Charmed © Constance M. Burge and The Vampire Diaries © L. J. Smith. I don't own or have any affiliation with either TV shows.
I also claim no ownership of the movie Titanic. That belongs solely to director James Cameron.
Please review constructively and respectfully. Flames will NOT be tolerated.
THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA
"The devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind, 'cause he was way behind and was willing to make a deal."
~The Charlie Daniels Band: 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' (Minute Mile Reflections [1979])
Bree's Bar
Atlanta, Georgia
Day
Phoebe came back out of the bathroom and made her way back to the bar where she noticed Damon and Bree were still engaged in a semi-private conversation with each other. She could sense that interrupting Damon at any point while he was gathering intel on how to get into the tomb, would not be the best move on her part. So she made a slight detour towards the jukebox and started scanning the song options. At the bar, Damon was getting increasingly frustrated with Bree.
"Come on, there's gotta be another way." He insisted. Bree shook her head. She still couldn't get over how obsessive Damon was when it came to that selfish and self-absorbed little bitch that resided in that cursed tomb.
"After all these years, it's still only Katherine." Bree observed and Damon's eyes narrowed.
"But not for the reasons everyone suspects." Damon was getting sick of repeating himself about this. Bree raised an eyebrow, disbelievingly.
"How do you even know she's still alive?"
"Well, you help me get into that tomb, and we'll find out." Damon replied, a little sharpish.
"I already did. Twenty years ago." Bree pointed out. "Remember? Three easy steps: Comet. Crystal. Spell." Damon examined his shot glass casually.
"There's a little problem with number two." He set down the glass and eyed Bree. "I don't have the crystal." Bree shrugged.
"That's it, Damon. There is no other way. It's Emily's spell." Bree explained. Damon forced a pleasant expression on his face, and did not fall back on his instincts to physically maim her for giving him the wrong information.
"What about a new spell with a new crystal that overrides Emily's spell?" Damon suggested impatiently. Bree looked pained.
"It doesn't work that way, baby." She told him, gently. "Emily's spell is absolute. You can't get into that tomb." Damon bristled and turned away. He used this opportunity to scan the bar for Elena and Phoebe, since he was technically responsible for their safety while here in Georgia. His brother's girlfriend was outside leaning on his car, on the phone; presumably to said brother. The soft background music that had been playing abruptly cut off and Damon turned his head in the direction of the jukebox. A guitar riff with a sultry country feel seeped from the speakers, and a song that Damon (and Bree) immediately recognised as Shivaree's Goodnight Moon began to play.
"There's a nail in the door and there's glass on the lawn… Tacks on the floor and the TV is on… And I always sleep with my guns when you're gone…" A deep woman's voice crooned. Bree gave an approving hum and smirked.
"She's got good taste." Bree commented and turned to serve another customer as Damon's puzzled expression turned into a knowing and slightly nostalgic grin as he got to his feet and approached an oblivious Phoebe who was dancing along to the sultry beat in a freestyle line-dance; swaying, rolling her hips and bopping on the spot. She was so into the song that she didn't realise that she had an audience of several lust filled men – all of which immediately turned their attention to something else when Damon growled at them warningly – drinking her in. Damon walked over to Phoebe with the intention of fluidly moving into sync and dancing alongside her and as close as their bodies would allow them. The psychic witch spun on the spot and nearly collided with Damon, who chuckled. Phoebe frowned at him questioningly until Damon placed his hands on her waist, then she smiled provocatively and placed her hands on his shoulders as they continued dancing.
"What should I do I'm just a little baby. What if the lights go out and maybe, and then the wind just starts to moan. Outside the door he followed me home…" Damon spun Phoebe on the spot and pulled her back so that she was against his chest and they started to grind together. Phoebe smirked.
"This feels familiar…" She mused teasingly. "Although a hell of a lot different to how we danced to in 1912." She whispered in his ear so nobody else would be able to overhear. Almost immediately Phoebe gasped and Damon flinched as both glimpsed a scene from their past on board the Titanic. It was the night of the sinking when Primrose and Damon were in the Millionaire's Suite, dancing (almost) like they were dancing at present. Damon chuckled when he came back to reality and he spun her out and back in before holding her close and leaning his forehead against hers and Phoebe wrapped both her arms around his shoulders, also having enjoyed that momentary trip down memory lane. Both of them closed their eyes and just swayed to the music. As the song came to a close, both witch and vampire started moving closer and closer, and were just about to kiss for the first time in nearly 97 years when a nearby group of drunken men started laughing loudly; snapping them both out of their trance. Phoebe reluctantly broke away from Damon, who looked extremely frustrated and glared heatedly at the men.
"One of us better check on Elena…" Phoebe trailed off and moved to go find the wayward teenager, when Damon intercepted her.
