Bloodlines

Chapter 29: No Exit

Beta: PrincessOfSilence

Disclaimer: I own nothing of TVD or TO. I only own my characters and my story.


It was secluded home somewhere out of town where Damon, Enzo and Cassandra decided to shelter for the night. With Damon's newly acquired ripper virus, it was thought best by Enzo and Cassandra to keep him away from a town full of people. It was Enzo's brilliant idea, since Cassandra hadn't chimed in much on the matter. In fact, she and Damon hadn't spoken at all since they entered the house which left Enzo as the awkward third wheel. By the looks of inside the house, a young couple resided there, however the trio could only find the young male at home.

Cassandra sat quietly in a chair by the vacant fireplace, her chin in her hand and she let her mind wander while Enzo and Damon looked around the place. She was still in the clothes she was in when she flew through the windshield of her car, but something was tugging at the dark corners of her mind. The events of that night were clear in her mind except for how she got in the car in the first place. It was like her memory had black holes in it and she could only remember certain things, as if someone had put a block on her memories. The last thing she was remembered was her amicable conversation with Damon about them taking some time apart and after that things were a blur until the very last seconds before the car crashed. She remembered literally waking up behind the wheel of her car before ending up on the pavement. She ground her bottom lip between her teeth and growled frustratedly under her breath at her flighty mind.

"You've been awfully quiet," Enzo mentioned, but she didn't even look at him. He pursed his lips and scrunched his nose. "Hmm, very moody."

At his last comment, she pushed herself up from the chair and stalked out of the room. She stepped over the body of the owner of the house and stomped upstairs without another word. Damon watched silently and fiddled with his daylight ring. Enzo sighed wearily and plucked up a framed photo of the married couple who owned the house off of the coffee table.

"You think they fell in love milking cows?" He asked his friend.

"Probably." Damon shrugged uncaringly. "Then she became one. So, he drank himself into oblivion—she cheated with the pastor."

"Just because your true love hasn't acknowledged you since we left the lab doesn't mean you have to dump on others," Enzo muttered.

Damon snatched the picture from Enzo's hands, sneering down at the two in the photo. "There's no love in there. Look at that picture; it's old. The milk maid's nowhere to be found—it's just pathetic ol' farmer John."

"Manners!" His friend tsked and jerked his head to the man's body on the floor. "It's impolite to speak ill of our hosts."

"I doubt he'll mind." Damon's eyes narrowed at the dead body. Well, he wouldn't be dead for long.

"Cranky." Enzo clicked his teeth and fished his phone from his pocket, gazing at the screen. "It's been almost eight hours since you last fed. So, I suppose that's about right."

Damon's narrowed glare turned on his friend. "Are you timing me?"

"You feed on vampires now. I am a vampire and even though your lovely wife is part vampire, you'll still want to feed on her. The only way to ensure our safety is to know how long you can last until your next fix."

"Or you can just leave."

"I don't abandon my friends, Damon. Besides, if you hadn't come with me to kill Doctor Wes, he wouldn't have stuck you with that nasty virus." The vampire admitted just as the owner of the house jolted up and took in a big gasp of air. His eyes darted around wildly and Enzo grinned to Damon.

"Ah! Just in time."

The man rose to his feet. "What did you do? What's happening?"

Enzo clapped Damon's shoulder and handed him a blood bag he'd snatched from the hospital. "I trust that you'll explain this all to him."

"I will." The blue eyed vampire smirked and Enzo left the two to get better acquainted as he wandered upstairs.


"Ugh, hideous. Repulsive. Ghastly." Cassandra groaned as she slid hangers aside on the railing in the closet. She nitpicked some pieces of clothing off the hangers, but after having a closer look at them, she tossed them aside with a sound of distaste.

"Not talking about me now, are you?" Enzo's cheeky grin mocked her in the doorway and she barely lifted an eye to him. She was more concerned about getting herself a shirt to wear, so she didn't have to stay in the blood soaked one from when she died.

"What do you want?" She hissed and dug out a dark blue plaid shirt. Thankfully, they were ransacking the house of a burly man because if it was anyone else's house, she doubted that she'd find something to wear.

"I wanted to see if you were alright," he replied and stepped inside the room.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "You don't give a damn about me, Enzo. Don't start pretending now."

The vampire placed his hand over his heart, a look of disbelief on his face. "I'm hurt; I do care about you. You're Damon's beloved and you are carrying his child. Plus, we are in quite the situation now that he is feeding on vampires."

"Whatever." She mumbled and turned away from him to maneuver the bloody shirt off her. Becoming bored with it, she yanked it clean from her body. She slid her arms into the long sleeves of the new shirt and turned back to Enzo as she buttoned it up.

"Pretty as a picture." He smiled at her and walked to the bed where her old shirt was lying crumpled up. The blood had dried and some crusted pieces were coming free. The fabric was torn as well, little rips littering random spots. Before he could pick it up, she yanked it from his grasping hand, rolled it into a ball, and lobbed it into the garbage.

"No sense in keeping this." She hummed. "I don't need a reminder."

Enzo's eyes watched her carefully. "A reminder?"

"Of the night I was catapulted through the windshield of my car and died on the side of the road," she said.

"So, Damon was right about you leaving him."

"No," her voice cut him like a scalding knife. "We spoke earlier that night. We agreed that things were getting tense between us and we came to the decision that we needed some time apart. Temporarily. Meaning that I would leave and come back to him."

"That wasn't what Elena told him." He shook his head.

At the very mention of Elena's name, Cassandra felt a twinge in her brain. It was like something inside her was telling her that something was wrong Elena relaying the information to Damon about her leaving. Why would she do that? Cassandra and Elena may have had their differences in the past, but to spread a lie that wasn't true was so not like Elena.

"Look, I don't know why Elena told him that I left him for good." Her hands clutched her head, her nails digging into the skin of her temples. "It's not true. I died, Enzo."

"That's not how Damon remembers it." She gave a sigh of discomfort and pressed a hand to her belly. "What is it?" Enzo wondered curiously, keeping his eyes on her.

"Just kicking." She answered him. "More than usual."

"Well, it doesn't help that you're stressed. Stress and expectant mothers are never a good mix." He said matter-of-factly.

