Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries and never will, but I do own Charlene Davis and Megan Swann and any other characters I come up with.
Author's Note: And here is the second part of Fool Me Once! I'm glad you're liking the new story and hope you continue to enjoy the reboot of Surviving in the World of Vampires! Please, please leave reviews!
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Megan sat stiffly on the bed as Anna kept her eyes on her. "Bonnie's not going to open that tomb for you, Anna. You're wasting your time."
"I say I'm not. She will open the tomb, whether she likes or not, which I figure that she doesn't."
She shook her head. "Do you really want to open that tomb? Just to get Abigail out along with the other two?"
Anna scoffed. "Trust me." She said. "No one wants to see those girls again. Except for Damon, the love-struck idiot. For Abigail, at least."
Megan could definitely agree with her about Damon. "Then what?" she asked, hoping to get an answer this time. "Why would you need to open the tomb?" She guessed she finally made Anna give in, probably because the young vampire knew she wouldn't give up until she got an answer out of the girl.
"My mother's in there." Anna answered, trying not to look emotional about it, but Megan could see she was, just by looking in her eyes. She walked closer to her with her arms crossed. "The girls, especially Katherine, couldn't help themselves. She had Abigail and Demetria toying around with the Salvatore brothers. Then when they got caught, so did my mother. I watched Jonathan Gilbert take her away."
"I'm sorry." Megan apologized, meaning it completely.
Anna chuckled dryly. "You really mean that, don't you?"
"I do." Megan told her softly. "No child should be without their parent…"
She stared at her for a moment before looking away. Megan knew she had gotten to her, but it didn't last long as Anna composed herself and looked her way again.
"Yeah, I think we'll skip this fake bonding, so you can start serving a purpose."
"And what would that be?"
"Leverage." Anna held up a cell phone, which Megan recognized as her own as she felt her pocket, realizing she must have dropped it. "Is this yours?"
Megan tried to grab at it. "Give it back!"
Anna pulled it back abruptly and Megan glared at her. "I don't think so." She started dilating a number, walking across the room before putting the phone to her ear.
"Who are you calling?" Megan asked, even though she had a pretty good idea who it was.
Anna ignored her as the person she was calling answered the phone. It was Stefan, just like who Megan thought it was.
"Megan? Are you okay?"
"She's fine. For now, and so is Elena too, if your even worried about her. And they'll both be fine if you tell me you have the grimoire."
"I can get it."
"Which means your brother has it. And I have the witch." Anna shook her head before changing the subject. "Let me talk to Charlene Gilbert."
Megan's eyes went wide. "Wait, she has nothing to do with this!"
Anna ignored her again as Stefan spoke up again.
"Why?"
"Just put her on the damn phone, or blood will spill." Anna threatened.
Megan gulped at her words.
What did Anna want to talk to her about? Charlene wondered as she took the phone away from Stefan.
"Hello?" Charlene spoke tentatively.
"Hello there, Charlene, nice to hear from you. You sound just like Abigail too."
Charlene ignored that, cutting to the chase. "What do you want?"
"I need you to convince Damon to give me the grimoire. If anyone is going to be able to convince him to give it, it'll be you."
Charlene snorted. "I don't what gave you that idea, but I won't be able to convince him to give it you."
"Then I guess I'll start killing your friends, starting with Elena."
Her eyes hardened at those words. "If you touch one hair of any of their heads, I'll find you and kill you myself." She heard Anna laugh on the other end of the phone.
"I don't think your brother would like that very much." Charlene clenched her jaw angrily at that. "Anyway, I need that grimoire. So, one of you had better meet me in the very public in 30 minutes so we can safely discuss how fun it's going to be to work together."
Anna hung up the phone, and Charlene handed it back over to Stefan, then her gaze glanced over to where Damon was as he smirked.
"Go ahead." He mocked. "Grovel again. Oh, wait no…I don't care."