"I'll do it." Damon volunteered, smiling at her sadly. Phoebe nodded, avoiding eye contact with him. "Go get us some more drinks." He suggested and headed for the main entrance. Phoebe let out a shaky breath.
"What the hell are you doing, Pheebs?" She berated herself as she took a seat at the bar. Bree came over with a sympathetic, and slightly jealous expression on her face.
"Can I get you something, hun?" Phoebe smiled at her sister witch gratefully. She was about to order a double bourbon for Damon and a martini for herself when she spied the beer taps, and immediately recalled a fond memory.
"Yes, you can." Phoebe responded.
Fell's Church Ruins
Day
Bonnie stumbled her way through the woods, trying to retrace the steps Emily had taken to the old Fell church when she had set up the wiccan ritual that destroyed the crystal, physically injured Phoebe and where Damon had lost his temper and attacked Bonnie in blind fury. She was determined to figure out why her powers had gone on the fritz, and if Grams wasn't going to give her something useful to go off of, other than telling her that her powers weren't working because she was scared, then she would find another answer. The ruins were almost in viewing range when she suddenly hears a noise from behind her.
"Hello?" Bonnie glanced around nervously. Silence greeted her. She immediately started to panic. "Anybody here?! Aah!" In her panic, Bonnie had started backing away from the location of the noise. Without warning, the ground below her suddenly gives way and Bonnie falls into a hole.
Outside Bree's Bar
Day
Elena was still sitting on the hood of Damon's car, deep in contemplative thought. Phoebe had said all the right words when it came to her plans to confront Stefan about her uncanny likeness to Katherine; but she was procrastinating. What if she didn't like what Stefan had to tell her? Elena sighed and was just about to give up and head back into the bar when her phone suddenly rings, startling her. She immediately answers it without checking caller ID.
"Elena, is that you?" It was Stefan. Elena winced, before taking the proverbial plunge.
"I'm here." Stefan sighed with relief.
"Where are you?" He demanded, worriedly. Elena frowned, ignoring the question. It was now or never, and she was determined to get the truth.
"You lied." She stated. Stefan paused.
"Not until I explain, please." He placated her, obviously sensing Elena's discomfort and feelings of betrayal.
"So, you didn't lie?" Elena pressed.
"Just tell me where you are, so that I can come get you." Stefan pleaded, but Elena didn't want to have a bar of it.
"How am I connected to Katherine, Stefan?" Elena asked with a no-nonsense tone that Stefan reluctantly responded to. It seemed that his plans of telling Elena face to face were dashed.
"I honestly don't know." Stefan replied hesitantly. Elena didn't like that answer.
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"It's the truth." Stefan insisted.
Damon came out of the bar, and paused; taking in the tense posture of the obviously distressed teenage girl and realised that the conversation she was having with Stefan wasn't going swimmingly. And for the first time, he was feeling sorry for Elena. It wasn't every day that you discovered that the girl/vampire that your boyfriend and his highly dangerous and unpredictable brother had a previous relationship with, was your doppelganger. Damon leant against the side of the car, careful not to jostle it, and waited for the conversation to cease.
"I—Listen…" He heard Stefan try to explain, but Elena simply hangs up on him. Damon straightened up just as Elena turned around, and jumped when she saw him standing there. He offers her a tentative smile.
"You okay?" He asked. Elena scowled at him, scornfully.
"Don't pretend to care. I know you're gloating inside." Damon frowned, offended, and opened his mouth to retort when Elena simply pushes past him and heads back into the bar. Inside, Bree had just witnessed Elena's dismissive reply to Damon, and with a quick glance at Phoebe who was seemingly ensconced in Facebook, grabs the phone and dials a number. As it connects, she turns on a blender so she is not overheard.
"Hey, it's Bree. You'll never gonna guess who walked into my bar." Phoebe glanced up and frowned suspiciously at Bree when she sensed some plotting emotions coming from the woman.
Fell's Church Ruins
Day
Bonnie regained consciousness and sat up. She looked around in bewilderment when she doesn't recognise her surroundings before looking up. Her eyes widen in horror when she realises that she had fallen into a deep hole with no obvious way out.
"Ow!" She whimpers as she struggles to her feet. Bonnie limps gingerly as she walks around the interior of the hole. "Hello?! Anybody?!" She yelled. Her hand gropes along the dirt walls before stumbling upon solid rock, she jerks away in surprise and glances at the object which is a large stone boulder. What the fuck? Then she notices something on the wall and jumps back in horror. "Ahh!" She screams. Engraved on the wall was a pentagram inside a circle.
Bonnie's Gram's Residence
Day
Stefan was feeling troubled. Elena had just hung up on him without telling him her location. He was worried; even more so because Damon was there, and that just amped up his concern for Elena's safety. After searching for Phoebe and coming up short, he relaxed a little when he realised that his best friend was potentially with them. Stefan made his way to the Bennett residence and walked up the porch to the front door. Bonnie's grandmother answered his polite knock, and raised an eyebrow at the youngest Salvatore.