"I've had a lot to stress about and you haven't helped it at all."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is so." She stated. "How dare you come into our lives and try to make Damon feel guilty for something that happened fifty years ago. It's over and done with. Move on."

"Move on?" Enzo's eyebrows creased.

"Is there an echo in here?" She mocked. "I am not going to let you ruin my marriage by convincing my husband that he is this monster. If you ask me, Enzo, the only monster I see is you." The vampire glared at her as she shoved past him. Her words stung him like a scorching hot branding iron and he was left to ponder to those thoughts.


Cassandra descended the stairs in time to see her husband dragging the bloodied corpse of the resident of the house and propping him up into a chair. She could see the fresh blood dripping from his lips and the hunger was still in his eyes. Damon stepped back from the chair, admiring his work with a tilted head and squinted eyes.

"Taking a page out of Stefan's book, I see?" Her venomous tone made him turn and his confident air deflated a bit. "Having fun?"

"She speaks." He muttered under his breath.

"You're lucky I've held my tongue this entire time because you don't even want to know the things I would have said to you." She hissed.

"Then say them, Cass." Damon walked to meet her, his darkening gaze trained on her. "By all means, let it out."

"Damon, I—" She stopped herself seeing Enzo come down the stairs and she cursed his very presence. The vampire traipsed over to the body that Damon propped up in the chair and kicked it with his foot. The body tipped over and fell to the floor with a heavy thud, earning a scoff from Cassandra.

"Classy." She grumbled.

"You know it, darling." He smirked at her and she could see Damon's jaw twitch at the nickname he called her. Enzo was amused by it, but passed a look to Damon. "Well, we've got eight hours until you need to feed again. I wonder, what New York's like these days."

Damon's heated gaze turned to one of hunger and he licked his lips. "Crowded."

"Perfect. Let's go." Enzo grinned, but Cassandra pulled him by his arm.

"New York? Are you out of your mind?! No! We're going home!" She hissed.

"So, we'll let your blood crazed vampire husband loose in Mystic Falls? Not likely."

"Like it would be any better in New York?" Her grip on his arm tightened. "You've spent too much time locked up in Augustine, Enzo!"

"It would have been less time if your husband would have opened the damn cage!" He roared back at her.

"Enough!" Cassandra's lips pulled back, revealing her double set of fangs and her eyes clouded with wisps of crimson that surrounded her now amber orbs. Her hands grasped Enzo's throat, her elongated werewolf nails shredding into his skin and in one swoop, the vampire was thrown across the room. His body left a deep imprint in the wall behind him and the paint crackled. Pieces of drywall had come loose and some pieces rained down onto the floor. Damon stood there in complete shock and was speechless; a feat that was nearly impossible for him, but Cassandra's outburst had left him without words.

Enzo staggeringly rose to his feet and leaned over to place his hands on his knees. He hadn't expected a hit so hard from Cassandra and he found himself strongly regretting making his last comment. The only time he'd ever seen anyone so angry was when he and Damon were fighting on the Whitmore campus back when Wes was holding Cassandra captive. He watched her features recede very slowly as if to warn him of what would happen again if he brought up the cage incident or anything about Augustine again and she continued to glare at him. The silence in the air threatened to engulf them when they heard a very familiar chanting from just outside the house.

"What is that?" Enzo wondered, working out the kink in his neck.

Damon rolled his bright blue eyes and picked up his leather jacket off the couch. "It's the obnoxious theme song of The Travelers."

The trio walked to the door to exit the house, but were pushed back by an invisible force and the Travelers stood outside with their hands raised. Cassandra slammed her fist against the forcefield, growling low in her chest.

"This day can't get any worse." She shook her head as Dr. Maxfield walked through the Travelers and up the front porch.

"As a man of science, I always considered magic a cheat. Turns out, I cheat." He smirked knowingly at them.

"Surprise, surprise." Cassandra bit.

Wes looked to Damon who frowned. "How's the appetite?"

"Funny you should ask, I was just craving a blonde." He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You're my patient 0, Damon. I couldn't let you ride off into the sunset without a few tests." Wes said.

"A few tests?" Enzo wondered.

"Well, one test." He corrected. "Now that you're trapped with two sources of food, how long can you go before you feed on your best friend and your wife?"


"The sky is getting darker." Cassandra mentioned as she stared out the window in the living room. The Travelers and Wes had left after the boundary spell was completely in place, ensuring that Wes' experiment would be able to be completed with no outside variables acting upon it. Enzo sat quite calmly in a chair against the wall while Damon paced anxiously. He knew that he wouldn't be able to control his hunger and that it would only be a matter of time before he lashed out at his good friend or his wife.

In a fit of rage, he flung a living room chair at the window, hoping to at least find one exit in the house, but the chair merely fell back to the ground after bouncing against the barrier.

"Give it up, mate. Those Travelers sealed this whole place up tight." Enzo told his friend.

"The spell can't last forever." Damon said.

"It doesn't need to. Wes only needs it to last eight hours, remember? Then he can come back inside and autopsy the mangled corpses of myself and Cassandra."

Cassandra, hearing her name being dropped turned herself from her spot at the window to face the vampire. "Thank you for that visual." Enzo gave a shrug and adjusted himself in his seat so that one leg was crossed over the other.

"You're pretty Zen about all this." Damon noticed.

"Did you forget everything I taught you in that cell? Calmer heads will always prevail." His friend replied.

Damon scoffed. "Always the soldier."

"But you do have people we can call, like your brother or Elena. They can find Wes and threaten him, or maim them. Anything that doesn't involve your fangs on my neck." That made a spark of hope burn deep inside Cassandra and she found herself reaching as to where her phone would be, but grimaced remembering that she didn't have it on her.

"He makes a good point." She agreed.

"'He' is right over here. No need to talk about me like I'm not here." He sighed.

"Don't make me throw you into a wall again." At the very mention of it, Enzo very mockingly held his fingers at his lips and pretended to lock his mouth shut. Cassandra rolled her eyes at his childish behavior and looked back to Damon. "Just call Stefan or someone."

"My brother told me to leave and not come back. I'm not calling him." The blue eyed vampire clicked his teeth.

"So, my life is not worth your pride? What about the life of your wife and unborn child?" Enzo pushed himself out of the chair.

