Deep breath in, feel your chest expanding, muscles set, solid sight picture…
Breathe out, tighten string, find your target…
Loose fingers…
Release.
The arrow soared, cutting through the air and slamming full force into the bright red apple. There was a soft, solid schwik! as it found its target, carrying the fruit with it as the momentum from the shot carried the arrow and impale apple into the trunk of the tree behind it.
Val slowly lowered her arms, a soft breeze rustling through the forest and blowing the loose strands that hadn't fit into her ponytail off her shoulders, chilling her sweat drenched skin.
It had been quite a training session; instead of running, she headed out behind the boarding house after her hour on the punching bag and shot arrow after arrow. The last Rodriguez wanted to ensure she was well-versed on all weapons in her father's trunk. That meant a bow, daggers, guns, and even a spear he had stored in there. Elijah's words had been rushing around in circles in her brain, and she narrowed her eyes at the memory.
"You're an amateur, Valentina. Try to remember that."
His condescending tone caused fury and irritation to bubble up inside her chest, and she grabbed another arrow, knocking it back and letting it fly forward. The wooden tip pierced the bottom part of the apple like cutting through hot butter, burying itself in the wood behind it with a loud thunk!
A small smirk drew over her lips as she stared at it.
Amateur? Maybe.
Weak? Hell no.
"So, you wanna tell me why you didn't let me know Jenna was going to be alone with Elijah? In the woods?" Val asked, feeling more than a little frustrated. Rick had just called, asking her to meet him and Damon at the Grill to discuss their next move. Of course, learning her best friend had been alone with the guy they were planning to murder wasn't exactly comforting.
"You know Jenna, as soon as I showed up, she was suspicious, and so was Elijah. If you had shown up, too, that would've set off a lot of alarm bells." He paused, "Anyway, I'm about to pull into the Grill, please be here as soon as you can?"
"You got it Rick, I'm leaving my place now." She reassured him, locking the front door behind her. The day was just as sunny as it had been that morning, and she took a deep breath in. It was warm enough she'd taken off her jacket as she exited her car at the Grill, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her bare shoulders. As her heels clicked along the floors of the Grill, her pleasant smile dropped as she spotted Damon, Rick, Andie, Jenna and Elijah, all clumped around a booth.
And based on the fact that Damon looked psyched, Andie looked clueless, and everyone else looked irritated, she was guessing the eldest Salvatore had just spouted out one of his 'good' ideas. You know, the ones that always look good in your own mind, but in reality, have quite a few holes?
Yeah. Damon was full of those.
Approaching, she stopped next to Jenna, giving her friend a bright smile and hug with a friendly greeting.
"Hey, Val!" The blonde responded, and pointed at Damon. "Damon just had a great idea, we were all going to get together for a dinner party!"
"Really?" She asked, her dark amber eyes flickering to the vampire. He only gave an innocent shrug, sipping his drink. Elijah looked over to her, smiling politely.
"Yes, and I think it would be wonderful if you could accompany me."
Damon suddenly started coughing, some bourbon dripping onto the table as Andie put her hand on his back, face concerned. Val was a little too occupied, staring at Elijah as if he'd just grown a third eye and purple skin.
What the hell was he doing?
"Um, well, I don't normally do group dates, so…" she trailed off, ready to turn around leave the group, but Jenna grabbed her arm gently.
"No, we should totally do that! Me and Rick, Damon and Andie, and you and Elijah! It's perfect!" Her friend announced exclaimed, eyes bright, and Val smiled and nodded along, meeting Elijah's eyes as his polite smile dropped into a smirk.
What the hell was he planning?
"Alright, Katherine," Val muttered, stopping down to place the opening of the bottle against the vampires lips, "drink up. We need you."
Katherine's skin was grey, winkled, she looked like a mummy. She was slumped over against one of the far walls of the tomb, a makeshift bed of old blankets underneath her. The huntress had asked Damon if she could accompany him to the tomb, in hopes of staying behind to ask Katherine some questions about her ancestors. She had a theory, and she wanted to know if she was right.
