07: This Night Ain't for the Faint of Heart.

"Please, for the love of I don't even know who or what anymore, tell me you're as sane as physically together as you can be right now, Thea," Damon sighed into his phone as he started the engine to his Camaro once again that day.

In New Orleans, Lethia smiled what she could manage. One hand held her phone to her ear while the other rested on her slowly growing stomach. "I'm… managing. I was hoping you'd call again soon. If you have a minute to talk that is."

"I am on my way to Whitmore because Silas is running around using Stefan's face and there's a creepy professor who seems to know too much about vampires. So if about twenty minutes can suffice then yes I have a minute."

"Jeez, can you guys ever just stop screwing around with bad guys?" She laughed a little. "You have a lot on your plate right now, it's nothing to concern you with."

"Don't give me that shit, Thea. Whatever you've got to throw at me go ahead and do it. I'm sure it'll be better than all the crap right now."

"It's not exactly good news, though, D…"

"Today, I really don't care."

She sighed with defeat. She knew better and had to tell someone. "If you're wondering how I am because of my link to Nova, I can't feel her anymore, D."

"What do you mean?"

"I just found this out this morning so not even Klaus knows… I'm just kind of chilling alone in the Quarter right now to deal with it myself. Apparently this wonderful little parasite has been siphoning off of me. As it's been growing, more and more of that Moore spell has been sucked away. A couple of the witches were able to tell me today."

Damon was quiet for a moment, trying to process and understand exactly what the blonde had just told him. "Siphoning? What the hell even is that in the supernatural?"

"The child growing inside of me is wolf, vampire, and witch, D. The witch technically isn't supposed to work with just the vampire blood alone. It already had, but the child has started to suck the magic out of me to grow stronger. It's sucked away most of the Moore spell that linked Nova and I together. It'll move onto my vampire half eventually because vampires alone were created with magic and I was saved with magic."

"But if that kid keeps sucking then there's not going to be any 'you' left. How bad off are you right now, Thea?"

"I'm okay right now, but towards the end of the pregnancy I might not be able to get out of bed." Her voice started to crack. "I might not live through the birth, D…"

Honestly, how much more bad news could Damon possibly get in one day? Surely there had to be something he could find to protect Lethia. "I'm not gonna let you die, Thea. We worked way to hard already to prevent that. Nova and I… we'll figure it out. You know we always do. How much time do we have?"

"Depends on how fast this kid sucks the life out of me I guess. Early spring maybe? There's no set cook time for Kross wolves at least… we come when we're ready to. I was almost a full year pregnancy because I'm the biggest of the pack."

"You kidding me? That's plenty of time, Thea. I can sweep up this Silas mess, shut some archangels up, and find a solution to your tribrid parasite with plenty of time to spare."

"What about Nova?" Her voice had fallen to a lamenting, low tone.

"She… we were making progress. Even lended a hand to Zarya and those Winchester hunters."

"So what went wrong?"

"Saskia. She had compelled Riel and attacked us to kidnap Nova. We can't reach Bonnie and Riel is temporarily out of juice between what Lucifer, Remiel, and Saskia put her through. I'm gonna find her, Thea. You know I will."

Lethia smiled sadly as she looked out at the city. "Yeah, I know you will, D."

"We are not going to nuke the damn town!" Zina exclaimed when Jeremy and Matt walked into the boarding house. Jeremy even had a rifle over his shoulder, 'just in case'. "We do not need human babysitters!"

"Well when not a damn person trusts either of you, you get human babysitters," Jeremy quipped back. "Where's Riel?"

"Upstairs sleeping off whatever has happened to her. You can go check if you think we ate her."

"I survived childbirth, the death of my entire family and five hundred years of running from an immortal hybrid," came Katherine. "You can understand why I'm a little upset that I need to be watched and guarded for being genuinely helpless now."

"Well, we're not going anywhere, so…" Matt shrugged and both of them sat down in the chairs across from the ladies on the couch.

"Barbaric," Zina muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"If you think you're the toughest person in the room right now, why don't you do something about it?" Jeremy challenged her with a smirk.

"Oh, doesn't little Gilbert just feel like Superman since he became a hunter? Let me tell you, boy, there are regular human hunters out there. They have faced much worse than you with much less protection. And not a damn one of you frighten me."

"You still owe me a round you know. I'm definitely not worried about breaking anything in this museum if it means kicking your ass."

"Keep in mind little Gilbert, you've 'kicked my ass' but once. And that was only after I had already kicked yours." She crossed her arms over her chest and matched his smirk. "Do you really want to risk it happening again, kid?"

Jeremy shrugged as nonchalantly as he could for biting back the adrenaline spiking within him. "Do you know how to fight now that you're like, not dead?"

