A/N PLEASE READ
So, after last chapter, I've been getting quite a few questions. For those of you who haven't figured it out from the last chapter, I won't spoil the surprise. But I do feel the need to answer some questions.
Most asked: Will Hayley (and therefore Hope) still be a part of this fic?
Answer: Yes, very much so. None of my characters will be replacing existing characters of the series, and almost all existing characters will stay.
Question: Will Val replace Hayley or Camille as Klaus and Elijah's love interest?
Answer: Hayley and Camille will still exist, like I said, but as for the love interest? Idk, you'll have to keep reading.
Don't let this deter some of you! I still have big plans for The Originals, and I'm very excited!
And now, here's an extra long chapter because my inspiration has been hitting me and I'm trying to take full advantage. Enjoy!
The shadow continued to slip through the trees, completely undetected in the dark and the thick foliage around it. The figure was short, slender, but moved with the grace of a skilled hunter. They were a few miles into the wilderness, but this person had better hearing than most. The figure stopped and cocked their head to the side, listening intently. Suddenly, their head snapped towards one direction, and they took off with an inhuman amount of speed.
In a small clearing a few miles west, two girls were fighting. And not traditional girl fighting. They were snarling, growling, moving with impossible speed and flashing fangs that humans did not possess. Their eyes would crackle and grow red, their veins darkening to black. But one girl, the brunette, appeared to be winning. She caught the blonde's punch, slowly crushing her fist.
"You fight like a girl." She growled mockingly, then yanked the blonde's arm at an odd angle and a loud snapping noise echoed off the trees. The blonde shouted in pain as she was forced to the ground, hearing the sound of a tree branch being snapped off somewhere behind her. She didn't have time to be afraid before the make-shift stake was being shoved towards her heart-
-and then the brunette was being thrown ten feet away, landing with a shocked oof! onto the ground.
"Funny. I distinctly remember teaching you two to always take that as a compliment."
The familiar voice knocked Caroline and Elena back, causing the two of them to look up at the figure standing between them, shoulders squared as she faced off with the brunette.
Val's hair was longer; much longer than it had been when they'd last seen her. It had just been past her shoulders when they saw her just over nine months ago, but now it was dangling in between her shoulder blades. Multiple caramel strands complimented the black locks, hanging in waves over a familiar black leather jacket and a pair of ripped jeans with heeled boots. Even with them on, their old substitute teacher didn't stand over 5'3".
Everything else about her looked the same. Hoop earrings, subtle makeup, brown eyes so light they appeared an amber shade. But something about her was… different. Her stance, the way her eyes were shifting over Elena, something.
But neither mulled over it for very long.
"Val…" Elena got over her shock first, pulling herself to her feet. Then, her face melted into absolute fury, her eyes went red, and veins crawled out from under the sockets, going black. With a shout, she sped towards the huntress purely with the intent of ripping her throat out. Her hand wrapped around Val's throat and the force sent them both into a tree, the human pressed against it while Elena held her at arm's length. Caroline began to stagger to her feet as her arm slowly healed into place.
"I see you've changed a little bit." Val choked out, and Elena smirked. But then, Val's hand clamped down on Elena's wrist and began to turn it. The brunette's eyes widened as her hand was being forced away from the human girl with no difficulty at all. Val's eyes darkened.
"But then again; so have I."
With a flick of her wrist, she bent Elena's hand back and away from her body, and the young vampire shrieked as a sickening crack! sounded and both bones from her arm broke through her skin from the movement. Before she even had a chance to try and pull away, Val's foot came up and planted itself directly between Elena's ribs, sending her airborne a few feet only to land on her back.
Caroline watched in disbelief, actually doubting her senses, as Val advanced on Elena and pulled out a syringe of clear liquid. But before she could use it, a blur of black hair and pale skin slammed into her at full force. The two rolled across the forest floor before stopping with Val flat on her back and a familiar blue-eyed vampire above her, fangs out and snarling.
But then Damon saw who he was hovering over. He stopped mid-hiss, and his fangs retracted as the black veins in his eye sockets began to recede as well. Astonished, he barely managed to speak, his voice in a whisper.
"Val?"