"Wakey, wakey." Damon called out tauntingly as Katherine's skin began to return to normal color, a soft groan falling past her lips as her hand came up and weakly grabbed at the bottle, squeezing it in desperation as the blood drained into her throat.
"We come bearing gifts." Damon announced, walking over to the small amount of clothes Val had helped him pick out at a small shop before driving there. "Didn't really have time to properly shop, but," he held up the clothes, "I don't think you'll mind."
Katherine glared at them as she finished the blood, dropping the now-empty plastic bottle to the cave floor.
"Wow, that blood did the trick." Damon told her, smirking, "you're almost pretty again."
"What do you two want?" Katherine scowled, struggling to stand.
"Did you know John Gilbert was back in town?" Val interrogated, arms folded over her chest. Katherine fixed the girl with a look of surprise, but even through her exhaustion, the huntress and Damon could both see through it.
"Really?" The older vampire rasped, stumbling over to the clothes. "Why?"
"Claims he wants to be father of the year and protect Elena from big bad Klaus." Damon supplied flatly. "Told us this cute little tale about how to kill an Original."
"And you want to know if it's true." Katherine guessed, and Val nodded. But the brunette scoffed. "If it was, I wouldn't tell you."
"That's weird, considering the fact that you seem to want Elijah and Klaus dead, as well." Val wondered aloud as she shifted closer to the vampire. Katherine glared at her from where she was tugging on a pair of pants.
"Klaus? Yes. Elijah? No." She denied, "He's compelled me to stay in here. If he dies, I'm stuck forever."
"Sucks for you." Damon smirked, but Val felt a smidge of confusion surface in the back of her mind. She wasn't super privy to all the details of compulsion, seeing as she still had no idea why she couldn't actually be compelled, but didn't it make more sense that the compulsion wore off after the vampire died? I mean, what was holding it in place if it wasn't the vampire who did the actual compulsion?
"Forget it, Damon. Killing Elijah would be a suicide mission." Katherine's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and she blew air out through her cheeks, running a hand through her hair as her jaw ticked.
"You sure?" She asked, and Katherine didn't even bother to look back at the huntress as she responded.
"Yep."
"Even with a dagger and a little white oak ash?" Damon asked innocently, and Katherine froze. The two smirked at each other as the doppelganger turned slowly, eyes wide.
"No," she started slowly, her voice becoming a pleading tone, "no, please, if you kill Elijah, then I'm stuck in here forever! Just let me out, and I'll- I'll help you! I'll help you kill Klaus, protect Elena, whatever you want!"
"The second your ass is out of here, you'll be sipping Klaus-free margarita's on some unknown island somewhere. No way." Damon shot down, eyes narrowed. Katherine shook her head frantically.
"No, Damon, please don't do it!" She turned to Val. "I knew your family, Valentina, I can help you! Please, don't let them do it!"
"If I asked, would you even tell me?" Val interrogated flatly, beginning to doubt the woman in front of her. Katherine was resourceful, but she was also a coward, and that meant she would turn on whoever she had to in order to survive; which meant that she could not be completely trusted to tell the truth, ever.
"Well, thank you for confirming everything I need to know." Damon smirked, then put his hand on Val's shoulder. "She wants to speak with you. I'll be just at the opening, if anything happens to Thumbelina, I'll rip your head right off your shoulders." He patted Val's back, then left, his footsteps fading down the tunnel as he whistled lightly.
Val kept her arms folded and her gaze on Katherine as she stepped over to a rock jutting out from the wall, sitting. "You said you could tell me about my family."
"I'm not, unless you plan on ensuring Damon doesn't kill Elijah." The vampire scowled at her as she finished changing. Val's face didn't move, in fact, she leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees.
"Where's the book, Katherine?"
The doppelganger was uncharacteristically silent, but Val wasn't deterred.
"I know you have it, what use do you have for it, anyway?"
"Actually, I don't have it." The words made Val's next question die in her throat, and her lips parted in shock.
"Wait, I thought-"
"I took it from Sofia and Lucas, but I hid it soon after. I gave it to a witch who owed me a favor, and told her to not even tell me where she would be hiding it." Katherine smirked, "Sorry, baby huntress, but it looks like you're still further away from the truth than you thought."