Both of them sprung to their feet with fists swinging. They caught each other's hands in a stalemate, standing toe to toe with barely a few inches between them. Matt had jumped back in his chair from the swift movement but Katherine had her eyes locked on the dynamics of the two. It was abundantly obvious that Zina and Jeremy had crossed paths on the Other Side and even fought twice. To most it would seem that they had become rivals determined to prove dominance to the other. Katherine, however, saw much more than even Zina and Jeremy probably saw in themselves. She smirked a little as she sipped her bourbon and watched. It was about time Zina started to let her walls down. Even if it was for Jeremy Gilbert.

Zina was prepared to go ten rounds against Jeremy when a dark chill crept up her spine. Her hands were still collided with his. He watched the look in her eyes seem to change and become mildly vacant as if she was hearing something. It was a strong enough psychic attack that she could hear it and it could even pass through to Jeremy. They both heard Silas' voice trying to coax Matt.

"Not a word out of you. You can't talk, and you can't scream."

Matt's eyes widened when he heard the voice in his head, completely unaware that Zina and Jeremy were also able to hear. "Yeah, actually I can. Jeremy, run!"

"Go!" Zina shouted quickly before pushing Jeremy towards Katherine. "Take her somewhere safe and don't tell a damn soul, creature, nothing! Do you understand me?" She tossed him the rifle.

"Stop playing martyr, Zina!" Katherine argued.

Matt was yanked off of the chair suddenly and into a wall. "Now I see why," Silas spoke slowly. "Somebody's already in there. Why are you watching me, Traveler? Odpowiedz mi!"

Jeremy hastily hauled Katherine out one of the back doors to his truck as the snap of Matt's neck echoed down the hall. He handed her the keys and the gun. "Get in the truck and drive."

"Where the hell are you going?"

"I can't leave Matt and even Zina staying behind is suicide."

"Wait. How do you think I survived 500 years? It wasn't because I was a vampire — it's because I never looked back. Don't be dumb — survive."

"Isn't that how Zina ended up dead and alone? That's why people treat you like an object and not like a person."

Back inside Zina was gearing up mentally for whatever Silas could throw at her. Her eyes closed as Matt's body landed with a thud onto the floor. The ruby bracelet on her wrist shimmered. When she opened her eyes they were bright red and she could see through to the veil into the Other Side. She could just see Matt and Bonnie. Wait, Bonnie? It had been a long time but she could feel the familiar pull of her psychic abilities trying to match his. He smirked down at her when he realized.

"That's some immense psychic power radiating off of you," Silas spoke slowly as he approached her. "Unfortunately it's nowhere near the capacity of mine."

"You've ran into my family before, have you not?" She challenged him. "It was Saskia to screw you over, yes? Try letting it go; you're not the first and you won't be the last."

"Ah, Saskia. We thought she was such a sweet woman. Who would have thought how disturbed she really was? I don't see why you have an issue with me then. I do plan on killing her as well."

"That's the thing though - 'as well'. You've come here for Katerina and Jeremy, both of whom I can't let you have for one reason or another. Keep your family fights within just your own family. You want Saskia dead? Go for it. But there are people that I won't allow you to take down with her."

Silas looked her up and down for a solid minute. He wasn't able to touch her mind even in the slightest. What a tough little girl. "You can keep me out of your head but I know enough about you, little Zina Vasile. You spent too long on the Other Side. Tell me, how is it that you were able to slip loose?"

"I did what I had to do. Just like whatever it will take to keep you away from Jeremy and Katerina."

While she started going hit for hit with the immortal, Jeremy had returned. He heard most of their conversation and was definitely surprised at Zina's resolve. He was able to slip past them to check on Matt. It was always a relief to see the Gilbert ring on his finger. Zina went sliding into Jeremy suddenly with a groan. Silas stood above them. "Now, if my best friend died, I'd at least pretend to cry. Which leads me to believe he's not really dead. I take it that tacky old ring somehow protects him?"

"Too bad you can't get inside my head to find out for sure. Hunter's perk." He quipped up at the immortal as he helped Zina to her feet.

"See, that's what you don't get. When I can read your mind, I at least have use for you. Now… I'm just gonna kill you."

"Already made it clear that that is not happening, pulă." (Dick.) Zina snarled, her eyes turning dark. Veins spread beneath her darkening eyes as her fangs extended.

She lunged at him but he flipped her over his shoulder. With her quick reflexes she was able to land on her feet. Jeremy grabbed a (thankfully) nearby hatchet from the fireplace and whipped it at Silas. He leaned to dodge it, but the weapon landed perfectly in Zina's hand. Without giving Silas enough time to react, Zina flung the hatchet into his back making him cry out in pain. He ripped the hatchet from his back, whipping around to turn his wrath onto the young Vasile. As soon as his front was exposed the rifle went off and sent a bullet into his chest. Katherine stood in the doorway with the gun.