"Hi." Stefan greeted her awkwardly.
"Can I help you?" The old witch was understandably cautious. While Stefan was probably the safer Salvatore to talk to, let alone approach; that still didn't necessarily mean that she should become complacent around him. A vampire was still a dangerous predator, no matter what was said otherwise.
"I'm Stefan." He extends his hand towards Grams who shakes it, humouring him. "I'm a friend of Bonnie's. Her dad told me that she might be here." He explained. Grams nodded.
"She was. Not anymore." Stefan silently cursed.
"Do you know where she went?" He asked, trying to disguise his growing anxiety. Grams gave an almost smile.
"No. But you do." She pointed out. Stefan looked confused.
"I'm sorry?"
"I told her to face down her fear. And I'm sensing now that you know exactly why she was scared." Stefan flinched. "You know what I am. And yet you offered me your hand, which means you wanted me to see that I can trust you." Grams explained. Stefan raised an eyebrow.
"Can you?" Grams nodded briefly.
"I trust you'll keep her safe." She agreed. Bonnie's grandmother moved to close the door, signalling to Stefan that the conversation was coming to an end. "You'd better be on your way, then." She suggested. Stefan frowned. "I'm not going to invite you in. I'm sure you understand why." Stefan nodded.
"Thank you." Grams nodded and closed the door as Stefan turned and continued his search for Bonnie, growing more and more worried by the second.
Mystic Falls Library
Day
Anna was helping Jeremy locate the right book for his extra credit assignment. So far, they were making good progress. She gestures towards a nearby aisle of bookshelves.
"This aisle is local and state history. And Civil War is one over." She turns to face Jeremy, smiling warmly. "What do you need?" She asked. Jeremy was quick to reply.
"Local. 1860s." He missed Anna's smile deflate slightly at the year Jeremy had mentioned. "Do you work here?" Jeremy asked, half curious and half-flirty. Anna barely registered.
"Nope. You want reference. This way." She leads him over to a nearby stack of books. "Um, home schooled. I study here for a 'mock-school environment'." Anna explains. She flicks her eyes through the different titles before locating what Jeremy was searching for. "Ah, here we go. Original settlers, town archives, Founder's stuff. It's all here." Jeremy immediately pulls the relevant books off the shelf. Anna observes him. "So what's your topic?" She asks casually. Jeremy looked up at her distractedly.
"The town's fear and hysteria surrounding the war and how it influenced certain writers of the time." Anna nodded approvingly, but didn't smile.
"You might want to focus that." She suggested. Jeremy thought for a moment before grinning like the cat that caught the canary.
"The origin of local folklore and myths." He decided. Anna smiled.
"You mean, the vampires?" She asked mysteriously.
Bree's Bar
Day
No words were spoken between Damon and Elena as they made their way back to where Phoebe was sitting at the bar, waiting for them. Elena raised an eyebrow at Phoebe when she noticed the psychic witch casting nervous and slightly coy glances in Damon's general direction, and also Damon's slightly prickly manner. She rolled her eyes, before grabbing a menu and scanning the list for what was good to eat. Damon and Phoebe followed her example, both still reeling from their almost kiss back on the dance floor. Eventually, Elena couldn't stand the awkward silence developing and decided to hit Damon up for some information about Katherine.
"Let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine…" Damon nodded, waiting for Elena to continue. "Does that make me part vampire?" Damon chuckled and Phoebe snorted at the idea.
"Vampires can't procreate." He explained, popping a fry into his mouth before leering flirtatiously at Elena. "But we love to try." He winks at her, causing Elena to blush and Phoebe to roll her eyes and crack the tiniest of grins. She was dividing her attention between Damon and Elena, and listening to the conversation; and keeping an eye on Bree whom she suspected was up to no good… not that she could prove it, of course. Damon continued with his explanation. "No, if you were related, it would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned." Damon smirked. Elena shuddered.
"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?" She demanded, thanking Bree for her burger and taking the top bun off to remove the dill pickles. Damon shrugged nonchalantly as Phoebe piped up.
"Kinda creepy, but I don't believe that is his agenda." Phoebe offered. Damon nodded in agreement.
"What she said." He frowned down at Elena's plate. "Come on, what?" Elena and Phoebe looked at him in confusion. "You don't like pickles? What's wrong with you?" Elena gives him a 'what the fuck' expression as he reaches over and plucks the pickles from her plate and places them in his burger. He looked over to see if Phoebe had done the same thing, but Phoebe playful shields her food from him.
"Hands off, mister! I happen to like pickles!" Damon grins and retracts his hand after winking at Phoebe. Elena glanced between them in bemusement. Deciding to ignore the playful banter, she turned back to Damon.