Charlene glared at him. "Oh, shut up, Damon." She snapped. She wanted to smack the smug look off his face, however, she decided to be the bigger person, but not with her words. "You know what, Damon, you're just not worth it anymore." She started out of the room, bumping into Damon's shoulder as she brushed by him.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
She didn't bother looking at him as she stopped to answer him. "Why do you want to know? You don't care, remember?" With those words, she left the room without looking back. Though she had no idea where Megan and Elena were, Charlene had an idea on how to find out.
Anna knocked on bathroom door, startling Megan from her spot on the bed as she looked at her. "I'm leaving!" she called.
Ben opened the door and left the bathroom, gripping onto Elena and Bonnie's arms as he dragged them out. Megan was relieved to see that they were both alright.
"Keep them buttoned down." Anna ordered, making Ben look at her. "Compulsion won't work. Just use violence."
He nodded. "Right. I got that."
The young vampire left the hotel room, leaving them alone with Ben. He shoved Bonnie onto the bed Megan was on and then did the same to Elena, putting her on the other bed.
Megan wrapped her arms around Bonnie protectively and her sister squeezed her back reassuringly.
"Sit. Behave." Then he looked over at Bonnie, smirking as he went to sit down in the chair, he had been sleeping in. "So, you're the key to this. Literally. The one who opens the door. Tell me, how long have you've been a witch?"
Elena cut in, so Bonnie wouldn't have to answer him. "Is there anything to drink here?"
Ben got up and walked over to Elena, smirking devilishly. "Are you offering?"
Megan saw her friend stiffen at that and she rolled her eyes. "Of course not, idiot."
He glared at her but said nothing surprisingly as he changed the subject. "There's water on the nightstand." He turned around.
Elena grabbed the cup from the table, about to take a sip, but Bonnie stopped her before she did.
"Hey." Her sister said, causing Elena to look at her. "Can I have a sip?"
She moved the cup away from her mouth before handing it over to her sister. Without even hesitating, Bonnie tossed the water on Ben and used her powers to turn it into flames.
'Go sis!' Megan cheered to herself.
It made her feel safe enough to use her own, giving Ben a brain aneurysm, making him cry out in pain as they all got up and ran towards the door. Megan lifted her assault on him as her and Bonnie made it to the door. They had gotten open and they would have run out if it wasn't for Ben grabbing onto Elena.
"Come back in!" Ben growled, tightening his grip around the brunette's neck as she clawed at his hand. "Shut the door!"
Sharing a look with Bonnie, Megan sighed as they both stepped back into the room.
"Don't hurt her!" Bonnie begged.
"Don't make me!"
Megan nudged her sister further into the room as she shut and locked the door behind them. She sighed to herself. They were never going to get out of here unless Stefan or Charlene found them, and Megan hoped to god they would.
Anna was walking down the sidewalk of the spot where she said that she wanted one of them to come meet her at. She suddenly heard her name being called and she froze at the sight of Jeremy running out of the Grill.
"Hey, uh, what happened to you last night?" he asked as he stopped in front her.
"Sorry, I had to leave." Anna responded, glancing around. "I told your sister to tell you."
"I haven't seen her." Jeremy told her.
"Well, I gonna run so—"
He cut in before she could finish. "Do wanna go to a party tonight?"
Anna looked surprised. "Go to what?"
"Oh, the guy's who's throwing it is a total douche, but it's supposed to be fun." Jeremy chuckled. "I figured safety in numbers."
She gave him an amused look. "So, you're finally ready to go out with me, are you?
"It's been a while since I've been to a party and I kind of want to get back out there. Not be such a loner. And uh- I like you. Your fun and you're also kind of strange and lurky but uh- I guess I like that too. So, yeah, you should come to the party. With me. It's in the woods by that old cemetery."
This made her perk up. "Oh, it's there, huh?" she said, and Jeremy nodded. "That sounds cool. I'll meet you."
"Oh. Okay!"
Anna started to walk over to the bench as Jeremy called out, "Great! Cool!"