Damon was shaking his head now. "They won't come."

"You're scared you'll hurt them." Cassandra stated and Damon didn't reply. "Damon, you're risking mine and Enzo's safety with each passing second."

"I'm not going to feed on either of you. I'll find another way." He assured her.


Hours had passed and night had fallen. Damon and Cassandra were left alone while Enzo went exploring the different rooms. The couple sat opposite of each other, each one staring right at the other, but none of them spoke. Damon's foot twitched every so often and Cassandra could only guess that he was doing it out of nervousness. She passed a hand over her stomach, rubbing it comfortingly as if to give herself and her baby some piece of mind.

"How are you feeling?" Damon's soft voice caught her off guard and for a moment she had to stare at him for a bit longer to make sure that he'd actually spoke to her.

"I'm fine. A little tired, but okay." She replied and her eyes met his. "How about you?"

"Hungry." His answer made her stomach drop and just like that, they went back to their own silent corners until Damon spoke again. "I'm sorry."

Cassandra tilted her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. "Huh?"

"If I didn't have some stupid vendetta against Dr. Maxfield and the Whitmores, we wouldn't be in this mess." He elaborated. "We'd be home, sitting in front of the fireplace and I wouldn't have the urge to rip your head off."

Cassandra didn't answer; instead, she sulked in her chair and kept her gaze on her hands which were folded in her lap. She was then brought back to the fact that both her engagement ring and wedding band were gone, but she couldn't remember where she had put them. Why would she have taken off if she was just going out of town with every intention of coming back?

"I'm sorry too." Her voice was quiet, but the corners of her lips upturned just a bit. "For punching you."

Damon chuckled, the smirk on his face growing and Cassandra's grin grew too. It was nice for them to be smiling and laughing again. "Nah, I deserved that one. I was a homicidal maniac. After what Elena told me about you leaving, I just lost it."

"I would probably have the same reaction." She told him, but she was met with Damon shaking his head.

"No, you would have searched every corner of the world and dragged me back by hair." He said, his gaze staring off to seemingly nothing. "You would have handled it better than I did."

"Damon, I don't know why Elena told you that I couldn't handle your past and our marriage and the baby, but it's not true." She slowly stood and made her way over to where he was sitting, but he got up and hightailed it to the window where she was standing before. His back was toward her and she could practically see his muscles tensing through the dark material of his shirt. His hands were rested on the window sill and were beginning to turn white from how hard he was gripping the nearly splintering wood. She walked to stand behind him and she hesitantly placed a hand between his shoulder blades. He tensed even more and shied away from her touch.

"Damon, please." She pleaded with him to turn around, but he stood stone still like a statue. Her hand on his back moved to hold his shoulder and her free hand cupped his face. Very slowly he turned towards her and she could see the muscles in his face drawn so tight that she swore that they would snap any minute. Purple veins speckled beneath his eyes and she could tell that time was becoming short. He would have to feed soon and it would not be a pretty sight.

Her hands cupped his face and she stroked over the protruding veins and she could feel his blood pulsing through them. "You're okay."

"But, I'm not." Damon's hands grasped her wrists, his thumbs rubbing along the insides of them.

"Damon-"

"It's only a matter of time, Cass. When my hunger really kicks in, there won't be any way to stop me. I'll have to feed on one of you, but I promise that when that time comes, I will fight it." His voice was strained and the hold on her wrists became tighter. She knew that he would fight, but she also knew that the virus would soon take over his mind and force him to become a deadly predator.

"I know you will." She stared up into his hypnotizing blue eyes and she found her gaze constantly falling to his lips. Damon's own eyes were making the same path along her face, but neither of them made a move. Finally, Cassandra leaned up, pressing her lips firmly onto his and she could practically feel his entire being relax into hers. His hands wrapped around her waist and he kissed her back, giving into the temptation of her lips on his. It had been too long since they enjoyed each other's company and Cassandra gasped into his mouth when his tongue swept across her bottom lip. Hands wandered over curves and dips of bodies and Damon growled possessively against her lips, pulling her body closer to his. Cassandra whimpered wantonly and trailed her hands down his body, her fingers feeling the material of his V-neck and his oh-so-tight jeans. She hovered over where he ached for her the most and Damon was nearly ready to pin her to the wall and have his way with her when the loud sound of metal being thrown onto the floor startled their kiss.

Enzo stood over a pair of thick towing chains that he found in the cellar and his gaze passed between the couple who was trying to adjust themselves. Damon's lips were swollen and his shirt was mused while Cassandra's cheeks were bright red with embarrassment.

"That was quite a show. Don't stop on my account." He smirked at them, earning a low groan of disgust from the couple. Enzo then picked up the chains and nodded to a chair that was in the living room. "Take a seat."

"What the hell are these?" Cassandra cleared her throat as Damon sat in the chair.

"Towing chains, a farmer's best friend. And, in about an hour, yours and mine too." The vampire replied and started winding the chains around Damon's waist, making sure to trap his arms at his sides.

"They're not gonna to let us out of here until I kill the both of you or you kill me."

Enzo rolled his eyes. "Don't be dramatic. We'll work something out."

"There's no cure, Enzo. Not for this." Damon told him.

"You've given it all of two days. That's what you do, isn't it? There's a problem, you run."

"Because when I stay, I destroy things." He countered as Enzo pulled the last bit of chain around his body. Enzo then took a monkey wrench from his back pocket and tightened up the chains to make sure that Damon was nice and smug.

"We're not all as fragile as you think we are." He spoke and admired his work with a wry grin. Cassandra didn't want to look at her husband bound up like an animal, but perhaps Enzo had a good idea to keep them both safe. She then slipped her hand in her pocket and produced Damon's phone, holding it up in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Damon growled.

"Calling for help. You may not think that Stefan will help, but I like to think otherwise." Cassandra scrolled through the directory. When they were lip-locked, she had managed to take his phone off of him, knowing that he was too stubborn to call Stefan.

Damon's arms flexed in the confines of the chains. "I thought I told you not to call them!"

"Well, well. I'm mildly impressed." Enzo smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You can thank me later by leaving town and never coming back. Watch him and make sure he doesn't get out." She glared at him and walked off to make her call in privacy. Damon shouted after her, wrestling with the chains to get free, but Enzo had strapped him in tight.


