Immediately, Emily tries to shut the door in his face. Damon easily pushes it open. "Oh, come on, Em!" Damon smirks in amusement.
Elena and Jeremy come from the kitchen to witness the commotion. Elena freezes in fear, and Jeremy is indifferent to the situation.
Emily composes herself for her brother's sake, and casually, or, as casual as she could be, says: "Elena. Take Jeremy and go upstairs. I wanna talk to Damon."
Damon is amused by her show.
"No way," Elena shoots. Damon cocks a brow. Seems she'd somehow found out. Did Emily really tell her, or was it Stefan? Regardless, it was just her. Jeremy looked to be oblivious to the truth.
"Elena!...Now," Emily glares heatedly at her sister.
Jeremy rolls his eyes. "Come on, Elena," he says, trying to move his sister on, unaware that she was afraid of the threat Damon suddenly posed.
She finally, reluctantly, moves as Emily continues to signal with her eyes that it would be okay.
It was hard to believe it wouldn't be with Emily, her older sister, someone she trusted, felt safe around, and the first person to know about all of this, the only one of them with training that Elena convinced herself was enough for protection.
The two head up the stairs, with Elena's face fixed over her shoulder in fear. Emily forced her expression to remain placid so as to assure her younger sister.
Elena and Jeremy disappear upstairs, and Emily's heart jumps at Damon's voice, wary of any sudden movements. "So, was it you or Stefan, who stupidly told Elena the truth?" he asks.
"…What do you want, Damon?" she counters.
"Relax, babe. I'm just looking for Stefan," he says. "May I come in? Oh. Wait. Course I can. I've been invited," he smirks, indeed stepping in and causing Emily to take several steps back in fear. He closes the door behind him, and Emily further panics.
"He's not here," she tells, wishing he'd leave.
Damon looks around regardless, then faces Emily. He walks her into the wall so she'd stop trying to evade him.
In a split-second's decision, Emily pulls out her stake,
and attempts to stab at his chest.
Damon reacts quickly using his heightened reflexes.
He grasps her arm firmly, frowning deeply at her reaction.
"And I thought we were getting along," he growls, clenching her hand till it hurt.
"Ah!" she let out, the stake dropping from her hand. Her heartrate increased madly, and her mind ran back and forth in search of escape.
"You know what I want really want? Hm?" he asks, loosening his grip on her wrist a little. "It's to kill you," he confesses, nearing her neck with his face. Emily shut her eyes and lips and forced her tears of horror to remain frozen. It took everything in him not to bite down and suck her dry. "But at the same time," he pulls back, his face less than three inches from hers. "I don't," she feels his breath ghost on her lips, his eyes as though mesmerizing hers. "You're just too much fun," he smirks,
then it dissipates. "But if you try anything like that again…
I will kill you," he promises.
Somehow, her heart beats even faster.
He finally backs off.
"Tell Stefan I'm looking for him," he says, approaching the front door and opening it. He steps out, and peeks back in before closing it. He locks onto her terrified gaze as she stands opposite the door but quite far from it. "Oh, and, tip for later. Careful who you invite into the house," he says,
then takes his leave.
Emily breathes heavily as he shuts the door, as if hungry for air she'd been missing since he'd stepped in. She realizes her tears were falling freely as she acknowledges his words, and promises it to herself,
to never let a stranger in.
"Wait. He's gone," Emily hears Elena say atop the stairs. "Yeah. He's gone," Emily, who assumes she was talking to Stefan, wipes her tears away to insure that her sister not see her scared. "Stefan, please. Just give him the ring."
XXX
The night passed, and Stefan finally showed up late that night. He said he'd found and lost Vicki, but that it was too late, and that she'd fed.
The girls were shocked.
But he promised to find and teach her to live like he did, on animal blood, promised that she wouldn't hurt anyone again.
The girls hoped he was right, but then Elena, after promising to keep Stefan's secret, told him that she couldn't be with him anymore.
They broke up, and Emily was left with pieces of her broken sister to put back together. She slept beside her that night for comfort, and promised her that everything was going to be alright,
something neither of them believed.
The next morning, Jeremy tells them he's heading out to the police station, where a search party was being organized to find Vicki. The girls try to keep him from going with vague excuses regarding the importance of school, or how they'd be called if she was found. He was not convinced.
Speaking of Vicki, the Salvatores had found her, and Emily was headed to insure Stefan was working on her.
XXX
That very same day, it was Halloween, and a party was being organized at Mystic High, even at Emily's college, Whitmore college.
Obviously, Emily wasn't going.
No, she and Elena were headed to Stefan's to check up on Vicki around noon.
Unfortunately for them, Damon opens the door.
"Well, hello," he smirks. The girls refrain from jumping in fear. Emily was about to ask what he was doing there, momentarily forgetting it was his house.
"Is Stefan here?" Elena asks.
"And good morning to you too, Robin," he says to her.
"Damon, is he here?" Emily pushes. Damon's gaze locks onto hers, causing her heart to jump.
"Upstairs. Singing 'The Rain In Spain'," he muses.
