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Chapter 55: Hope
Sakura wakes up and glances at Damon beside her on the bed. He was staring down at her with a smile on his face as he leant on his arm. "Morning," Damon leant in and kissed her forehead.
"Interesting," Sakura glanced around the room.
"Interesting?" Damon looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Were you watching me sleep?" Sakura questioned him.
"You caught me," Damon laughed, "I can't help it though. You're so cute when your asleep."
"What does that mean for when I'm awake then?" Sakura smirked when he looked at her surprised.
"Um," Damon thought for a moment, "Hot when awake?" He leaned in and kissed her. "If only everyday could be like this," Damon looked down at her longingly.
"You'd want this everyday?" she asked him, "Really?"
"Every single day, for the rest of my eternal life," Damon replied without a hitch.
"Hm, she really means that much to you. I didn't think you guys were that serious. But I guess I was wrong," she pondered aloud.
Damon's face dropped, "You're not her."
"No, but she probably heard you. I mean come on, she takes her body back for one night and what does she do, goes straight to you. Not only that, but she throws herself at you like her life depended on it. But I guess that was just how much she wanted to be with you. Such longing, it's almost touching," she continued. Damon looked down at her sadly, but didn't say anything. "I know what you're thinking, and no, I don't think she'll be coming out to play again any time soon," she spat. "Oh well," she sat up and stretched, "Was fun while it lasted. Now, where are my clothes," she looked around the room. There was a trait of clothes leading from the door. "You guys are animals," she laughed as she got out of bed. She casually picked up her underwear and put them on, knowing that Damon was watching her. She put her pants on, grabbed her top and turned to him as she held it in the air. "Ok, serious? This is no longer a t-shirt. You literally ripped it off her," she complained and he smiled at her. She rolled her eyes, "Good thing she has some clothes here," she walked through the wall to Sakura's room to grab a new shirt.
"Come on Sakura, I know you're in there," he appeared beside her, still missing all his clothes.
"You know how much it took out of her to just come out the first time? She's drained Sherlock, get a clue," she yawned as she turned to him. "Now, if you don't get out of my way."
"You'll what? Kill me? Good luck there," Damon said, confident in Sakura despite everything.
"Well I was just going to say move you myself, but if that's what you want," she held her hand up and was about to blast him away, when a stabbing pain started in her head. Damon smirked, fairly sure it was his Sakura doing it. "Fine, I'm outta here," she glared at him and phased through the floor.
"Sakura," Damon sighed.
Elena's training on one of Alaric's mannequnis. He shows her how to stake a vampire with a sleeve and two stakes in it. "So the pressure of your punch ejects the stakes," Alaric tried to explain how it worked.
"Easy enough," Elena tried to strike the mannequin, but nothing happened, "That's weird." She tried it again, "Must be jammed or something."
"You're not strong enough. Better start lifting some weights, put some meat on your bones," Alaric sighed.
"Thanks for not sugar-coating it," Elena frowned.
Alaric pulled something out of his bag and showed it to her, "You know what this is?"
"A vervain grenade. I've used one before," Elena recognized it instantly.
"Then you know the element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire," Alaric pulled the pin out of the grenade and tossed it into Elena's hand, "Surprise."
"Oh my god," Elena tossed it into the air and it exploded, "This isn't a joke to me, Ric."
"Hey, watch it," Darien walked up to them with Leilani, who wanted to train with Elena.
"Sorry," Elena and Ric turned to Darien.
"But I did have a reason. Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want. And they'll do it without remorse. It's their nature. No offence," Ric glanced at Darien with that last comment.
"None taken, you're right," he smiled.
"You don't have to use pronouns. You can say Stefan," Elena touched her neck where he bit her.
"Look, I get why you're here. Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again," Alaric said gently.
"But you think that I'm crazy. To believe that I can protect myself from a vampire who's flipped the switch on his humanity," Elena knew what he was getting at.
"Maybe we need to stick together more. I'm no Sakura," Leilani paused, "But I can fight. She taught me how. I know a little magic and I think you have an admirer who would join us as well." Leilani looked at Darien, who glared at her.
"I can't be completely useless," Elena complained. Alaric gives her the sleeve with the stakes. She puts the sleeve back on.
