PART 1

CHAPTER 11

Rose heard voices as she came to, quickly recognizing them as Damon and Stefan. Suddenly Rose became aware of the pain and hunger racking throughout her body. She could feel how dried out her body was, clearly having not eaten anything in a while. Rose barely opened her eyes even that action proved to be painful for her. When she finally did, Damon was lying on the ground next to her in a similar situation. "How… Are you… feeling?" Damon struggled to get out the words, trying to talk and assess his friend's condition. Rose had after all never been exposed to vervain before, and Stefan had been holding them captive long enough for them to begin the process of desiccation.

"It hurts!... Everything hurts!... And I'm… so… so.. Hungry!" Damon frowned as he checked over Rose her skin more ash-like than his own was. She was past sweating now, Rose didn't have any more liquid in her for her body to expel. That wasn't a good sign, she was desiccating faster than he was. Rose was also a hungry ripper; Damon was potential food. He shook the thought out of his head, even if she did attack him, he wouldn't blame her. He loved her too much to hold it against her.

They needed to get out of the cell somehow. Damon watched as Rose tried to sit up, ultimately abandoning that quest when her body no doubt shot up in pain. Damon needed to get them out soon. He glared at his empty hand where his daylight ring usually sat. Stefan had taken Rose's too.

"What. Happened?" Rose asked, having turned to face him completely as an alternative to sitting up. "Before we left for the Founders Ball, Stefan tried to poison me, with vervain. The stuff I told you about before, the stuff I thought I got rid of a long time ago." Damon frowned as he talked, too weak to muster a glare. Despite being the worse of the two, Rose did manage to glare and roll her eyes, both of which were directed at Damon. "Well, you clearly fucked up." Her voice was monotone, looking towards the cell door. Damon shrugged, or tried to, and continued speaking unphased by Rose's foul mouth and prickly attitude. "He made Caroline ingest vervain without me or her noticing, and when we ate her… we got poisoned too."

Rose let out a groan of pain and frustration. "I knew I should just have killed her when I wanted to. So much for me not wanting you to be pissed at me…" Damon raised a brow, silently gesturing for her to explain what she meant. "Elena saw the bite marks on Caroline's skin, and when she stormed out I ran into her. She went off on me, and when I saw Caroline in the bathroom I flipped. Almost killed her. But…" Rose could barely lift her hand as she placed it on Damon's chest, above his barely beating heart. "I never want you to be angry or disappointed in me. Or feel like you can't trust me… so I controlled myself and went to find you."

Damon leaned down, resting his forehead against Rose's a weak smile on his lips. "I could never. You're the most important thing in my undead life." Rose placed her chapped lips on his cheek in a gentle kiss before resting her head on the cold ground giving into the pain and passing out again. Damon thought to let her rest, but his eyes widened when he saw the grey flesh of desiccation taking over her entire arm. Sitting up, and leaning against the wall, Damon pulled Rose into his hold, kissing the top of her head muttering promises to keep her safe and get them out of the situation his brother put them in.

Damon had closed his eyes at some point, trying to block out the pain while keeping a firm hold on Rose, who still hadn't woken up the desiccation now spread to her stomach. He had sent a crow to Caroline, but he was too weak to compel her.

Stefan stood outside the cellar, watching through the small opening. Damon held Rose tightly in his arms, protecting her. Stefan felt a pang of guilt as he realized Rose was already desiccating. Stefan had buried Rose in the deepest recesses of his mind, but he knew the contents of what he had hidden. Rose was different and she made him feel almost something magical. Stefan knew he truly loved Elena, but with Rose… it was like he was truly himself. He hated doing this to her, but she was just as dangerous as Damon. If not more so since she was a ripper.

"I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?" Damon's voice brought Stefan out of his head, bringing his focus back to the starving vampires locked in the cell. "Not particularly," Stefan spoke, keeping his face carefully blank while avoiding looking at Rose's limp body held up by Damon. "You won you got the bad guy. Now nothing could come between you and Elena. Except the truth. The lies will catch up to you Stefan… As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are." Damon fought to open his eyes, leveling a glare at his younger brother gripping Rose tighter. Stefan's face was cold, no love or brotherhood remained between them it seemed.

Stefan was angry about Elena and the innocent humans that had died, and Damon was furious about Katherine and about the one person he considered his family being hurt and punished along with him.

"The beauty of you in there and me out here…is that I can walk away." Stefan moved out of view but before he could leave the cellar Damon spoke again. "Stefan. I know you hate me… But please. I'm begging you. Do not punish Rose like this." Stefans eyes widened in shock. Damon's voice was filled with pain and love, both for the girl he had turned and grown close with. This was Damon's humanity. This was what Stefan was searching for. Stefan had his own complicated feelings for Rose, and that almost made him turn around, but the pacifist in him knew.

