Disclaimer: See prologue.
AN: soooo we still have some readers?
and on another note, you should know that I have published my original fiction. epub anyways. It's available at Smashwords and is shipping to all retailers this week. I currently have 25% sample for free and it's only 99 cents to buy right now, if you're interested, let me know, I'll send you the link. or you can go to my profile page and follow the links. It's been "shipped" to all major retailers. The book is called Cursed. the author is C.D. Blaire so look for it on any ebooks site. let me know what you think.
until the end of July, you can get the whole book for free! Would love if you DL and read it and let me know what you think.
thanks
... ... ...
Oh you know I did it
It's over and I feel fine
Nothing you could say is gonna change my mind
Waited and I waited the longest night
Nothing like the taste to sweet decline
I went down, I fell, I fell so fast
Dropping like the grains in an hourglass
Never say forever cause nothing last
Dancing with the bones of my buried past
"Kenzie, wake up, please?"
The redhead's eyes opened and she shot up, almost smoking Elena on the head who was leaning over her.
"Kenzie, you're okay." She sounded relieved and Kenzie looked around in confusion, realizing she was in Damon's bed but only Elena was there.
"What's wrong?" Kenzie asked.
"After you were bitten, apparently you contracted a fever and Damon couldn't wake you. The guys are trying to learn more about werewolf bites right now. How are you feeling?"
"Fine. When was that?"
"The day before last, we were all so worried."
Kenzie closed her eyes, a memory coming to her and she began to hum a melody she hadn't heard in years.
"What's that?" Elena asked.
"A memory." She whispered as Damon and Stefan appeared in the doorway, both looking relieved.
"We found nothing." Damon informed them. "Alaric contacted that Vanessa chick. Hopefully she'll try to help, even if Kenzie decided to try and kill her."
"I need to go home." Kenzie whispered. She pushed the covers back and stood up, realizing she was only in her bra and panties. It didn't bother her though as she looked around for her clothes, noticing Elena and Stefan had both looked away as if in embarrassment.
"Your dad thinks you're at Elena's." Damon told her.
"That's not why. Drive me home please? I just remembered something."
The other three looked at each other before Damon shrugged. "Okay I guess but are you okay?"
"Yes, I need to go home." She remembered that Damon had ripped her bloodied shirt off and she moved towards his closet without a second thought, pulling a shirt on and slipping it on.
"I'm going to have to replace my wardrobe soon." Damon griped.
"My dad might complain if I go back in only a bra." Kenzie said with a smile. "I just had the weirdest dream but I remembered something from a long time ago."
"What?"
She closed her eyes, trying to grasp at it before opening them and shaking her head. "I don't quite fully know but it's bugging me, I know when I'll get there. Okay, that's weird. It's weird right?"
"No." Elena told her. "Sometimes Bonnie's dream tells her stuff."
"Bonnie's a witch, and psychic. I'm most definitely normal."
"Then let's go and you can figure it out." Damon snapped, sounding impatient.
"Wait, why is Stefan here?
"I'll explain on the way."
Kenzie shrugged, following him out to his car. Before she got in, he grabbed her and spun her around, pinning her against the car.
"Don't you ever do that again." He hissed.
"Do what?" She asked in confusion.
"My blood was supposed to heal you, not make you sick with a fever."
"Well gee, I'll remember that next time I save you from a werewolf." She yanked her arm away from her. "Chill out, or people might start thinking you care."
"Shut up and get in the car." He replied with a roll of his eyes as he got in to the car. "So what do you remember about this dream?"
She frowned. "My attic. There's something up there."
"What?"
"I don't remember."
"So we're off on some search for something that you don't have a clue about?" He asked, the sarcasm heavy in his voice.
"Yup." She replied. "Why was Stefan there? What did I miss now?"
He sighed. "Elijah has some witches working for him and they let Stefan out."
"So Katherine?"
"Still in there." He confirmed.
"Hmm. So why would Elijah let him go?"
Damon rolled his eyes "Because Elena made some stupid deal with him. That girl gives me a headache almost as much as you do."
"Glad I could help. So you kill the bitch yet?"
He cracked a small smile. "No we were waiting for you to wake up. How about you don't do stupid things like try to save me anymore?"