"You're both right. Elena, you need to learn to defend yourself, at least a little. Leilani, you need practise. But she is right, I'll stick with you guys," Darien stated, "I'll even help train."
"I thought you were with Katherine?" Alaric spoke up, not trusting Darien.
"I can't care about more than one person?" Darien pointed out as he gazed at Elena.
"I suppose you can," Alaric mumbled, noticing him staring at Elena.
Elena, Leilani, Caroline and Bonnie are in front of the school. Elena has a scraf around her neck. "You sure I should be going to your school?" Darien asked as he came up behind them.
"Best way to keep us safe," Elena replied, "Besides, you're a vampire who looks like a teenager, you'll fit in."
"Senior year," Caroline said as she stared at the school with mixed feelings.
"Anyone else think it should feel slightly more empowering?" Bonnie frowned.
"Not really, in the end, it's still high school," Leilani sighed.
"Ok. So prank night was a bust. But we are accepting it, and we are moving on," Caroline turned to them.
"You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriend hinder this experience?" Bonnie held her hands out enthusiastically.
"Yes! And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a damper on an otherwise fabulous day," Caroline stated.
"Today's our anniversary. Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year," Elena looked down sadly and Darien placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She smiled back at him.
"Why should I let the fact that my best friend was taken over by an ancient demon who could kill us all easily mess up this school year," Leilani sighed as she played with Sakura's necklace.
"Yeah. You win," Caroline sighed as she looked over at Leilani. Darien's hand dropped off Elena's shoulder and he looked away from them in guilt. He was the first born, it was originally him that the Fenrir wanted.
"Are you sure you guys want to be here?" Bonnie asked as she looked over at them.
"I have to be here. I have to put it behind me. New year. New life," Elena nodded and grabbed Darien's hand. They all turned to look at her, but didn't say anything.
"If I'm not here, I'll just be constantly thinking about her," Leilani stated.
Damon goes down the stairs to see two dead girls on the floor. He enters the living room and Stefan is there with a few girls. They're playing twister. "Uh-oh. Alexandra, left hand, please," Stefan said.
"Hey, the 2 brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug," Damon grumbled.
"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It's my house, too, brother. Ooh! Would you like a spin?" Stefan offered.
"So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Elena?" Damon scoffed.
"These ladies are helping me be all that I can be," Stefan laughed, "How about you Sakura, you want to join?"
Damon walked into the room more to see her leaning against the wall, looking at her nails. "Twister isn't really a game I like," Sakura sighed and looked up at Damon. She smirked at his priceless expression. Surprise, shock, confusion, all written across his face. There was a knock at the door. "Aren't you going to answer that?" Sakura asked him.
Damon opened the door to reveal Rebekah. "Where's Stefan?" she asked as she stepped in with shopping bags.
"Who the hell are you?" Damon eyed her up and down.
"He left me here. My brother actually left me here," she complained.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Your tone implies that I'm actually supposed to care," Stefan scoffed.
"Rebekah!" Sakura walked up to her.
"Oh my god Sakura, I'm glad you're here," she pulled her into a hug.
"You're Klaus's sister?" Damon bit down nervously.
"Rebekah. Pleasure, I'm sure. Which one's my room?" she didn't pay much attention to Damon.
"You're not staying here," Stefan said immediately.
"Come on Rebekah. You can have the other room next to mine," Sakura said as she grabbed her bags with one hand, and Rebekah's hand with her other hand. Sakura glanced back at Damon with a small smile before leading Rebekah upstairs.
"So I guess she's staying here," Stefan corrected himself.
Elena's phone rang. It was Damon. She showed Darien that it was him before answering. "Hey. Are you checking up on me? Because I'm fine. Darien's with me," she pointed out.
"Yeah. So... You might not want to come here for a while. We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus and two old housemates," Damon explained, "If she stays close though, I might be able to find a way to get her back, with Bonnie's help anyways."
"Rebekah? She's living with you now? Why?" Elena freaked out.
"She's stranded. Apparently Klaus left her in the dust after I name-dropped Mikael and Sakura invited her to stay," Damon sighed.
"What about Stefan? What is he up to?" Elena asked worriedly.
"Oh, you know. Journaling, reading, shaping his hair," Damon said nonchalantly.
"Come on, Damon. I can handle it. What?" Elena pushed.