"How can you even eat? If technically you're supposed to be…"
"Dead?" Damon whispered. Elena nodded and he laughs. "It's not such a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally." He explains. Elena looks at him sceptically.
"This nice act; is any of it real?" As though summoned, Bree interrupts them by placing a pint of stout beer in front of Damon, who blinks at it with confusion.
"Here you go." Bree hands a beer to Phoebe.
"Thank you." She smiles warmly at Bree, who nods and walks away. Elena wrinkles her nose at the beer.
"What is it?" She asks.
"This is stout beer. It's been around for a very long time." Phoebe explained, looking meaningfully at a puzzled Damon. "I've had some great memories with this." Phoebe then without hesitation, put the glass to her lips and began to skull the strong beer down. Damon was instantly hit with de-ja-vu and suddenly sees Primrose in her First Class finery in Phoebe's place instead of Phoebe. Phoebe notices this and smirks. "What? You think a girl like me can't drink?" Damon smirked and feigned innocence.
"Moi? No, wouldn't dream of it. I made that mistake the last time." He took a hearty sip of the warm Irish beer. Elena was still frowning before Phoebe decided to put her out of her misery.
"This is what I drank with Damon back on the Titanic in 1912." Elena's eyes widened and she immediately turned to Bree.
"I'll have one too." She demanded, earning surprised looks from Bree, Damon and Phoebe.
"That wasn't an invitation to drink, Elena." Phoebe told her frantically. But Elena grinned at both her and Damon.
"Time out, remember?" Elena reminded them. "For five minutes? Yeah, well that five minutes is going to need a beer." Damon and Phoebe exchanged looks. Both of us agreed that while Elena needed to cut loose, drinking wasn't probably the best solution. But given what she had just learned about herself and Katherine, Phoebe supposed she could look the other way just this once. She just prayed that this didn't get back to Piper. Damon shrugged as Bree smiled and gives Elena some stout.
"There you go." Elena thanks her.
"Are you sure, sweetie? This stuff is strong." Phoebe warns her. Elena stubbornly takes a small sip and almost immediately recoils, making a face. Damon chuckles.
"You'll get used to it."
Mystic Falls Library
Day
Jeremy stared at Anna incredulously. He'd heard some weird shit, but the probability that vampires actually existed seemed hard to believe. He chuckled, disbelievingly.
"You're kidding me, right?" He turned back to the book he was reading. "There's no such thing as vampires." Anna broke out into a pleasant smile, but her eyes flashed slightly in warning.
"Well, there's not a lot of documentation, but the stories have been told since the Civil War. My granddad used to tell me all these creepy stories when I was little. And he said that his granddad told them to him." Anna told Jeremy, who snorted.
"Yeah, that would be folklore. Vampires are a metaphor for the demons of the day." Jeremy countered. Anna raised an eyebrow.
"Which are?"
"The union soldiers." Jeremy replied. "I've read the stories myself. They talk about the enemy, the demons that attack at night." Anna shrugged.
"Sounds like vampires to me." Jeremy nodded.
"Allegorical vampires. Which is what it is; creative expression during a very volatile time." Anna smiled, seemingly impressed with Jeremy's logical reasoning. "I mean, a country at war doesn't want realism. They want fantasy. This, vampire fiction." Jeremy declared. Anna grinned.
"Man, you're smart. I gotta give it to you; when I first saw you, I missed it." Jeremy shrugged modestly.
"Yeah, I've had a rough go of it lately, but I'm just now getting back to my old self." He explained, sadly. Anna nodded before she started gathering up her things.
"Well, good luck with your paper. I gotta get home." She started walking away, but then paused and turned back; fixing Jeremy with a thoughtful expression. "You know, my great-great grandfather actually showed me a journal once of an ancestor, and he had written all of this creepy stuff about vampires." Jeremy glanced at her, curiously. "It was actually really believable." That caught Jeremy's attention.
"Wait. A journal?" Anna nodded, puzzled.
"Yeah? Why?" Jeremy hesitated, bitting down on his bottom lip before making a decision.
"Are you sure you have to go?" He asked, hopefully. Anna smiled.
Fell's Church Ruins
Dusk
Bonnie raced around the hole, trying desperately to receive a signal. She wasn't having very much luck, and she getting scared and anxious.
"Come on, phone! Great! Great." Bonnie slowly moves closer to the stone boulder with the pentagram, unaware that Stefan had finally found her. Relieved, Stefan jumped down into the hole and approaches the young witch, tapping her on the shoulder. Bonnie screams out in fright.
"Bonnie!" Stefan attempts to calm her down but she fights him off.
"Get away from me!" Stefan grasps her by the shoulders and pulled her towards him, getting Bonnie to face him.
