Chapter 38

From the second Simone was rescued, all she could think about was Olivia.

Tyler wouldn't leave her alone, sticking to her side like glue and refused to let go of her hand. Their fingers were tightly entwined while he wiped blood off of her face and mouth with his free one. He didn't want Simone lifting a single finger, giving her several cursory once overs to make sure she really was alright.

He could smell the wolfsbane on her breath and knew Aaron had shoved it down her throat, which he would pay for. Aaron Green wasn't getting away with what he did to Simone, not a chance in hell. Of course, Tyler would wait until Olivia, Jenna and Jeremy were saved before exacting his revenge.

It was weird being on the same side as her kidnapper, but once Stefan explained the whole situation to her, Simone wasn't so resentful. She was still pissed at how everything went down, especially being tortured with wolfsbane, but she did understand why Aaron did all of it. Not only was he a vampire and had a natural born instinct to hate werewolves, but he did it to protect his loved one.

It was hard hating the man, vampire or not, after hearing his story.

"What's on your mind?" Tyler asked quietly, sitting in the backseat while Caroline was in the front passenger and Stefan drove.

They currently followed Aaron in his own vehicle, which was Stefan's idea because he was afraid Tyler would lash out and destroy Simone's abductor. Everyone voted on it and it'd been unanimous. Tyler wasn't thrilled about it, but one pleading look from Simone and he turned to complete mush. That was the only reason why he agreed to let the bloodsucker drive to Atlanta by himself.

"So much." Simone lowered her eyes from his, the guilt and shame crashing over her once again. "It's my fault Olivia and Jeremy are in danger right now. If I didn't leave the mansion, she'd still be with us and Jeremy wouldn't have nearly died by having his neck snapped. Thank god it was a supernatural death or else he wouldn't still be breathing."

"I know, baby, but you can't blame yourself for everything Olivia does." Tyler held his hand up before Simone could argue, a soft smile curving his lips. "Let me finish and then you can say whatever you want. I know she's your best friend and you were sworn to protect her, but she is an adult capable of making her OWN decisions. Look at her and Damon. You did everything in your power to try to split them up and nothing worked because she refused to let other people tell her what to do. Granted, I personally think she's insane for wanting to be with a bloodsucker, but that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it."

"I don't like it either. He hurt her once and I can't forget about it. I still can't believe she forgave him for nearly killing her. He crushed her throat to the point where, if it wasn't for Bonnie's witchcraft, she would be dead right now." Simone couldn't wrap her mind around it, even though she had told Olivia she understood her love for Damon Salvatore. "But then again, I have never seen her so happy. He makes her happy and that's all that should matter. Even though I morph into a big fur ball every full moon, I can't blind myself to the truth. She loves him as much as I love you, Tyler. If someone tried taking you away from me, I would tear their throat out without blinking. We need to stop being judgmental of vampires because not all of them are bad. Stefan and Caroline are proof of that. Hell, even YOU'RE proof of that being a hybrid and all."

Tyler had explained everything to Simone and swore her to secrecy because not everyone knew what he truly was. Just the handful of people they hung around with and Tyler was fine with that. Simone hadn't told Olivia about Tyler yet because of everything else happening around them. There was no time to just sit down and explain to her that Tyler Lockwood was a vampire/werewolf hybrid. As much as Tyler hated vampires, he couldn't deny that he was partially one and had eventually come to terms with it.

Both Stefan and Caroline rolled their eyes simultaneously, not responding to Tyler's remark about their kind. "So, where exactly did Damon say we were going?" Caroline asked, looking at Stefan questioningly. "I know it's in Atlanta, but that's a huge city and I never pegged Olivia of all people to be a city girl."

"She's not." Simone grunted, still healing from her injuries and leaned against Tyler, soaking in his warmth. "We lived on the outskirts of Atlanta in the country."

"Oh."

"Does anyone know the person who took her?" Caroline pressed, wanting to know what exactly they were walking into and saw Stefan's hands tighten on the steering wheel. "I know you're worried about Elena, but Damon won't let anything happen to her."

"How can you be sure?" Stefan asked, trying to keep the doubt out of his tone, but it wasn't easy.

