September 15th, 2009 - Tuesday
"You preformed a ritual?" Matt asks her in stunned disbelief and shakes his head. "Why would you do that Vicki? It's not.. damn it Vicki."
Vicki bites her lip again, a nervous habit by now it seems as she looks down, tears still falling heavily from her eyes after experiencing another death. She could feel it, the pain, the loss of blood, Damon's hands. .
She won't go through that again, but then, she literally just did. How often must she die? "Because, we needed it. I - I need it Matty. I-I don't want to die again Matty, you weren't there. . You have no idea what it was like, what it felt like."
"How- how is this even possible Vicki?" Tyler asks, his voice quiet but shaking as he watches her.
He remembers seeing her dead body, as if they had actually went to the Grill and then she had disappeared for months. Or was it days? Then they had stumbled across her dead body by accident. He remembers believing the Salvatore's, that apparently are vampires were his friends only to find out that they killed his uncle and dragged Caroline- a vampire Caroline into it.
Matt looks at his friend and frowns, they were both able to recall it with clarity. "She said, it was the ritual." Turning back to Vicki he continues talking. "We're not going anywhere. If that's the outcome then it's not happening. We will just stay home okay?"
One of the things that Vicki can't help but hate is that it seems like she is simply destined to die. Technically, that would be her first death here in this timeline, even if it's no longer the same timeline. It felt real, so, so real. The tree of them had lived it, it was like it had actually happened, but then here they were. The question on both Matt's mind and Tyler's is, if it actually happened. .
September 24th, 2009 - Thursday
After what occurred on the 15th and a very skeptical Tyler was filled in they had become closely knit. Extremely close knit, enough so that Jeremy had taken to bothering Vicki any moment that he got her alone, for sex, for drugs, for anything that he thought could get him closest to her.
For Tyler, it made him ready to beat the living shit out of the Gilbert boy and Matt wasn't too far behind him with that idea.
"I swear Vicki," Tyler says darkly as he glares at the back of the Gilbert boy, Jeremy. "If that boy comes up to you again trying to pay you or guilt you into sex with him then I'm going to kick his druggy hoody wearing ass."
Vicki holds back a sigh and tries her best not to cringe. "I've been telling him no and that I don't do that stuff anymore, but he's..."
"He's not taking the hint Vicki. He didn't care if he said it in front of us or if it insulted you, Jeremy wanted a reaction." Matt says flatly as he shakes his head in disappointment.
"Well, he got one." Tyler all but growls as his hands curl into a fist and he shakes his head to get rid of the rising anger.
Matt and Vicki put there hands on his shoulder causing his stiff shoulders to relax. "Remember what happened last time?" Vicki whispers quietly near his ear.
Tyler grits his teeth and nods as Matt's other hand clasps around hers protectively. Vicki has 'died' nearly fifteen times in the last ten or so days, occasionally they all have as well. The repeats have been irritating. While they only seem to carry the ability to repeat the day with her if one of them dies they don't seem to carry any other separate abilities that they've noticed yet.
But last time, last time Tyler flipped. It was during one of the bad ones, really bad ones and Tyler had attacked Jeremy in retaliation. It didn't end well, everything is tied to the Gilbert's and it makes it a shit show for the rest of them.
"You haven't gotten that feeling yet?" Matt whispers as they looked around the dance floor at the founders hall. "Have you?"
Vicki shakes her head as she stands stiffly beside her brother as Mrs Lockwood comes over towards them.
"Tyler." She greets and her smile slips a little as she looks at Vicki. "I see you're still hanging out with .."
"The druggie?" Vicki finishes for her flatly as she rolls her eyes. "I'm clean, not that it matters to you now does it? It doesn't matter that the Donovan's were actually a founding family known as the Maxwell's and that they got fucked over by your greedy families does it?"
Mrs Lockwood visibly stiffens in place, looking somewhat struck. "Excuse me."
"I don't think we will." Matt says then as he shakes his head, glancing towards his visibly annoyed sister. "Maybe we should go."
As they turn to go outside and leave Vicki freezes and she lets out a scream as her head feels like it's bursting. The feeling of being underwater worsens, as if drowning. Images flash through her mind of them walking out together through the back, of her being in the wrong place again, at the wrong time when she sees Caroline outside just staring into space, all Vicki wanted to do was help. So she left the boys for a moment to get Caroline Forbes inside where it's safe.