But the girl, someone who he'd considered a best friend and possibly more, didn't respond. She merely growled and flipped the two of them over, successfully throwing Damon off her and coming to her feet. By now, Stefan had joined the group, and they all stared in disbelief at the familiar figure in front of them before she was gone, speeding away in a blur.
Stefan Salvatore was not having a good day.
His brother had taken his ex-girlfriend, who was currently an emotionless sociopath, to New York City in an attempt to find Katherine Pierce and therefore the cure for his ex-girlfriend. Of course, Damon neglected to mention that plan to his little brother. Not to mention that the very first immortal being to ever live was currently in Mystic Falls with the goal to become a permanent resident and ruin everyone's lives and massacre another twelve people before the day was out. And to top it all off, he was going to need the help of a few different people. His best friend and closest vampire confidant, Caroline. His former arch nemesis and world's first hybrid being, Klaus. And last but not least, his former friend and esteemed supernatural huntress, Valentina. Who had suddenly made a surprise appearance in Mystic Falls after being gone for just under a year with newfound speed and strength that rivaled the vampires around her, yet appeared to still be human.
Or, at least, that's what she claimed.
Stefan knew that Val wasn't telling him something. For one thing, she smelled different. Her scent had always been extremely pleasant to the vampires around her, but the last time he saw her, the strength and the allure of her blood had nearly knocked him off his feet. And something was radiating from her. A new strength, a new sense of intimidation. He wasn't sure what to call it.
But the main thing he was suspicious of would only grow the longer Val stayed in town.
Taking a deep breath, Val knocked on the familiar door in front of her. She heard a familiar voice ask who it was, and another familiar voice reassure them by simply saying, "An old friend."
Soon, the door opened, and she was greeted by her former best friend and the first vampire she ever met, Stefan Salvatore. Except this time, there was no happiness. No bright greetings or happy 'how are you?'. There was only momentary silence as they stared at each other and tried to figure out what to say. Finally, Val spoke.
"Hey, Stef."
Stefan smiled gently at the girl in front of him. "Hi, Val." He turned to the side, beckoning. Val raised her eyebrows at him and stepped in, turning around to watch his face.
"Really?" She deadpanned. When Stefan faked confusion, she rolled her eyes. "Stefan, I know what you're doing. You wanted to see if I could walk in without being invited." She shook her head. "I'm not a vampire."
"Look, Val," Stefan ran a hand over his face, stepping towards his friend, "You show up, out of the blue, sporting vampire-level strength and speed and try to hurt Elena. What am I supposed to think-?"
"I wasn't trying to hurt Elena; I was trying to help her." Val cut in irritably, and Stefan only squinted at her in confusion. Val sighed.
"Look; just because I wasn't answering your guys' phone calls doesn't mean I wasn't listening to the voicemail's you were leaving. I was a little pre-occupied, but I was keeping track of what was happening in Mystic Falls. Just… from a distance."
"We all stopped leaving you voicemail's after Thanksgiving-"
"Damon didn't."
Stefan paused, then closed his eyes and sighed as Val continued, her eyes downcast. "I-I got his last one. The one he left a few weeks ago." She raised her gaze towards her former friend, her voice changing to an uncertain, trembling tone. "Is it true? Is Jeremy- I mean, did he really…?"
She trailed off, unable to finish, and Stefan nodded. Val sucked in a breath and felt her eyes start to burn as she fought to gain control.
"It was Katherine. We didn't notice she was tailing us until it was too late."
Val didn't respond at first, and Stefan saw her blink back several tears. Finally, she turned to him.
"That's why I'm here. I swore to Jenna and to Rick that I'd protect Jeremy and Elena, and I failed. I knew I had to fix it, so I came back into town. I was afraid to approach any of you at first, I was terrified that…"
Stefan watched her trail off. "That what?"
"That you'd all hate me." She smiled painfully at him. "That you would all blame me for leaving. I couldn't face anyone yet, so I was watching everyone from secret." She shrugged. "These cool new abilities come with some perks."
"Yeah, speaking of: What's that about, exactly?"