Rose had no regard for human life, and even if she did show love for Damon… that wasn't enough. Clenching his fist at his sides, Stefan pushed the cell door open, locking it behind him.

As soon as the sun had set Damon struggled in the woods, carrying Rose on his back. The sound of music and voices reached him and Damon turned in the direction of the party. When the tree line broke, Damon saw a truck. He placed Rose gently on the ground before making his way to the truck. The strength needed to carry Rose was that which he didn't have, so he wasn't surprised when he collapsed against the truck, his body wracking in a fit of coughs.

"Hey man, you okay?" The voice was familiar to Damon, but he was too hungry to try and remember. "Come here. Come here." He forced out between coughs. "You don't look good," Vicki said as she stared at the sick man, her face scrunched up in a grimace. "Come closer. I have something…that I have to tell you." Vicky concerned for the man approached slowly, catching him when he suddenly collapsed. "Whoa. Whoa. I got you, I got you. It's okay. It's okay."

Damon barely remembered to cover her mouth before he bit into her neck. The blood rushed into his mouth as she struggled against him. The girl fought hard as he fed, screaming and hitting him against his back. Her strength faded away with the loss of her blood, and she fell limp in his arms. He dropped Vicki, speeding to where he placed Rose.

Picking her up Damon set her down next to Vicki, the girl still had blood left. Bringing her bleeding neck against Rose's chapped mouth, Damon waited. Rose's eyes snapped open as she registered the blood gulping it down. She had barely begun eating when a scream echoed in the woods.

Rose dropped the warm body in her arms, speeding to the screaming girl. She bit into her, the blood spewing against Rose's face and clothing as she tore through the entire neck leaving it separate from the body. There were other campers, all approaching in the direction of the screams.

Damon and Rose ate on them, building up their strength again.

When all the bodies were drained, Damon sped to Rose pulling her against him. Rose buried her head in his chest taking in his familiar scent. "Are you okay?" Damon asked as he pulled away. Rose nodded, her mind flashing back to the excruciating pain she had been in before. "I think so. I don't ever want to go through that again." Rose looked around the campsite. It was obvious which kills were hers, Damon didn't exactly go around ripping heads off. It was apparently a schtick she shared with Stefan.

The thought of Stefan made her blood boil in anger. Whatever she had found interesting in Stefan was no longer there, not with the murderous rage she was feeling towards him now. He had hurt her, and more importantly, he had hurt Damon. Stefan had intended to "kill" and lock Damon away for who knew how long. Stefan was nothing more than an enemy now.

One she couldn't kill but could put through a great deal of pain. "What now?" Rose asked, motioning to the dead. Damon sighed, picking up one of the bodies and dragging it towards the fire. "Burn them." Rose nodded and began cleaning up.

Damon picked up an open bottle of booze, searching the bodies before covering them with the alcohol. The second body had what he needed. Damon dialed Stefan's number taking a swig of the vodka. Rose took the bottle from him just as Stefan answered. "Hello?" Damon glared in response to his brother's voice. "I want our rings." He demanded, anger clear in his voice.

Rose was chugging the vodka, choosing to distract herself as the younger Salvatore spoke. "I'm at the sizzler. We had the buffet. Where are our rings?" Damon demanded again, lighting a stick on fire before he torched the bodies covered in alcohol. "I don't have it. Where are you? What have you two done?" Rose scoffed knowing that Stefan could hear her. She opened her mouth to shout at him, but Damon gave her a sharp look shutting her up. "Noo, what have you done? You're the one that locked us in in the basement and starved us, so whatever we've done, whoever I've sucked dry or whoever gets their head ripped off by Rose is on you, buddy." Rose sent Damon a shark-like grin at his words, her face glowing orange covered in blood.

"You're being careless how many more animal attacks is this town going to believe, huh?" Rose rolled her eyes at the placating tone in Stefan's voice. "I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan. Where are our rings?"

Rose tuned out the negotiation on the phone, throwing the last of alcohol over the bodies. Rose crouched down when one of the dead stirred. Rose recognized the girl, it was Vicki. She had survived. "You just don't wanna die do you?" Damon spoke behind her. Rose and Damon stared at Vicki as she stirred. Rose smirked as she loomed over her former best friend. "Dae," Rose said, using her recently chosen nickname. Damon hummed above her. "I have a fucking stupid idea."

She looked over her shoulder, her fangs flashing in the barely-there light. Damon mirrored her expression, looking back to the only survivor. "Let's do it."