"It's me! It's Stefan." Bonnie freezes, breathing heavily because of her initial freak out when Stefan had first tapped her on the shoulder.
"Stefan?" Bonnie relaxes a little and starts to explain herself to the concerned and slightly apprehensive vampire. "The ground gave way, and I fell…" She starts to panic again, and Stefan moves to reassure the freaking out girl.
"It's okay. It's okay, calm down. Come on, let's get you out of here." Stefan suggested and Bonnie looked around, gesturing helplessly.
"How?" Stefan smiled slightly.
"Just close your eyes." He suggested. Bonnie frowned. "Trust me." Bonnie reluctantly closes her eyes and clings to Stefan when he wraps his arms around her firmly and jumped. They handed on the lip of the deep hole, and he releases her. "You can open your eyes now." Bonnie opened her tightly closed eyes and looks around.
"Whoa." She breathed, realising she was now safe. Stefan shrugged.
"I didn't want to scare you." Bonnie nodded and frowned at him curiously.
"How did you know where I was?" Stefan smiled.
"Well, your grandmother told me what you were doing. I guessed the where." He explained, earning a scowl from Bonnie the second Stefan mentioned that he had visited her Grams. Her witch instincts kicking in. Brushing aside her uneasy thoughts, Bonnie turned back and pointed down into the hole where the large stone boulder was. Stefan followed her finger.
"I heard them… down there…behind the door." Stefan's eyes widened in shock then fear when he realised what Bonnie was talking about. She had stumbled upon the tomb Damon was so obsessed with gaining access to, to free Katherine. "Are they in pain?" Bonnie asked. Stefan nodded slightly.
"In the beginning… yes. But not anymore." Bonnie frowned at him in question. "They've starved to the point of desiccation." Bonnie's eyes widened.
"But if they have blood…"
"That's not going to happen, Bonnie." Stefan reassured her firmly. "They can't get out. Emily saw to that when she had you destroy the crystal. You're safe." Somehow that didn't seem to bring either of them any comfort. Something was coming … something bad.
Bree's Bar
Night
At the counter; Elena, Damon, Phoebe and Bree were taking shots of liquor with the other patrons. Bree had just finished re-filling the shot glasses, and had raised hers. Elena, Damon and Phoebe followed suit.
"Ready… GO!" Bree counts them down. They all shoot. Elena downs hers quickly, claps her hands and starts doing a little dance.
"That's three!" She yells as Phoebe swallows and nearly spits hers back out again laughing at Damon who had dribbled a little down his chin. "Aw, do you need a bib?" Elena mocked playfully. Damon raises an eyebrow.
"Sorry, I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol." Phoebe continues to giggle drunkenly, and Damon grins at her; pleased that Phoebe was enjoying herself. Elena shrugged dismissively.
"Whatever." Then she stands up from her bar stool and glances around at the other bar patrons who were all in various states of inebriation. "All right! Who's next?" When she had no takers, she turned to Bree. "Another round, Bree." The bartender smiled, but didn't immediately refill Elena's shot glass. Phoebe raised an eyebrow at the teenager.
"Honey, you should be on the floor!" She observed, and gave a small hiccup. Elena swayed slightly drunkenly.
"I'm not even drunk." She admitted. "My tolerance is, like, way up here." Elena jumps on the spot as she reaches for the sky. Phoebe nods and Bree shrugged before pouring more liquor into Elena's shot.
"All right. Here you go." She pours another for Phoebe and Damon, who don't immediately shoot them down. Unknown to them both, a man entered the bar and walked over to the counter to sit away from Elena, Damon, Phoebe and the other patrons. The only one to take notice is Bree, who goes over to him and motions towards the trio.
Mystic Grill
Night
Jeremy and Anna had decided after the library to head for the Grill for some down time. Once there, Jeremy challenged Anna to a game of table soccer. However, he was still curious about the journal Anna had mentioned her great-grandfather owning once-upon-a-time.
"So, you have no idea where the journal is?" Jeremy asked Anna as he continued fending off Anna's attack and scoring a 'goal'. Anna shook her head.
"Nope. Gramps died." She replied. "And all the kids split his stuff. I can ask." Jeremy nodded, but still looked curious.
"I just find it weird that our ancestors kept the same kind of journal. It's crazy." Anna thought for a moment.
"Maybe it's based in some partial reality?" She suggested. Jeremy shook his head.
"No. It's gotta be metaphorical. My ancestor wrote short stories." Anna smiled.
"So, that's why you're hung up on the fiction of it all." Jeremy laughed with amusement. Still sceptical about the possibility of real life vampires.
"No, I'm hung up on the fiction of it all because I've seen The Lost Boys and Near Dark like fifty times." He explained. Anna looked interested.
"Are those movies? Hey, I've never seen them." Jeremy was thrown by the change in topic. "Maybe we can have a Fright Night and rent a whole bunch of vampire movies." Jeremy hesitated.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Anna frowned slightly.