Katherine Pierce rolled her eyes seeing Damon's name come up on the caller ID of her buzzing phone and at first she wasn't going to answer, but she knew how persistent the eldest Salvatore could be. Stefan was showering, so she knew he wouldn't be able to hear this conversation if she spoke low enough. She plopped down on the uncomfortable motel mattress and got into her best Elena impression before answering the phone.

"Damon?"

"Elena? It's Cassandra."

The Petrova froze. Cassandra had come back into town? And she was using Damon's phone? What the hell was she doing with Damon? A thousand questions ran through her head and she checked the door to the bathroom to make sure that Stefan wasn't going to come out of the shower anytime soon.

"Hello? Earth to Elena?" Cassandra snapped and Katherine was now pacing about the room.

"Sorry, I'm here. So, wait, you're back now?"

"I'll explain that later when we have the time. We need your help."

"Where's Damon?" Katherine wondered.

"He's here along with Enzo. Damon's been infected with Wes' ripper virus, so it's only a matter of time before he feeds on Enzo and I."

"Oh my God..." Not that Katherine cared at all, but she had to put on a show. "Where are you guys?"

"In a house south of nowhere. The Travelers spelled the place, so we can't leave. Elena, I know that Stefan told Damon to leave town and never come back, but Damon needs his brother more than anyone right now." The sound of Cassandra pleaded made Katherine's stomach churn and she ground her teeth in her mouth. She didn't want to do this, but...

"Okay. Um, text me the address to my phone and we'll be there as soon as we can." She said and she heard Cassandra heave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Elena. Just please hurry. This ripper virus; Damon won't be able to stop himself from feeding unless we kill him." Katherine's ears perked up at that and the gears in her mind started whirling wildly again. The shower in the bathroom turned off and she knew that she had to hang up.

"Fine. We'll be there soon." She ended the call and tossed the phone back onto her bed just as Stefan emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

"Did you say something?" He asked her and Katherine had to keep herself from drooling over his wet body.

"Nope." She shook her head and Stefan went back into the bathroom with his clothes in hand to get changed. Katherine smirked evilly and tapped her fingers on her chin. Maybe this whole 'Damon being infected with the ripper virus' could work to her advantage.


It was another hour after Cassandra hung up the phone with Elena and she was now staring at Damon who was thrashing violently, trying to break free of the chains. He was growling and snarling like a rabid animal and all Enzo and Cassandra could do was hope that the chains could hold him long enough until they figured a way out of this mess. Cassandra anxiously twirled the phone in her hands while Enzo stood as far back from Damon as possible.

"It'll be alright, mate. They'll come and we'll sort something out." Enzo tried to tell him, but Damon was beyond listening.

"Or they'll come and I'll feed on them," he hissed.

"Those are also options. As long as I live, I'm good." His friend smirked. "Joking! Kind of."

Suddenly, glass crashed from one of the windows and a bullet embedded itself in Enzo's shoulder. He cried out, holding the wound which was gushing blood and he staggered further away from Damon, but closer to the window where a gun had been fired from outside the house. The smell of fresh blood was making Damon even more ferocious, so much so, that the chains began to bend at the amount of force he was pushing at them.

"Get down!" More gunshots went off and Cassandra tackled Enzo to the ground to get him out of the way. She applied pressure to Enzo's shoulder and even though he was healing, he was still bleeding. Wes and the Travelers had returned just in time to watch the scene unfold.

"If you were aiming for my heart, you missed!" Enzo shouted at the doctor.

"Don't worry, I wasn't," he said and looked to Damon who was just about foaming at the mouth. His fangs were gleaming and his eyes were black as night. "The chains were a good idea. Now, I can see exactly how strong he becomes when enraged."

Damon gave one strong flex and the chains finally gave way. The links bent out of the shape, unlocking him from his cocoon and he kicked the chains aside as he stood up. His hungry gaze passed between Enzo and Cassandra, who were just about fearing for their lives, and he licked his lips.

"Conclusion: very strong." Wes noted.

The ripper lunged for the pair, but Enzo shoved Cassandra out of the way, so that he would take the brunt of Damon's attack. Enzo took Damon by the collar of his shirt and threw him across the room into a wall, but that did not deter Damon. He stood like nothing had happened to him and hissed at Enzo.

"Boy, do I miss the indestructible Augustine cage right about now." The vampire muttered and quicker than he could move, Damon's teeth were latched onto his neck.

"No!" Cassandra rushed to Damon's side and tried to pry him off Enzo. "Damon, stop it! Let go of him!" Her struggling earned her a hard push and she stumbled to the floor, panicked and dumbfounded all at once.

"Damon, Stop! Damon, Stop! Stop! Please, Damon, stop!" Enzo was screaming for his life now, but Damon continued to feed, holding onto Enzo so tightly that his skin was bruising. Wes watched in complete silence, fascinated by Damon's prowess, but an overwhelming sense of fear was laced tightly with his accomplishment. His experiment had finally worked, but he was now staring at a ruthless killing machine that would obliterate anyone in its path. It wasn't until Cassandra had come to the door with tears in her eyes did he look away from Damon.

"Stop this now! You got what you wanted and your experiment works! Make him stop!" She begged desperately and the sound of the Travelers chanting again was in the air.

"Damon, Stop! Stop, please! Damon! Ahh!" Enzo wailed and pushed his friend off of him, but Damon refused to stop. Seconds later, Damon ripped his fangs from Enzo's skin and he began to choke on the blood that was in his mouth. He sunk to the floor and vomited nearly the entire contents of his stomach, trying to gasp for air in between. Cassandra was immediately by his side, rubbing her hand over his back and Enzo distanced himself from the vampire.

"What did you do to him?!" She roared at Wes who was standing right at the entrance to the house.

"You asked me to stop him, so I did," he replied. "My friends here raised the acidity in Enzo blood. There must be some witchy explanation for it, but Damon's basically drinking hydrochloric acid."

"Could have done that a bit faster, mate." Enzo groaned, clutching his neck.

"I suggest you leave before the spell wears off." Wes said to him.

"And go where? With you?" The vampire grumbled.

