19: Take Away What's Left of Me.

As Nova made her way through the woods back to her house, Damon came to and found the two bodies. He immediately recognized his love's handiwork and rage. Before anyone could notice he slipped the corpses away and off the radar. While he was occupied with that, Elena made the mistake of visiting Katherine to pitifully give her forgiveness on her deathbed. It was instant regret when Katherine flipped the script and turned Elena into her host with the Traveler spell. She tried to call her daughter, curious as to why she suddenly wasn't answering. Instead of focusing on that, she focused on becoming Elena Gilbert for show.

Up in northern Maine, Zina was slowly mastering her lightning and control over the Oblivion plane she was connected to. The cosmic entity was actually impressed. She stayed away, unseen, but Katia watched her mother get stronger everyday. She watched as Zina became someone entirely different than what she was before. Katia started to feel pride for her mother. After ditching Katherine's body, Damon returned to the boarding house where Enzo was waiting for him. He had something rather large in a sack near the fireplace.

"Since you and I last spoke," Enzo began, "I've done a bit of soul searching… had a trip to the barber… did a little research, which revealed to me that you killed almost every member of the Whitmore family in the years since you escaped, leaving just one alive each time to carry on the family name - producing a whole new generation of victims for you to slaughter… exactly as you said you'd do back when you and I were cellmates."

That was when Nova walked in. "Well, he does try to keep his promises." Damon jumped slightly when he heard her voice behind him. How hadn't he heard her come in? "What's in the bag?"

"More like 'who'," Enzo grinned. "It occurred to me that perhaps I wrote you off too quickly." He told Damon. "That, in fact, the Damon Salvatore I remember is alive and well. I have a present for him." He pulled back the sheet to reveal an unconscious Aaron Whitmore.

"Maybe you don't want to be here right now, Nova," Damon muttered as she joined his side.

"Why?" She looked up at him. "Because you never told me that for the five years I lost you in the 50's you had been kidnapped by Augustine? Or because a good chunk of the people we massacred for years were Whitmores as part of your revenge agenda and you never told me?" Seeing her fiance's concerned expression she offered a small smile and took his hand in hers. "You could have told me. So you can count my ass in."

Enzo grinned. "See, mate? She gets it! These bloody bastards have tortured us all. Who's gonna give them the justice they deserve?"

Aaron began to stir. Damon's eyes were fixed on him in deep thought. He had tried so hard to be better, but all it did was push Nova away. She fought for her humanity only to find it no longer there thanks to Remiel. At least if he worked with Nova she would cooperate and it could be manageable. Maybe that's really all they were in the end - monsters. Aaron's eyes opened then and upon seeing the three vampires he leapt to his feet, heart beginning to race. Amusement was clear on Enzo's face, dangerous thought on Damon's, and something sadistic was hidden in Nova's emerald eyes. Aaron visibly shuddered when he met her gaze.

"It's time to come to a decision, Damon." Enzo broke his thoughts. "Do you want to kill him, or shall I?"

Nova's maroon lips downturned. "What am I, chopped liver, British boy?"

He chuckled. "Feel a bit left out there, little Roma? Why don't you take that pretty little heel of yours then and poke his eyes out for us?"

"Elena would never forgive you," Aaron spoke suddenly, his voice shaking. "Either of you."

Nova scoffed. "Ask me if I give a damn what my progeny sees me as, you uman lipsit de valoare (worthless human). She has been nothing but a sad excuse of a vampire turned with my blood."

Damon's eyes still remained fixed on the kid with an indiscernible expression. Finally, he released Nova's hand and approached Aaron. He shook like a leaf and was unable to stop the vampire from yanking off the vervain watch he wore, leaving himself open to be compelled. "Go back to college, pack up your entire life. There's one road that heads out of town. Take it north until you hit ice. Don't ever come back. Now run."

Doing just as he was compelled to do, Aaron fled from the boarding house. Both Nova and Enzo scowled at Damon. "What the bloody hell was that?"

"Don't tell me you're actually concerned about what doe-eyes thinks of you," Nova hissed. There was a wretched darkness making its way into her eyes.

Damon turned and looked at the still open door from where Aaron exited in a hurry. He fiddled with the watch in his hand, barely feeling the sting of the vervain, before a dangerous smirk pulled at his lips. "No, I thought we could play a little game."

While the three vampires took their time sadistically hunting down Aaron Whitmore, Travelers had found Katherine's body. Nadia had had a contingency plan set up just in case of her untimely demise. Stefan was searching for Elena who had seemed just the wrong bit of off that day while a Traveler was beginning the spell for Katherine to have complete control of her body. Elena tried to fight back, to find Stefan, but by the time she did there was nothing left of her; it was all Katherine. Stefan had been so relieved to find 'Elena'. Katherine hugged him tight with an awful grin he couldn't see.

Aaron had made it outside of Mystic Falls when he found someone laying in the middle of the road. He stopped the car and got out without leaving the vehicle's side. "Hey," he called, "are you alright?" It was too dark to see details, but he believed the figure to be a woman's. When she didn't respond or move in the slightest, he took only a couple of steps forward. "Can you hear me? Are you okay? Do you need help?"

In a split second that his eyes couldn't process, she was on her feet and right in front of his face. Nova grinned malefically, baring her fangs. "There is no amount of 'help' that could make me 'okay' again, kid. We've been waiting for you."

He whirled around in a futile attempt to run to find his path blocked by Damon and Enzo. "You said you were gonna let me go!" He shouted at Damon.

"Mm, not quite." Damon replied playfully. "I compelled you to pack your shit and get out of town. Not that we weren't going to hunt you down after. Thought it might be more fun than getting your blood on my very old and very expensive carpets."

"He's already had to clean them so many times because of me," Nova whispered tauntingly in Aaron's ear.

"Everyone I've lost was because of you. Who murdered my entire family? YOU!"

Enzo shrugged. "Justifiably. Just look at what your filthy family has done to us and countless others."

"I did it," Damon shrugged. "I tore them apart. I didn't even have to tell Nova who they were for her to enjoy it as much as I did. I liked the sounds they made because I realized they deserved it. Like you…"

"Would you believe me if I said on en route here we played a little game to decide who got to tear into you first?" Nova's voice was low and threatening as her face changed slowly. "Guess who won?"

Before Aaron could take even another breath, Nova's fangs pierced his neck fiercely. He let out a cry as his blood poured down. After a minute or so she harshly ripped her teeth from him, leaving much larger gashes, and tossed him to the two male vampires. Blood dripped down her chin. She grinned toothily with even more blood still on her teeth. "Next in line."

Stefan walked up the pathway to the boarding house, unable to take his eyes off of Damon's car as he did so. The car was in front of the house's entrance and had been crashed into a planted pot. He then noticed that there was blood on the car's trunk door. Opening the trunk and found Aaron's body in it. He slammed the trunk shut with a deep sigh and walks inside pinching the bridge of his nose. Sitting on the couch was Damon with Nova in his lap. Both were visibly drunk and there was broken glass and empty bottles lying around. Nova ignored Stefan's existence to light up a cigarette whereas Damon grinned at his brother.

"Hey. Sorry about the mess. We had some company and things got a little out of hand."

"You want to tell me what the hell's going on out in the driveway?"

Nova started to snicker. "This idiot let Enzo drive his car over me. I drive a Firebird and Enzo has been in captivity for years. Tâmpit (idiot) almost ended up in the gods damn foyer."

Seeing the chastising look on Stefan's face, Damon's lips curved into an 'o'. "Ohh, you must mean Aaron! Well, last night, we hunted him down, and ripped his throat out. We even so politely took turns. I just figured it's time to shove the last branch of the Whitmore family tree into the… wood chipper." He grinned and jerked a thumb towards Nova. "Her idea."

"I offered a great big bonfire," came Enzo with a smirk. "But I gotta say that the little Romanian has some style." He held his hand out to Stefan who was not amused in the slightest. "Enzo. Remember? We met when-"

"When you were trying to tear Damon's head off. Yeah. I remember." He looked between the two of them, still viciously unamused. "So, what, you guys are old pals again? Murder buddies, is that it?" His eyes kept darting to Nova who hadn't looked away from him once.

"Oh, you know how it goes." Damon shrugged. "I mean, I left him for dead, he tried to kill me, we worked things out. You spend 5 years with someone in a dungeon, you have a pretty unbreakable bond."

Staring the Romanian bravely in her emerald eyes, the younger brother asked, "What happened to trying to be better for Nova?"

Her maroon lips pulled into a devious smirk that nearly made Stefan shudder. Slowly, and with the unnatural grace she always had, Nova stood from Damon's lap. Her heeled boots stepped over some glass without care, breaking it into smaller pieces. She stood in front of Stefan, just barely a couple of inches shorter than he. Her hair was growing and had finally reached her collar bones. "Remiel fried my humanity," she told him matter-of-factly. "What you see of me is what you get. There is no reason to 'be better' for me anymore. This is who I am." When Stefan failed to speak, she tilted her head to the side and continued. "I don't suppose you've heard from Dr. Maxfield by chance, hm? He's next on the Augustine hit list - you can imagine why."