Anger burned in Val's chest, and she stood, beginning to stalk out of the tomb. If Katherine' didn't have the information she needed, then she wasn't going to stay there. But a thought popped into her head, causing her to pause. She turned back to the vampire.
"Was it Klaus?" Katherine wasn't facing her, but she saw her shoulders tense. "The man that Sofia and Lucas were afraid of, it was Klaus, wasn't it?"
The doppelganger was silent for so long Val actually became afraid she wouldn't answer, but finally, she did, voice shaking. "Yes. Yes, Klaus was the one threatening Lucas and Sofia, and in turn, their children."
"Why?"
"Look, I don't even know half the story; the bad blood between your family and the Originals dates back even further than me, much further. All I know is what Elijah told me at one point: your family put Klaus and Elijah at risk, they retaliated, and thus was born a centuries-long feud that birthed the Rodriguez Hunter bloodline."
Val's mind flew back to her dream, and she took another step forward. "Did he tell you anything else?"
Katherine looked thoughtful, then nodded. "He did mention something about how he was supposed to wipe out the bloodline as a whole, but," she shook her head, "all he said after that was, 'I don't believe in killing children'."
Val opened her mouth to ask more questions, but the doppelganger shook her head. "Sorry, Valentina, but I'm out of info. If Klaus were to find out I read that book, he would have doubled his efforts at finding me." She leveled a serious gaze at the young huntress. "One thing that Lucas and Sofia made sure I knew when they gave it to me, is that there are things in that book that would push Original secrets into the light, and Klaus and Elijah don't want that. But I knew I'd need it again someday. So, I had it hidden-"
"-and you made sure you didn't know where so that way, Klaus and Elijah couldn't compel you for a location." Val finished, guessing the ending to her sentence. The doppelganger smiled mockingly.
"Trust me when I say this: when Klaus finds out you're here, don't expect it to be easy to escape alive. Honestly, I'm surprised Elijah hasn't ripped your heart out already."
"This is a bad idea."
"Agreed." Val chirped out as she stood with Damon and Rick in the parlor. Damon scoffed at the two, pouring two glasses of bourbon.
"There's no such thing as a bad idea." He disagreed, "just…poorly executed awesome ones."
"Then I guess we can file this one under 'poorly executed shitty ideas." Val countered, and Damon narrowed his eyes at her in irritation.
"If you think that, gremlin, then why are you even here?"
"Because even if I'm not here, you two will still do something stupid." She shot back, and the two men glanced at each other, grimacing in agreement before Rick spoke up again as Damon handed him his glass.
"I don't know, I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house as Jenna." Rick countered, and Val nodded, pressing her lips together. Damon shook his head.
"Don't worry, this is just a little information-gathering mission." He reassured, but Val only rolled her eyes.
Only information-gathering, my ass, she thought sourly, but she didn't exactly have any evidence in the contrary as Andie came in, asking for some help with the wine. As Val she went to help her friend, though, the doorbell chimed.
And her it was the last person she wanted to see.
"Who invited you?" She asked John rudely the second she laid eyes on him, and he scoffed, walking into the house.
"Evening to you, too, Valentina." He greeted, turning around. His eyes scanned her up and down, lingering a little too long before he met her eyes again. Unable to stop herself, she folded her arms, jaw tightening in annoyance. It was just a simple white peasant dress, what was his deal?
"John. Surprise. Leave." Damon deadpanned as he rounded the corner, standing by his friend.
"When Jenna told me she was going to a dinner party with Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." John told them innocently, but Rick spoke up from behind him.
"There aren't going to be any fun and games tonight, it's just a friendly dinner party." He told the man firmly before walking into the kitchen to greet his girlfriend.
After a few more preparations on Val's part as she finished the food, (she was pretty proud of how the steak tasted, if she was being candid) and she was just walking for some more glasses when the doorbell rang.
She met Damon's eyes, knowing that could only be one person. Together, the walked to the door, Damon opening it to reveal the suited Original, leaning casually on one hand against the door.
"Damon." He greeted, and then his eyes traveled to Val. "Valentina; you look lovely this evening."
She smiled tightly at the compliment for about half a second before letting her face drop back down into a stoic glare.