"Why does that sound like a 'no way in hell'?" Jeremy was taken aback. Anna immediately back tracks. "Sorry, I'm blunt." Jeremy smiles reassuringly, but has a deep sadness in his brown eyes that Anna is surprised to see.
"No, it's – I don't want you to get the wrong idea." He tries to explain. "I just recently got out of something. It's a little too soon, you know?" Jeremy hints and Anna immediately understands and chuckles awkwardly.
"Oh please, sure. No worries." Jeremy relaxes, pleased that he hadn't offended her. "I meant as friends." Anna sees the time and steps away from the game and grabs her things. "Yeah. Look, I really gotta go. Nice meeting you, Jeremy." Anna waves and turns to go, leaving a bemused and slightly smitten Jeremy behind.
Bree's Bar
Night
Elena and Phoebe are playing pool together, with Elena ahead a few points ahead of Phoebe.
"So how you holding up?" Phoebe asked Elena. The teenager shrugged, as she set up her shot.
"I'm still not sure what to think about Stefan and Katherine, to be honest." Elena admitted. "But I do think I definitely needed this. It's helped a lot." Phoebe grinned and wrapped her arm around Elena's shoulders to give her an affectionate squeeze.
"I'm glad, sweetie. But eventually, you're going to have to make a confirmed decision. The situation surrounding Stefan wouldn't stay away forever." Phoebe reminded her. Elena nodded.
"I know. I'll deal with it when we get back to Mystic Falls." Elena confirmed and took her shot, knowing two balls into a pocket. Phoebe cheered.
"Woo! Good shot!" Elena laughed and high fived Phoebe. Phoebe discreetly gave Damon the thumbs up when she knew that Elena wasn't looking. Suddenly, Elena's phone starts ringing. She frowns and stumbles over to pick it up.
"It's Jenna." She announced and Phoebe raised an eyebrow.
"That's weird. Hope nothing's wrong." Phoebe mused as she lined up her own shot and missed. "Damn!" Elena giggled as she answers the trilling phone.
"Hello?"
"Elena?" Jenna sounded frantic causing Elena to frown with concern.
"Jenna! Hold on, it's loud in here." Elena indicated to Phoebe that she was going outside to take the call and Phoebe nodded.
"Elena, where are you? Are you okay?" Jenna demanded, and Elena had to block one ear to hear what her aunt was saying until she was outside.
"Huh? Yeah. No, I'm good, everything's fine." Jenna's voice was still muffled by the loud music Phoebe and Damon had cranked up on the jukebox. "Hold on, I can't hear you." But Jenna was not amused.
"No, it's not fine! I got a call…" Elena got outside, but stumbles drunkenly and drops her phone. She picks it back up.
"Hello?" The same mysterious man from before suddenly comes up from behind Elena and cover her mouth, muffling the surprised shriek that Elena let fly. She drops her phone, hanging up accidentally.
Back at the pool table, Phoebe had abandoned the pool table and was heading back for the bar to talk to Damon when she stumbles against Bree who was also returning there as well. Phoebe gasps and stumbles when she is hit by a premonition. Damon, alarmed, immediately goes to Phoebe's side and grabs a hold of her before she could fall to the ground. In the premonition, Phoebe saw images of Bree making a phone call; and a mysterious, young brunette-haired man with a cold, unyielding expression who approaches Elena and covers her mouth to drag her off somewhere… Phoebe jolts back to the present and glares accusingly at Bree, whose eyes widen in realisation.
"What did you see?" Damon whispered urgently. Phoebe breaks eye contact with Bree and turns to face Damon.
"Elena. She's in trouble." Phoebe explained. Damon frowned in confusion.
"What? But she was with you at the pool table." Phoebe grabbed his hand and started heading for the main entrance.
"Yeah, but she had to go outside to take a phone call." Phoebe told him, and Damon cursed.
"Shit! That girl's a danger magnet." He mutters irritably. Both of them leave the bar and look around for clues. Phoebe spies Elena's phone on the ground and picks it up.
"Damon…" Phoebe holds up the phone and Damon grabs it, looking stony-faced. He grabs Phoebe's arm.
"C'mon." They walked around the bar, and over to an adjacent electrical building. They see Elena hanging onto a tank. Phoebe rushes forward.
"Phoebe! Don't let Damon come any closer!" Elena warns her frantically, earning a surprised look from Damon. Phoebe frowns in confusion.
"What? Why?" Damon is caught off guard when the same man that kidnapped Elena in Phoebe's vision attacks him with a wooden plank with supernatural speed. It was a trap.
"Damon, no!" Elena squeals, and Phoebe spins round and reacts with horror as the man repeatedly hits Damon over and over again. Elena jumps down from the tank and she and Phoebe run towards Damon.