"Go," Emily tells Elena, who takes a minute to confirm her sister's words. She then pushes past Damon and steps in, disappearing aside in search of Stefan.
"Ooh. Wanted to get me alone? Sorry, but, it'll have to wait," Damon walks past Emily. "I'll call you."
"Why'd you do it, Damon?" she asks.
Damon stops in his tracks and turns to face her with furrowed brows. She walks down the few steps and approaches him with newly found confidence even she was unaware of the source of. "Do what?" he asks with little interest.
"Turn Vicki. You could've killed her, like you killed all those other people," she angrily reminds. Damon rolls his eyes at her morality. "But you didn't? Were you just trying to get to me? Trying to get to Jeremy," she irritably asks.
"Believe or not, doll. Not everything is about you," he said. She cocks a brow, wondering why he kept calling her names. "She was miserable. She was begging for it," he says.
"Can you hear how that sounds?" she asks in sarcasm.
"Look. You got an explanation. Take it or leave it," he says, walking back and away to his red 1969 Chevy Camaro Convertible.
XXX
"So she's a vampire with issues? What am I supposed to do? Becau-" Elena stops short when she catches sight of Emily coming to her side near the stairs to the upper floor.
"I'm gonna keep her here until I know that she's safe," Stefan answers Elena's previous question.
"Yeah? How long is that?" Vicki herself asks, jumping a few steps from the stairs to be in eye-sight. Both Gilberts tense at her suddenly threatening presence.
"Uh, we can talk about that later," Stefan uncertainly replies.
"Hey. Vicki. How are you?" Elena worriedly asks. Vicki glances at the younger Gilbert from her spot. She smirks and raises a brow.
"How am I? You're kidding, right?" she retorts smugly. The sisters grow more wary of her. Stefan hears their racing hearts, and decides to break the ice. He fully faces Vicki as she further descends to approach them.
"Why don't we head back inside. Talk some more?" he suggests to her.
"Fine. Whatever," Vicki nods, crossing her arms casually.
Stefan then turns to the duo once more, about to suggest something he wasn't very comfortable, but whatever might change Elena's mind about…the breakup.
"You guys can stay, if you want," he says. They share a glance, then nod.
Stefan guides the three into the dining room, where there were two steaming mugs on the table. Vicki sits at one tip of the table, Stefan to her side, and Emily opposite him, with Elena beside her.
"Okay. Let's pick up where we left off," he starts, as though a teacher to a student.
"Right. Something about us being…cold? Cause I don't feel cold," she says. The topic catches the sisters' attention. Emily vaguely remembers a time when she thought Damon felt cold to the touch, and blamed it on the weather.
"You feel cold to others. You don't feel cold yourself," he explains. "There are many ways to deal with that. Coffee is our friend," he points at her mug with his between his palms. "It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins and warms our bodies so we're not so cold to the touch."
"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki whines casually. Emily and Elena each raise a brow at that warily. Stefan speaks quickly, noting their state.
"You have to learn to live with that urge. Fight it on a daily basis, one day at a time," he says. Immediately, Vicki rolls her eyes.
"Oh, God. Don't start with that whole 12 Steps thing," she breathes as though tiredly, then locks onto Stefan's displeased gaze. "School counselor has been down that road. It doesn't work for me," the girls remember when Vicki was trying that, and miserably failing. Emily was firm on the fact that it was because Vicki never had the full intention of changing.
"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki," Stefan tries to encourage.
"So you've never tasted human blood?" she asks him slyly. He knows that the sisters faced him then. He kept his gaze firm on Vicki.
"Not in a long time," he confidently said.
"How long?" she pushes. Emily squints her eyes at Vicki's attitude, the one she always had a problem with. Stefan finally breaks his gaze from the sour topic and looks to the side in dismiss.
"Years and years. I'm not proud of my past behavior," he states. Neither of the sisters could just ignore the reminder that surely Stefan had taken lives before. Surely it happened.
"Does this sketchy feeling ever go away?" Vicki suddenly, irritably asks. "It's like I have a massive hangover," she puts her hands on both sides of her head. "This daylight thing is a bitch," she complains, then gets to her feet. "Ugh. I need more blood," she says, something that made both sisters highly uncomfortable. "Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead." Stefan waves her away, and she heads to find the bathroom. He then faces the two opposite him.
"I'm gonna, uh, I'm gonna get her some more…" he refrains from saying blood, considering the look on both their faces. "Right. I'll be quick," he rises as well and disappears in the corridor.
Elena lets out a sigh from beside Emily, burying her face in her hands. Emily exhales as well, about to pat Elena's back when Vicki walked back in.
"False alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird," she steps up to Stefan's chair and pulls out her phone, humming.
"Who are you calling?" Emily suspiciously asks her. Vicki looks up at her.
"Jeremy," she casually replies. Emily frowns deeply at this, her heart jumping in concern as Elena speaks up from beside her.
"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore," she tells something she thought was obvious. Vicki rolls her eyes at her.
"Oh, come on. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see," she retorts. Emily inhales from tension, feeling awfully threatened by Vicki and wishing Stefan would walk back in.