Val shook her head. "Trust me. That's a long story, and it's for another time. All that's important is that I'm still human, and I'm an asset, now. A real one. But I'm getting off track. When I saw how Elena was beginning to act with her humanity off, I knew something had to be done. I waited for you and Damon to try and fix it, at first, just to see if the sire bond would kick in and right things before they got too messy. But then she bit that cheerleader and tried to kill Caroline, and I had to act."
She reached into her jacket pocket, producing a syringe full of clear liquid with a capped needle on the end. Stefan recognized the smell: Vervain.
"I was just going to knock her out and trap her, figure out a way to force her humanity back on."
"That's not how it works, Val."
She scoffed at his response. "No? And what exactly have you two been doing?"
"Look, I don't think you of all people get to judge us. You're the one that turned tail and ran when things got hard!"
Stefan's words shocked her into silence, and she pressed her lips together. Seeming to think on his words, her friend sighed.
"I-I'm sorry, Val. It's been a stressful few days and I shouldn't be taking it out on you."
She shook her head. "No, it's ok. I don't blame you."
"And none of us blame you." Stefan stressed, staring at her hard. "I know you're back here because you think this is all your fault, but it isn't. I know that finding answers about your family was important, and you spent a lot of your life helping us." He nodded at her, smiling gently. "You deserved to find them."
Val returned the smile, then shrugged. "I guess this is the part where we hug?"
Stefan laughed a little but stepped forward and squeezed his friend around the middle.
"Welcome back, Val."
"It's good to be back."
Pulling away, the pair smiled at each other when something occurred to Stefan.
"Wait; speaking of answers, did you manage to find any?"
It was his very first indicator that Val wasn't being entirely truthful. She faltered, an emotion slipping across her face before it was gone, and she grimaced.
"Unfortunately, yes."
The pair walked into the living room, both talking about the current issues of Silas and Elena turning into Katherine 2.0, when Val froze at the sight of who was in front of her.
Caroline cleaning up last night's party, and Klaus pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
As soon as she entered, she and the hybrid locked eyes. Val froze, but Klaus only smirked.
"Well, well, well, the littlest huntress returns. Did you get bored with your life outside of this town, darling?"
Val turned to Stefan, a cocktail of panic, uncertainty, anger, and hatred blooming in her chest. "You could have warned me he would be here."
Stefan grimaced, as if thinking it over. "I could have. But would you have shown up?"
She didn't respond, only scowling at him and turning to glare back at Klaus. But it was hard to mask the fear in her chest.
I thought I'd have more time before I had to face him.
"Did you miss me, love?" Klaus asked, and she smirked at him.
"Like I miss having pneumonia."
The hybrid chuckled at her response, but Val wasn't paying any attention to him anymore. She crossed the room to the blonde over by the fireplace, smiling uncertainly.
"Hey, Car."
Caroline smiled back. "Hey, Val."
"You're not mad?"
The blonde shrugged. "I mean, I was at first. But then you saved my life last night, so…" She trailed off, then shrugged. "Besides. When I think about Hector's big brown eyes and Ally's pigtails, I'm suddenly not so mad anymore."
The two girls smiled at each other brightly, then hugged. But their warm moment was interrupted by an annoyingly familiar voice.
"Ah, yes, how are the siblings, Valentina?"
Caroline pulled away to scowl at Klaus, but Val whipped around with a startled and angry look.
"Why? What the hell is it to you, anyway?"
Both Stefan's and Caroline's eyes widened slightly as they watched the interaction, and Klaus put his hands up in mock surrender, chuckling.
"Easy there, darling. I was just making conversation."
Val still looked a little jumpy, but she only scoffed and waved him off. Caroline and Stefan made eye contact, the same question seeming to pass between them.
What was that all about?
"Look, before you two rip each other's heads off, we really need to get down to business. I just spoke to Sheriff Forbes, and several blood banks have been raided both in town and within the neighboring towns as well. Someone's stashing it; or drinking it all. It's hard to say."
Klaus rolled his eyes and turned around to pour himself another glass of Damon's whiskey. "So, some blood went missing from a few hospitals. What about Elena? Don't vampires with their humanity off tend to overindulge in blood?" He turned around, smiling innocently at Stefan. "Or were you the exception?"
"It's not Elena." Stefan answered, ignoring the jab that was obviously meant to get him riled up.