"Because Damon was in love with Elena at one point." Caroline knew that probably wasn't the best thing to say considering Stefan's rocky past with Damon. She didn't know how else to convince Stefan that Elena was perfectly safe with Damon. "Not to mention Ric is with them. You know he won't let anything happen to Elena."

Stefan couldn't argue with that and patted Caroline's hand gently, cracking a small smile. "Thanks Caroline, I appreciate everything you do." She really did remind him so much of Lexi, it was scary at times.

He fully believed that somehow, someway Lexi had sent Caroline to him. Though it'd been Katherine who turned Caroline into a vampire, not Lexi, but that didn't change Stefan's friendship with Caroline. Nobody could replace Lexi in his mind and heart, but she wasn't alive anymore, so Caroline was his new best friend.

"Anytime." Caroline winked, squeezing his hand briefly and released it, turning her gaze to stare back out the window.

Both Tyler and Simone exchanged looks, however they were completely different. "They have a brother and sister relationship." He spoke right in her ear, running his hand up and down her leg in a gentle loving caress. "He had an old friend by the name of Lexi and Caroline reminds him of her."

"What happened to her?" The question left her mouth before Simone could stop it, her curiosity winning out.

"Damon killed her. When the council found out that vampires had returned to Mystic Falls, things got a little…hairy." He smirked at the irony of that word and continued his administrations on Simone's leg. "They started hunting for them and almost caught the Salvatore's, but Damon was one step ahead of them. He compelled a girl to point out Lexi during one of the grill's parties that Caroline threw and she was injected with vervain in front of everyone. When she tried escaping, Damon ended up staking her and posed as a vampire hunter, of sorts."

Simone covered her mouth in shock, jade eyes wide in horror. "He…killed one of his own kind?" That was possibly the worst thing Simone ever heard and it made her hate Damon Salvatore that much more. "He's such a dick."

"I agree, but…Lexi didn't die in vain because his plan worked. The council stopped hunting them because Damon convinced the sheriff the vampires were taken care of. It didn't last because now Sheriff Forbes knows who and what we all are, but because her daughter is a vampire, she keeps it under wraps." Tyler explained softly and caught Stefan staring back at them through the rearview mirror, hoping he didn't mind the brief history lesson, clearing his throat. "Anyway, new topic."

Caroline had also heard every word and agreed with Tyler for the most part, also having a hard time getting along with Damon Salvatore. Her reasons were legitimate though because he had used her from the moment he arrived in Mystic Falls because she was a Founding Family member. His actions didn't go without punishment because, shortly after Caroline was turned into a vampire, she showed Damon just how much strength she had and beat the hell out of him.

The rest of the drive was made in silence, everyone on edge and tense, especially Simone. The eight hours were grueling, but luckily all the wolfsbane flushed out of her system and she had regained her strength. Stefan spotted Damon's blue Camaro and pulled over on the side of the dark country road, cutting the lights and ignition.

"Stefan." Elena didn't waste a second and ran toward him just as he stepped out of the car, jumping into his open arms. "Thank goodness you made it." Her deep brown eyes moved to Simone as Stefan lowered her to the ground and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, Simone."

Simone hadn't expected this and awkwardly patted Elena's back, plastering on a phony smile. "No harm done, I've had worse done to me honestly." She pulled back just as Aaron approached all of them, avoiding eye contact with him and Damon at all costs. "So, enough stalling, what's the plan and where is Olivia?"

"Down the road a ways, we'll all have to travel on foot from here since we're sneaking in." Damon's eyes landed on Aaron and immediately closed the distance between them, eyeballing him shrewdly. "Nice to see you kept your word. Smart choice, boy. Have you been here before?"

"Once." Aaron remembered it vaguely, his memory still somewhat blurred, but he did recall being on this road before. "He brought us here shortly after we were turned to help us with our craving problem. He locked us up in the basement, chained us to the walls and refused to give us anything until we could control our thirst for human blood. It wasn't even a month ago."

"Time out, what the hell is this guy's name?" Simone demanded, folding her arms in front of her chest. "You keep saying he, but I want a name and I want it now."