"There's one more thing I need from you. Then I'll let you go for good. The other option is to stay in here with your cannibal friend and see how long you last." The doctor stepped aside to offer Enzo his chance to walk out the front door, but the vampire didn't move.

Damon, who had finally calmed himself down looked to his Augustine friend. "Go Enzo! I tried to kill you, I'll do it again."

Enzo shook his head, refusing to leave his friend. "No."

"Get out of here!" Damon roared, nearly shaking the house and as much as Enzo wanted to stay, he knew that Damon wouldn't be able to stop himself the next time. With a heavy heart, Enzo picked up his jacket and walked right out the front door.

"And then, there's you." Wes' voice made Cassandra's gaze lift.

"What about me?" She stood protectively in front of her husband who was still breathing heavily on his hands and knees.

"I still plan on going through with my plans for you and your baby." He said.

"Oh, you mean locking me in a cell until she's born and cutting her open?" The very mention of Wes' sick plan made Damon lift his head and his blood boiled.

"As I've mentioned, the child of a hybrid and vampire could do incredible things in the name of science, but I can't do that if you both aren't in captivity." He elaborated and the vampire was practically livid now. He wouldn't stand for his wife and little girl being held in cages like animals and being experimented on.

"I'm not coming with you." She shook her head and Wes was becoming more and more frustrated with the hybrid.

"If you stay here, Damon will kill you. There's no escaping that reality, so you come with me I can assure you that you and your daughter will live." Wes' offer seemed promising and it even made Cassandra look back to Damon who was seemingly lost in his own thoughts. The pregnant hybrid stepped up to the front door of the house and she placed her hands on the door frame, just teetering on the boundary of freedom and captivity and Wes was sure he won.

"Go to hell." Cassandra growled at the doctor and pushed herself back into the house. She turned her back on the doctor and went back to husband. Wes' once confident smirk melted into a frown and he nodded to two Travelers who stepped out of the circle. Halfway to Damon, Cassandra clutched her head as a sharp, stabbing pain shot up her spine. The Travelers outside were doing their work as the two men inside were closing in on Cassandra.

"Have it your way then," he said and the men made their way into the house, each of them grabbing for Cassandra's arms. Damon's nails curled into the floorboards he was kneeling on and his eyes darkened again.

"No! Let me go!" She shrieked and thrashed in their hold. "Get off of me!"

"Take her outside." Wes ordered and in seconds, Damon was across the room and he yanked one of the Travelers off of Cassandra. The vampire bit down so hard into the man's neck that it severed his head from his shoulders. The body crumpled to the ground and Damon threw the head out the front door, rolling it like a bowling ball and it landed right at Wes' feet. The Travelers outside the house shuddered and some even wailed at their fallen comrade. Wes was shocked beyond belief that Damon had enough power to completely kill a man in one movement.

The other Traveler held Cassandra in a vice grip, but Damon was faster. He rushed behind the man and tore his free arm from his shoulder socket and smacked him in the back of the head with his own limb. Cassandra had gotten free and moved out of the way of her murderous husband who was out for blood. Damon stood over the Traveler who was cowering in the corner and he ripped into his neck with his sharp fangs.

Cassandra was at the other end of the room, unable to tear her eyes away from Damon. She knew him when he had his emotions turned off, but this was the worst she'd seen him act. A part of it was the ripper virus, but she saw him react to the mention of Wes' plan for her and the baby. It was like something deep inside him had completely snapped. Perhaps it was that paternal desire that kicked in. Whatever it was, it was terrifying.


Damon had drained both Travelers completely dry and Wes and his band of idiots had left the couple inside the house. With her husband fed, Cassandra was safe for the next couple of hours as long as she didn't cut herself and bleed on anything. The boundary spell was still present and the two sat next to each other against the wall in the living room. The fire was slowly dying in the fire place and since neither of them could leave to get more firewood, the room also grew colder as the night moved in. Damon noticed Cassandra shiver quite a few times, so he gave her his leather jacket to rest on her shoulders. She pulled the material around her body and she curled into its warmth. She then sighed looking down at Damon's phone and seeing that neither Stefan nor Elena had called her back or let her know that they were coming. When she'd spoken with Elena, something about her just seemed off. She didn't seem like she was with the program at all and just wanted to get off the phone. Cassandra sighed again and toyed with her husband's phone in her lap.

"They're not coming, Cass." Damon sulked.

"They will. I know they will." She told him and clicked around on his phone.

"And then what? You know that I'll hurt them or you."

"We'll find a cure."

"There is no-"

"No," she cut him off. "We will find something. I don't care what it is, but we will find something."

Damon leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, enjoying the calming sounds of nature outside the house. Cassandra was amusing herself with a game of Candy Crush and was a couple of levels in before she got stuck on an unbeatable level, so she exhaled dramatically and set the phone aside.

"What do you think Wes wanted with Enzo?" She wondered and Damon's shoulders shrugged.

"Couldn't tell you." He peaked over at her with an amused grin. "Why? You miss him?"

Cassandra scoffed loudly. "Ha! He wishes. He's been nothing but a royal pain in the ass."

"Hey, he's a good guy."

"A good guy?" Cassandra knocked his shoulder with her fist, making him groan and look at her. "Damon, he put these ideas in your head about me. He manipulated you. He made me into this person that you know I'm not."

"And I'm an idiot for believing him." He spoke and pulled his knees close to his chest, resting his elbows on his knees. "But it all made sense to me. Jen told me you hadn't made it to New York, I called you a thousand times...it just really seemed like you left. I knew that it wasn't like you at all, but it made sense."

"What do you mean?" She asked him curiously.

"Well, you could have finally smartened up and realized that I'm not cut out for this 'daddy' gig. I'm a vampire, Cassandra, not a father."

"But tonight you were." She stated and he stared back at her. "Damon, I have never seen anyone do what you did tonight. You protected us."

Damon swallowed the rising lump in his throat. "I couldn't let Wes take you both away from me. I lost you once; I refuse to let anyone stand in my way."

"Don't you see? That's it!" She scooted closer to him excitedly. "When Wes threatened us, you protected us. You wouldn't let those Travelers take us away. You fought for your family, Damon. You fought for your daughter who can't fight for herself yet. That's a father if I've ever seen one."