"Please, come in." Damon invited cheerily, but Elijah wasn't done. Pushing off the wall, he stood straight, smiling.
"Just one moment. May I just say, that if you have less than honorable intentions this evening, I suggest your reconsider." He told them, his cheery voice taking on a rather dark undertone as he spoke. Damon and Val met each other's eyes, shrugging.
"No, nothing dishonorable." Damon said casually, "Just a 'getting-to-know-you'."
"Good." Elijah said, stepping into the house. He stopped directly by Val, and bent down near her ear, knowing that Damon could still hear him. "Because, I know Elena and I have this deal, but if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill everyone in this house and drain Valentina dry." His breath caused chills down Val's spine, but even that didn't take away from the boiling fury that started leaking into her veins at the threat.
She could've sworn she felt him sniff her neck before he straightened, smiling brightly at someone behind them.
"Jenna! How lovely to see you." He greeted, leaving the two at the door. Val's fists clenched as she turned to glare after the Original.
I hate being threatened.
Soon, the group was settled around the table, speaking about rather unimportant topics when Jenna spoke up.
"Oh, Damon, I don't think you're going to like this, but Elijah says your family isn't one of the founders of this town." She teased, and Damon raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Really? Do tell." It sounded vaguely like a challenge.
"Well, as I was telling Jenna, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials to escape persecution; they created this community." He explained.
"Because they were witches," Jenna teased, but Andie interrupted.
"No, there's no concrete evidence that there were even any witches in Salem." She confirmed, and Val nodded, remembering what Sheila had told her that afternoon.
"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria that broke out in a neighboring settlement. They tied all the settlers together in a field and set them on fire; some say you could hear the screams from miles around as they were consumed by the flames." He gestured to Val, who was sitting across from him, for the potatoes. "Valentina, could you please pass the potatoes?"
She did so grudgingly as Jenna spoke up, giggling slightly from the wine. "I wouldn't repeat that to the historical society."
"I don't know, it all sounds like a ghost story to me." John spoke up from his spot beside her, and it didn't take a genius to hear the goading tone of his voice. Elijah didn't bite, though, and Damon spoke up.
"Why do you want to know the locations of the settlers, anyway?"
Elijah shrugged innocently. "Historians curiosity, I suppose." He took another bite of his steak, and smiled at Val. "This meal is lovely, Valentina."
"Thanks." She responded shortly, but Jenna spoke up.
"Oh, you should try her enchiladas, she's amazing at it." Jenna bragged for her friend, winking at her from across the table. Elijah turned to her, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh? That's wonderful, is that a family thing, or…?"
Val almost slammed her utensils down at the mock in his tone; he was trying to get a rise out of her. But she lifted her head, smiling brightly at him as her hand tightened on her steak knife.
"Yeah, actually. I guess you could say I have a knack for following in my families footsteps." Now Elijah's face was the one that dropped, and she smirked as she brought her glass of water up to her lips, her eyes never leaving his.
Eventually, the meal wound down, and Damon stood. "Would anybody like a drink? I've got a bottle of Cognac I've been saving for ages." He turned to Val, "And I picked up some Pepsi for you, Smurfette."
"Ah, no thanks." Rick declined politely, "Nine bottles of wine is my limit."
"The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study." Andie suggested, and Val paused in confusion.
Is it just me, or did that sound really rehearsed…
"Here, gentleman, make yourself useful." Jenna told John flatly, practically thrusting a stack of plates into his arms as Damon and Elijah walked off. Val watched them, slightly concerned she would need to follow when she noticed Jenna brushing Rick off. Her eyebrows narrowed, then flitted to a smirking John.
"I suspect this is my fault…" The Gilbert piped up casually, and Val flanked on the other side of Rick, eyes narrowing.
"What did you do now?" Rick growled, and John shrugged as he stepped closer, smirking.
"I may have told her you're not being totally honest about your dead wife."
Rick's hands flew out, grabbing hold of John's shirt and yanking him to his toes. In a fair fight, they could both kick John's ass, no contest, but there were too many witnesses in the house, much to her dismay.