Sitting down on the bench, she looked over at the side of her before looking at the other side only to see Damon Salvatore, sitting right next other. Anna rolled her eyes internally but was smug that he showed up. She guessed Charlene convinced him after all.
"Got a hot date, or are you just planning on napping the entire Gilbert family?" Damon questioned her with a smirk.
"Party." Anna informed him. "Right next to the old cemetery." She smirked. "Isn't that nice of them? Lots of warm bodies for staving vampires."
Seeing what she was trying to do, Damon rolled his eyes. "I told you. I work alone."
Anna's smirk fell into a frown, guess Charlene didn't convince him, well she figured she would have to then. "So, do I." She told him seriously. "But you're minus a witch and I'm minus a spell book. Plus, I got two girls, who are very close to a girl named Charlene. So, what do you say?"
"Stefan, will come after you, you know that? For messing with Megan, and kidnapping Elena."
Anna glared at him angrily. "Then, he won't be happy if I kill both Megan and Elena when I don't get what I want." She smirked silently to herself when she thought of something that would help get Damon to comply. "And Charlene will never forgive you for not helping them." At that comment, Damon's eyes snapped up and looked right into Anna's eyes. This time, she did smirk at him, knowing that she had him right where she wanted him. "How does it feel to know that the girl that looks like Abigail hate you because you let her Megan to be killed because you wouldn't give me the book to save them?" With those last words, Anna got up from the bench and started walk away.
'Damn.' Damon cured in his head, knowing she had got to him. Despite what he said, he did care. Out loud, he called out to Anna before she left, "When do you wanna do this?"
Anna stopped walking and turned to him. She rolled her eyes.
"God, it's like 1864 all over again." Anna said. "You Salvatores are truly pathetic when it comes to women." Damon's eye twitched at the insult as she changed the subject. "Tonight. At sundown. Meet me at the church."
She walked away, leaving Damon sitting there.
Unfortunately, Megan was sitting back down on the bed, next to Bonnie as Ben paced in front of them. She glared at the vampire, wishing she could her powers to burn him, or at the very least try to kill him with her death glare.
"Witches don't have eternal life, right?" Ben asked Bonnie, not noticing or paying attention to Megan's glare. "So, you guys can die?"
Bonnie didn't like the subject if the look on her face was any hint and Megan squeezed her hand. She didn't like the subject either.
"Yep." Bonnie answered blankly. "We can die."
"Ah. That sucks."
All of the sudden, Stefan kicked open the door.
"Stefan!" Megan cried out, relieved as Ben screamed in pain when the sun hit his skin.
Charlene appeared, zooming over to the curtains to throw them open to let more sun into the room, and Ben screamed again.
"Go!" the blonde shouted at Megan.
She didn't have to be told twice as she ran out of the hotel room with Elena and Bonnie right behind her.
A little bit later, they were at Grams' house, sitting around the table. Megan gripped onto Stefan's hand as he sat down next to her, not wanting to let go right now, and Charlene stood behind them with her arms crossed. Elena was there too, sitting beside Bonnie.
"So, what do we do now?" Elena asked, looking around at everyone.
"Well, for now, you need to stay here." Stefan answered as he looked over at Sheila.
"A prisoner, in my own home?" She scoffed. "I don't think so."
"I can't protect you if you leave the house."
"We'll protect yourself." Sheila said seriously.
Charlene sighed from where she stood. "As much as I hate to say this, we're gonna have to help Damon get Abigail out. He's not gonna give up on this and maybe if we help without betraying him this time, it'll put an end to all of this."
Bonnie was the first one to protest this. "No! He doesn't deserve to get what he wants."
"Charlene's right." Megan had to agree with her best friend. "He won't stop until he gets Abigail out, and people will die if he doesn't get what he wants. What other choice do we have?" She looked up at Stefan.
Sheila sighed, glancing over at Bonnie as she reached over to grab her hand. "Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we try to stay out of it." She looked back at Stefan. "You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will all be over."
"We still have to get Damon to agree."
"He already agreed once." Elena said.
"Yeah, and as its been mentioned, we double-crossed. So, now he's angry."