There was something in Nova's demeanor and tone that was actually bringing fear slowly into Stefan's bones. Something worse than just fried humanity was happening to her, but what was it? Was it something Maxfield had done? Had he succeeded in making the Ripper Virus work in her? If that were the case then she would have already mauled the three vampires in the room alone, wouldn't she have? The current version of Nova was unlike anything prior Stefan had ever witnessed with or without her humanity, and with or without drugs. Where had she and Zina vanished off to before Maxfield got her again? Where was Zina still…?

Still, Stefan forced himself to remain bold and bury the fear that was trying to claw its way in. "Is that the plan? Kill off Augustine and then go back to your sadistic, psychotic old selves?" Involuntarily, he actually took a step backwards when Nova's smirk turned into a dark and devilish grin that showed off her always slightly larger than normal fangs.

"I happen to like my old sadistic self, Stefan." Damon smirked as he finally got up off the couch. "In fact, I miss that guy. That guy was dumb enough to try and change for a town and a brother that never gave a damn about him."

"The pathetic part of myself that always tried to cling so desperately to humanity is long dead, dear Steffie." Nova added. "So many beatings, drownings, and volatile experiments killed her. All that's left is the Romanian fiară (beast) now."

"Get another hobby, brother. You can't save us this time or ever again."

Stepping away from Nova, Stefan looked back to Damon. "Come on, Damon. You're better than this."

"On the contrary, brother; I'm better like this."

After having no luck in finding Wes Maxfield, the three Augustine hunting vampires thought about a witch and a tracker spell. Bonnie was a no-go having returned with no magic, so Nova made a phone call. "Whatever you are about to ask me for, Nova," came the Russian accent of Sofia Vasile, "consider it a hard 'no'."

Nova rolled her eyes. "Ah, come on, Sofia. I just need one, teeny locator spell. That's it. You don't even need to see me."

"What makes you think I even practice such trivial magic? My talent is far beyond some pathetic locator spell. Try finding some basic witch, Nova. Shouldn't you twits have a Bennett witch back by now?"

"Yeah, but she came back without magic. Ergo, useless. And she's kind of the last of the Bennetts. Also, witches around here hide and don't exactly care for vampires."

Sofia sighed. "I am not doing a locator spell. As I already said, my talent reaches far beyond that. What I can do for you, at least, so you can get the hell off the phone with me for something so stupid, is point you in the direction of a nearby witch you should be able to terrorize into doing the damn spell for you."

Thanks to Sofia, the trio found a student by the name of Liv. She made it known to them that she was just some newbie who barely believed in magic. They made it very clear to her that magic and the supernatural exist with their fangs. When she tried to run, Nova iced her feet to the ground. "If you can do that then why the hell do you need me?!" Liv argued with a hint of fear.

Nova twirled her fingers around the air. An icy fog ghosted around her slender fingers ominously. "Because vampires can't do the kind of magic we need you to do. So do the spell, or die by rapid hypothermia with the knowledge that anyone you're blood related to or remotely give a damn about will end up the same. And just as a little warning, there's plenty more of my family on the Other Side." She smirked.

Damon snickered. "Just so you know, cooperation isn't optional here, little witchy. And my fiance has much less patience than me or my friend here."

"We could always snag Bonnie and Jeremy for a little motivation," Enzo suggested.

Nova immediately whipped around with a volatile look in her emerald eyes. Both men immediately jumped back a step. "Don't even consider touching Jeremy," she hissed. "You want to dick with Bonnie? Or Elena? Or Stefan? Go right ahead. But you do not touch Jeremy Gilbert."

"Got a soft spot for the kid, eh?" Enzo half taunted as he tried to conceal the fright in his tone.

She cut her eyes at him as they ignited violet. "Jeremy Gilbert is under the protection of myself and my sister. Do you really wish to take us both on? Because you would stand no chance no matter what horrors you have endured."

Not wanting to face the wrath of Nova Vasile, Liv gathered herself together and was able to do the locator spell. Wes Maxfield was in Richmond. As Nova's heels began clicking down the street, the two men jogged to catch up to her. "I'm driving," she deemed in a bold and emotionless voice. "Get any mud, dirt, or blood in my Firebird and I will stick you with ten thousand ice shards."

The ride to Richmond was alarmingly quiet. Both Damon and Enzo could feel something dark and malevolent stirring within Nova. She kept one hand intertwined with Damon's in the middle and the other firmly on the steering wheel. They found his makeshift lab, waltzing inside with Nova strongly in the lead of them both. Something didn't feel quite right to Damon. He hadn't wanted Nova up front to begin with, but he knew that Romanian battle rage anywhere. All she wanted was to storm the place and shred Maxfield into dog chow. When they entered, however, Travelers were waiting for them and began to chant. Nova rolled her eyes.

"And you are?" Damon questioned the small group.