"Mark." Aaron immediately obliged, gritting his teeth because the name left a sour taste in his mouth. "Mark Beckham." His eyes landed on a younger man that was built and had a deadly look in his eyes. "You must be Jeremy."

Damon seared that name into his memory and would never forget it, not even in his afterlife. "Enough chit-chat, they've waited long enough for us." If they were still breathing, which was a bigger possibility than Damon liked. "Ric, give them the weapons."

"On it."

Alaric was more than ready to end this, handing each person, vampire and werewolf a vervain and wolfsbane bomb along with self-made contraptions that shot wooden stakes at a fast velocity. They strapped to bare arms under clothing so they were hidden away and they had the element of surprise on their side. He trained both Jeremy and Elena in the arts of vampire hunting, though Alaric also added defensive fighting against werewolves. He didn't take any chances when it came to supernatural beings and looked over at Jeremy, more than thankful he was still alive because of a magical ring.

"You ready for this, Jer?" Alaric asked quietly as everyone suited up, having a few other weapons in hand for backup and began heading down the road on foot. "You can stay behind…"

"I'm fine." Jeremy cut him off instantly, flat out refusing to stay behind while everyone else got a piece of this dick that took his family hostage.

Elena had the same concern as Alaric, but she knew better than to try forcing Jeremy to stay behind. He obviously knew what he was doing, especially since he'd staked Teresa in order to protect Olivia. Jeremy had told them everything as soon as he'd gotten some food and caffeine into his system. With how close she was to losing Jeremy, there was no way he was leaving her sight, which is another reason why Elena kept her mouth shut about him tagging along.

Damon lead everyone down the road with Stefan, both brothers looking determined and deadly. Caroline walked alongside Elena while Tyler stuck to Simone and Aaron stayed behind the brothers. Alaric and Jeremy were in the back, talking quietly among themselves about strategy. Caroline asked Elena's opinion of Aaron and wondered if there was a future for them. It wasn't that they didn't care about Olivia and Jenna, but if they kept dwelling on all the possibilities of what could be happening to them, everyone would go crazy.

Tyler kept his eyes locked on Aaron, already having the perfect plan to execute him once they arrived at their destination. His mouth watered with anticipation, every part of his body feeling as though it was engulfed in flames. If any of the bloodsuckers tried stopping him from exacting revenge, he would take them down along with Aaron. He didn't care if Simone didn't want revenge, it was going to happen either way and nobody would stop him.

Before long, a dark Victorian style house came into everyone's view and they stopped in their tracks. It was at least four stories high and huge. This wasn't going to be as easy as everyone thought, everyone already assessing the amount of space they'd have to cover. They would have to split up if there was a chance to get Olivia and Jenna out safely.

"Jeremy, come here." Damon ordered, gesturing the young man forward and placed his hand on the back of Jeremy's neck gently. "I need you to stay out here and keep an eye on things. You and Elena both. You don't need to go in here and get yourselves killed. We will get Olivia and Jenna out, I promise, but someone has to stay out here and it's you and your sister. Do we understand each other?"

Not liking this sudden turn of events, Jeremy nodded tensely and looked over his shoulder at Elena, knowing she wouldn't like this either. "Got it." He whispered, feeling Damon pat his back and walked over to Elena to explain what they had to do.

"Vampire Barbie, you and my little brother go in through the back. She-wolf and wolf boy need to scale the tree on the far left side. Start from the top and work your way down until you find one or both of them. Ric, Aaron and myself are going to take the front entrance since he's been here before." Damon barked out the orders and hoped everyone just complied with them because he wasn't in the mood for arguing. "Everyone clear on what to do?"

"So you basically want me and Jeremy to be watchdogs?" Elena snapped, pursing her lips tightly together and ignored Damon's deadly glare. "Great, just perfect. I just- TYLER NO!"

Time had run out for Aaron Green because Tyler couldn't contain his anger any longer, his entire body erupting into one big ball of fur.

"Tyler!" Simone cried out as her boyfriend phased into a wolf out of nowhere, one of the many perks to being a hybrid and targeted Aaron, tackling him to the ground.

"WHO'S OUT THERE?"

"Oh no…" Caroline groaned, knowing they had company as multiple vampires came spilling out the front of the house, heading straight for them.

The fight was officially on.