"Is that the bell? Oh...Ring! Ring! Don't want to be late," Damon hung up.
"Isn't part of a new start, not asking about your ex?" Darien frowned down at her.
Caroline puts a flyer for the bonfire on the wall beside them, "He's right you know."
"I forgot about the bonfire," Elena looked at the flyer sadly.
"You have to go. It's our first spirit squad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year," Leilani said as she came up beside Caroline, holding flyers as well.
"Relax, I'll be there," she glanced at Darien, "We'll be there."
"Thank you. It's just that..." Caroline was cut off by Tyler who came up to her and kissed her.
"Is that blood?" Leilani asked, noticing his shirt.
"Oh my God!" Caroline freaked out and pulled them into the restroom.
"What's going on?!" Tyler frowned.
"Vampire 101... don't wear your breakfast to school!" Caroline growled.
Elena pushed in the door to each stall to make sure no one was there. "Chill out. It was just a blood bag," Tyler held his hands up in defence.
"From where?" Caroline prodded.
"Rebekah hooked me up," he replied.
"Rebekah? And what are you even talking to her for?" Caroline asked angrily.
"Klaus told her to keep a watch on me. Protect his new asset," he rolled his eyes.
"His what? Why are you amused by this?" Tyler wasn't taking her seriously.
"I'm his first successful hybrid, Caroline. Don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?" Tyler smiled.
"Oh, wow! I cannot believe you just said that," Caroline freaked out.
Leilani strode up to Tyler and slapped him as hard as she could. He stumbled back slightly, surprised by it, "Leilani?"
Leilani stomped out of the restrooms. "Guess I'm going to have to fix this one," Darien glared at him.
"So, I'm going to go," Elena followed her.
"Hello, Elena," she came out to see Stefan talking with Leilani.
"What are you doing here?" Elena grabbed onto Leilani's arm and pulled her away from Stefan defensively, not letting go.
"What do you mean? I'm going back to school. Go Timberwolves!" Stefan cheered.
"What?! Why?" Elena looked at him in pain.
"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you. I'm just doing what I'm told," Stefan smiled at her.
"And I'm here to keep an eye on him," Sakura came around the corner.
"I'm going to be late for class," Elena tried to walk by him when he grabbed her.
"Oh, class is this way," he said.
"Let go of her," Leilani commanded.
"Do you think I want to be a senior for the 100th time? No. I don't have a choice in the matter. And neither do you," he looked between Elena and Leilani.
Leilani looked around to see the hallway basically empty. "Lux Sagitta," she summoned her bow and aimed it at Stefan, "I said, let her go."
"Sakura," he called to her, as if for her to help.
"How about you all head to history class, so I don't have to fix the situation?" she asked with a sigh, not actually wanting to do anything.
"I will see you both in history," he let go of Elena and walked away. Elena and Leilani looked at Sakura sadly before walking away.
"What the hell is he doing here?!" Alaric freaked out after Leilani and Elena explained what happened.
"Klaus compelled him to watch over me. Apparently I'm one of Klaus's assets now that my blood is the only way he can create a hybrid," Elena sighed as she sat on a desk.
"Now he's a bodyguard? What about Sakura?" Alaric asked.
"She's keeping an eye on Stefan, and everyone else I assume," Leilani replied.
"Look, his being here is not good for any of us. We have to do something," Elena rushed to say as the bell rang.
The students all rushed in and got to their seats. Elena was beside Caroline on one side and another classmate on the other. Darien sat behind Elena with Leilani beside him. Stefan walked up to the student at the other side of Elena, "You're in my seat." He smiled at Elena and sat next to her. Darien glared at him while biting his lip. Sakura came in and sat behind Darien, a perfect spot to keep an eye on everyone.
"Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders... Native Americans," Alaric started the class.
"What about the Vikings?" Rebekah entered the classroom. Sakura waved to her and she sat down beside her. They turned to look at her suspiciously.
"There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. Who are you?" Alaric inquired.
"My name's Rebekah. I'm new. And history's my favorite subject," she introduced herself.
Caroline and Leilani went to cheerleading practise after school. "Has anybody seen Dana?" one of the cheerleaders called out.
"Sounds like you have an opening on the squad," Rebekah came walking up to them with Sakura. Sakura sat off to the side under a tree and Rebekah started to stretch.
"What are you doing?" Caroline walked up to her. Rebekah just continued, "Hey. Hey. You can't just come here and infiltrate all our lives."
"I'm only interested in yours. Your rank, your popularity," Rebekah replied enviously. She looked over at Tyler on the football field, "Maybe even your boyfriend."
Caroline stomped off to talk with Tyler. Sakura sighed as Leilani walked up to her, "What do you want?"
"Sakura," she looked down at her sadly.
"Why don't you go for a run with Elena? Stefan's a little off at the moment, wouldn't trust him with her," she said in a sing song voice. Leilani sighed and walked away to look for Elena.
"Well that wasn't very nice," Damon appeared beside her.
"I'm supposed to be nice?" Sakura glanced up at him.
"She is Sakura's best friend," he sat down beside her.
"And? Isn't everyone around lucky I don't go on a killing spree? I'm a mass murderer you know," she stated.
"So am I," he smiled.
"Not lately," she spat.
"You either," he continued.
"Whatever. Be gone so I can take a nap," Sakura leant against the tree with her eyes closed. Damon didn't move away though, he stayed there, watching her.
Elena is lifting weights when Darien arrived. "What are you doing warrior princess?" Darien laughed.
"Do you actually know what's happening right now? Stefan called me a human blood bag. He's a completely different person," Elena stopped to glare at him.
"You called. I'm here. What's your plan?" Darien sat down beside her.
"I want to lock Stefan up, at least until this Mikael guy comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks," Elena explained.
"Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood. Okay? A lot of it. Stay away from him when you can," Darien warned her, "Don't go looking for trouble. This isn't just him hungry, this is him with his humanity off."
"There's got to be a way to get him off of it," Elena said desperately.
"You can't get him back from this Elena!" Darien frowned down at her, genuinely concerned. "Please don't go after him, or do anything that might put you in danger," he lifted his hand up to her and stroked her hair gently.
"Then do it for me, Darien. Every single time I look at him, I feel like I'm going to break. And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction," Elena said defiantly.
Darien stood up and drew her up to him. He placed her hand on his chest, "Feel that? It's a sternum. Solid plate of bone." He takes her in his arms and puts his fingers on her back. Right here, just below the ribcage, next to the spine, that's your way to a vampire's heart," Darien explained. He rested his hands on her back, keeping her there, "I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Elena. I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't get hurt."
"Darien," Elena said his name softly.
"Why are you stalking me?" Sakura stopped walking, "I know you're there, you're not that good at hiding yourself."
"You say stalking, I say admiring from afar," Damon came out from the alleyway, "How'd you know anyways?"
"As if I can't feel the presence of everyone around," she rolled her eyes, "You know, I'm much stronger than your Sakura. Just because I've been being nice lately, doesn't mean I can't just go around making people explode from the inside."
"Well as long as it's not me in your sights for that, I'm all for it," he appeared in front of her, "At least I have a few things on you. Speed being one of them." He brushed her bangs behind her ears and stared down at her with a smirk.
"What are you doing?" she glared up at him and took a step back.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked as he took a step forward. She took another step back and he followed.
"Are you flirting with me or something," she took another step back, but it was at the edge of the road. She stumbled back and was about to fall when his arm appeared around her as he held onto her other hand, stopping her descent. "I'm not Sakura," she spat, "What part of that don't you get?" Her face was starting to turn red as she struggled against him. She tried to use her powers, but nothing happened, "What did you do to me?" He shook his head as he stared at her, not letting her go. "Let go," she demanded.
He pulled her to her feet and kept her in a tight embrace, "I'll never give up on you Sakura."
She gasped, "Are you forcing me out now or something? Damn it Damon, it's tiring to take over you know. It wasn't long ago that I did it, but really I think you caused this one."
Damon looked at her stunned, "I didn't think it would work."
"What did you do?" she questioned him.
"Stick annoyingly close to you?" he thought aloud.
"Maybe you're winning her over, Klaus isn't exactly the most charming..." Sakura trailed off.
"If that keeps happening, it'll be annoying," her voice changed back, "Now unhand me." She pushed him away easily this time.
"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he's distracted..." Elena trailed off.
"I'll shoot him," Alaric finished.