"Get away from my progeny and her little hunter rival or I'll unload whatever is left in this thing into your chest," she snarled protectively as she cocked back the gun loudly. Silas started to stumble towards the door when she got another shot to hit him. They didn't see him after he vanished out the doorway.

Zina's face had returned to normal and she gave Katherine a teasing half smile. "I wouldn't have thought you'd know how to use one of those things."

The brunette shrugged with the hint of an arrogant smile tugging at her lips. "I figured it out."

"It's about damn time," Damon sighed in relief when he found Elena heading towards the Whitmore House party. "Now, before you get mad-"

"Mad can wait," she replied quietly with her back still to him. Suddenly Elena whipped around and started trying to punch him furiously.

"What the hell, Elena!" He exclaimed while blocking as many furious fists as he could. He started getting flashbacks to some of Nova's tantrums. He quickly restrained her before shoving her a safe couple of feet away. "Silas got into your head, didn't he? What did "Stefan" tell you to do?"

"Get you alone, weaken you, and then kill you."

She charged at him again but that time he just grabbed her and restrained her. "You're in a Silas-trance, Elena. And now is not exactly the best time for that. It wasn't Stefan you talked to earlier, dammit!"

"That's not possible!" She argued as she thrashed. "I hugged him, I was talking to him about my life, and about—"

"Me? Yeah, I'm sure he had some choice things to say. It's Silas, Elena. He's not in the quarry. You talked to Silas today. He got in your head."

Her eyes widened suddenly. "But, if that was Silas… then where's Stefan?" She had started to calm down, or at least seem so, so Damon let her go. Elena quickly whipped around with fire back in her eyes and started hitting his chest. "What happened to Stefan?" She demanded. "Where is he?!"

"Can we talk about this when you don't have that murdery look in your eyes?" He grabbed her wrists and held them a safe distance away.

"You're right. Every time I look at you, all I wanna do is kill you."

"It must be Silas' mind-control. He's using your anger at me, like a trigger. You have to resist it."

"I can't!"

"Elena, listen to me. It's just stronger than compulsion. I didn't exactly want to have to coin this phrase, but be like Nova for a minute. Resist the compulsion. Resist the mind control. Resist Silas."

"Nova…?" She murmured with a dazed look in her dark eyes.

"Yes, Nova! Your sire, my progeny. Kind of needs all hands on deck right now. You need to resist Silas' mind control like she can resist vervain and compulsion." When she isn't horrendously weakened with Deadly Nightshade.

"I can't! Okay? All I can think about is killing you!"

"We've all been there before, Elena. Remember when Kol compelled Nova to kill Jeremy?"

"She couldn't stop herself!"

"But she did! She didn't lay a damn finger on Jeremy! She shut off her humanity because he meant a lot to her too and she couldn't protect him like she promised. Now she's enduring who the hell knows what by Saskia's hand. We need to find her and Stefan before it's too late for either of them, Elena."

"Nova…" She murmured again. "Stefan…"

"Yes! Stefan. Think about Stefan. Caroline told me you've been worried about him, that you had a pit in your stomach. Describe it, tell me about it. Think about him. Think about the feelings you're getting. Describe it to me."

She stopped moving suddenly and blinked a couple of times. "It's… it's like a chill, but I can't explain it… It's like I can feel him. He's trying to reach out to me, but I don't know where he is, and I can't understand what he's trying to say. All I know is that he's scared, and he's lonely, and he's in a lot of pain. He's in a lot of pain. Oh, god, Nova must be too. We have to find them!"

Finally Damon was able to release her. "We will. I swear. You just have to keep fighting like they have everyday for decades. Stefan, Nova, Lethia; just keep fighting, Elena."

"The rage… it's gone." She looked up to him with hopeful eyes as her phone rang. "Hey, Megan; what's going-"

"Elena!" The freshmen's scream came loudly through the phone. "You have to help me! He's chasing me!"

Quickly, Elena and Damon started to hustle towards the party. "Who's chasing you, Megan?"

"Help me! Oh my God!" The girl cried in utter fear.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked when they ran up. "We can't get inside without being invited."

"Someone's chasing Megan," she mouthed quickly to the blonde. "We can't come inside – the line's too long. If you come out – where are you?"

"Elena, please help me!"

Caroline took the phone suddenly. The three had started looking up and around frantically. "Megan, can you hear me? Get outside and we can help you."

Glass broke suddenly and something landed near the trio. The girls gasped when they realized it was their roommate Megan with her throat ripped open and bleeding. Caroline's hand flew to her mouth. A commotion started. "Who did this to her?"

Damon's eyes hadn't looked away from the body. "This was a vampire."