I have no words... i just don't... oops. LOL
Here. I'm still alive. Have more.
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
... ... ...
Every little lie you tell, can't
Keep it hid
Just another nail on my coffin lid
Someone else is getting all the love you never gave, (woo) yeah
You've been out all night
Diggin' my grave
So keep on runnin' 'round
Ain't no need to hurry back
'Cause I'll be gone from here
You'll be all dressed up in black
Six feet under, baby, that's where I'll be
By the time that you're done with me
All these tears I cried drownin' in a tidal wave
You've been up all night
Diggin' my grave
Kenzie sat in the bus, glowering out the window.
"Okay, we're on our way to Regionals and you look ready to murder someone." Caroline noted as she sat down beside her.
"It's because we're down someone." Kenzie snapped.
Caroline looked around before realization crossed her face. "Rebekah isn't here."
"Exactly."
"Oh, come on, don't tell me your're surprised. She's probably out making someone's life miserable."
Kenzie shook her head. "Rebekah was trying hard to get on my good side, she wouldn't bail like this. Her phone is off too, I think something's happened to her."
"Maybe her psycho brother daggered her again." The peppy blonde suggested.
Kenzie let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that was exactly what happened but she couldn't tell anyone that because she had supposedly been compelled.
"If he did that, I will find a way to kill him." She griped. "We need to win Regionals."
"You can do her tumbling." Caroline told her. "I know she's all, super and stuff but you taught her that, I've seen you pull it off flawlessly, which is kind of amazing for a human."
"I'm supposed to fly." Kenzie reminded her. "I'm one of the smallest girls on the team."
Truth be told, she had figured out a plan the night before, knowing they were down Rebekah. And by the time she had gone to sleep, she had reworked the whole routine without Rebekah in it. There wasn't a lot of differences, just minor tweaks here and there that had her taking Rebekah's place in one of the most crucial tumbling passes. It would take her out of flying briefly but since there were three other flyers, she wasn't too worried. It would work and her routine would still be a winner but Kenzie had to act like she had just learned about Rebekah not being available.
"Well, I don't know anyone else that can do what you had Rebekah and I doing." Caroline mused.
"I know." Kenzie muttered. "Look, it's not a long bus ride, let me think this through and I'll come up with something by the time we get there."
The blonde nodded with an encouraging smile and moved seats, letting Kenzie have some time to herself. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, turning to look out the window again, silent until they reached the competition.
As they pulled into the parking lot, Kenzie stood up, informing every one of Rebekah's out of town family emergency and the slight changes she made to the routine. They were going to warm up and do a couple run throughs of the minor tweaks she had made when they went in They would then have some time to watch a couple squads before doing another quick run through and hitting the floor.
They got off the bus, Caroline stopping beside her. "Why bother covering for her?" She wondered.
"Because I know that something had to have happened for her not to be here." Kenzie replied.
"Oh my god, isn't that Damon Salvatore?" One of the girls muttered. "He's so hot. I heard him and Kenzie have this on again, off again thing. I totally was hoping they were off again."
Kenzie's eyes widened in disbelief, not ready to see him quite yet but realizing she had run out of time. She schooled her features into surprise and happiness as she turned around to find him, letting out a small, happy squeal as she ran and jumped at him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"For someone avoiding my messages and calls, you sure are happy to see me." He observed.
"Some bitches are angry that we're on again, I'm rubbing it in their faces. Besides, I didn't get your messages or voicemails til this morning and I didn't think you were up. Early night last night, had to get ready for today. What are you doing here?"
"Taking an interests in your interests, maybe checking out all the tiny skirts walking around."
"As long as you enjoy mine the most." She replied with a smirk.
"Your ass is lovely in that tiny skirt." He mused, walking around her and looking her up and down.
"Good." She replied with a pleased smile. "But seriously, I never guessed you for being someone who watches cheerleading competitions."
"Maybe I just missed you." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and dipping her back so he could kiss her.
"Weren't you the one who wanted to warm up as soon as possible?" Jade snidely asked.
Kenzie pulled slightly away from Damon, glaring at Jade upside down. "Have you stretched yet?"
"No."
"Then quit being a jealous twit because you're angry that Damon and I are on again."