"What the hell!?" Damon snarls, trying to fend off his attacker. Suddenly, the man tosses aside the plank of wood and withdraws a large can of gasoline which he immediately pours on Damon.
"NO!" Elena shouts and Phoebe frowns furiously and rushes the man, kicking him away from Damon. However, the man recovers easily and grabs Phoebe by the throat, revealing to both her and Elena vampire teeth. Damon roars with fury when he sees the other vampire holding his beloved by the throat and moves to intercept.
"Who are you!?" He demands. The mysterious vampire looks back at Damon looking mildly incredulous.
"That's perfect! You have no idea!" He exclaims. Phoebe grabs the man's arm, trying to dislodge his tight grip.
"Hey, could you vague that up a little?" She quips, croaking a little. This little remark causes him to toss Phoebe away from him, and she landed in a heap coughing. Elena runs to Phoebe's side and helps her up.
"What are you talking about? What did he do?" Elena demanded. The angry vampire turned and glared at Elena.
"He killed my girlfriend!" He roared before turning and wailing on Damon once again. "What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!" Damon immediately went quiet and avoided eye contact with him, realising who this guy was.
"Nothing." Damon replied. Both Phoebe and Elena were confused.
"I don't understand." Elena said. Her kidnapper turned and walked towards them, stopping just before he reached them.
"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Do you get it now?" He seethed. Phoebe and Elena's eyes widened in realisation just as Damon was assaulted with a baseball bat.
"Ahhhhh!" Damon yelled out in pain. Phoebe suddenly wished she had Prue's active power. Elena glared at Damon.
"Lexi?" She looked back at Lexi's obviously vengeful boyfriend with sympathy. "Lexi was your girlfriend?" Phoebe cupped her mouth in horror.
"Oh God. You're Lee. She told me about you." Phoebe explained to him. Elena frowned at her.
"She told us both." She corrected her friend. "But she also told me that you were human." Lee nodded.
"I was."
"Lexi turned you?" Elena questioned, both horrified and loving the idea of devoting yourself to someone that you'd be willing to turn them to be with them forever. Lee nodded once again.
"If you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever." Phoebe avoided looking in Damon's direction, knowing that her stupid lover was most definitely looking at her. She just hoped he wasn't getting any ideas. Elena tried to stall Lee from doing something unnecessary.
"She loved you. She said that, "When it's real, you can't walk away."" Lee snorted, already knowing what Elena was doing, but drawing the wrong conclusions.
"Yeah, well. That's a choice you're not going to have to make." Lee tossed aside the bat and withdrew a box of matches. Elena and Phoebe's eyes widened in horror. Despite her misgivings about Damon, Elena knew that Phoebe would be utterly devastated if Damon were to be burned to death.
"Don't!" Elena yelled. Phoebe tried to move to Damon's side, but Lee growled threateningly.
"Please! Please, don't hurt him!" Phoebe begged desperately. Lee lights a match and holds it over Damon who glared defiantly at Lee.
"I'm doing you a favour." Lee insisted and both Elena and Phoebe knew it was time to reveal the truth.
"Wait, please!" Phoebe rushed over to Lee who continued to growl threateningly, but Phoebe ignored him in favour of whispering the truth in Lee's ear. The vampire hesitated, completely stunned at what Phoebe had just told him. When Phoebe pulled back, Lee had hope in his eyes.
"Lexi loved you! And she was good!" Elena told him, desperately. Lee looked like he was debating with himself. "And that means you're good too." Phoebe stepped away from Lee and walked over to Damon, pulling the confused and highly suspicious vampire to his feet and shielding him with her body. She fixed Lee with a strong, firm look.
"Be better than him. Don't do this. We're begging you, please." Phoebe urged. Lee paused, weighing up his options before blowing out the match and tossing it to the ground. Both Phoebe and Elena relaxed. "Thank you." Lee scoffed.
"It wasn't for any of you." He then turned and left, presumably to go find Lexi wherever she was hiding out. Phoebe then abruptly turns and hugs a bewildered Damon, who instinctively wraps his arms around Phoebe. Elena jogs up and checks him over for any obvious injuries before taking a respectful step back. Phoebe eventually steps back, a fierce expression on her face. Both Elena and Damon are taken aback.
"What's with the face?" Damon asked cautiously. Phoebe looks at him.
"There's more to my premonition." She explains and then proceeds to tell both Bree's involvement and what she suspected.
Bennett Residence
Night
Stefan escorts Bonnie home. He still had uneasy feelings about what he and Bonnie had uncovered back at Fell's Church, and even worse feelings about what Elena could possibly be thinking or feelings wherever she was … with Damon and Phoebe. Bonnie's grandmother appeared at the front door, anticipating their arrival. Grams smiled at them.
