tired of all the threats." I added before using my telekinesis to send her to the ground. I took my eyes off of her and turned to Elena who looked as if she had seen better days, "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." Elena replied with a nod and I'm sure she would have been had Katherine been smart enough to stay down, but, then again, she wasn't really one to go out without a fight. Before I had a chance to stop her, Katherine grabbed a mop from beside her and broke off the handle to make a stake. She drove it through Elena's chest, just barely missing her heart, before I pushed the older vampire away from her doppelgänger, though clearly not far enough away because she grabbed the stake from Elena and staked me in the stomach, sending me to the ground.
"I have had it with you two." Katherine snapped as she loomed over me, pulling out the stake and causing me to groan out in pain. Clearly today was not my day. "Both of you have gotten everything that I have ever wanted; a prom, a graduation, friends, love, happiness. I never got any of that. Instead, I got five hundred years of running from a pissed off Original. Hopefully when you're gone, my luck will finally turn around." Katherine then pushed the stake into my neck and I began choking on my own blood as it pooled in my throat. The stake was immediately ripped out when Elena grabbed Katherine by her curly hair and threw her back on the ground, not waiting a second before she shoved something into Katherine's mouth. I was only able to catch a glimpse of the object but knew it was the cure, I assumed Damon gave it back to her while I was unconscious, and I watched as panic made it's way onto Katherine's face moments before she passed out, realizing what Elena had done to her.
"Enjoy you're human life, Katherine." Elena panted as she fell down next to her unconscious doppelgänger, meanwhile I sat completely still as I let it soak in that the cure was finally out of our hair.
Third Person P.O.V
Stefan backed his car up to the edge of the bluff that was stationed near the quarry and jumped out of Alaric's old truck and headed to the trunk where he had stashed an old Pierce and Franklin safe along with the calcified remains of Silas. After moving the safe of to the side he picked up the blanket wrapped Silas and dropped it on the ground near the edge of the bluff, raising his eyebrows when it hit the ground and made a sound that resembled that of a broken statue. He bent down quickly and was instantly filled with dread when he noticed that there was in fact a broken statue where Silas was supposed to be.
"Don't bother." A familiar voice rang out as Stefan began searching through the broken stone looking for any sign of Silas, "I'm not in there." Stefan got to his feet and turned around to see Silas hiding behind the face of Elena.
"Silas?" Stefan questioned, confused by how Silas had returned to his flesh form, "You were stone. They saw you. The spell worked."
"That's the funny thing about spells. They're bound by nature and nature demands balance. So every spell has a loophole." Silas drawled out, sounding an awful lot like Katherine while he did so, only confusing Stefan more with his words, "The spell that turned me to stone was bound by a witch. A living witch. So when that witch died, the spell broke."
"Bonnie?" Stefan said with a shake of his head, "Bonnie's not dead."
"It doesn't matter, does it?" Silas asked as he took a few steps toward Stefan, "And here's where the mystery of me comes full circle. I created the immortality spell two thousand years ago. I could never die, so nature needed to find a balance. A version of me that could die. A shadow self." Silas had to stop himself from rolling his eyes when Stefan still didn't seem to understand what he was being told, "A doppelgänger."
"So this is finally your real face?" Stefan asked, seeing what the doppelgänger was getting at, "You're another one of them?"
"Not exactly." Silas said before morphing into his true form, mirroring the face of the vampire standing in front of him. "Hello, my shadow self." Stefan's eyes widened at the sight of his own doppelgänger and was so shocked that he didn't even noticed the stake in Silas's hand until it was in his abdomen. "Do you have any idea what it's like to starve for two thousand years?" Silas added before ripping the stake out of Stefan and tossing it to the side. He looked down at the large lake below him to his doppelgänger and then to the safe a few feet away and was struck with an idea. He quickly picked up Stefan and threw him into the safe and locked it before pushing it over the cliff, a smirk making it's way onto his lips as he watched the safe sink to the rock bottom of the lake.
In the safe, Stefan pounded against the inside of the door, hoping to break himself out, but finding the safe wall to be to thick for him to make any leeway. He began to yell as the water began to surround him but he knew that no one would be able to hear him. Soon enough his screams were cut off by the water filling his mouth and lungs.
Authors Note
Well ladies and gents, there you have it. The final chapter of Bleeding Heart. I hope you guys have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. I would like to thank every single one of you that read, reviewed, alerted, and favorited; you guys are the main reason I write this and to see it have such a great fan base is amazing. I hope to hear from you all when I start the next story. Once again, thank you very much. Until next time...
Audrey;D