Jade's eyes widened at realizing that Kenzie had heard her earlier.
"And if you even so much as look at him the wrong way, I'll take your pompoms and shove them so far up your ass, you'll be coughing them up for a week. Now go warm up so I can finish saying hello to my man."
Jade turned away, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger. "Such a bitch." She muttered, too low for anyone without supernatural hearing to hear.
"Are you going to do anything about that?" Damon teasingly asked, placing one last kiss on her lips before pulling her upright again.
"Nah, I'll let it go for now, I have a competition to win. If, for some unfathomable reason we don't win, then I'll think about eating her."
"That's my girl." He smirked. "What did you get up to while I was gone?'
She shrugged, wanting to divert the conversation as soon as possible. "Not much. How was college?"
"Ugh, Elena is so horribly moral. She learned how to feed, got a little high on the blood, we danced and she freaked out."
"Just danced?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just danced." He promised.
She looked hard into his eyes for a few moments before breaking out into a big smile. "Good. Now, I really do have to go warm up and we do have to re-block a few things because Rebekah isn't here."
"Shocker." He called in mock surprise, following after her as she walked towards the squad.
She looked back at him, sticking out her tongue. "Nah, I honestly think something happened to her. She was very adamant about trying to get on my good side again and she was a big part of this routine. Her and Caroline have this amazing tumbling routine where they mirrored each other and both being blonde and giving it a little extra power because of them being… them, it looked amazing."
"So now what?"
"There's only one other person on the team with that certain set of skills they have." She reminded him.
Realization hit him. "You have to do Rebekah's part."
"Yes, which means, I can't be thrown up in the air, so I need to change one of the tosses around. No one is quite as tiny as me and can get the height I do."
"Must be hard being the boss."
"I freaking love it." She countered. "Totally in my element. You can watch the warm up if you want. If anyone asks, tell them you're our water boy."
"Water boy?" He cried in mock outrage.
Kenzie grinned at him, calling the team in and reminding them of the slight changes. She led them through a quick warm up, making sure they were all limbered up before leading them through the routine a couple times to make sure they had the few changes down. After, they watched some of the squads perform and Kenzie knew they could take them no problem. She called the squad to the back to do another quick run through. By the time they were done, they were being called to perform next. She called everyone in for a huddle, telling them to go out there, do their best and win the competition. They let out a small cheer, making their way to the floor and getting into position.
Everything slowed down for Kenzie as she waited for the music to start. All she could hear was the breathing from everyone around her as they all tried to calm her nerves. She lifted only her eyes, seeing Damon standing off to the side, his eyes just on her. He raised one corner of his mouth and she lowered her eyes again, taking a moment to inhale deeply and slowly let it out.
The music started and Kenzie forgot anything and everything, her mind focused solely on the routine. She had never hit the moves harder, jumped better, flew higher than she was during that routine. When it came time for her and Caroline's mirror tumbling routine, she knew they nailed it and the judges were wowed. She had thrown in some combinations that should have been near impossible but when you had vampires, it was easy and if she had that advantage, it wasn't cheating in her books, any other cheerleader she knew would use that advantage as well.
The finale of the routine had her up in the air balanced on one foot, her other foot pulled behind and above her. There was a girl on either side in the air in an arabesque as the music ended. It was silent for a beat and then the crowd went crazy. Kenzie was brought down from the top, immediately pulled into a group hug from everyone on the squad, screaming and yelling in her ear.
"Wave to the crowd, wave to the judges and exit." She yelled at them, a big grin on her face.
They all left the floor and Kenzie let out a squeal, jumping at Damon who easily caught her and swung her around.
"You're so bendy." He murmured as he put her down. "Definitely some moves I wanna try out when we're alone."
She laughed, giving him a quick kiss as Caroline ran up behind her and grabbed her away from him, pulling her into a hug.
"Kenzie." She squealed, "That was amazing. We're totally going to win this. Mystic Falls is going to State, we've never done that before, and you, I mean that whole tumbling pass, I know you gave it to Rebekah and I because of the whole vampire thing but you did it perfectly."
"This is probably where I say don't get too cocky but honestly, that routine was flawless."
"I can't believe Damon drove out here for you." Caroline whispered, glancing behind them to see Damon looking at his phone with a frown. "I think you've actually made him more human."
Kenzie let out a small laugh at that, finding it a more than a little funny she had said that but not wanting to carry on this possibly dangerous conversation with her friend.
"Look, I'm going to make sure everything is okay, I need you to keep the squad together. There are only a couple more left before they announce the winner."
"Will do." Caroline cheerfully replied, bouncing off to do just that.
Kenzie watched her go with a smile before turning towards Damon who was still frowning at his phone.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Have you talked to Stefan today?"
She shook her head. "Been here the whole time, remember?"
"Did you see him yesterday?"
She inwardly cursed the younger brother for doing this to her. "Yes, he stopped by practice to see Rebekah, then we went to The Grill to find her. Now that I think about it, I should've asked him about Rebekah." She added as an afterthought.
"Where's your phone?" He asked.
"In my bag, backstage."
"Let's get it, I need to see if he's just avoiding me."
"Why would Stefan be avoiding you?" She asked as she left the way backstage.
"Because Elena, with her stupid morals, probably told him about last night."
She stopped in her tracks and spun to face him. "What about last night? You said nothing happened."
"And it didn't." He placated her. "But she felt she did something wrong because she was enjoying the feeding and the dancing too much. She probably made it out to be more than it really was."
Kenzie sighed. "Of course she would. Vampire Elena is getting on my nerves." She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, dialing Stefan and putting it on speaker for both of them.
It rang twice before being sent to voicemail and they both looked at each other, Kenzie ending the call as she pondered what that could mean. There was a chance he was dodging his brother but would he really be dodging her as well? Sure, they hadn't parted on the best of terms the night before but that was Stefan's fault and really he should be thankful she was even attempting to talk him.
"I could understand my brother dodging me but why would he be ignoring your call as well?"
Kenzie shrugged. "Maybe him and Elena are having sexy time?
"No, I messaged her and she hasn't talked to him either. Did he say why he wanted to talk to Rebekah yesterday."
Kenzie shook her head, wanting to throw another lamp at Stefan's head. "Not to my knowledge."
She was an amazing liar, she could lie to pretty much everyone, even Damon when she really had to but the truth was, she didn't want to, not about this. Not when they were really trying for that whole honesty thing between them.
"Do you need to ride back with your squad?"
"I should but if you're worried something's happened, I can go with you."
"Kenzie." Caroline yelled. "They're calling out the top 3 squads."
She signaled that she would be right there and turned back to Damon. "Look, let me go get our shiny trophy, send the girls back with it and they won't even notice I'm not there on the way back."
"You haven't even won yet." He called after her as she began to walk away.
"Oh please, like there's any other way for this to end?"
He couldn't help but smile at his cocky girlfriend, moving to watch as they, sure enough, got called out to the floor as one of the top three.
Kenzie heard them announce third place and went still as they announced the points for the top squad that was going to state. Everyone went silent and the silence stretched on as she waited impatiently. Finally, the announcer called their name and Kenzie and everyone exploded, screaming and jumping with happiness. She moved up to grab the trophy, thanking the judge as he complimented her on their amazing routine. She took the trophy back to the other cheerleaders and with a loud cheer, they raised it up for all to see.
The crowd slowly dispersed and they went into the back to grab their gear for the ride home. Kenzie went to grab Caroline to tell her she was going back with Damon, when he walked up to both of them, looking agitated.
"We have a problem and I need you both to come with me."
The two girls exchanged a look, sensing there was trouble. Kenzie told all the girls to get back on the bus and head home, her and Caroline were staying behind to get details on the State competition and would get a ride back from Damon. It was a complete lie but no one seemed to care as they took the celebration out to the bus, leaving the three vampires to walk to Damon's car. Caroline slipped into the back, giving Kenzie the front seat.
"What's wrong?" the blonde asked when they were all in the car.
"I got a text from Jeremy's phone." He told them.
"Jeremy's phone." Kenzie noted. "but it didn't come from Jeremy?"
"Got it in one." He handed her his phone and she opened it to Jeremy's message, reading it out loud with a frown.
"Hunter at Mystic Grill with hostages, they all die at sundown."
"Who else?" Caroline wondered.
"Which hunter?" Kenzie asked, if it was Connor, how the hell did he escape from Klaus' hybrids "That same Connor Jordan douchebag?"
"I thought he was dead?" Caroline asked.
"Stefan told me yesterday that your mom called Damon to say they didn't find any remains."
"I want to know how he escaped." Damon seethed.
"Let's rescue whoever he has then we can figure it out." Kenzie said, pulling out her phone and messaging Stefan, saying he needed to contact her as soon as possible to figure this out. As the only other person who had any kind of inkling of everything going on, there was a good chance they would need their own plan.
"Tyler just texted me." Caroline announced. "He said he got the same text."
"Tell him not to do anything stupid until we get back." Damon told her. "Tell him not to tell Elena."
"Stefan might." Kenzie told him.
"Yes, but I trust Stefan to hold her back until we get there. Tyler just might not care."
"I told him." Caroline said. "He says he'll wait until we get there."
"Good, try Stefan." He told his girlfriend, who dialed Stefan. Again it went to voicemail and Kenzie clenched her jaw in annoyance.
"Do you think he's a hostage?" Caroline wondered.
"If he was there, he'd be dead by now." Damon said.
Kenzie sighed. "Hes not there. I have a feeling if he was, the Hunter would tell us so."
Damon didn't look convinced and instead of replying, pressed harder on the gas.
… … …
"So we each take a difference entrance, hit them at the same time." Damon announced.
Kenzie pursed her lips, knowing this was a stupid plan but knowing she couldn't say anything because according to Elena and Tyler, she wasn't a vampire and shouldn't have a say. And even if she did have a say, that would mean explaining some things that she had promised not to tell. Where the hell was Stefan?
"Stefan." Elena gasped, standing up.
Kenzie looked up to see said vampire walking through the door. "Finally." She muttered.
"Where the hell have you been?" Damon asked.
"Coming up with a plan." Stefan replied.
"We already have a plan. The plan is I'm going to rip Connor's heart out and feed it to him."
"I told him it was another stupid plan but what do I know." Kenzie rolled her eyes.
"Kenz is right, it's not a plan." Stefan agreed with her. "We have to be careful, Connor has Jeremy and who knows how many other hostages."
"Shouldn't someone have checked that out by now?" She wondered. "Walk on by and listen in?"
"We should all just rush him." Elena said, ignoring Kenzie. "Damon's right, he can't take on all of us."
"I called the hybrids to help too." Tyler told them.
"And my mom put squad cars blocking the streets." Caroline informed them as she slipped into the room. "They're saying it's a faulty gas line so we're good to go."
"Good, great. No cops, no witnesses, no reason to hang around."
"Hold on." Stefan tried to stop his brother. "Not everyone here should go."
"He shot me like nine times. Tyler reminded him. "If we're killing him, I want in."
"He's got Jeremy, I'm going." Elena told him, with a stubborn tilt of her chin.
"I'll tell you what, you can keep Red." Damon said with a smirk. "We'll keep the human's here and safe."
Stefan looked at Kenzie and she glared at him before turning to glare at Damon. "Stop right there."
Damon glanced back at her with a scowl. "I know you're not going to do something stupid like try and talk me out of it."
"And I seriously hope you're not going to do something stupid like go through with another dumbass plan. Let's remember besides the fact that all your plans are stupid, and never work out, this guy is serious business and probably has that place booby trapped a hundred different ways, resulting in one or all of you dying." Her eyes narrowed at Damon. "And if you die, I will find a way to resurrect you so I can kill you myself."
"She's right." Stefan tried again. "So why don't we all hold up until I figure out what's going on."
"Until you figure it out?" His brother asked in disbelief "Is that where you've been all morning? Out buying your bossy pants?"
"You are totally losing your touch." Kenzie muttered, holding up her hands. "Listen, since I am the only sane one here and not driven by my insane need for revenge, we're going to be smart about this."
"And you have a plan?" Elena asked , glaring at her.
"Yes." She cried. "If you would all just calm the fuck down and listen to me."
"Maybe they don't think the only human here should get a say." Damon said with a smirk, his eyes wide.
"Get bent." She replied with a scowl. "Okay, Stefan, go do some recon, see if you can figure out how many people are in there and if he has any traps, without getting too close. Caroline, make sure the cops keep the road blocked, Tyler, make sure we have hybrids and the like ready. If this Hunter still has werewolf venom, they're our best hope because they're not affected by it. Damon and Elena, see if you can find some other way into the Grill. Some entrance that Connor wouldn't be aware about."
"What are you going to do?" Damon asked.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm a human, not much I can do, huh?"
He shook his head with a small smirk before everyone but Stefan and Kenzie dispersed, no one questioning her plan.
"Outside." She told him, with a nod of her head, leading the way outside.
"That was brilliant." He told her when they were a safe distance away from the house and walking towards the Grill.
"I'm still pissed at you."
"Kenz-"
"I'm still in my stupid cheerleading uniform." She cut him off, looking down with a frown. "I hate the school colors, they clash with my hair."
"Maybe innocent, cheerleading Kenzie is who we will need." He mused. "How did your competition go?"
"We won of course." She replied with a frown. "You should probably call Klaus."
"Why?"
"Because there were 3 vampires and 1 hybrid that have no idea what's going on and are going to kill that stupid ass hunter, so I suggest you get on the phone with him and figure something out."
"Kenz, can we just talk right now?"
"About what?" She hissed, turning on him, her eyes blazing. "The fact that you killed me last night? The fact that you let that asshole dagger Rebekah so you can get your precious cure?""
"Don't you want it? This means you can be human again. You never wanted this either."
"You have no idea what I want." She snapped. "all you care about is the end result for you and Elena."
He sighed. "Don't you get what this means? I can save Elena."
"At what cost?" She asked. "at the cost of your friends, at the cost of your humanity?"
"I won't lose my humanity over this." He promised.
She scowled up at him as they neared the grill. "But you may lose your friends. Call Klaus, I'm going to go see what I can hear."
He went to call her back but she had already moved far enough away. With a sigh, he picked up his phone to place the call.
… … …
Kenzie met back up with Stefan, just as he was hanging up the phone with Klaus.
"I told him to get his hybrids on board. Did you hear anything?"
She frowned as they walked further away from the Grill. "There are three hostages, Jeremy, Matt and April."
Stefan let out a frustrated sigh as he went to dial Elena.
"All the doors are rigged too." She continued. "We need some other way in."
Stefan nodded, making the call and having a brief conversation with them, catching them up on everything Kenzie had told them and telling them they would be at Ric's briefly.
"Ric had maps to the underground tunnel." Stefan informed her as he hung up. "If anyone asks-"
"You did the recon while I made sure no one saw us?" She finished. "I know. What did Klaus say?"
"He's sending hybrids to help. I don't doubt that Connor has werewolf venom as traps. If we can send a hybrid in to distract him, hopefully Damon found the maps to the tunnels and we can get in that way."
Kenzie sighed as they began walking to Alaric's old apartment. "I think we need to figure out a way to stop Damon and especially Elena from running in there, half cocked and getting themselves killed."
"And possibly killing Connor." Stefan muttered.
"Least of my worries." She snapped, turning on him. "Your precious cure is on backburner until we rescue everyone and if you put anyones life on the line for this, I will stake you myself."
Not waiting for a reply, she stomped off to the apartment, only waiting for him to catch up as she reached the door and let herself in, Stefan right behind her.
"Did you find the tunnel map?" He asked, by way of greeting.
"Got it." Damon replied, holding up his phone and walking towards them "It was in his weapons drawer with seven stakes, some weird MacGyver crossbow, and the last remaining vervain in Mystic Falls, so how about we get this party started?"
"Not yet." Stefan informed him. "Klaus is sending one of his men. He'll take the front and you and I will take the tunnels."
"Since when did we team up with Klaus and the Lollipop Guild?"
"Well, I already told you, Connor has werewolf venom. We need someone to draw his fire, the hybrids are immune to it so they're our best bet."
"Well how are you even sure that he has werewolf venom?" Damon argued. "Why is Klaus involved, Stefan?"
"Stop being paranoid, Damon." He replied, turning and picking up a vervain dart that was on the table. He glanced up to see Kenzie looking like she was about to intervene but stopped with a small shake of his head. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest with a scowl.
"Start telling the truth, Stefan." His voice was dangerous as he glared at his brother. "Why is Klaus involved? Did he compel you?" He looked over at his girlfriend, her jaw set in anger as she looked down at the ground. He stepped over to her, grasping her arms. "Did he compel you too?"
She glanced up with him, a small smile on her face. "You know I'm not compellable."
"We're wasting time." Elena cried.
"She's right. Red? Anything you want to share?"
She opened her mouth to tell him, knowing she couldn't keep it a secret anymore, instead, Stefan grabbed his brother, plunging the vervain dart into his neck.
"What are you doing?" Kenzie screeched, grabbing Damon as he fell against her.
Stefan ignored her, taking his brother from her and moving him to the couch.
"I need this done my way, Kenz."
Her eyes flashed dangerously as he reached into Damon's pocket and pulled out his phone.
"Damon had the right idea about the tunnels but we all know we can't rely on him to do it my way."
"You can't rely on him?" Elena asked in disbelief. "You just vervained him."
"You think he cares about April or Matt?" Stefan challenged. "He'll get Jeremy out for you but then he'll just go after Connor no matter who gets hurt."
"Then I'm coming with you."
"You're not coming, Elena." Stefan argued.
"I'll keep her here." Kenzie quietly said, staring down at Damon.
Stefan looked over at her in surprise.
"You really think you could keep me here?" Elena snidely asked.
Kenzie turned to look at them, throwing her cousin a look of disgust before looking at Stefan. "He's going to wake up soon Stefan and he's going to be pissed."
"I know." He said with a sigh.
"I'm not lying to him." She replied. "Get what you need to do done and do it fast. I'll keep them here as long as I can."
Stefan nodded, reaching over to give Elena's hand a squeeze before rushing out of the apartment, leaving the two girls and Damon alone.
"What's going on?" Elena asked..
Kenzie sighed. "Stefan's going to rescue all three of them."
"I should be helping him."
She stepped up in front of Elena. "Really? You? He'd get more help from me than you right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that you're barely holding it together." Kenzie hissed. "you're hanging on by a very loose thread and all we need is for you to go in there and end up killing that Hunter."
"Why does everyone act like I can't handle myself?" Elena huffed.
"Because you honestly can't right now." The shorter girl replied with a roll of her eyes. "What? You become a big bad vampire and suddenly you can go out there and do what the rest of them do? Please. You are barely holding it together. Why else would you constantly be staring at my neck, like you're wondering how my blood would taste."
Elena's eyes snapped back to hers, flushing at realizing she had just been caught doing exactly that.
"For the record." Kenzie stage whispered, leaning in closer to her. "I taste bitter and gross."
The two teens stared at each other, the redhead lifting a perfectly groomed eyebrow until Elena finally stepped away and towards the window, looking out the blind towards the grill. Kenzie moved to hover towards the door, just in case Elena got any crazy ideas. They both remained silent until an explosion sounded and Elena gasped, turning and reaching for her phone.
"Don't call Stefan." Kenzie warned her.
"I need to know what's happening." She cried. "There's an explosion."
"Yeah. You think that hunter is an idiot? Klaus' hybrid probably set something off. Stefan is going through the tunnels, don't bug him."
Elena ignored her, calling him anyways and leaving a voicemail for him to call back. She hung up the phone just as Damon started groaning and she moved to hover over him. Kenzie chose to stay where she was, Damon would be coming for her in just a moment anyways.
"Damon, can you get up?" Elena softly called.
"Ugh. Where's Stefan? He asked with a small groan. "I'm gonna kill him." He went to sit up, hissing as he did when his hand moved into the sunlight.
"He took your ring?" She asked in disbelief. "Why would he do that?"
Inwardly, Kenzie groaned. Well played Stefan, and thank you for leaving her this shit show to clean up.
"It's because he's playing us." Damon snapped as he rolled to the floor. "All this stalling, getting hybrids, taking my ring. Add it up." He slowly got to his feet. "He either made a deal with Klaus or hes compelled."
Kenzie let out a soft snort, bringing the focus to her for the first time since Damon woke up. His eyes shot to her and he rushed her, pushing her back against the wall by the throat.
"I can't help but feel you know exactly what's going on." Damon hissed.
Her eyes softened, one hand coming up to cover his. "I wanted to tell you, I swear I did but if I did, Klaus was going to kill us both."
"I need to get in there." Elena interrupted them, rushing for the door.
"Elena, he's dangerous." Damon reminded her.
"So am I." Elena yelled.
Damon pulled his eyes away from Kenzie to finally look at her. "Then you need to be smart. He doesn't know you're a vampire. You need to get in close and then kill him."
"No." Kenzie cried. "Don't kill him."
"Why not?" Damon asked, turning back to her.
"I have to go." Elena cried, yanking the door open.
Kenzie struggled against Damon. "Elena, don't kill him, you cant kill him." She was ignored and she struggled harder against Damon. "You shouldn't be stronger than me, you just woke up from a vervain nap."
"Call it, feeling motivated." Came his dry reply. "Now start talking."
"We have to stop Elena." She snapped. "She can't kill him. He holds the map to the cure, okay?" Quickly, Kenzie gave him a rundown of all that had happened the day before, finishing with kicking Stefan out of her house after he had snapped her neck. When she was done, he finally released her, turning and punching the wall.
"Why didn't you just tell me earlier. I thought we agreed no more secrets."
She gave him a dirty look. "Don't even get me started on everything I could say about your stupid little secrets. Does blood sharing with Elena ring a bell? Right now, you need to go stop her."
"Stefan took my ring" Damon reminded her.
Kenzie sighed reaching up to take off her necklace and put it on him. "There. You have mine. Go, stop her, please."
One hand came up to briefly cup her cheek before he took off out the door. Kenzie moved to sit in the only chair out of the rays of the sun. She could do nothing more but wait now.
… … …
It wasn't long after that Damon reappeared, his brow furrowed as he undid her necklace and put it back around her neck.
"What happened?" Kenzie asked as she followed him out of the apartment.
"Should've told your story a little bit faster. Elena killed the Hunter."
"Ah, fuck." She muttered. "Her humanity still intact?"
"For the time being. Stefan and I found her digging a grave. She's a little pissed at us." He held open the car door for her, letting her get in before closing it behind him and moving around the car to the drivers seat.
"What did you do?"
"Apparently told her to go kill him."
"She didn't have to listen. I don't see why that's your fault."
"Because everyone wants to blame Damon." He rolled his eyes, turning the car towards the Salvatore house. "But Stefan did confirm your story."
Kenzie scowled at him. "What? You think I'm gonna lie to you or something."
"I'm still trying to figure out why you didn't just tell me in the first place."
"I wanted to make sure Klaus was long gone before I did. If he found out I told you, he would have killed you, me and Stefan. In case you forgot I'm a little bit with the self preservation now." She sighed. "I was going to tell you, I wanted to tell you. I completely lost my shit at Stefan over it and that's the real reason I didn't reply to you last night. I knew if I saw you, I wouldn't have been able to keep it all in."
"I wish you would have."
Kenzie could only shrug as they pulled into the driveway and walked into the house. Damon paused, listening for Stefan and Elena before continuing on into the study. She followed him, grabbing two tumblers and pouring them both a drink as he broke into the desk, reaching in to pull out a box that was locked inside more boxes before finally pulling out a book.
"What are you doing?" She asked, putting the drink down in front of him and placing hers on the desk in front of her.
His only reply was to grunt and she rolled her eye disappearing upstairs to change out of her cheerleading uniform and put some yoga pants and a long sleeve shirt on. She could hear Stefan softly talking as well as Elena's quiet sobs but she ignored it, going back downstairs and moving to sit across from Damon, picking up her drink as well as her phone to scroll through her Instagram account. Their win was already all over and she couldn't believe that had been this morning. It felt like days ago.
Kenzie looked up at hearing Stefan enter the room. She didn't offer him a smile, a part of her was still pissed at him for all his scheming.
"How is she?" Damon asked.
"Angry. Full of guilt. Hasn't said a word to me other than she wants to be left alone." Stefan replied, moving towards the desk to look at what Damon was reading. "Is that my journal?"