Wes finally emerged from the shadows with a prideful smirk. "My backup."

"Joke's on you then." Nova retorted. She hissed something in a language not even the Travelers recognized, let alone Wes or Enzo. Damon cringed slightly knowing it was the Verbis Diablo. There was a boom of thunder outside, then dark purple smoke began to form beside Nova until it took the shape of a woman. Zina stepped out from the smoke. "My backup is much stronger."

Nova began chanting in the Verbis Diablo while Zina was doing the same in some other language literally none of them recognized while they launched their ice and lightning at the Travelers. Damon and Enzo took the opportunity to go straight for Wes who tried to bail but was not faster than vampires. One Traveler not yet attacked by the twins protected Wes from Enzo. Damon leaped for Wes but the awful doctor already had a syringe in his hand which he quickly jabbed into Damon's neck. As Damon fell to the ground from whatever had been injected into him, and the Travelers dropped one by one, Wes took the split chance he had to flee. Once he was safely gone, so were the rest of the Travelers. Nova rushed over to Damon and ripped the empty syringe from his neck.

"It's the Ripper Virus," Zina confirmed. "That's the same crap I pulled out of you."

Both Enzo and Zina jumped back at the malevolent snarl that came out of Nova. Without a second thought she wrapped Damon's arm around her shoulders and forced them both to their feet. He was trying to fight off the virus, but beginning to sweat. She didn't notice the way her blood seemed to feel different in her own veins suddenly. With her lips pursed in a tight, wrathful line Nova dragged them both onward. They had to get out of the lab at least. Zina and Enzo followed behind them.

"I can feel it taking hold, dolcezza." Damon's voice was strained. "That son of a bitch perfected his stupid virus."

"Shut up," she snapped back at him. "So long as we get out of this place, I might have an idea."

"Oh yes, because that's not concerning in the slightest," Enzo teased.

"I never said it was a very rational or sane idea," Nova countered. Suddenly, alarms were blaring and doors opening along the hall they were going down. Freshly turned and very confused vampires wandered out with fear in their eyes. They had been human probably not hours prior. Nova felt Damon's hand tighten around her upper arm similarly to the way he felt hers do the same around his waist. "Well, fuck me."

Zina put her arm in front of Enzo to stop him from getting any closer to the pair and keep them both a foot or two behind. When he looked at her, she just shook her head and kept her gaze forward. The chill of Oblivion's presence crept up her spine. The white haired celestial stared at the scene with an unusual concern that unnerved Zina. "Their blood is too closely linked," she told Zina. "Nova acknowledged that so I assume her idiotic plan was something along the lines of taking the virus from Damon and into herself. Certainly won't be able to find out now - with the virus activating in his blood it is triggering the same response in hers."

"Fuck," Zina muttered.

"Care to share with the class?" Enzo practically demanded. "Who the bloody hell even are you and where did you come from back there?"

"My name is Zina Vasile. I'm Nova's twin sister. I may have been doing some studying with a cosmic entity who informed me of how fucked we're about to be thanks to that Ripper Virus." Enzo could only blink in response, his mouth slightly agape. She pushed him back a couple more steps along with herself. "My sister and Damon have too deep of a link between their blood. Her blood is highly adaptive. The virus working into Damon's cells is triggering a reaction in Nova's." Finally realizing the severity of the situation, Enzo's eyes widened at the couple ahead of them. Both Damon and Nova had stiffened at the sight (and scent) of the handful of vampires. "Also, I've recently returned from being dead for about a century and a half or so more or less thanks to the archangel Lucifer. So, for the record, while this is a massive shit show, it's the least of our worries."

"I have a feeling it's going to work it's way up there, darling…"

Damon was finally standing upright on his own. Nova's fingers kept flexing from a closed fist to open, her nails partially digging into her palms. Zina could hear their heart beats rising quickly. Some of the new vamps were asking for help, wondering what was going on. Nova's fists closed for the final time with her nails dug deep into her flesh until she started to drip blood on the floor. After three drops from each palm had echoed loudly through their ears, both of their faces changed and their fangs extended. With immense speed, the couple began tearing into the new vampires.

"Okay, I can see how this might be a problem…" Enzo commented.

"You need to get out of here," Oblivion instructed Zina. "They will finish tearing through those fresh vampires in less than 90 seconds. There is an abandoned farmhouse about a mile away from here. Get them there and I will have Sofia spell them inside."

"I don't think we've got 90 seconds," Zina replied aloud. It confused Enzo but she paid no mind. Damon and Nova had just finished off the last two and turned slowly towards Zina and Enzo. "Run, British boy! Or we're next and can't help them!" She yanked on his arm to snap him out of his frightened trance and they were off with the two Rippers right behind them.