Kenzie rolled her eyes at him. "Listen, buddy, werewolf bite, Kenzie, fever. Werewolf bite, Damon, dead. I'm fine, so let it go."
He pulled into her driveway, letting her lead the way into her house. She put her finger to her lip, motioning him to be quiet.
"Dad?"
"Macks?" He called from the kitchen.
Damon disappeared up the stairs using his speed as her father appeared.
"Don't call me that." Kenzie replied, pulling a face.
"You're back, I feel like I haven't seen you in days."
"I'm sorry." Kenzie replied. "Between all my school stuff and your work, I know. Maybe we can do dinner tomorrow or something? I'm supposed to meet some friends for some committee thing right now."
He sighed. "Fine, I'm just glad you're involved."
She smiled. "Me too. I just came to grab some things."
He nodded, moving back into the kitchen and Kenzie ran upstairs, motioning Damon out of her room and pointing to the attic.
"You need to pull the stairs down." She whispered to him, pointing to the rope for the attic hanging from the ceiling.
"So short." He teased as he reached up and easily pulled the steps down and she scrambled up them, Damon right behind her.
"So what are you looking for?" He asked again.
She turned in a circle before moving towards the left of the attic. "I don't know. I'll know when I see it."
She reached some boxes that had her and Mads names on it and began unstacking them, finally stopping at a smaller box, filled with various little knick knacks from their childhood. She knelt down with the box and opened it up, digging through it before her hand grasped something. She pulled it out, holding it in both hands as she stared at it in confusion.
"What is that?" Damon asked, "Is that it?"
She looked up at him, nodding before she looked back down at it. "I think so."
"So? What is it?" he asked again, nudging her with his foot.
"A music box. My sister and I used to open it to listen to it all the time when we were little."
"What's so special about it?" Damon asked.
"I don't know." Kenzie replied with a frown as she opened it and listened to the melody playing. "We used to dance like ballerina's but my parents hated us playing with it. They tried to throw it out once but we found it and hid it. It just… appeared one day and it made them nervous, I think. I need to ask him."
"How do you know this is it?"
"I don't know." She stood up and left the attic, calling out for her dad as she ran down the steps to the first floor.
"What is it?" He asked, coming out of the kitchen, wiping his hands off on a towel.
"Where did we get this box from?" She asked, holding out the jewellery box.
He looked at it with a frown. "I thought your mother and I got rid of that."
"Not important. How did Mads and I end up with it?"
"I don't know." He replied. "One day, your mother took you girls to the park and somehow, you ended up with it. When we asked you both, you only said a pretty lady gave it to you."
Kenzie frowned as she tried to think back to that day but the memory was lost to her. "Thanks, I gotta go, I'm going to be late."
Her dad kissed the top of her head and Kenzie left the house in a daze, the jewelry box clutched tightly to her chest as she got into the car where Damon was already waiting.
"You don't remember who gave it to . ?docid=31312378you?" Damon asked.
She frowned again as she finally caught a flicker of something but shook her head.
"Why is that box so important?"
"I don't know." She whispered, staring down at in curiosity.
"Well, think about it, obviously something is trying to tell you something. Right now, we're going to the Mystic Grill. There's been a Bitch sighting."
She looked up at him with a small smile. "Oh goody, can we rip out her spleen through her back?"
"Oh Redbird, a girl after my own heart."
Kenzie only looked back at the box on her lap, her brow furrowing as she tried to decide something. She opened up the box again, listening to the melody and trying to remember her dream more. She reached into the empty box, her fingers smoothing over the faded inlay, a finger catching over a bump near one of the corners in the top of the box. She felt around it more and quickly examined the rest of the box before grabbing Damon's hand and pulling it towards the box.
"Feel this." She told him. "can you make a small rip?"
He quickly felt the inlay before making a small rip for her. She reached in, digging around for the object and pulled it out for both of them to see, realizing there were two of them.
"It's a ring." He noted.
"No, it's two rings that match mine exactly" She whispered, holding the rings up beside the one she wore on her finger.
… … …
When they arrived at the Mystic Grill, they immediately spotted the bitch that had bitten Kenzie and moved towards her, only to be stopped by Stefan.
"What are you doing here?" Damon asked in a bored voice.
"Waiting for you." His brother replied. "Listen, there's a lot of people here."
"Oh, damn, there goes my plan to rip her spleen out through her back."
Kenzie grinned up at him. "That was actually my plan and there really isn't that many people here."
"Listen, I know you're upset about Jules biting Kenzie but she's fine now."
Damon rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone assume I'm upset about that? I know she's fine. She's right here and I knew my blood would heal her, end of story."
Kenzie grinned at him before turning an innocent smile on Stefan. "Don't worry, Damon promised not to do anything here."
Stefan opened his mouth to respond but stopped when his phone rang, looking down at the call display. Kenzie took that moment of distraction to pick up a steak knife from a nearby table and move towards the bar where the She wolf was eating. Kenzie glanced around, seeing the place was almost empty and glanced at Damon who was smirking, thinking she was going to threaten her like she did Vanessa. Sure, it wouldn't do much to the wolf but if it would make Kenzie feel better, then he would let her. He could always find the bitch and kill her later.
Kenzie lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Damon's smirk before lifting the knife and stabbing Jules in the lower back, pushing the knife in as far as possible. Jules whipped around, catching the petite teen in the side of the face and sending her flying back. She was quickly caught by Damon who had used his super speed to grab her, gently placing her on the ground.
Jules turned around to face them, a sneer on her face as she reached for the knife and yanked it out of her lower back, letting it clatter to the floor.
"I should have finished you off that night." She snarled at Kenzie.
"And that is where you fucked up." Kenzie snapped, struggling against Damon's hold on her as Stefan joined them.
"Damon, you said you wouldn't do anything." He hissed.
"I didn't." Damon replied with a smirk.
"Then what…?" He looked at Jules, then the floor where the knife was then Kenzie, whose face was red as she glared the wolf. "Kenzie did that?"
"You won't live to see another full moon." Kenzie snarled.
"Don't make yourself an enemy little girl. It's not you I was after."
"You made an enemy the moment you tried to attack Damon."
"A pity I missed him." The wolf said with a mock pout. "It would have been fun watching him go through the chills, the dementia, the rabidness and unbearable pain. And do you know what the cure to that is? A stake right through the heart. Watch your backs." She pushed past them all and left the grill.
"What were you thinking?" Stefan asked, reeling on her.
"That she bit me and she needs to know she can't brush me off just because I'm some normal human chick."
"That was incredibly stupid." Stefan told her.
"I thought it was very amusing." Damon countered.
"You would." Kenzie replied with a snort, straightening herself out. "Can you take me home? I'm all of a sudden very tired."
"Sure." Damon replied, handing her the keys. "I'll be there in a moment."
She gave a small smile and without thinking, she leaned up on her toes, giving him a kiss on the cheek before sending a smile to Stefan and leaving the Grill.
"I think she likes you." Stefan said.
"Impossible." Damon replied, not wanting to give the real reason why she wouldn't.
"But she does and if you like her too, don't let Katherine, or what you think you feel for Elena ruin that. Kenzie seems like she can handle you."
Damon looked at him before rolling his eyes and leaving.
… … …
Kenzie had gone home and fallen asleep. Whatever that fever had done to her had completely tired her out, so much that she couldn't even follow through on her plan, she just wanted to sleep. She had decided to do more digging later and just sleep the sickness off. Except when she woke up, Damon was ready to sweep her in to a whirlwind of one of his plans and since he mentioned the word party, Kenzie couldn't help but agree. Parties were kind of her forte back in California and perhaps that was what she needed.
She promised to meet up with him later to discuss it because she wanted to go talk to Elena about something. She quickly got ready, opting for a pair of black skinny jeans with her purple heels and a purple top, instead of her usual skirt or dress. Not bothering to do much with her hair, she walked over to the brunettes house, ringing the doorbell and waiting on the porch. When it opened, her eyes widened in surprise and he looked at her equally surprised.
"You're alive." John Gilbert whispered in awe.
Kenzie's face flushed red as she lifted a hand to slap him across the face. "That was for almost killing Damon."
A hand touched his cheek and he didn't see the other hand coming up to slap him on the other cheek. "And that was for putting me in a basement full of Vampires with a fire and ruining my hair."
"Kenzie." Elena cried, hurrying down the stairs and stepping in between them. "I'm sorry, if I knew you were coming over I would have warned you."