There was a slow and graceful shift within Damon that could be directly seen on the outside. At first his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, but they smoothed out as Cassandra spoke to him. His eyes, once narrowed and closed to the idea of his heroic actions were now suddenly wide open and filled with pride. He was even unconsciously smiling now; he finally understood that he in a way already was a father for their child. Cassandra took his hand in hers and gently placed it on her belly, letting Damon feel how grateful his daughter was for having him in her life. Damon rubbed her stomach, a warm smile playing on his lips and kissed his wife's cheek.

"Tell me about it." His voice in her ear made her shiver, yet she pulled back to see that his smile was gone and he was quite serious. "The night you died."

She really didn't want to relive that fateful night, but she wanted Damon to know the whole truth about what had happened to her. So, she took the hand that on her belly and grasped it tightly. Instead of telling him the entire story, she was going to project her memories onto him so that he would be able to see them like they were clipped together like a movie reel.

"Close your eyes." She instructed and Damon followed. At first he saw nothing but blackness, but a watery image began to take shape in his brain. He watched as the scene unfolded and he was able to see Cassandra frantically looking around in her car once the image sharpened up.

Her eyes darted everywhere, as if she had woken up to find herself behind the wheel of a speeding car. Oncoming traffic was honking loudly at her swerving all over the road and Cassandra was able to take control of the wheel before she got into an accident. Her hand flailed and groped around in her bag that was sitting in the passenger seat and Damon guessed that she was looking for her phone. Just as the phone was almost in reach, the sounds of chanting Travelers made Damon squeeze her hand tightly. Cassandra then clutched her head and he watched as the car's wheel turned on its own before the car flipped completely and tumbled down the road. He saw her bloodied body nearly pinned to the concrete and in the next second, paramedics were relentlessly trying to work on her. He could feel her trying to hold on, but her body just couldn't take the injuries she'd sustained from the crash and he watched as life literally left her.

Damon dropped her hand and his eyes flew open, tears just threatening to fall from them. Now he knew the whole truth; the real truth behind her sudden disappearance. She had died. She left this earth and was imprisoned on the Other Side. She was forced to watch him unravel before her eyes and she couldn't do anything to stop it. Now that punch that broke his nose the other night made sense. He was sure that if the situations were reversed and he had taken Cassandra's place, that he would have lost his mind. For the first few moments, he couldn't speak. What could he possibly say? What words could he say to her that would bring her comfort? He blinked back the tears in his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but Cassandra placed her index finger over his lips.

"Don't." She shook her head. "It's over now. I'm home." She then pressed her lips to his in a soft, sweet kiss in an effort to silence him further, but it was interrupted when she felt his fangs pressing against her lips. She pulled back, seeing his vampiric features begin to break through his human facade and her heart nearly stopped. He had to feed again.

"Please stay back." He pleaded with her, taking up her shoulders. "Listen to me, when I get bad, I-"

"Damon?" A voice from the outside made them turn to see Elena standing at the threshold of the house and her brown eyes had caught the sight of the two mangled bodies on the floor. Stefan was soon by her side and just as panicked as she was.

"What the hell happened?" He asked them.

"Don't come in here!" Damon growled, pushing himself off the wall and walking towards his brother. "I said don't!"

"Stefan, just stand back." Cassandra told him.

"We've come to get you guys out of here." He replied.

"We can't leave. We're stuck in here until the spell wears off." She told him and Stefan looked to his brother.

"If you come in here, you ain't coming out." Damon said.

"What exactly happened in here?"

"I wanted revenge. I got stuck with a vampire virus, almost killed my last friend. Typical Damon."

"Damon, we're here to help you." Elena reached out to brush her fingers against his shoulder, but he pulled back.

"You can't help me! I feed on vampires now. You're both vampires. Do yourselves a favor and leave."

Stefan shook his head. "Well, that's not going to happen."

Damon charged for the door, but he bounced back because of the barrier. Veins spread over his cheeks; the need to feed was pricking at his appetite. "Stay back!"

"I'm not afraid of you, Damon." He told his brother and stepped closer, so that he was just a foot outside the house. He stared in at his big brother with a frown, wishing that there was something that he could do to help him.

Katherine watched Stefan go through his mortal crisis, but she had business to attend to. If she was right, which she always was, she'd be able to have Stefan kill Damon in a valiant effort to save her life if Damon had fed on her. That way, she could have the eldest Salvatore out of the way and she could have Stefan to herself like she'd always planned. Taking in a big breath, she slinked passed Stefan and crossed the border into the house.

"Neither am I." She stated and Cassandra took her by the shoulders.

"No! Elena, you have to leave." She steered her back to the barrier and tried to push her through, but the spell was still intact. "Are you out of your mind? What the hell are you doing?!"

"Step back. The both of you." Damon turned away from the girls as his composure continued to slip from his fingers.

"I'm proving to you that you're not a lost cause, Damon." Katherine cooed and Stefan also stepped inside the house. She picked up a piece of shattered glass from the floor from when the window was shot in and made a small cut in the palm of her hand. Damon growled loudly, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

"See." She held up her hand to show him and both Cassandra and Stefan were exchanging glances with one another. "You can resist this. I know you, Damon. You can do this."

"Get away from me, Elena." Damon growled angrily, but Katherine wasn't going to let up her teasing.

"You're only provoking him." Cassandra hissed.

"Elena, he's going to feed." Stefan said warily.

"No. No. He's not going to. He's not going to. You can do this Damon." She moved herself to stand in front of him and she produced her bloody hand. Damon's veins were so prominent that they now spreading down his cheeks and stopping by his chin. He'd never been so hungry before in his entire life and the blood gushing from Elena's hand was making it harder for him not to lose control. Cassandra and Stefan could see that this would not end well for anyone in the house if Elena continued her own distorted form of therapy and in seconds they saw Damon snap before their eyes.

"Elena, watch out!" But before Katherine could move back, Damon had his sharp fangs buried in the side of her neck. Both brother and wife jumped in, charging at Damon to make him let go, but his fangs were deeply embedded in the skin.

"Damon, stop!" His brother pulled back on Damon's arms, yanking and wrestling with him. "Damon, Let go of her. Let go!"

"Stop it, Damon! You're gonna kill her if you don't let go!" Cassandra beat on his back with her fists.