"Caroline, are you covered?" Elena turned to her, sitting on the desk beside her in Alaric's classroom.
"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready," Caroline replied.
"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow," Darien pointed out.
"Which is why it's your job to keep her away," Elena turned to him pleadingly.
"How?! She's an original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers, unless you're holding out on me," he playfully eyed her.
"No, we're not. So then preoccupy her with your charm," Elena suggested.
"Think you can do it?" Alaric asked seriously.
"We'll see," he sighed.
"What do we do if Sakura is there?" Leilani cringed, not really wanting to bring it up.
"He distraction was supposed to be Damon, but he seems to have flaked on us," Elena sighed.
"Sorry I'm late. What's going on?" Tyler entered the classroom.
"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while," Elena said plainly.
"You can't do that to Stefan," he retaliated.
"Why not?" Caroline got up and frowned at him.
"Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest," Elena stood up beside Caroline.
"Something is wrong with him," Leilani felt a shiver down her spine.
"Yeah. It's not in Klaus's," Tyler spat.
Alaric turned to Leilani. "I can feel something... Off..." Leilani trailed off.
"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave Minion," Caroline spat and then turned to Leilani, "What were you trying to say Leilani?"
"Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything," Tyler was getting angry.
"Leilani, snap out of it!" Elena nudged Leilani, would had gone silent as she stared at Tyler.
Darien grabbed a vervain dart and threw it into Tyler's neck. Tyler collapsed to the ground. "What are you doing?!" Caroline freaked out.
"He's been sired," Darien spat.
"What?" Alaric looked at him confused.
"Sired. He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood created him," Darien explained.
"Loyal? In what way?" Leilani looked at him wearily.
"He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrid. Less than a one percent chance I'd say," Darien sighed. "He isn't to be trusted now."
"So how do I fix him?" Caroline asked, not really believing they could.
"Keep away from him, and find someone new," Darien looked away from her.
"Why do I have to come to this bonfire?" Sakura sighed.
"To keep me company and help me find Tyler," Rebekah explained as she tried to pour herself some beer.
"You all right there?" Stefan walked up to them.
"I thought Tyler would be here," Rebekah kept looking around.
I'm just a tagalong," Sakura sighed.
"You're into Tyler now? He's kind of a fickle," Stefan shook his head.
"When you're willing to give me the time of day again, then we'll talk. Until then, a girl has needs," Rebekah stated bitterly.
"Excuse me," Elena came up to get some beer.
"Elena, hi. What are you doing?" Stefan got up close to her.
"I'm having fun, Stefan. You got a problem with that?" she downed a whole glass of beer.
"All right, take it easy. We both know you're kind of a lightweight," Stefan laughed lightly.
"Uh-huh. Really? You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?" Elena walked away and the others exchanged glances.
A student got carried in by others chanting drink. Rebekah sat down at the fire and Darien joined her, to show her how to properly roast a marshmallow. Sakura stood off in the back staring at the fire intently. A marshmallow on a stick appeared in front of her. "They're good," Damon said in a sing song voice, "Come on eat one."
"If I eat it will you leave me alone?" she asked, not bothering to look at him.
"Not a chance, but if you don't I'll just feed it to you a different way," he whispered into her ear.
She grabbed the marshmallow and ate it, "Happy now?"
"A little," he said as he threw away the stick.
"What's Darien doing talking to Rebekah, since when are they on good terms?" Sakura glared at Darien.
"He is a man and Rebekah is hot, what other reason does he need? It's not like Becca there is out to get him," Damon smirked. "Odd expression you got there," he poked her cheek, hoping to get her attention.
She swatted his hand away as she watched Rebekah start to laugh, it looked like she was finally enjoying herself. Stefan and Elena had disappeared and she had yet to see Leilani, which was weird, she loved these parties. An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her in. "What are you..." she was cut off by a kiss. There was a sharp pinch in her neck and everything started to blur. "What did you do?" she asked and tried to push Damon away, but his hold on her was too strong. The darkness consumed her and she collapsed into him.
"I hope this works," Damon mumbled. He pulled out his phone while keeping Sakura there, "Did you get him? Yeah, I got her. I'll be there soon." Damon picked Sakura up, cradling her in his arms.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
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Thinking about trying to end the story soon, what do you guys think?
