Chapter 36 ~ Too Many Regrets

When they arrived at the boarding house, Vella grabbed a hold of Liz and dragged her out of the car and into the house. Elena was standing there as she walked in.

"Vella! What is Sheriff Forbes doing here?" she asked in complete surprise.

Vella glared at Elena angrily.
"Go home Elena."

"No!"

Vella was beyond reasonable thinking right now. She had something she needed to do and she couldn't think about anything else. As she stood there staring at Elena, trying to gain her composure, Liz tried to struggle and get away, but Vella was too quick and slapped her across the face, sending her flying backwards hitting the wall.

"Don't try something like that again!" Vella warned her, almost snarling.

Liz was slumped against the wall, wiping at her nose which was bleeding heavily. As Vella looked at her angrily, her face began to change and her fangs grew. She was having a difficult time controlling herself. Between her fear from the previous night's events, her anger towards Liz and the insatiable hunger she was feeling at this moment, the blood was almost too much to handle.

Elena called her name, which snapped her out of her frenzy. She was grateful, since feeding on Liz was the last thing she needed to do. Vella knew she regularly ingested vervain as did all the Founder's council members.

Vella's face changed back to normal as she stooped down and grabbed a hold of the sheriff's arm, pulling her down the hallway.

"Where are you taking me?"

Vella didn't reply. Instead she squeezed her arm tighter in response, hoping to shut her up and continued dragging her down the hallway, until she reached the door to the basement. She pulled the door open and dragged Liz down the steep stone stairs, into the dark and dank basement. She could see through the darkness that Liz was terrified, even though she tried to hide it.

Vella dragged her to the iron bar door that had once been her own prison, pushed her past it and locked the door.

Liz looked at Vella defiantly.

"What do you want with me?"

Vella wore a sneer across her face as she spoke. "We have some talking to do."
"I can't imagine what I need to discuss with you."
Vella closed her eyes to try and calm herself. Right now she felt mentally drained. She had not been feeling much of anything since she had woke up, she hadn't allowed herself to. But right now she needed to feel, she needed to be able to convey her feelings to the sheriff about Tommy and the part she had played in everything.

"You're right, you can't even imagine what I have to say to you. And the knowledge you are lacking could fill volumes."

Liz looked at Vella with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"I hope you're not going to try and convince me to let your secret go."

Vella laughed derisively. "I wouldn't even attempt to try. Instead you will be forgetting it."

"I'm not sure how you're going to do that. Not only do I have vervain on me, I ingest it."

Vella laughed derisively again, sending shudders through the sheriff.

"You seem to forget who you're talking to, Liz," she said putting emphasis on her name. "My mother taught me well." Vella felt a twinge of pain mentioning her mother's name in front of her.

"So why are you keeping me locked up here?"

"Actually, that's for your protection from me."

Vella sensed Liz shudder slightly, but she was still defiant as she spoke.

"You might as well kill me. I'm not going to help you."

Vella's eyes narrowed while she looked at Liz, speaking in an ominous voice.

"That's where you're wrong."

Liz knew it wasn't a threat, it was a promise. She knew Vella would get her help whether she wanted to give it or not.

Vella paced back and forth for a minute trying to think of where to start. She hadn't really thought her plan out and now she couldn't think straight. She wondered how Damon and Stefan always seemed to make these kinds of situations look so easy. She knew deep down she didn't want to hurt the sheriff, even though she had every reason in the world, but being a cold blooded killer just wasn't in her and she didn't want to start now. It would be too easy to go down that road and she was afraid of never coming back.

Vella began by telling the sheriff the story on how she was turned, leaving out the part about Damon and the tomb. She put an emphasis on the fact that if it hadn't been for her and the council, then she wouldn't be what she was.

Liz was shocked and saddened by her story, but not enough to help her. Her hatred for vampires was deeply rooted in fear and misunderstanding.

"Is this why you brought me here, to explain yourself?"

Vella snorted. "Yeah right. Do you think I would even try to reason with you?"

"Well I'm confused then."

Vella sneered at her again as she spoke. "I'm not surprised."

Liz looked at her strangely. She was tired of the games, she wanted to know what she wanted and now. However, she didn't think it would be very prudent to push her since she could kill her quickly.

"Two words sheriff...Tommy Richardson."

The sheriff's eyes opened widely in surprise. She hadn't heard that name in a couple of years and had hoped to never hear it again. She was suddenly afraid of what Vella might have to tell her and was pretty sure she knew the reason she was so angry.

"Have you not noticed how much the vampire activity has picked up around here lately, sheriff?"

"Of course, but..."

Vella talked over her. "Well that was his doing. You knew he was alive and did nothing."

"And this is why you're mad?"

"Mad! Not mad sheriff, furious!" Vella was pacing back more furiously now. She looked like a hungry predator eager to get out and hunt. "I hope you can sleep well at night knowing this is all your fault."

"We will take care of him."

Vella ran up to the bars in the gate, gripping them tightly and cackled. "It's not him you have to worry about as much as the dozens of people he has changed to vampires."

"What!"

"You heard me right, Liz. Dozens," she let go of the bars and began pacing again, though more slowly. "In fact, they attacked some kids at the graduation party last night. They might have died if I hadn't been there to help them."

Liz was horror stricken. She couldn't believe that a nice young man like Tommy could do something so evil, vampire or not.

"This can't be right"

"Oh, but it is. He paid me a personal visit last night and what he tried to do to me..." but Vella couldn't finish the sentence.

LIz was suddenly overcome with a sick feeling deep down inside. She was having a hard time catching her breath and she felt like she could vomit at any moment. She couldn't imagine feeling more regret in her life than she did right now.

"How can I help you?" Liz asked in deference.