"You son of bitch…" Rick snarled, but John shoved his hands off, glaring at the two of them.
"I want my ring back, Rick." He told the hunter firmly, not even giving Val a passing glance before walking away.
She moved to go after him, but the ringing of a phone caught her ear. Turning, she realized her phone was going crazy in her bag as Rick pulled it out, gesturing it to her before answering.
"Stefan? What's up?" He paused, "No, mine and Damon's phones are off, what-?" He stopped dead, face going white, and he suddenly dropped the phone, taking off for the study. She ran behind him, nearly falling on her face in her heels.
"Rick! What?!"
"It's the dagger, it has to be used by a human, or the vampire that uses it dies!" He hissed at her, and dread flooded her stomach as they bolted to the study. Not bothering with diplomacy, she shoved both doors open simultaneously, nearly splintering the wood as the slammed into the wall's behind them.
Relief washed over her in a wave at the sight of a still-alive (Not-alive? Undead-? Oh, forget it) Damon, glaring at her.
"Um, gentlemen," Rick started, clearing his throat, "we completely forgot about dessert."
"Elijah." She spoke up, "I hope you like apple pie."
"Yes, very much so, Valentina." He agreed. She waited for him to meet her at the top of the stairs, but nearly tripped in surprise as he grabbed her hand and spun her, not missing the smirk he threw to a fuming Damon before pulling her behind him.
Once they were into the hallway, she yanked her hand from his, scowling. The silence was tense and forced for several seconds when suddenly, he stopped, turning to her.
"I believe Katerina has already told you some of your family history, correct?"
The question nearly threw her off guard, but she managed to recover, placing her hands on her hips. "Maybe. Why does it matter to you?"
He chuckled, as if he actually found what she said to be funny, and set his glass down. He then stepped closer, and his voice took on a rather menacing undertone.
"Don't play stupid with me, dear. You forget I know your family, and I know for a fact that you're much smarter than you're leading me to believe. And," his fingers lowered, hovering just over her necklace, "if this little trinket wasn't around your neck, I could just threaten to rip your heart out unless you told me."
Val's heart was beating like a drum, both in fear and anger, but she refused to back down.
Hurt them right back.
She smirked, taking a step closer so that they were almost sharing air. "I would love nothing more than for you to try and take it off me, Elijah. Oh, wait," she scoffed, shaking her head, "you can't."
The original vampire stared at her for several seconds, his eyes dancing with an emotion she couldn't quite understand, before he spoke softly. "Valentina, I can say with full confidence you are not quite like your ancestors before you."
Before she had time to question him, he was walking off again, greeting Andie at the table. She heard footsteps, and then Damon and Rick were standing at her sides.
"What the hell was that?" Damon asked, looking…irritated?
Val shook her head, clearing her throat. "Nothing. Just threats, as usual."
"So, Elijah," Andie started, lacing her fingers together as they all sat at the table, "I know this is a casual thing, but I would love to ask you some more questions about the work you're doing here."
"I'd love to answer." He said politely, and Andie smiled brightly.
"Great, oh, that's so great." She sounded excited as Val seated herself beside her, purposefully avoiding both the vampire and John.
"Rick! Would you please get my notebook out of my bag?"
"So, Elijah," Damon started as Val raised some water to her lips, eyeing the wine with a contemplating look, "did John ever tell you he was Elena's uncle/dad?"
"Yes, I'm well aware of that." Elijah told them, sounding bored, and Val spoke up, glaring at John.
"Well, she hates him, so that means I should be able to kill him without too many issues." She said brightly, her tone contradicting her face, and John glared at her as Andie spoke up.
"No, Rick, it's in the front- um excuse me, guys, sorry." She apologized, before standing up and walking into the living room. Once they were all sure she'd left, John turned back to Elijah, face impassive.
"What I would like to know, Elijah, is how you intend to kill Klaus."
"Gentlemen, my lady, there's a few things we should probably get clear right now." Elijah told them quietly, face calm. "I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena. I allow Elena to live in her house, living her life with her friends as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away, and you'll never see her again."
Hearing the way he spoke of ripping them all apart and taking a child away from her family made Val's bones chill, and her hand tightened on her fork as Andie sat back down beside her, clearing her throat.