"Well, then let's say for a moment that it was Silas." Klaus mused, moving to sit on the couch. "I'm struggling to see how this affects me."
Val snorted. "Are you kidding?"
Klaus glared at her as Stefan spoke in a calmer tone. "Look, Silas wants to die and be reunited with his one true love. But he's supernatural, so if he takes the cure and dies, he gets stuck on the other side."
"How Shakespearean."
"But if he destroys the other side altogether," Stefan continued, "he can take the cure, die and pass on. But in destroying it, ever dead supernatural being will return to our side."
"And let's see; I can think of at least twelve hybrids on the other side that you ripped to pieces that are eager to return the favor." Val deadpanned, staring him down hard. Caroline chimed in.
"Care yet?"
Klaus smirked in Val's direction. "My interest in piqued. How do we stop him?"
"Bonnie said Silas has to perform three massacres to do the spell. Before Professor Shane died, he convinced the pastor to blow up the council. He got you to kill twelve of your hybrids. He only needs one more massacre. So, if he's here, that's what he's doing. We need to find him."
Since the creepy professor had been working directly for Silas, his office was the first place they looked. It was locked, of course, but Val was something of an expert on picking locks.
The lock clicked, and Val poked her head inside before looking back and nodding that it was clear. The foursome stepped inside, looking around the office.
It was messy, covered in drawings, books, statues, and other occult objects. As the group moved in, Klaus smirked over at her.
"Since when did our pure little heroine become so well-versed on heathen activities such as lock picking?"
Val didn't even look at him, merely moving to a stack of old books and beginning to flip through them. "One of the foster homes I was in had a padlock on the fridge. It was either learn lockpicking, or we all grew sick from malnourishment."
Surprisingly, he didn't answer. She looked up to see him staring at her for half a second, then moving off in a different direction.
"What are we even looking for?" Caroline interrupted, helping Val sift through some old objects.
"Well, if Shane really was working with Silas, chances are he was helping him plan his next move." Stefan answered.
"Where? On his evil villain to-do list? Steal blood, perform three massacres, pick up dry cleaning…"
"Actually, not to nitpick, but we evil villains normally use minions to pick our dry-cleaning, that sort of thing." Klaus chimed in mockingly, and Val couldn't even begin to stop her eyeroll as Caroline spoke.
"Why is he necessary, again?"
"Well, we don't know what Silas can do. If we do have to go head-to-head with him, having an immortal hybrid who can't die might come in handy."
"Will it?" Val muttered, ignoring Klaus's gaze as she moved through the stacks of junk.
"Besides, Stefan and I work well together." Klaus told them, "Or, at least we did back in the twenties."
"Well, my emotions were off."
"Which appears to be the only way anybody can stand you, Klaus." Val chimed in again, smirking triumphantly at his annoyed look. He turned back towards Stefan.
"Next peep out of her, and I'm leaving."
"Aw," Val jutted out her bottom lip, "did I hurt your feelings?"
The hybrid's face twisted into a glare, but Stefan spoke up, eager to separate the two before things drifted into a fight. "Val, maybe go stand guard at the door. Make sure no one catches us in here?"
Now it was Klaus's turn to smirk triumphantly at the girl, who scowled and threw the book back down on the desk before stalking out of the room.
"Just find the damn clue so we don't have to work with him anymore, please."
Val had been wrong. She had been hoping to return to Mystic Falls and try to learn to tolerate Klaus, hopefully get in touch with Elijah, or even Rebekah. She didn't know, she hadn't gotten that far in her planning.
But she couldn't. She just couldn't do it. Every time she tried, she looked at his face and saw the demon that had killed Jenna, that had dragged his family into Mystic Falls and inadvertently caused Rick's turning and eventual death. Looking into his face felt like being reminded, over and over again, of every failure she'd been guilty of since this whole thing started.
Now including Jeremy.
As she shut the door behind her, she felt a pang in her chest. When she'd left Mystic Falls about ten months ago, she'd been hoping that the Salvatore's, Matt, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, and maybe some luck would keep the Gilbert siblings safe. It wasn't as if she wanted to leave them. They'd become her family, she'd meant that part. But that didn't mean she could abandon her own real family in pursuit of helping them. And she'd prayed every night that Jenna and Rick, even dead, knew how much it hurt her to leave them.
Speaking of family, Val pulled out her phone and walked a little further down the hallway. Dialing one particular number, it only rang once.
"What?"
"Look, I get you're still a little pissed, but you agreed to train me before I came back. So that means you understand at least half of the reason I'm here."
She heard him sigh, and she felt impatience clutch at her throat.
"Lucas, I don't have time to argue with you. Damon Salvatore took Elena to New York, up near you and Katerina. He's tailing her, trying to find the cure."
"And you think Katerina has it?"
"I'm sure she does. That girl will do whatever it takes to make herself an asset too valuable to kill, and Klaus is one of the few people she's scared of. That means she's probably going to try and give it to him as a peace offering."
"Do you know where they are exactly?"
"I'm guessing Manhattan. Damon's trying to trick her into thinking they're there to gorge on blood and party non-stop, so I'm sure that's where he's taken her. Keep your distance, though. Elena's almost worse than Katerina now that her humanity's off."
Lucas scoffed. "Valentina, I've handled myself before. And I'm older."
"Lucas, please," Val begged, catching her voice before it rose too loud and looking back to the door again. "Just be careful, ok? Don't make a move until me or Stefan come up to help you."
He was quiet, and then, "Alright. Fine. But don't take too long. Is Silas still there?"
"Yeah, we think so. It's hard to tell, he can look like anyone."
"Then it's you who should be careful, Valentina. Silas might try to get inside your head; you are something he's never seen before, most likely."
Val couldn't suppress a shit-eating grin. "Aw, Lucas. You almost sound like you care."
"Of course I care, pendeja. You're the only one who can find and hold the Text. You're the last Rodriguez of the line, you have to survive."
The door opened, and Val whipped around to see Stefan exiting the room. She nodded at him, then spoke.
"Just be careful, ok?"
As soon as they hung up, Stefan cocked his head at her. "Who was that?"
Val shrugged, holding up her phone. "I have a friend, a vampire, I met on my time away from here. He's up in Pennsylvania, but I told him about Elena and Damon. He'll be tailing them and then updating me on anything he finds."
Stefan looked uncertain. "It's a little unsafe having one vampire tail the two of them."
"That's all he's doing; I've already told him it's too dangerous to engage on his own. He'll wait for us, at least."
The group ended up having to split up. Val outright refused to be alone with Klaus at all; she was terrified he'd hear her heart racing whenever she was near him. So, she found herself trekking through the dark with Stefan. The massacre could be happening at one of two points, so they each took a direction and started walking.
After about a mile of silence, Stefan finally spoke.
"Val, why are you really back here?"
The huntress stopped dead, schooling her face before turning around to face him. "What do you mean?"
"You say it's to help Elena, but I know you. Your family has always been, and will always be, the most important thing in your life. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Alex or Hector, meaning your reasoning for being back here is at least partly because of them." He watched her carefully. "Seriously, Val. I'm your friend, you can trust me. Why are you here?"
She stared at him, her throat growing tight. She wanted to tell him. She desperately wanted to believe that he'd help her. Stefan had been the first supernatural creature she'd ever trusted with her life, and that meant something to her.
But she also knew how deep his thirst for revenge ran. If the gang found out about her secret, Ally would be in grave danger. She didn't want to believe that they'd hurt her, but a part of her knew it was true. Neither of the children were safe in Mystic Falls anymore, and they weren't safe around the people she still considered her friends, at least a little bit.
Val loved the Mystic Falls gang.
But they could no longer be trusted.
Luckily, before she floundered in silence for too long, Stefan's phone rang. He pulled out the screen and gave Val a look that said, this isn't over, and then answered it.
"Damon, what have you found?"
Thanks to Val's newfound senses, she could easily hear the older brother on the other end of the line. He was currently in an old bar he used to frequent, back in his serial killer days with his humanity off. He used to gather IDs from the people he killed, and he must have connected the dots on one that had been in particularly high demand at the time. Tall-ish brunettes with brown eyes. Katherine.
Stefan also told him about Silas appearing as Professor Shane, and his ability to switch out faces. He offered to come home, but Stefan brushed him off. They needed their team in a bunch of different places right now, it seemed.
As they came to the end of their conversation, Val held her hand out towards Stefan as the two continued walking. He stared at her doubtfully, but she only raised her eyebrows and wiggled her fingers. Finally, he handed over the phone. With a deep breath, Val brought it to her ear.
"Damon?"
The shuffling on the other end stopped immediately, and she heard a sharp intake of breath.
"Val?"
"Listen, um, I called a friend of mine up there and mentioned you guys. He's been tailing Katherine for a while as well on some unrelated business. If you see a six-foot Latino vampire in the background, just, don't let Elena kill him, ok?"
"And what makes you think I won't kill him?"
She paused, then responded, "Because you're my best friend. And I'm trusting you with this."
He didn't answer right away either, and she heard him breathing deeply before he spoke. "You know, we missed you, short stack."
She snorted. "By 'we', do you mean you?"
She could practically hear him smirking. "Maybe."
She heard a door opening, and then Elena's voice. Damon came back on the phone, his tone different.
"Keep me updated."
And then he hung up.
Handing the phone back to Stefan, she didn't meet his eyes as they continued on, following the map. But then, Val froze.
"Do you hear that?"
Stefan looked around in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"
But Val didn't answer. She could hear them, she could smell them. Witchcraft.
And Bonnie screaming.
"This way!" She shouted, then took off. Stefan called after her, but she soon heard him follow. Her senses led them to a small clearing, where Val saw in horror a circle of eleven witches chanting over lit torches and a pentagram. Inside the circle, one witch held Bonnie's head as the teen twitched and screamed in pain on the ground. The two came to a dead halt inside the pentagram.
"Stop!" Stefan cried, holding up one hand. "This is not what you think!"
The witch looked up and glared at him in utter loathing. "This is no place for a vampire." Her gaze moved to Val. "And it's especially no place for an abomination."
The huntress didn't react, but she also didn't miss Stefan's obvious confusion. However, the vampire continued on.
"She's working for Silas."
"Silas?"
"He brainwashed her to kill you."
Before Val could doubt Stefan's plan to explain things, the witch reached into her jacket and pulled out a wicked looking blade. Val's heart jumped to her throat.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"If Silas has her, she's lost. We can't save her."
"Wait-"
"Don't-!"
Both Stefan and Val lunged for the pair, but her hand shot out and suddenly Stefan dropped, clutching his head.
"I have the power of twelve witches," she growled, "You don't stand a chance!"
Val turned from Stefan's suffering form, feeling her blood grow hot, and began stalking towards the witch. She was going to break her neck if she had to-
SNAP!
Pain exploded across her lower legs, and she realized with a start that it was from both of the bones under her knees. She screamed, dropping to the ground, raising her wide eyes to the witch who was glaring at her with a fiery hatred that she'd never seen before.
"You will be next. Your bloodline has been tainted and destroyed; you no longer come from your families blessing, and for that, you will suffer."
Another snapping noise, and this time it came from both of her femur bones. Agony and fire were imploding inside of her, and Val couldn't stop screaming. She could feel her other bones breaking, shifting, healing and breaking again. It was unbearable; she nearly passed out. It started in her lower legs, then her knees, then her thighs, her hips, and then her arms were breaking. One by one, right in half, over and over again.
Somewhere to her right, she heard Stefan escape, and then Caroline and Klaus's voices. It was hard to understand what they were saying over the snapping of her bones and the blood rushing in her ears. Through her hazy vision, blurred by her tears of agony, she saw the witch raise the dagger over her head, the chanting growing louder as Bonnie's screams joined her own. The witch began to bring it down-
-and then Caroline was there, grabbing her wrist and sending it into the witches own heart.
All at once, it stopped. The breaking in her bones immediately ceased, and Val slumped against the soil. She could still feel her bones moving, but with each movement, the pain faded, and she realized that they were healing. It was silent around them, and she raised her head, fighting the urge to collapse as the witches around them fell to the ground, dead, the flames from the torches going out with them.
Caroline was watching in horror, and they both looked at Bonnie. The teen witches' eyes snapped open, and Val saw in horror that the hazel iris's had been replaced by milky, opaque orbs from someone she didn't recognize.
In a voice that wasn't her own, she spoke.
"The triangle is complete."
And that was the last thing Val remembered before she was gone.
After waking up in the Salvatore Boarding house for the umpteenth time, Val knew they were in trouble. A dozen witches were dead, meaning there was one more puzzle piece left before this whole thing came unraveled.
The cure.
Since Damon had lost Elena and Rebekah, as well as their list of leads on Katherine, they had to meet up with him. Luckily, Sheriff Forbes tracked down not only his abandoned car but the one the pair had stolen right after. So, she and Stefan had to drive and get him as well as some gas to fuel up said car.
At least, that's what the brothers were doing.
While her favorite pair of Salvatore idiots were arguing over just about everything while refueling the car, Val was over in the rest area with her phone pressed against her ear.
"Where are they?"
"They're here in Pennsylvania. I've tracked them to a small town called Willoughby, where, unfortunately, Katerina appears to have compelled the entire town. We don't have much time before they find her; you and your vampire dogs need to move quickly."
Val snorted into the phone. "You know, insulting them is a bit like insulting yourself, Luke."
"I asked you not to call me that, and it's not the same thing. I've never flipped my humanity switch. If I were to die after taking innocent lives, I would receive a much more severe sentence than just the other side. The stakes are much higher."
"Well, no matter your reasoning, I wanted to say thank you, Lucas."
When he didn't respond, she continued. "I know that we argue and we don't always see eye-to-eye, but you're family. And I wanted you to know that it means a lot to me, what you're doing."
He was quiet a little longer, then spoke. "Familia lo es todo, Valentina. And we are family. Even if your company is," he paused, and she could tell he was sneering, "less than desirable. Silas is a threat to us all."
Unfortunately, Val was a little preoccupied to notice she had an unwanted eavesdropper.
Damon had started towards the huntress, wanting to actually speak to her for the first time in over eight months, but stopped when he heard her conversation. Hanging back, he tilted his head towards her.
"Speaking of familia, have you told him yet?"
Told who? Who was 'him'?
"No," Val responded, "I haven't told anyone."
"I thought you said you trusted your friends."
"I do, but not with this. You of all people know how sensitive this new information is, Lucas. I can't just go around announcing it; it's too dangerous."
"Exactly. If you were to tell at least one of the Mikaelson's, you would have their protection."
Whoa, protection? From who? What the hell did his little huntress know about the Mikaelson's? More importantly, why didn't she trust any of them to mention it? Stefan had told him that Val didn't seem to be entirely honest about her intentions upon returning to Mystic Falls, and that made him nervous. What had she found while she was away?
"Yeah, or Klaus would find out and then he might reject the idea entirely, or worse. He's unpredictable, Lucas, you of all people know that." She sighed. "I- I just a little more time to figure out how to tell him, that's all."
"I'm afraid time is not something you have an infinite amount of, Valentina. If Alejandra is even half as powerful as you say, then you need help. And the members of that family are the only ones who can offer it."
Val suddenly gasped sharply, and Damon froze. Had she heard him?
"I need to go. We'll meet you in Willoughby."
Snapping her phone shut, Val waited a beat before turning back and heading to the car. A familiar, uneven heartbeat was pumping in her ears, and she knew exactly who had been trying to listen in. It made her own speed up in her chest; how much had he heard?
Sure enough, about twenty feet from the car, Damon stepped out from behind a tree, his bright blue eyes burning holes into her own. She stopped, faltering a little bit.
"Hi, Damon."
Their last face-to-face encounter was still fresh in her mind, and it must have been in his as well, because his eyes drifted to her lips before he answered.
"Nice to see you again, Val." He cocked his head to the side. "Where have you been?"
She shrugged. "I told you. I had to go find answers about my family."
"And did you?"
You have no idea. "Yeah, I found a few."
He hummed, and she took that as a go-ahead to walk by him. But as she did, his hand clamped down on her shoulder. His grip wasn't tight, and it didn't hurt. It was soft, and she could feel him squeezing her shoulder through her sleeve.
"Who was on the phone, gremlin?"
The nickname was light, but she could hear the demand in the undertone of his voice. She met his eyes with a neutral expression. "My friend. I told you, he's been tailing Elena and Rebekah on my request."
"And what else were you talking about?"
Her expression twitched. "That's none of your business."
She moved to walk away, but Damon's hand moved to her bicep, squeezing it gently. Comfortingly. He didn't look angry, he just looked concerned, and it made her chest hurt.
"Is there something you need to tell me about, Val?"
Yes. I want to tell you. This secret feels like it's crushing me, and I want to tell someone I trust so badly because I'm not sure I can handle this.
But she didn't voice her thoughts. She merely smiled gently at him.
"No. Nothing."
Klaus screamed in distress as he dislocated his left arm. He'd already dislocated the right one in an attempt to pull out the piece of white oak stake, but it had been unsuccessful. Now, as he cried out and reached back again, he knew this attempt would be, too.
The pain was unbearable. It felt like fire was ripping through his chest and making it hard to breathe every time he so much as moved; it was worse than anything he'd ever felt before. He could feel the piece of the stake scraping the left chambers of his heart.
Footsteps alerted him, and a familiar voice shouted through the hallways.
"Klaus, we need to talk-!"
Caroline stopped dead in the doorway to his living room, her angry face going slack at the sight of the pale, sweaty, trembling hybrid in front of her.
"Oh, my gosh," she whispered, "what happened to you?"
"It's Silas," Klaus ground out, almost unable to speak or breathe through the pain, "he stabbed me with the white oak stake. A piece of it is still inside me."
"Klaus, that could kill you!" She stated apprehensively, walking closer, and Klaus chuckled sarcastically.
"Yes, well, I certainly feel like I'm dying."
Caroline reached up, brushing a sweaty lock of hair from his head and putting both of her hands on his face. He stopped, confused, but not wanting her to stop.
Since when did Caroline hold him like this?
"And as much as I would love to watch you die, you still haven't found me that cure."
Realization hit him like a punch in the gut, and he shoved her away, screaming in fury.
"Silas!"
Losing the support on his head, he stumbled to the side and knocked some furniture over, finally collapsing on the ground. Silas, still looking like Caroline, watched him with a smirk.
"That's right. Last night, I looked like Shane. Today, I look like Caroline. And tomorrow? Who knows…"
Klaus glared at the supernatural creature in front of him, the fury and the pain starting to erode away his self-control. "Show me your real face."
"Now, why would I do that when I can look like whomever I want you to see?" Silas asked tauntingly, stepping closer. Klaus dropped his head, struggling to breathe through the pain, and he heard Silas speak again.
"But maybe it's not Caroline who you want to see right now, anyway."
He heard Silas crouch in front of him, and he looked up, nearly jumping back to see a pair of amber eyes staring into his own.
"You haven't told anyone about this little attraction, have you?"
Valentina's face was smirking at him, her eyes dancing with sadistic glee. Klaus didn't respond, glaring at the person in front of him.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Silas rolled Valentina's eyes and straightened, walking around him. "Oh, come on, Klaus. She piqued your interest the very second you came to town, but you knew it could never happen. She wanted you dead, and a part of you felt the same way. I mean, how many problems has her bloodline caused you? And even when you stopped wanting her dead, you knew that she would never forgive you for Jenna. Even less so than Caroline will ever forgive you for Tyler. And most importantly, you saw the way Elijah looked at her. You knew that if you and your big brother fell back into old habits, it would destroy your bond for good. And as much as you claim to hate him, you can't do that. Not to him. So, you moved on, feeding your attraction for the cute little blonde that was nothing like her."
Coming back in front of him, Valentina's face dropped in a mocking form of sympathy as she braced her hands on her knees.
"But in the end, Klaus, you're selfish. You can deny this all you want, you can insult her and run from her and give her a million more reasons to hate you. But I think you'll find it's about to get a whole lot harder to stay away."
The immortal hybrid stared at Silas, trying and failing to keep his expression neutral through the pain and confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Val's face smirked at him. "You'll see." She straightened. "But until you get me the cure, I can only guarantee you an eternity of misery."
And then, Silas was gone.
Uh-oh, what's Val hiding...
See ya next time, and stay safe out there!