Katherine was even putting up her own fight too even though she knew that it would be no use, but she still whimpered and flailed around like Elena would have if she were being attacked. Her eyes zeroed in on a broken piece of wood that had been fashioned much like a stake and kicked it over to Stefan who saw it.

"He's going to kill me!" She cried weakly, hoping that Stefan would drive the stake right into Damon's heart and eliminate her problems. Instead of grasping the stake, he took up a jagged piece of glass and motioned for Cassandra to give him her hand.

"Trust me." Those two words made her nod and she let him slice into her hand. Fresh blood seeped from the wound and Damon's nose immediately picked up the savory scent. He reluctantly let go of Katherine and shoved her away. His dark gaze was now eying her hand and he licked his lips hungrily.

"Here, Damon. You can feed on me." She extended her hand out to him and he took it in his hands, as if she was as gentle as spun glass. His tongue darted out and lapped up a line of blood along her palm. Stefan closed in behind his brother and before Damon could rear back and bite Cassandra, his neck was brutally snapped.


"Ow...ah..." Damon hissed under his breath and turned onto his stomach. He moved to extend his arms in front of him, but realized that he had cuffs fastened tightly to his wrists which were attached to chains that hung from the wall. He yanked at them, but he was much too weak to try and break them. He must have been pumped with vervain and a lot of it. Looking around, he saw that he was no longer in the house where he, Cassandra and Enzo had been imprisoned in, but it was the cellar of the boarding house. He vaguely remembered Stefan and Elena coming to the house to help and then after that his memory was scarce. It took him some time and effort, but he was finally able to situate himself onto his knees with his arms pulled behind him because of the chains. His blue eyes peered at the lock on the door that clicked loudly and Stefan stepped into the cell.

"I know you can't help yourself, but if you bring home a rabid animal, you're gonna get bit." Damon cracked his sore neck.

Stefan's brood was in full swing. "I never should've told you to leave."

"I'm going to kill you, Stefan. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point I'm going to rip open your throat and you're going to die." He moved closer to his brother, but the chains pulled him back.

Since he was able, Stefan was the one that took a few steps toward his brother, but kept himself far enough away out of Damon's reach "Ah, come on, Damon. You think I'm afraid of a ripper? Who do you think invented the word? You know that feeling you get when you're around vampire blood? That burning in your veins? I feel that on a daily basis and there's a way to control it."

Damon's upper lip twitched. "And let me guess, it would bring you no greater pleasure than to teach me."

"No." Stefan shook his head. "That's a good guess, but right now I'm going to go get you a little bit more vervain and then I'm going to go get another drink and let you think about what a royal pain in the ass you've been lately." That comment made Damon chuckle to himself, remembering how Cassandra called Enzo that. "You're my brother; I'm not going to give up on you. I never will."

"She has."

Stefan's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Cassandra?"

"No. Elena."

"She practically got herself killed to prove a point today."

"Do you remember the vampire ripper Jesse? When he attacked me, Cassandra had to kill him, but if there was the slightest chance that there was another way to stop him, she would've taken it." He spoke.

"Yeah. So?" His brother shrugged his shoulders.

"Elena knew it would be impossible for me to resist vampire blood and then she just kicked you a stake and essentially told you to kill me."

"So, what are you saying? Are you saying that Elena wanted me to kill you?" He wondered.

"You got another excuse?" Damon questioned and he could tell that Stefan was a bit taken off guard by what his brother was referring to. He knew that Damon could be very intuitive when it came to things, but he found himself questioning a lot of Elena's actions today. Something about her just didn't seem right, especially that kiss she had given him in the motel room. It was just off and it felt unfamiliar to him. Giving one last look to his brother, Stefan left him alone, making sure to lock the door behind him.

"That's what I thought!" Damon called after him and rolled onto his side. He tried to get himself comfortable, but the floor was rather dusty and hard on his already aching body. He felt pangs of hunger stirring in his throat, so he closed his eyes shut, hoping that sleep would find him, but there was just too much on his mind. He sat back up, letting out a long sigh and tapped his knees, his mind idling for a bit when he got an idea. Maybe he still had his phone and he could at least keep himself busy. He reached his hands around to his pockets and searched through them to find them empty, but he felt something in his back pocket. His fingers grasped a slim, folded piece of paper and he sat himself against the wall before opening it. His eyes squinted at the black and white photo, unsure of what it was, but when he turned it a bit; he could see the outline of a little head and body. His breath caught in his throat and he now knew what this was. His fingers skimmed over the ultrasound of his daughter and he'd never thought something as minuscule like a picture could bring him so much joy, especially being in the situation he was in. She was still so small, but he loved everything about her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Damon kissed the picture before folding it over again and he laid himself down on the floor, cradling his daughter close to his heart as he shut his eyes.


"Hey, how are you doing?" Caroline's perky voice snapped Cassandra from her staring contest with the burning fireplace and smiled warmly while taking a steaming cup of tea from the blonde's hands.

"I'm alright, I guess." She sat back into the couch, wedging herself in between the couch cushions and the extra throw pillows to make herself more comfortable. "I am just happy that everyone is home in one piece."

"You can say that again." She took up her glass of scotch and tossed back the remainder of it before filling it up again. Light footsteps shuffling into the room made both girls turn. Cassandra rose from the couch to meet him, but he held up his hands.

"He's okay. Just very weak from the vervain." He told her and she did feel a bit better that Damon was awake now. He turned her around and steered her back to the couch to make her sit. "You should be resting. You went through a lot today."

"We all did, Stefan." She whined and plopped herself in her spot.

"But not all of us are pregnant." He corrected her and Cassandra rolled her eyes. Stefan sat, more like fell onto the couch and exhaled deeply. "Man, what a day."

"You can say that again." Cassandra and Caroline sang and Stefan chuckled to himself.

"Where's Elena?" The blonde wondered.

"I think she said that she was headed to the Grill. Why?" Cassandra wondered.

Caroline bit her lip before looking around and moving herself closer to Cassandra and Stefan who exchanged a glance at one another. "Well, I think she's been acting really weird lately."

"You know something," the pregnant hybrid sat up and placed her mug on the coffee table. "You're right. I mean, something about her is just off."

"Right? It's like she's trying too hard or something."