"Ok, my first question is; when you first got here to Mystic Fa-"
The sound of ripping flesh was what Val heard first, but then Elijah screamed in pain, arching his back, eyes wide. It was then she saw the silver, ash coated tip of the dagger sticking out of his chest, straight through his heart. She had jumped involuntarily, but paused, unable to tear her eyes away as she watched the grey creep over his skin, the veins crawling up to his eyes as they glazed over, and he stilled.
There was a soft schlick! as Rick pulled out the dagger, and immediately, Val felt panic. She wasn't sure why, but the sight of the dagger leaving his body set her on serious edge and made her feel like she couldn't even breathe without glancing over her shoulder.
"Now, get him out of here before Jenna comes back with dinner." Rick told Damon darkly, and Val stood, walking back to the kitchen.
She nearly bumped into Jenna, and grabbed the woman's shoulders. "Hey! Hey, what's the status on the pie?" She asked, remaining as calm as she could be. Jenna sighed, shaking her head.
"Stupid thing's taking forever; actually, would you mind helping me? I left some of the silver set upstairs, would you get?"
Upstairs, she entered the room and began gathering the utensils, fingers brushing over the blades of the knives when she felt it.
Danger, danger, danger…
She whirled, snatching up one of the pencils and smoothly bringing it down towards Elijah's neck. He caught without flinching, his other hand coming up and enclosing around her throat. She gasped for air as he squeezed, his other hand tightening on her wrist until the pencil dropped to the ground.
"I know that the wretched crucifix you're wearing will bring you back from any supernatural death," he told her, smiling darkly, "so I don't feel particularly guilty about this."
His eyes went black, and his hand released her throat, but she barely had time to suck in any air when his fangs were buried in her neck, and she opened her mouth to scream. It got stuck in her throat, though, and she let out a choked cry of pain, unable to even think about anything except the pain she was in. That familiar fire flared up and down her body, but for some reason, this time felt a million times more painful than any other vampire. She hard Elijah groan, and then his arms wrapped around her, pulling her flush against him. The pain and the world started to fade, slowly, but then it went completely dark, all at once.
A panicked gasp flew past her lips, her throat burning with an intense pain that caused her to choke on her own breath, coughing harshly. She sat up, clutching her neck, fingers pressed against something sticky, yet slick. Two hands gently grabbed her shoulders, and she jumped, shoving them away.
"Hey, it's ok, Val, it's me."
Damon's voice was soothing, and she finally managed to suck a real, clear breath in as she looked around, the world beginning to come into focus.
She was in that guest room she'd woke up in the last time she'd been healed, and she looked over to see Damon sitting beside her, holding onto her shoulders as she breathed deeply. Relief was washed over his features as she fully sat up, removing his hands and reaching for a bottle of water.
"Elijah, he…" she looked around, almost expecting to see the suited demon standing in the corner, but Damon shook his head.
"Don't worry, he's dead, for real this time. We learned the dagger has to stay in his body."
"So, we're sure that he's dead this time?" She rasped, taking a grateful gulp of the water. Damon nodded, chuckling.
"Yeah." He paused for a few seconds, staring at her hard. "I found you in a puddle of your own blood; for a second, I thought you were going to be skipping out on our little 'unholy trinity' you, me, and Rick have going. Glad you're still here, though, he's kind of annoying on his own."
Val shook her head, unable to stop a small smile stretching over her face. "Since I know that's your way of telling me you were scared I was dead, and that you're happy I'm actually now, thank you."
They sat in comfortable silence, and Val leaned back, suddenly feeling very tired. Damon, seeing her eyes dropping, took the bottle of water from her.
"Get some sleep, Val."
As she fell into a warm, dark, blank sleep, it hadn't occurred to her how Damon had used her first name, and she was too far gone to notice that he had pulled the covers over her.
Hey guys! So, yes, this is a much shorter chapter than normal, but I've just recently started my new job much later than anticipated, and I don't have as much time. But I couldn't leave you guys hanging! Anyway, I hope you liked it, please remember to review, follow, and favorite, and I'll see ya next time!