"How is he not dead yet? You haven't told Damon have you? Because he should be dead by now."
Elena sighed, closing the door on him and stepping out onto the porch. "Stefan called Isobel for help because of this whole Elijah thing. He thinks I can't make my own decisions. We ended up with John."
Kenzie tiredly rubbed her forehead. "Seriously, the list of people I want to seriously maim is growing daily."
"He's not worth it." Elena spat before her tone softened. "It's good to see you're feeling better."
"Yeah, I was just so tired. Listen, did Damon ever tell you what I went searching for at my house?"
Elena nodded. "Stefan said it was a music box and you found two matching rings in it."
"I think they belonged to Jack and Jill Miller my ancestors who became vampires. Basically, I need to know what you did when you went to go see Katherine. I want to talk to her, maybe she'll remember them and know if they ended up in the tomb."
"If they did, wouldn't they have ended up in the fire John started to kill the tomb vampires."
Kenzie frowned. "I just have this weird feeling that they weren't part of that fire, so I want to talk to Katherine."
"That's not a good idea." Elena told her with wide eyes.
"says the girl who did the exact same thing."
"Exactly and it did nothing for me so you shouldn't go either."
Kenzie let out a frustrated huff. "Seriously, will it really kill me to just check it out?"
"It's Katherine, it just might. Why not ask Stefan?"
"Because he wasn't there when they were turned, he can't tell me what happened to the baby, Katherine might be able to."
Elena frowned. "She was on the run, trying to save herself. I doubt she would know. Look Kenzie, I know you want answers, I wanted them too but trust me when I say Katherine is not the answer."
"Fine." Kenzie snapped, raising her voice so John could hear her because he was no doubt listening in. "Enjoy your visit with that murdering asshole, I'll find the information some other way."
She left, ignoring Elena's calls to come back, not caring if she was acting childish, she was just frustrated that no one was willing to help her find anything out.
Elena could only sigh as she pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed a number, waiting for him to pick up.
"We have a few problems." She told him when he answered.
"When don't we?" Damon asked. "Did you know your aunt is here, introducing me to a local news reporter?"
"Really? Why?"
"Apparently she wanted to buy me a drink."
"And did you let her?" Elena curiously asked.
Damon made a noise. "No because that would lead to more and I like fooling around with Red. I don't like her fooling around with others so I can't do the same."
"When did this happen?" Elena was completely confused.
"We have this thing." Damon tried to wave it off, not really wanting to get into the whole dynamic of him and Kenzie right then, or ever really. "Not important, what's your problems right now?"
"John and Kenzie but not together." She clarified. "John being here, I don't know what he has planned but Kenzie is really pushing the whole Katherine thing. I think she might go there and see her."
Damon sighed. "I'll go find her, we'll talk about your Uncle Father after I go stop her from doing something ridiculously stupid, again."
He hung up and called Kenzie.
… … …
After Kenzie left, she headed towards town her devious mind already had a new plan thought out and she sent a quick message to Caroline, asking where she was. When the blonde answered, saying she was just leaving the Grill, Kenzie told her not to leave yet, she was almost there and needed to talk to her.
The redhead hurried along, turning a corner and seeing Caroline by her car, talking to someone. She peered closer, her eyes widening when she saw it was Jules. Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out, seeing who was calling and letting her finger hover over the answer button as she watched Caroline turn back to her car before turning around, fangs showing as she growled at Jules. The werewolf sprayed Caroline with something that Kenzie thought must have been vervain as the blonde grabbed her face and turned away.
Kenzie answered the phone, holding it in one hand as she ran forward.
"What are you doing?" She screamed at Jules.
"Run." Caroline yelled at her.
"Kenzie?" Damon called through the phone, "where are you?"
Another man stepped forward, holding a gun and Kenzie threw her phone, looking around for something else to throw. Seeing nothing, she slipped off her shoes, picking them up and throwing one at the man. He batted it away without second thought as he lifted the gun, pointing it at the blonde Vampire.
"Caroline." Kenzie screeched as the blonde turned, only to be shot in the head. She threw her other shoe as pain exploded in the side of her head. As she started falling to the ground, she saw Jules above her, then everything went dark.
… … …