"Before when I called her to give her the address of where Damon and I were, she was just really weird. It was like she didn't care."

"And what about when she kicked that stake over to Stefan? That was a dig at Damon."

"She kissed me."

Caroline and Cassandra stopped their analysis of Elena and both of their heads snapped in Stefan's direction. He was staring into his glass of scotch, his eyes narrowed as if he was deep in thought. When he and Elena were in the hotel room that they had gotten for the night, Elena had seemed like she didn't care about Damon or Cassandra at all. She was more concerned with sleeping with him. She had pushed him too far when she kissed him and normally he would have kissed her back, but something about it sent red flags up in his head. His fingers tapped against the glass before looking back at the two women.

"And it didn't feel right." He added which made Cassandra raise her eyebrows. "Something was...off."

Caroline's mind was running a mile a minute. All of these pieces of the puzzle were coming together, but they weren't fitting correctly. She dug her phone out of her pocket and searched through her text messages. She'd gotten one from Matt a few hours ago when he was held captive by Nadia. She'd been compelling him to forget some things and Tyler had managed to rescue him from her along with delivering a fatal werewolf bite on her arm. Once Caroline pulled up the message, she tossed the phone to Cassandra who caught it nimbly. Her brown eyes scanned the message and she passed the phone to Stefan.

"It says, 'Help. K.'" She read.

"Nadia stopped him from typing the rest of the message." Caroline said.

"What could it mean?" Cassandra took the phone back from Stefan and handed it back to Caroline before taking up her mug and pushing herself off the couch. "Then again, it might not mean anything."

"Wait, unless...Matt texted you 'Help. K.' 'K' as in Katherine. When Katherine was dying, Nadia figured out a way to put Katherine's spirit inside her body." Stefan explained.

"Yeah, but that didn't happen because Katherine had a change of heart." Caroline said.

Something triggered in Cassandra's brain when the blonde vampire had said that and she was brought back to the night that she and Katherine were talking upstairs. The Petrova was on her death bed and she had apologized to her for all of the horrible things that she had done to her. Cassandra had forgiven her, of course, and went on about her day. When the time had come, Cassandra had made her decision to talk to Damon and take some time off from one another. She had gone back upstairs to pack and Katherine had asked her to fluff up her pillow. She could remember Katherine lurching forward and clutching her head, muttering something and then everything went black.

The mug dropped from her hands and plummeted to the ground. It shattered into pieces, the hot liquid spilling everywhere and leaking into the wooden floor. The sound of it made both Stefan and Caroline jump up and rush to her, but she remained stone still. Her breathing was coming out in short, frantic pants and the two took her by the arm, bringing her back to the couch and being mindful of the broken glass.

"What is it? Is it the baby?"

"What's wrong? Cassandra, talk to us."

"It's Katherine!" She exclaimed. "Katherine is in Elena's body! I know she is because the night I left, Katherine said this spell and she jumped into my body. She caused the car crash I was in and she is in Elena's body."

"But, but...we would have known. It's Elena." Caroline shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing, but she was quickly coming to the realization that their beloved friend was trapped beneath Katherine's facade.

"I remember that night. When she was driving the car, I tried to push her out of my body. I could feel her slipping away and by the time I was finally able to, the car crashed." She added.

"Oh my God. Stefan..." The blonde clasped her hands over her mouth. "That means we-"

"We have to put an end to this." Stefan growled, his green eyes burning with anger.


Guess who's got two thumbs, a job and a birthday?! THIS GAL! Yes, I have landed my first job as a teacher assistant and I am pretty psyched to get started! That will mean that updates will be a bit slower, but I will be updating and writing when I can. And, yes, I turned 23 on Sept 13th and my beta, PrincessOfSilence, got this chapter to me as a present. Isn't she amazing?! So, Katherine has been found out! What do you think will happen in the next chapter? Thoughts? Comments? Reviews?! I'd love to hear 'em all!


grapejuice101: Hmm, I wouldn't call it jealousy, per say. Remember that Marcel still has Rebekah and Klaus has no one...yet. That will all change within the next few chapters, so watch out for that ;)

heytay1: Thanks for reviewing! Vengeful Elijah is my favorite too ;)

VampirePrincess11: Holy duck is right! Things will only escalate from here on out till the season finale. Hold onto your hats! Thanks for reviewing :D

binks13: Thank you for reviewing, girl :) It is always such a pleasure to read your reviews! Yeah, Niklaus is lacking in the help department, but that's just the kinda guy he is -.- Celeste is an awesome character because she is batshit crazy, but at the same time I want to beat her in the head with a pipe LOL! Nice job picking up on the fact that Giuliana is a bit jealous of Audrey. That feeling will surface in the next TO chapter and will be explained a bit.

SomebodyWhoCares: LOL! Yeah, I was a bit worried that the church might have started shaking too once Nik walked in. Either that or the statues would start crying HAHA!

elisesellas: Thank you so much, girl! Dad is home and cranky, but he is doing a bit better. I am very happy that you're enjoying my story :) Fresh starts can be a scary process, but I am trying to go into this new journey with a lot of positive energy. I find that will help much more than anything! For a long time I have lived for others, but now I am beginning to live for myself. Crazy, right?! LOL!

Guest: Thanks for reviewing! I'm going to say that Cassandra was in her early to mid-twenties when she was turned. The makeup sex is coming - don't worry ;)

NicoleR85: Thank you for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed this chapter update!

Guest: I kinda hope this chapter update answered your question about Damon's love for his child. He is in LOVE with Cassandra and would do anything for her. The news of impending parenthood is exciting, yet scary for him. He's terrified. He's never raised a child before in his life. Sure, he did have to watch over Stefan when they were growing up, but this will be his baby that he will have to raise. It's a daunting thought for him, but he really does love his daughter and can't wait to meet her. Cassandra's fate is up in the air right now even though the prophecy about her death is still very much set in stone. We will have to see what happens next ;) Thank you for reviewing!

twin of a sister: Hello dear! I have yet to update Love Like This. I am having a quite a bit of trouble with it :/ I plan to keep the story going, but my muse is being very difficult. Very happy that you liked this chapter and thanks so much for reviewing it :) Yeah, Elijah and Giuliana are pretty cute together ;)