Chapter Fifty-Two: Dead in the Water

If I was not myself and you were someone else
I'd say so much to you and I would tell the truth
'Cause I can hardly breathe when your hands let go of me
The ice is thinning out and my feet brace themselves
I'm there in the water still looking for ya
I'm there in the water. Can't you see, can't you see?

~Ellie Goulding

"Finch," Nilin breathed. Her heart pounded in her chest. It was so loud that she wondered if he could hear it too. His warm bloody hands were gripping her cold ones as he searched her face for an answer. Nilin shook her head. "Finch," she started again. "I… I can't go with you. I can't leave my family."

Instantly his expression changed. His grasp on her hands tightened to the point where it was painful. "You need to come with me Nilin," he told her. "It's the right thing to do. You know it and I know it."

She was starting to get nervous with the way he was acting. "It's not though, my place is here, Finch. Please," she asked him, trying to pull her hands away.

"No, I don't believe that. You don't belong here. They want you back on the Otherside, I want you back there," he pushed.

Nilin froze, ice sliding down her back. "They?" she breathed. "They want me back," she said again. Finch realized what he had said. "I thought you were sent here to mentor me, to help be get use to living like this."

He seemed to have completely forgotten that he was bleeding out just a moment ago. The wound itself looked like he had closed up completely. "That's one reason," he told, his hands becoming deadlocked on to her wrist.

"Don't. Don't say it," she bit out. "Don't tell me—"

"It was a recovery mission, Nilin," he cut her off. "I was supposed to bring you back from the start."

She shook her head, fighting to get out of his grip. "Let go of me now, Finch," she demanded. "Now."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Nilin," he told her. "I swear, you'll like it better on the Otherside. You'll be so much better, stronger."

"I'm better here. I'm strong here," she told him. "Strong is fighting. It's hard and it's painful but I do it every day because that's what I'm supposed to do." Nilin's wrist was growing red from her struggling. She tried to talk to him, tried to get him to hear her, but the stone hard look on his face never changed.

"You can think that all you want, but it's just a fallacy. Now, just stop fighting. Let me take care of this, it will only take a moment," he promised.

"No," Nilin yelled, but he wasn't budging. She attempted to pull away from him again, this time sending the pressure out of her chest. It hit Finch hard, his legs buckled under him and his hands fell away from her wrist.

Nilin stumbled when he let go of her, she fell back onto the road. Gravel embedded itself into the palms of her hands as she caught herself. She scrambled to stand but Finch dashed out and grabbed a hold of her shirt, pulling her backwards again.

Suddenly someone shouted. "Hey!" They turned to see Damon standing at the edge of the bridge in the middle of the road. "I believe she said no," he called, arms crossed over his chest.

"You're just in time to say goodbye. We were just leaving, weren't we Nilin?" he asked looking to her.

"Fuck off," Nilin spat, pulling away. She managed to free her shirt from him but he just constricted his hand around her wrist.

"She doesn't mean that," Finch smiled. "She's just a bit angry," then he looked at Damon strangely. "Oh, you brought company. Why don't you tell those friends of yours to step out of the woods?"

Damon hesitated for a moment. That caused Finch to squeeze Nilin's arm tighter, bending it back at a sickening angle. Nilin cried out before she could grit her teeth close. "Alright, alright," Damon shouted. Then he glanced at the trees around him. Nilly saw Elena, Stefan and Alaric appear. "You can let her go now."

"I don't think I'll be doing that." Finch said. "See I'm on a mission from a group of people much more powerful than you, and I intend to fulfill what they want me to."

Nilin growled. "God, I am so sick of being held hostage by assholes like you," she grumbled. She focused her power and let it travel down her arm, sending ripples and waves of energy. It burned where her skin met Finch's hand. He cursed, retracting his hand from her.

Nilin attempted to dash away from him but he shouted out her. "Take one more step and I'll fry one of your friends," he threatened. "Don't test me, Nilin. You know I'm perfectly capable of doing so."

She had locked eyes with Damon. It took everything in her being to turn back around and face Finch. "I told you already, I'm not leaving with you," she spoke slowly, afraid her voice would crack.

"But if you don't go, you'll only get worse," he told her.

This was just his was of stalling, Nilin knew it but still she paused, looking at him with confusion. "What do you mean?"

Finch just smirked at her.

"You're full of it," Damon called to them. "You're just pulling for anything now, there's nothing left up your sleeve."