"Well, now, look who's returned from battle." Bonnie rolled her eyes, but smiled affectionately at her grandmother. "Can I talk to your friend for a minute?" Grams asked Bonnie. She nodded and turned back to Stefan, smiling at him gratefully.
"Thank you." Stefan smiled back and Bonnie turns and goes inside. Grams stands in the doorway, looking at Stefan calmly.
"I appreciate your help, Stefan." Grams explained. Stefan nodded, then blinked when he remembered where he had seen this woman before.
"You're welcome, Sheila." Sheila's smile grew, pleased.
"I wasn't sure that you remembered."
"October 1969." Stefan recalled, thoughtfully. Sheila looked surprised.
"I was barely a teenager!" Stefan smirked at the memory and chuckled, earning a curious look from the old woman standing before him.
"And you were leading what was probably the only anti-war sit-in within miles of Mystic Falls." Stefan agreed.
"Hmmm." Sheila smiled, looking down memory lane. Stefan leaned against the porch.
"You know, when you spoke, people were mesmerized. I know I was." Sheila was touched and then she chuckled when she remembered what happened next.
"Until the cops showed up." Sheila sighed sadly, coming back to the present. Then she fixed Stefan with a serious look. "You took a big risk coming to see me earlier. Letting me read you, realise who you were." Stefan looked solemn, agreeing with her. "It could have gone in a completely different way." A shadow crossed over Stefan's face, as counted his blessings that it had gone in his favour.
"Your family has a very long history of keeping my secret." Stefan replied quietly. "I knew that I could trust you if you believed I was worthy of your trust." Sheila was quiet for several minutes.
"Bonnie knows, doesn't she?"
"Yes." Stefan nods. Sheila looks sad for several minutes.
"Please understand." Stefan raises an eyebrow at Sheila. "Our loyalty can only extend so far. This town won't be easy on any of us if they figure it out. And I'll protect my own before anybody else." Stefan nodded.
"I know that."
"As long as we're clear. Goodnight, then." Sheila bids him goodbye.
"Goodnight, Sheila."
Bree's Bar
Night
After Phoebe had revealed the rest of her premonition to Damon and Elena, to say that Damon was pissed was an understatement. When Damon went deathly quiet, his jaw set and his eyes focused and went from being his normal baby blue with a hint of mischief and flirtation to a silvery-blue and hard as flint; his anger had no limits.
"Meet me at the car." Was all Damon had to say to Phoebe and Elena, and they obeyed without question. "The Devil went down to Georgia…" was all Phoebe could think, and Elena had gone pale. Damon casually burst through the doors, cool as a cucumber, and sauntered up to bar where Bree was alone; drinking shots. "We were just leaving, I wanted to say goodbye." He told Bree, breezily. Bree didn't turn around.
"Good to see you again, Damon." She replied flatly. Damon raised an eyebrow.
"No kiss?" Bree hardened and turned around to confront him.
"I'm full of vervain. I put it in everything I drink."
"And you're telling me this why?" Bree looked like she wanted to give him such a slap that he'd fly straight to the moon and back again. Damon was unimpressed.
"Lexi was my friend. How could you?" Bree turned away, but jumped when she saw that Damon was already in front of her. She gulped with fear. She decided to bargain for her life. "The tomb can be opened." Bree admitted finally. Damon's eyes flashed and he moved closer to her, cutting off all possible escape.
"You're lying!"
"Emily's grimoire, her spellbook. If you know how she closed the tomb, the reversal process will be in her book. You can open that tomb." Bree promised. Damon was silent for several seconds, which gave Bree hope that she might come out of this unscathed. Keep dreaming…
"Where is this book?" Damon asked quietly.
"I—I" Bree stuttered.
"You have no idea, do you?" Damon sneered. Bree shook her head, reluctantly.
"No." She knew she had just signed her death certificate, and Damon knew it if the unsympathetic smirk on his face meant anything. "I'm telling you the truth." Damon leaned into her personal space, knowing that she was uncomfortable.
"And I believe you." He cups Bree's face with one hand. "My dear, sweet Bree. That's why I'm almost sorry." Before Bree could ask why, Damon thrusts his hand into Bree's chest and grabs her heart.
"Ugh!" Bree gags before Damon rips her heart out. Her lovely body topples to the bar floor. Damon stares blankly at her corpse as her blood drips gruesomely from his clenched hand where her heart sat nestled in his strong grip. He carelessly lets the organ drop from his hand and wipes it off with a cocktail napkin, grabs his jacket and leaves. Phoebe and Elena knew better than to question him the second he got into the car and drove off. But it was safe to say – at least to them – that Bree was almost certainly dead.
A/N: Hello! Hope you enjoyed this newest update. I'm looking forward to reading some large reviews with 2 or more sentences. The next chapter, as always, will be out soon. Please review!
TTFN :)