Vella stopped her pacing and looked at the sheriff. It was a deep piercing look and if Liz hadn't known better, she would have thought Vella could see into her soul.

"What if I asked you to keep my secret?"

Liz looked at her regretfully. "I can't do that."

"Then we are done talking," she replied as she turned around and walked up the basement stairs, leaving the sheriff staring at her back in shock and dismay.

When Vella walked into the livingroom, she found Elena pacing back and forth holding on to her cell phone. She was too distracted to notice that there was a second person in the room, sitting in the dark corner just beyond Elena's pacing.

When Elena turned and saw Vella, she was startled, actually jumping back slightly, exclaiming, "Vella!"

The figure that had been sitting down stood up to face her.

"What are you doing here, Alaric?"

Alaric walked towards Vella, he had a stake in one hand and a vervain dart in another.

Vella looked at him angrily, but surprised. "I wouldn't try anything funny Alaric, not if you value your life!"

"I don't want to do anything to you, if I don't have to," he replied, regret lacing each of his words.

Elena stood as still as she possibly could, suddenly regretting what she had done, calling Alaric. She hadn't been able to get a hold of either Stefan or Damon so she called the next best person to protect her, Alaric.

"Vella, this is my fault, I called him." Vella turned to look at her. "I was scared, you were acting crazy and I couln't get a hold of Stefan or Damon."

So you called a vampire hunter? Is what she wanted to ask her, but she was distracted by something else she had said.

"What do you mean you can't get a hold of them?" There was an edge of panic in her voice.

Elena could see she was just as concerned as she was, she hoped it meant that Vella was more reasonable now. But she wasn't more reasonable, she was panicked, panicked just as she had been the night before.

Vella felt a tightness in her chest and her stomach seemed to be doing flip-flops. She couldn't think, like everything was in a haze. Deep down inside she knew that Tommy was no match for both brothers, but that didn't help her relax or think more reasonably.

She was trying to calm herself down, when Vella noticed Alaric was walking towards the hallway. She ran at him, hissing a warning.

"You aren't going down there."

She had startled Alaric, who had almost stuck her with the vervain dart. He looked at her exasperated.

"You can't leave her trapped down there."

Vella closed her eyes for a second, fighting back the wave of red that was trying to overcome her, the anger. It wanted to consume her body and soul, but she couldn't allow that to happen. She tried to turn her thoughts to Damon, that always helped, but it wasn't enough. She flung her arm out, her hand balled into a fist. It came into contact with the wall, leaving a crater in the drywall.

Alaric had stepped away a few steps in fear, almost dropping the stake in his hand, which he was now gripping firmly and pointing towards Vella.

Vella looked at him for a moment as if she was dazed, then something flashed in her eyes and she seemed to be fine again.

"Alaric," she said calmly. "Liz knows about me, Damon and Stefan. She won't help us or keep our secret, so she needs to stay there until tomorrow."

Alaric looked at her with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "How is it going to help leaving her there until tomorrow?"

Vella rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Until the vervain she's ingested is fully out of her system, I won't be able to compel her properly."

"Oh!"

Vella looked at Alaric, giving him a slight smile, which she noticed made him relax. She felt herself calming down as well, but not enough to relax. She was still terribly worried about Damon, and Stefan to a lesser degree. She headed into the livingroom and slumped into one of the plush armchairs, closing her eyes.

Elena looked at Vella concerned. She could see the worry and pain etched on her face. She flipped open her cell phone to try Stefan's phone again, but nearly dropped her phone in surprise as she heard the front door open.

"Stefan!" Elena yelled and ran at him, wrapping her arms around him.

Damon had entered the house behind Stefan. He was about to ask where Vella was, when Elena told him without any prodding. He walked into the livingroom where she was still slumped in the chair with her eyes closed.

"Vella?" he whispered, wondering if she was awake.

Vella opened her eyes slowly to find Damon standing in front of her. She looked into his eye's as if she hadn't seen him in years. He leaned down and scooped her up into his arms, holding her tightly and burying his face against her.

They stayed like that for several minutes, until someone in the room cleared their throat, then they sat down, Vella on the armchair and Damon on the arm of the chair with his arm around her.

"What did you find out?" Alaric asked Stefan.

"We didn't find any clues to his whereabouts. Guess we will have to wait until the sun has gone down."

Vella looked alarmed as she glanced at Damon's face. He was trying his best to stay supportive and strong for her but he was secretly worried.

"Whatever you decide, I'm coming with you tonight," Alaric stated adamantly.

Both Stefan and Damon looked at each other, but neither objected, they knew Alaric well enough to know he would help whether they allowed him or not.

"Well we need to make a plan for tonight," Stefan said.

Vella looked at him, pausing a second before speaking.

"I have something to tell you about...before someone else tells you."

Damon and Stefan looked at her curiously while she explained her outing. She wasn't sure which one of them was more stunned about the whole thing, but she knew Damon was upset, even if he didn't say or even show it, she could feel it.

Vella's argument seemed to make sense to both brothers, so they decided they would leave her down in the basement until they were able to compel her, or at least, found the time to deal with her before she could tell the Founder's council their secret.

Damon, Stefan, Vella and Alaric made plans for later that night, while Elena made herself something to eat, she didn't want to know what was going to happen, it would just make her worry more. She made some extra food and took it down to the sheriff along with some bottles of water. By the time she had came back upstairs, they had finished talking and Alaric had left. Elena caught Stefan's eye, who looked concerned.

"I guess you want me to stay here tonight, don't you?"

Stefan nodded his head, then pulled Elena into a tender embrace, while Damon and Vella quietly left the room and headed up to their bedroom for some rest before it got dark.

A/N: I have been having writer's block so it may be a few more days before I post a new chapter, but will do so as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading!