Mystic Falls Police Station
Old Forbes Jail Cells
November 1, 2010
Tyler was rather impressed with himself. Not only had the Timberwolves won their weekend game with a two touchdowns margin, they had added insult to injury by making a record-breaking field goal in the final seconds of the game. So when he showed up right after school, he'd been pumped and ready to really push himself. It was getting late, but he had successfully shifted by his mentor's count seven times. It helped that with his near mastery to shift on command had drastically improved once he stopped fearing the resulting pain of predominantly his bones breaking and repairing themselves slightly altered. All before starting the process over again.
It still hurt, but he learned to work with the pain rather than against it. Thanks to Bill Forbes for coaching him and offering advice when he felt it was warranted. By using it to keep him focused on the task of shifting, the process was much swifter, although he still had to maintain his focus.
Tyler smiled as he hastily redid his harness and wrist shackles so he could get one more shift if before he had to go home for dinner with his mom.
"Mister Forbes, I'm good at going on my end. Do you want to stay inside or wait outside the cell?" Tyler asked, bouncing from one foot to another if he was wearing his football gear. He offhandedly summarized that it was like he was getting ready for another play against the game clock. He was so close to doing this without fear or dread of what the inevitable pain from a shift routinely felt like.
"Are you sure? You have successfully shifted both to and back a grand total of seven times today, which is an impressive record in and of itself. That is without taking in the consideration that the overall duration of the shift has significantly decreased with each attempt," Bill Forbes sighed, trying not to look apprehensive, but either Tyler was still high on his successes for the last few days, starting with the win his team had garnered, or that he was well on his way of finally breaking Klaus's hold over him. He didn't seem to notice that his mentor looked exhausted.
Bill didn't fault the teenager's enthusiasm but at least for himself he hadn't gotten very much sleep the prior evening. He and Steven had a very heated conversation about him staying in Mystic Falls longer than he previously informed his live-in boyfriend. He felt guilty having promised to be there for the final walk through concerning their home renovations in Georgia, but he missed their agreed upon time via FaceTime session because of a founder's council meeting called by Pastor Young. That was another problem he needed to talk to his ex-wife about. He wasn't thinking clearly and too many things were plaguing his thoughts.
"Mister Forbes?"
"Sorry Tyler, I was somewhat lost in thought just now. Look if you're up to it, and it appears that you have all your restraints back in place, so I should be safe staying inside here this go around," Bill said, putting as much encouragement into his voice as he could muster. Far be it from him to discourage the teenager from pushing himself. He'd played football himself, he'd been a linebacker back in his day, but he understood what motivated his daughter's boyfriend to some degree as well.
"Are you sure?" Tyler asked.
"Yes, please let's see if you can set a record tonight," Bill smiled in encouragement. In his mind he was still preoccupied on how he had left things off with Steven the other night and what he needed to say to mend things between them. If he hadn't been distracted, not to mention had a decent nights sleep, he would have remembered to double check Tyler's chest harness.
The first indication that something was wrong came about mid shift, when Tyler's razor-sharp claws were fully formed but his body was mid transformation. The harness that should have stayed in place started to shift downward. Bill's attention being not fully vested on watching yet another shift was now fully focused on the harness as it slipped lower towards Tyler's waist.
"Tyler, we have to stop!"
"I… I've g… got this!" Tyler panted around the pain. It still took Bill a moment to realize that Tyler was so focused on completing the change he had inadvertently lost situational awareness.
"Tyler! Listen to me! Your harness is not on correctly! Stop shifting!"
"No I've… got… this just… a little… more!" Tyler grated, twisting his body to help with the shift. By having his eyes closed, Tyler didn't see his mentor reaching for one of Alaric's preloaded syringes with wolfsbane and vervain. Bill slowed his breathing then he was moving, hoping to catch Tyler unaware, before he slammed the syringe into the teenager's neck or shoulder. Anywhere really, just to get the concoction into the hybrid's bloodstream, hopefully knocking him out.
Tyler had never shared this facet of his home life with anyone. But as a child, his father, on more than one occasion, had a cruel punishment for his only son. Part of the punishment involved sneaking up on him when he was sleeping or even had his eyes closed before punching him in the gut or the groin. Tyler swore he wouldn't get caught like that ever again. Being a hybrid only heightened that to an almost instinctual response.
Just before Bill could bring the syringe home, Tyler's body was already moving. His newly formed claws struck first, dragging down the older man's torso, shredding the shirt and the flesh underneath. That alone was devastating in of itself, but the worst came from the already loose harness that slipped off completely, allowing Tyler to slam his full body mass into his mentor.
Tyler's yellow eyes snapped open, only to be met with the glassy blue eyes of Bill Forbes struggling to breathe after having several ribs snap from the blow to his chest.
"Oh God!" Tyler cried out in horror. Bill's body slumped to the cold, rocky floor. If it hadn't been a serious matter, Tyler would have been impressed about how quickly his body shifted back to normal. That fact scarcely mattered now. He had to save Caroline's dad, or she was going to kill him.
Still semi naked, he finally pulled free of the remaining restrains and bit down hard on his wrist before shoving it into the man's gaping mouth.
"Oh God, Please drink! Damn you drink!"
At first, he was worried that he was already too late. His blood was pooling in the older man's mouth, but Tyler didn't see any signs that Bill Forbes was actually ingesting any of it. His self-inflicted wound healed, and he had to bite his wrist again. It was slow, and he almost gave up trying to save the man's life before he felt a tentative pull on his wrist.
"That's it, drink! Please, mister Forbes, don't die!" Tyler was crying now he cradled the older man's body as he drew more of his healing blood into himself.
Bill coughed on the blood and pushed Tyler's still bleeding wrist away from his mouth. Tyler tried to reinsert it, but Bill pushed the offending wrist away once more.
"Tyler! No more!" Bill coughed, trying to spit the remaining blood from his mouth.
"You're not fully healed!" Tyler tried to argue, but like Caroline, Bill Forbes was a stubborn individual.
"But I'm healed enough to go to the emergency room if you help me." Bill wheezed.
"But-"
"Tyler Lockwood." Bill grated.
Cursing under his breath, Tyler reclaimed his clothing and hurriedly dressed. All the while keeping watch over his injured mentor. The man looked marginally better thanks in part to his blood, but he needed to see a doctor sooner than later.
Once he was fully dressed again and after making sure he had his cellphone, he gathered Bill Forbes into his arms. It no longer amazed him how strong he was; the injured man hardly had any weight to him, at least to Tyler's perception, and rushed off to Mystic Falls Hospital, not bothering to hide his vampire speed from the few witnesses they passed on the way.
Less than ten minutes later:
Tyler gingerly placed the semi-conscious man on the examination table. Thankfully, they were processed without any delay and now were in a secluded area on the emergency floor. He was tempted to ignore mister Forbes' desire not to ingest anymore of his blood, but he wasn't like Klaus.
The curtain opened behind him and a familiar face peered back at him.
"Doctor Fell. It… It was an animal attack. We were in the woods and he was showing-" Tyler stopped when the Doctor rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. If he hadn't been first a werewolf, then a hybrid, he wouldn't have been able to hear her, but he did.
"It's always an animal attack… need to address this at some poin," Dr Meredith Fell muttered under her breath.
Tyler made no sign that he'd overheard her. He watched pensively as she took his vitals and made notations on a clipboard.
"He'll live, but I want to admit him for at least forty-eight hours. Wait here while I go and arrange a room for him," Doctor Fell ordered, then left the two of them alone for the time being.
"T… Tyler, don't blame yourself," Bill Forbes breathed. The pain in the injured man's voice made Tyler feel worse than before.
"I almost killed you," Tyler said, only remembering to whisper at the last second.
"But you didn't and I thank you for both listening to me and getting me here in a timely matter but-" Bill stopped speaking when someone passed by on the other side of the closed curtain.
"Tyler, I was lucid enough, thanks to your blood, to know that people saw you moving as fast as you were going to get here. I'm not sure, but I think one of them was Pastor Young. You need to get out of here. I've taught you everything I can, and it's up to you to keep up with breaking your sire bond."
"I can't leave Caroline or you here like this!" Tyler protested.
"Then call her and let her know what happened. I will tell her myself when she sees me. You can do this." Bill tried reassuring the teenager.
"I can't do this alone," Tyler shook his head in denial. Bill grabbed his hand and squeezed hard enough to get Tyler to look him in the eye.
"Yes, you can. You just have to have faith in yourself; but if you still feel that you can't, find a werewolf pack that can help you. Remember the one you told me about that Klaus wants to locate?"
"Yes, but I only have a general idea."
"That will have to be enough. Now go before she comes back."
Tyler wanted to argue, but Bill Forbes was right. He needed to make himself scarce, at least for the time being.
"Thank you for everything, mister Forbes."
"Thank you for listening to me, Tyler Lockwood."