This made Charlene speak up. "He's hurt, Stefan, there's a difference…" she said softly, making him look at her. "As much as I don't want to talk to him, I know what I have to do. Wish me luck." Before anyone could say anything, she zoomed out of there.
Megan stared at the spot where her best friend was, hoping Charlene managed to convince Damon that they would help him get Abigail back.
Charlene stood outside of the boarding house, hesitating at the front door. She was nervous about going to inside. She knew she had to try to convince Damon that they were willing to help him get Abigail out of the tomb. Charlene didn't know how well that was going to go, but she had to try.
Taking a deep breath, she finally headed inside and managed to find Damon in the study as he slipped on his leather jacket. He heard her come inside because she heard him speak to her.
"I'm gonna have to chain the locks." He said, and Charlene rolled her eyes as he grabbed the grimoire, tucking it under his arm. "So, did you find them?"
Charlene was surprised he asked but she still answered him. "Yeah, I got Bonnie's grandmother to do a locator spell, and she found them."
"Ah."
There was silence for a moment until Charlene broke it. "So, I convinced Bonnie to help you…"
Damon snorted. "I doubt that."
"Well, I did." Charlene said, forcing herself not to roll her eyes again. "I figured it was better to convince her to help you get the tomb open, before anyone gets hurt." He said nothing and she sighed as she walked around the edge of the study towards the stairs, leading to the sunken part of the room where Damon was. "I really don't know what you want me to say. If you want me to apologize for getting the grimoire without you, well I'm not, because I'm not sorry."
He kept silent for a moment. "Well, at least you're honest."
"But like I said, I did feel guilty about not telling you about it, but I knew I shouldn't, because I was trying to protect the ones I love, but…" Charlene paused for a moment. "I guess so were you, in your own, twisted way. "And even though it's hard to admit, we're all on the same side, after the same thing." She went down the stairs, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Not interested." Damon snapped as he started to leave, but Charlene didn't let him get far.
She snorted. "Don't lie, yes, you were. If you weren't, you wouldn't have been so willing to work with us yesterday."
He turned around. "Fool me once, shame on you."
"Don't do that!" Charlene snapped, getting frustrated. "Stop doing and saying things that make me hate you! Do you want me to hate you, Damon?!"
"I thought you already did." Damon bit back.
"I only said that because I was mad at you for what you said about Megan! I don't hate you, despite everything that you've done to me, to my friends, to everyone I love. I should hate you…" Her voice lowered into a whisper but then she shook her head as she stepped closer to him until she was standing in front of him and she looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "We want to help you, Damon. You have to believe me. I'm promising you, right here and now, that I will help you get Abigail back."
Damon groaned, unconvinced as his eyes went up skyward. "I wish I could believe you."
"I'm not lying to you, and you know I'm not. You just have to trust me." For some reason, she let her hands touch his chest and he looked down at her, surprised by her touch. "Trust me, we'll get her back for you." She said softly.
Slowly, his own hands went up, barely brushing against her cheeks. A spark went through her at his touch and her breathing caught in her throat. What was he doing? Charlene didn't ask though, not wanting to break the moment as her eyes glanced down at his lips and he glanced at hers. She couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking when he looked at her. Was he thinking about kissing her? Charlene knew she was, and she was thinking about the last time he kissed. The night of the comet.
Damon finally spoke, breaking the moment between them but he still kept his hands on her cheeks, stroking her skin unconsciously. "You know Anna won't stop by the way, no matter what I do."
"I know…" she breathed. "But we'll deal with it."
He finally dropped his hands and she missed his touch. "Okay…I'm trusting you. Don't make me regret it." He turned around, leaving the study.
"You won't regret it." Charlene told him softly, knowing he would hear her, and she was going to make sure he didn't.
TBC...
In...
Fool Me Once, Part 3...
Finally we have more Darlene moments, I love those. :) Anyway, please leave reviews and let me know what you thought! Until next time on Surviving Vampires 101!