But it wasn't safe for her though, she got Caroline to head towards the door when Damon was there again. Right behind her, his hands on her and his fangs in her neck, him trying to attack her despite her fighting back.. no one hearing her again while she screams as it's drowned out by his hand over her mouth and the sound of the music.
It was like her original killer was taunting her. He was always there, every decision she made, even just being at the founders ball she could feel him watching her closely. So closely and he shouldn't be, she's a nobody in this town, she's not Elena. Why does he keep singling her out?
When she came back to herself she was on the floor weeping and it was apparent that Matt and Tyler both had splitting headaches. While they try to help her Mr Lockwood makes his way towards them looking pissed. She could feel the Salvatore's watching, Elena and Jeremy. Everyone and she hates it, she hates it.
"What was that?" Mrs Lockwood asks them suspiciously as the two boys help Vicki get to her feet as she tries to hold in her tears that she can't seem to blink away. "What happened. Does she need medical attention? Tyler?"
"Don't worry about it." Tyler says sharply as he represses his rage.
That time, that time she had been brutalized before she was killed. That time, they tried to hunt down the Salvatore's, both of them. Of course they hadn't been prepared. Of course, they died.
He glances at his father and asks before he can be yelled at. "What's Uncle Mason's number?"
That stopped his dad in his anger for a moment as he frowns. "Why would you need it?"
Tyler glances at Vicki, her face is ashen and she's wobbly on her feet. He remembers their repeats, the mistakes. His uncle being killed by the damn Salvatore, his father by a device because they are werewolves. They are werewolves, he remembers, like an echo inside of him loving Caroline from when Vicki had died that time at the grill. But he also knows that calling his Uncle will be bring that vampire bitch back with him.
"I need to talk to him." Tyler says stiffly.
Richard watches his sons face and looks between his sons friends and nods back just as stiffly. Whatever it is it's important. "Follow me to the study.. you can bring your friends."
They moved, trying to help Vicki since she was unsteady on her feet. Their arms were around her waist as she forces herself to walks, shaking them off.
"I got it." She whispers as she steadies herself.
"You sure?" Tyler and Matt ask her quietly.
Vicki nods and follows slightly behind them. "I'm good."
Mrs Lockwood was not far behind Vicki as they walked to the study of the mansion.
September 28th, 2009 - Monday
They had called Mason, or rather Tyler had called his Uncle Mason.
"Wait, so he's coming up early?" Vicki asks Tyler as she bites her nails nervously while she sits on the hood of his truck after school.
Tyler nods. "Yup, all he knows is that somethings going on. His bringing that bitch though."
"Katherine?" Vicki says with a nod as her nervousness increases, she hasn't had a 'repeat' moment again.
Not since Stefan had done whatever with Damon. Thank the goddesses, but she knows that it won't last. She won't be able to leave the house at all tomorrow and both Matt and Tyler are working on convincing Caroline to come over instead of going to the sexy studs or suds or whatever it's called tomorrow.
"Do you think she'll come over?" Tyler asks anxiously.
It's so damn confusing to have all of these timelines in their heads, they can only imagine how bad it is for Vicki to deal with.
"I don't know." Vicki admits with a sigh as she chews on her vervained painted finger nails. "You loved her?"
Tyler shrugs, as does Matt. "It's like a ghost. The feeling." Tyler admits. "I feel like I had loved her, but it's like .. it's like having a limb cut off and then still feeling it."
"I think I only cared about her a lot." Matt admits with a shrug. "I- you know.. I didn't like her much at first."
"She's much better then Elena Gilbert." Vicki says as she scrunches up her nose in disgust.
"Or Jeremy Gilbert." They all say in unison with wrinkled noses of distaste.
September 29th, 2009 - Tuesday
"I'm staying in bed." Vicki yells from under her covers while her brother tries to get her up for the day.
"Vicki." He says exasperated. "You won't be leaving the house. None of us will. We called in for the day, we're uh- sick."
She sits up wildly and points at him "Good."
Matt smiles a little and shakes his head. "Tyler's coming over too and hopefully we will hear back from Caroline."
Vicki takes a deep breath and nods. "Okay, okay. Good. Breakfast?"
"You're hyper now."
"I'm afraid." She throws back at him as she fights off the urge to hurl or curl into a ball and just sleep. "I was kidnapped tonight, the first time and then so hopped up on his blood and drugs and then.. then I trusted him. I told him about what has happened in my life, our life and he - he just killed me Matty. Not because he had to or because I was dying or because he liked me as a person.. he killed me because he was bored."
"You remember everything? From the first time?" He asks cautiously, they don't really talk about the first life she lived much.
"The first time was.. it was hell Matty. You saw my notes. But, my death at the ball, it was .. it was so so much worse and I -" Vicki swallows the bile that rises in her throat and shakes her head as tears form in her eyes. "Why do I have to die? Why do I keep dying?"
Wrapping an arm around her he pulls her close as she begins to cry. "You don't. We won't let you, me and Tyler? We'll fight for you and with you.. hopefully Mason will be helpful."
"I don't know if he will, Katherine is.. she's bad news too." She replies in a chocked whisper as she hugs her brother tightly. "I'm afraid and I - I feel like I need I just -"
"You aren't going to use again Vicki, okay?" Matt says as he pulls away and holds her face. He holds back his own tears as his sister tries to hold herself together. "We'll make it out of this, one way or another. We're family for each other, we will protect each other forever, even if we have to repeat everything over and over again okay?"
Vicki nods her head vigorously as she holds back more tears. "I want us all to just be happy."
"I want that too Vicki." He whispers to her.
When Tyler and surprisingly enough, Caroline arrived the siblings were sitting on the couch flipping through channels.
"Hi." Caroline greets them awkwardly, but perkily. "The car wash thing is supposed to be today."
"Hello. We know." They collectively say.
"Okay.." Caroline says as her smile turns to a bit of a frown. "No offense, but that was a little creepy."
"Sorry." Tyler says from a little behind her as he shrug. "I honestly wasn't expecting you to accept you know?"
"Yeah, the cheerleader with .. well, you guys." She reply's shyly as she looks at her feet.
"Hey." Vicki says as she puts her hands up. "I'm a recovering burn out."
"But, what about what happened at the Lockwoods?" Caroline asks her with a frown. "The screaming and everything."
"Caroline." Matt begins to say warningly as Vicki shakes her head.
"It's okay Matty." Vicki replies in a small voice as she tries to smile at her. "You wouldn't believe me, or us if we told you."
"She might later." Tyler says seriously as he leans forward in his chair a little while watching Caroline closely as she cautiously moves to sit on the other side of Vicki.
Ten minutes later Vicki was putting some vervained nail polish on Caroline's fingernails and toenails. The boys were looking at small vervained things they can place in their pockets or hide in their socks.
It was about midday when Caroline began getting headaches, putting her hands up to her temples she tries to get them to go away "god, what the hell is wrong with me."
This was around the time that Caroline let Damon out in the original timeline. Awkwardly and nervously Vicki hands her notebook to Caroline.
"What?" The blond whispers as she looks through the month of September, in it were notes of the different timelines now as well. "This can't be real right? I don't believe it. I don't."
As Caroline stands up to leave the house Tyler quickly grabs her arm and turning her to face him. "Don't Caroline. He can get into your house, he was let in."
"Bu-bu-but my mom and .. and schools tomorrow and .." Caroline stutters out.
"Stay the night." Vicki offers with a shrug. "Although, I probably won't be able to sleep."
"I don't think I will be able to either." Caroline mutters as images flicker through her mind causing her to frown.
All of them unaware of how the tentative new friendship will change things.
Later on that night, when Elena went to the Salvatore's she made a mistake accidentally she freed Damon. Running from the house she trips over her feet and rushes to her car, not even noticing that Damon had snapped his nephew Zach's neck.
When darkness fell over Mystic Falls Damon went to the area where he heard the most noise, the woods filled with drugged up teenagers. One of them being Jeremy Gilbert, looking for Vicki.
Damon scowls at the young Gilbert boy who just doesn't seem like he wants to die and hoists him up over his shoulder. With a roll of his eyes Damon lays him down with a thunk on the floor of the boarding house.