He leaned over, knocking Kenzie's legs off the desk as he grabbed it away.
"Hey." She protested.
"I had to go through like 6 locks to get it." Damon answered. "But you two were telling the truth."
"You still didn't believe me?" She asked in disbelief.
"I didn't believe him." Damon replied with a huff before turning back to his brother. "You figure out how to tell Klaus you lost a hunter and a hybrid?"
"Hes on a plane, which means I get to live for another 6 hours."
Damon gave a nonchalant shrug. "I got your back, you know, when he comes to murder you."
"Thanks." Stefan muttered, moving to grab his own drink. "Thanks for not saying anything to Elena."
"About what?" Damon asked. "A cure that we don't have, can't find, and probably doesn't exist? You're welcome."
"She doesn't need to know that she killed her chance of being human again."
"Can I say something?" Kenzie interrupted, looking between the two. "Call me crazy but originally there were 5 of them with the tattoos and maps right? sure they've remained hidden but what's to say they're not out there still? Especially now that this dude is dead. Maybe they're not easy to find but the thing is, you guys have the time now. We all do. We're not getting older, maybe it won't happen now but there's a chance we can find another hunter and find this elusive cure, right? and who knows, maybe by that time, Elena will be a nicely adjusted vampire, though I won't hold my breath." She sighed before continuing. "I didn't want this either but it happened. It happened and I moved on and I adjusted. She's going to have to as well."
"Yeah but will her humanity remain intact?" Stefan wondered.
"Why not? We're all here for her. Even me." She replied, scrunching up her nose. "And if there's one thing all her friends want, it's to keep her humanity intact. It's doable."
Stefan sighed. "I hope so. In the meantime, you're right, there are other Hunters out there. I'll just keep looking until I find them."
Damon smirked as he stood up to refill his drink. "Sure Stefan, since you asked, I'll be happy to go on this suicide mission with you for a potentially non-existent cure, no problem."
"I'd rather you didn't." Kenzie muttered.
Damon raised his glass to her, turning back to his brother. "Answer me one thing, why do you wanna cure her?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"A legitimate one." Damon shot back. "You wanna cure her because she's a vampire and she's not cut out to be or because you can't love her if she is one."
"That's not fair." Kenzie protested.
"Answer me." Damon pressed.
Stefan shrugged. "Ill always love her but she's not supposed to be this person. I don't want her to be."
"Well, If I'm going to ride this fairy tale to it's conclusion, I have one stipulation."
"What's that?" Stefan asked.
Damon, glanced down at Kenzie. "She get's offered the cure too. She's right, she didn't ask for this either."
Kenzie's eyes widened in disbelief, her eyes shooting back and forth between the two brothers.
Stefan let out a small chuckle, glancing at her before looking back at his brother. "Kenzie will get the chance too. But have you asked if she even wants it now?"
Damon turned to look at her and Stefan quietly slipped out of the room, leaving them to talk.
"I thought you didn't want to be a vampire." He challenged her.
She shrugged. "It's not so bad. I mean, I'm doing pretty well, don't have to worry about wrinkles, thank god. Never planned to ever have kids anyways. So, I guess it's okay."
"Would you want the cure?"
Kenzie stood up, moving to stand in front of him as she looked up at him with a smile. "Would you take it with me?"
Now he looked surprised as he stared down at her.
Kenzie let out a small huff of a laugh. "You don't want to."
"If it meant being with you-"
"I don't think I'd let you. Not to mention our lives are too dangerous here. If I took it, how long til I was finally dead?"
"We could go to California like you suggested, start our own life there."
Kenzie wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a chaste kiss. "You'd hate being normal."
"But if that's what you want…"
Kenzie shook her head. "I'm not going to sit here thinking about the what ifs of a cure that may or may not exist. Like I said, I'm okay with how I am now, especially now that you know, Damon. It's okay. Help Stefan, he wants this for Elena, maybe for himself."
"But if you want the cure-"
"Then I'll take it."
He scowled down at her. "Are you going to let me finish a sentence?"
"No." She replied with a soft snort. "You're just gonna let all the stupid out."
His scowl deepened and he opened his mouth to say more but she cut him off again, pulling him down for a much deeper, longer kiss.
… … …