He laughed. "That's where you're wrong, vampire," he said, then he looked to Nilin. "You haven't been feeling right lately, have you?" he asked. "Almost like you have the flu, right? Accept you don't get sick anymore. I bet your head is pounding as we speak," he assumed.

She had woken up with a headache, hell she went to bed with one. But how would he know that? "It doesn't matter what you say," she told him. "I'm staying."

"It's only going to get worse, much, much worse. To the point where you'll be praying for me to come help you," he warned her.

Nilin gritted her teeth. "It's not working, Finch. I'm staying on this side, with the living. You can't change my mind on that."

A sick grin came to his lips. "We'll see about that." Nilin heard Elena suddenly cry out in pain. She whipped her head around to see Elena falling to the ground, her body spasming painfully against the gravel. Nilin went to run to her. "Ah, ah. Don't you dare move," Finch told her.

"Stop it!" she screamed. "She doesn't have anything to do with this." Nilin tried to blink the tears away. There was another shout of pain, this one came from Alaric. He had staggered backwards, clutching his chest and wheezing. "Stop please!" she shouted.

"You can make this all end, Nilin," he reminded her. Nilly saw his eyes land on Elena again. He was going to up the voltage on her.

"No, no, stop," she yelled. "Okay, I'll go. Okay?"

"Nilin, don't!" she heard Elena cry out as she cringed on the ground.

Damon was yelling her name as well. "Finch, you son of a bitch," he shouted. "You said this had to be by her choice."

"And it is, she just agreed," he shrugged. Then he held his hand out to Nilin. She looked back over to Elena, her nose was bleeding but she was being helped up off the ground by Stefan. Alaric seemed to be regaining himself as well, bracing his hands on his knees and sucking in a breath. Nilly look back at Finch and took his hand. He smiled, kissing the top of it. "See, isn't this easier."

Nilin smiled at him but it quickly turned into a scowl as she gritted her teeth. "Go to hell, you sick bastard," she cursed, rearing her fist back and sending a blow to his left cheek. She sent her knee flying into his crotch before he could even stagger. A breath of air flew past Finch's lips as he stumbled backwards.

Nilin went to send her elbow into his spine, but Finch recovered quicker than she expected. He caught her hand and spun her around, pressing her back to his chest. His other arm came across Nilin's chest, his hand holding her throat tightly. "Everyone stop," he yelled, backing up to the steel railing of the bridge.

Nilin gasped out a breath as he restricted her throat. She could fell his fingers digging into her skin. Her eyes looked to Damon and Alaric. The moment Nilin hit Finch, they has started across the bridge towards them. Now, they staggered to a stop only a few feet away, watching carefully.

"I really didn't want it to go down this way." Finch said, sounding panicked and out of breath as he held Nilin against him. "But you choose the hard way and now I have to resort to this to get you to come with me," he growled.

"Just let her go, buddy," Alaric said. He was the closest to Nilin, his hand was outstretched towards her. Her body was stiff and trembling as she tried to figure out a way to grab it. "No one has to get hurt."

Finch looked at him. "You don't understand do you? There is no way to get out this one. What's done is done, she's returning with me."

"You make a single move and I'll tear your throat out," Damon swore a few steps behind Alaric.

"Well, good thing I only need to make one move." Finch said. Suddenly, Nilin felt his finger's dig into her skin of her arms. He grabbed a hold of Nilin and sent her over the railing. A scream tore through her lips as instinct took over. Her hands grasped for anything she could. Her body jerked to a stop mid-fall as she managed to grab on to one of the metal rungs. The rusting metal dug into the skin of her palms

With all the strength in her body, she hoisted herself up enough so her other hand could wrap around another bar, ignoring the pain. But that's all she could manage, her body dangled twenty feet above the water. Nilin let out a started gasp when she felt her wet fingers start to slip.

"Damon!" she screamed his name, trying her best to keep her hold. The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her frantic heart and the rushing of the water below her. She forced the air out of her lungs as she yelled for Damon again.

Suddenly his face appeared above her as he leaned over the railing. "Take my hand," he yelled down to her.

Nilin shook her head, gripping the metal for dear life. "I can't, I'm going to fall," she cried. The muscles in her arms were beginning to burn.

"No, you won't," he called to her. "I won't let you."

Nilly looked down at the jagged rocks below her. Then she looked up at him, the tears in her eyes blurred her vision. "I'm not strong enough, I can't reach you." Her left hand was starting to go numb, sliding down the bar.

"Nilin, I need you to trust me on this one," Damon said. "Grab my hand."

"Okay, okay," she breathed, inhaling deeply before her one hand let go of the metal rung and reached for him. She couldn't do it though. Her fingers reached but Nilin started to slide, letting out a scream as she fell farther. She heard him yell out her name. Her hand slid and grabbed another bar, jerking her arm painfully from the socket. The ground stopped rushing towards her with a nauseating pain.

Nilin was starting to hyperventilate, her vision growing blurry around the edges. "I'm sorry I yelled at you the other night," she cried, looking up at Damon. "I didn't mean any of it."

"Don't be an idiot, Nilin. We can have this conversation when you're not dangling above rocks. Now, try again and grab my hand," he demanded.

Nilin let out a deep breath. Keeping her eyes on Damon, she reached for him. Her other hands slipped off the bar and she was falling for a second. But Damon managed to snatch a hold of her wrist.

"Don't let me go," she cried up to him.

"I won't," he promised back as he reached for her other arm. He pulled Nilly up, hoisting her over the side of the bridge. She fell onto the pavement, sobbing. She was shaking and there was a very good chance she was about to pass out, but then Damon was lifting her on to her feet. He shouted behind him, "Now!"

Nilin looked up just in time to see Magnolia appear, gun raised and aimed. A shot rang out and Nilin jumped. She saw Finch, who was starting towards Stefan and Alaric, drop like a rock. Mags kept the gun raised, walking towards him swiftly. Nilin's mind didn't comprehend what her eyes were seeing.

Damon's hands framed her face, drawing the attention back to him. "Look at me," he breathed. Nilin was still watching the body on the ground, trying to process that that was Finch. "Hey, look at me," he repeated, turning her head towards him. "You don't need to see this." Nilin didn't understand what he was talking about, but suddenly there was another pop of a gunshot and she realized it.

Nilin buried her head in Damon's shirt as she started to cry again. He held her tight. "I didn't know," she sobbed. "I'm sorry." He tried to calm her down, taking her away from the edge of the railing.

"Is she okay?" Nilin heard Elena asked as she ran over to them out of breath. Nilly lifted her head off Damon's shoulder and darted towards her sister. Her body was still trembling uncontrollably. It was so bad that Elena vibrated with her too.

"I'm sorry, Elena," she cried. The word sorry had been used so often that Nilin didn't know if it held any power to it. People could only apologize so many times. At the moment though, with her mind racing to catch up, it was the only word she could force out of her lips. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, I'm okay," she promised. "We're okay."

Nilin knew she was holding Elena too tight, to the point where she was probably hurting her. But Elena didn't say anything, she held Nilin just as tight. "This isn't your fault," she mumbled. "This isn't your fault, Nil."

"I didn't see it," Nilin breathed.

"I know," Elena nodded. "Come on, let's just leave, okay? Let's go home."

They didn't move at first. Nilin nodded but couldn't unfold herself from Elena just yet. If she did, Nilin thought she would fly away or slip through the cracks in the bridge. She needed a moment.

"Give me a second," Nilin said, her head still buried in Elena's shoulder. They all waited. They waited for her body to stop the jerking movements that were caused by her terrified heart. They waited for her to be able to lifter her head up and let out a shaky breath. Elena gave her a small smiled as she took the sleeve of her shirt and ran it under Nilin's eyes, drying the dampness off her cheeks.

"Hold on," Nilin mumbled. Her eyes looked over to where Magnolia and Alaric were, standing over Finch's body.

She took a stepped in their direction but Elena grabbed her hand. "You shouldn't," she advised, giving Nilin's fingers a squeeze.

"I need to," Nilly told her, and Elena's hand dropped from her. Magnolia had looked up and saw Nilin. She walked towards her, meeting in the middle of the road.

Damon came up next to Nilin quickly, placing his hand on the small of her back. He was keeping her close with a watchful eye, waiting for her to snap. "You have to tell me how you learned to shoot like that," he said to Mags. It was his attempt to ignore the overwhelming tension crushing them all.

Mags just smiled and tucked the gun into the waste ban of the back of her pants. "I don't like you enough to share that story," she replied. Then she looked at Nilin. "It's not a pretty sight, kid," she told her.

It was as if there was a space in her brain that disconnected it from the rest of her body. Her body felt cold and numb, besides the stinging pain that pulsed from the palms of her hands and arm socket. The sensation was the only evidence that she had been hanging off the bridge. Nilin needed to see it to believe that Finch could have actually done this. She needed to see him to that he was the one Magnolia had just shot. It was morbid, and she knew it but she needed this.

Her mouth opened to explain this to them when there was a sudden burst of light that scorched her skin. A piercing noise rang out, over the bridge. It caused everyone to clamp their hands over their ears. It last for only a second, and then it stopped just like that. Everything returned to normal.

Nilin looked to where Finch's body had been lying. "He's gone." She looked down at her clean hands, which had been stained with blood a moment go. She let out a shuddering breath and went to turn to Damon.

"I—" her sentence cut short as a pain tore through the front of her skull. Nilin gasped, toppling on to the ground. It grew unbelievably worse, causing her to yell out in pain. She was faintly aware of someone holing her, cradling her to their chest.

"Nilin? Nilin," she heard her name being called.

"What's going on?"

Lightning struck her frontal lobe again and Nilin cried. Her body was burning, every brush against the ground or the arms around her singed her skin. There was a horrific noise in her ears. The realization hit her that it was her own screaming. Slowly the burning started to recede, first from her toes and then working its way up the rest of her body until the only pain was her throbbing forehead. The pain began melting away what felt like minutes later, when in reality she knew this all happened in a few seconds. She forced her eyes open, seeing Damon's face above her. She was breathing heavy, trying to catch her breath. Her body felt as if it was running a temperature. Damon helped her sit up slowly.

Mags was kneeling in front of her "What was that?" Magnolia asked, laying a hand on Nilin's forehead. Nilin was having trouble keeping her eyes open. The pain had been so intense it left her sick.

Mags's hand were turning Nilly's head this way and that way, looking at her pupils. "The world's spinning, Mags," Nilin mumbled.

She cracked a smile. "Come on, get her up off the ground," she ordered. "Slowly." Damon lifted Nilin up from under her arms, placing her feet on the floor. She swayed, having to lean against him.

"You're okay," he told her, stroking the side of her cheek.

Nilin could only muster up a nod.

Elena was visibly shaken. She was pale as a ghost and trembling against Stefan, who wore the same hard, concerned expression as the lot of them. "Nilly..." Elena breathed out. "Nilly, what...?"

Nilin knew what she was trying to ask, it was the same question Mags had sputtered out.

"I think," Nilin had to pause unable to catch her breath properly. "I think," she started again. "That was him taking my energy to vanish. You know, to really throw salt in the wound." Damon's arm around her noticeably tightened. She felt his chest shudder against her back. Leaned her head back against him in the only way she could offer some sort of comfort to him. "I'll be fine, I'll be okay."

It was only a few nights ago that she almost lost him, now he was standing in her shoes. Nilin knew exactly how he was feeling. She said those words a loud to everyone, but they were meant of Damon.

"So," Alaric said cautiously, looking over her shoulder to where the body had been. "Is he, you know… gone gone?"

They all seemed to look at Nilin for the answer. She had her cheek pressed against Damon's shirt. "No," Nilin shook her head. "Bullets can't kill him, I don't know what can, if anything," she explained.

"So, what? Was that his return flight home, or something?" Magnolia asked.

"I think so, he's over on the Otherside, back from wherever he came," she mumbled, feeling extremely drowsy all of a sudden.

Damon's grip tightened on her more. "Alright, that's enough for now," he told them, swooping down and scooping Nilin up in his arms. "We can finish asking questions later," he said, as he started to carry her down the road. Nilin heard Magnolia utter something about a snippy vampire, but she wasn't paying much attention.

Nilly was battling to keep her eyes open as he walked. Something wasn't right with her, the scar on her abdomen was burning. She felt sick to her stomach as realization of what just happened hit her. Her chest started to shutter as Damon carried her.

"On a scale from one to ten, how bad is it?" he asked, low enough for only her to hear the questions.

"An eight," she mumbled "… and a half."

"We've had worse, haven't we?" he said, grinning a little at her. Nilin just nodded, trying to speak through the tears. Words got lodged in her throat. "Hey," Damon said, still speaking in a murmur. She looked up at him. "You're going to be okay. I've got you now and I'm not going to let anything hurt you, understand?"

Nilin swallowed hard and nodded, feeling herself start to calm down. She wiped the wetness off her cheeks. "I hate crying in front of people," she mumbled.

"Luckily, it's just me," he winked, walking down the middle of the road with her tucked in his arms.