"Even though you could hurt him?" Elena pushes.
"I would never hurt Jeremy," Vicki firmly tells.
"You may think that, Vicki," Emily says, "but the truth is you don't know what you're capable of yet."
"You have to let him go," Elena finishes.
"Oh, really? And how long have you been preparing the you're-not-good-enough speech? I assume it predates the vampire thing," she bitterly states, glaring heatedly at Elena. Emily rises as calmly as she could to her feet to divert attention from her sister.
"Vicki. Look at me," she says softly. Vicki glances at her again as Elena squirms beneath her gaze. "You know there's a chance you could hurt him, even unintentionally. Do you want that to happen?" she asks logically.
"So, what, I'm just supposed to stop seeing everyone I care about because I might hurt them?! I might as well be dead, then," she shouts angrily.
"That's not what we meant, Vicki," Elena tells heartedly. She scoffs, and turns on her heels.
"Whatever." She rushes up the stairs to wherever her room was. The girls sigh tiredly.
XXX
"Real classy," Jeremy mocks Emily as she fixes her bra beneath her shaggy Black Widow costume. They were on their way to the party at the school. Emily wouldn't have come along if Elena hadn't literally begged her, and forced her to wear a costume because Jeremy strictly refused to do so.
"Ugh, shut up. It's your fault I'm in a costume," she complains. He chuckles at that.
"And I'm very grateful," Elena, who had taken Emily's arm and was dressed as a human-chopping nurse, smiles at her. Emily rolls her eyes at her.
They head inside, and bump into Matt, who had on a costume very similar to Elena's.
"Hey!" he exclaims. "Elena. Emily? What are you doing here?" he asks. Emily forces an obviously fake smile.
"I'm asking myself the same question," she retorts.
"Wow, you both went with last year's costume too, huh," he muses.
"Well, we didn't know we were coming till an hour ago," Elena sighs.
"Me neither," he replies, then faces Jeremy, who was scouring around for…Vicki, who'd discreetly texted him to join her at the party. "And you're going as…you," Matt grins, mocking a Jeremy with no costume.
"Yeah, whatever," Jeremy shrugs, walking off.
"What's his deal?"
"He's not talking to me right now," Elena states tiredly. Apparently, her and Jeremy had another talk in the kitchen about Vicki while Emily was upstairs. "We got into a fight." Emily sighs at that, and observes the curiously dressed crowd of high school students.
"I got into it too with Vicki when she got home." Emily snaps at that, and Elena's eyes widen. "I'm trying not to smother her, but part of me didn't wanna let her out of my sight," he finishes, eyes fixed on Elena who quickly asks:
"She's here?" warily
"Yeah. You can't miss her. She's a vampire."
Elena breathes heavily in panic. "Where did Jeremy go?" she asks, Emily already eyeing around and moving.
"Wh-Elena? What's the matter?" Matt asks in confusion, following after them.
"We-We have to find him!"
XXX
They didn't find Jeremy, they found her first. Well, Stefan did, and the girls found him.
When Matt appeared shortly after them, Vicki made a scene, distracting everyone with accusations of harassment pointed at Stefan, who was just trying to help.
Then, she vanished, again.
There wasn't time to ask Stefan how he lost her from the house as the group split up to find her, Stefan alone, and Emily and Elena together.
Rushing out one of the school's emergency exits,
they do find her, and Jeremy.
"Jeremy!" Elena yells at Vicki, who was about to charge at him again. She rushes forward while Emily, catching sight of wood huddled up in a trash can right beside her, picks out a broken wooden plank with a sharp edge for protection.
Upon grabbing her arm, Vicki literally throws Elena off of her, and into a pile of junk. "Vicki, no!" yells Jeremy. She faces him again, dark lines beneath her hungry eyes, and visible fangs threatening to sink in as she neared the horrified boy.
Without hesitation, Emily drove the plank into her upper back,
…
…
then her eyes went wide.
Vicki froze.
Jeremy stared wildly at the scene before him.
Realizing what she'd done, Emily quickly ripped it back out,
but it was too late.
Stefan arrived in haste, to witness Vicki facing Emily with a broken, tearful gaze. Emily gasped, dropping the plank.
Vicki's skin grew grey,
blood pooled at her chest.
She fell,
and Emily's heart fell with her.
Elena had gotten back up and rushed to Jeremy, who was shaking in panic.
Emily stood there, glossy eyes staring, gawking at her handiwork.
Stefan slowly approached her, placed a hand on her shoulder "Em-"
"No," she quietly uttered, yelping away from his touch as though in shock. Jeremy's screams and cries finally tuned into her ears, causing her heart to crush itself in her chest.
Her reddened eyes slowly rose to meet Stefan's, that felt guilt consume him. "…Get them out of here," she quietly requested.
"No, Emi-" Elena started.
"Now!" she shouted unintentionally, refusing to meet their eyes. She glanced at Stefan again. "Please," she whispered desperately.
Hesitantly, Stefan nodded.
He started towards Elena and Jeremy. "Come on," he softly told, pulling out his phone in the process,
and dialing Damon.
XXXXX