Tyler was long gone before the doctor returned. Not that she was at all surprised by his disappearance. She had a feeling this was to be the inevitable outcome, it was part of the reason she had taken so long. Besides, she'd needed to put him under observation until the vampire blood had safely worked its way out of his system. It still amazed her how oblivious people in her hometown were about practically everything.
Salvatore Boarding House
November 1, 2010
No one was entirely sure how long everyone stood there looking at each other. Thank goodness Jeremy observed that Elena, despite this odd vibe he was getting from his sister, had somehow managed to get the two infants she held to fall back to blissful sleep. Part of Jeremy wished that he too was asleep now. Nothing was making any sense. He could help to feel that they were all missing something, something rather important. It didn't help that the banging and screaming coming from Damon's truck was only growing more intense with each passing minute.
"What the hell is going on?" Jamie demanded right after he had thrown open the side door of his mom's RV to the spectacle playing out before them all. In the short time both he and Jamie had gotten to know one another, Jeremy was surprised to find they had overlapping interests- video games and drawing being the top two contenders. What Jamie had that Jeremy lacked, not for want of trying, but Jamie was already a skilled saxophone musician and his preferred music was jazz. He once told Jeremy on one of their supply runs for Bonnie and Abby that he wanted to try his luck in New Orleans one of these days.
Jamie looked from one face to another before his searching gaze finally landed on the trunk where the sound of his stepmother was demanding to be let out.
"Why is my mother in the trunk?" Jamie almost shouted, and would have if Caroline hadn't pointed to the interior where Jeremy's sister sat, obviously unnerved about the commotion going on around her.
"Who is that? Someone better tell me why my mother is still in the trunk."
Jeremy could sympathize with Bonnie's step brother. Thanks to Katherine, he'd been in the same trunk when she kidnapped him because of his unique connection with his deceased girlfriend.
"Jer, I don't like this. Something doesn't feel right," Anna cautioned. Jeremy glanced over at his near constant companion. As much as they wanted to touch each other or find a private place to chat, he had come to rely on her being close by, with both of them sharing the occasional snide comment about various things. His normal response would have been to ask what she meant, but there were far too many ears around and many of them belonged to vampires, not a good combination in his book.
Fortunately, he didn't have anything to do with the drama now unfolding about Jamie and Bonnie's mother being locked in the trunk. The devastated expression on his other former girlfriend could only mean that something really bad had happened while they were trying to open the last coffin. Damon was still in between Jeremy's self-appointed guardian and the apparently Brit vampire. He still hadn't fully figured out what was going on with that typical Damon drama.
Bonnie climbed out of Damon's car, leaving Jeremy's sister still inside. Not surprisingly Caroline quickly took her place in trying to keep Elena from having a panic attack. Whatever was wrong with his sister seemed to ease with Caroline sitting next to her. Caroline had always had a way with interacting with people, if being the head cheerleader and Miss Mystic Falls were any indication of abilities to gain people's trust. His sister had been that too before their parents had died; since then she'd been caught up in the supernatural.
Jeremy didn't see exactly when Bonnie opened the trunk, but he did see Abby moving faster than he thought possible for a witch to get as far away from everyone as possible.
"Mom?" Jamie and Bonnie asked in unison.
"Jer, she is in transition," Anna hissed. His ghost girlfriend moved away from him, heading towards a near hysterical Abby.
"Don't come any closer," Abby begged. Although it was dark, Jeremy could see her anxious eyes darting from one face to another. Both Bonnie and Jamie tried to move closer regardless of her plea, but Abby only backed away with each step they took.
"Mom, what-" Bonnie started, but stopped when Abby backed further away from them. Jamie was a step or two behind her.
"Love, I don't think that is the wisest course of action. That goes for you too, mate. You might want to keep all of your distance at least till this whole mess is sorted out," the unknown vampire stated firmly.
"Why not? Just who in the hell are you anyway?" Bonnie demanded. Jeremy was curious himself. He'd only just arrived a minute or so before Damon had. That was when he spotted Caroline standing in Ric's line of fire. If he had to guess, she had only arrived seconds before he had. All who were missing were Matt and Tyler, but ever since almost getting killed by a hybrid intent on running him over with a car Jeremy had made it a point to ignore the sire bond hybrid.
"My name is Lorenzo St John and until recently I was test subject one-two-one-four-four for the former Augustine Society," Enzo said pleasantly and even Jeremy had to admit the vampire had a degree of charisma that neither Salvatore brother could match. Bonnie had told him once that she always liked guys with British accents. That was, until Klaus showed up. Not as distracted as everyone else, Jeremy watched as Bonnie's mom slipped into the still open door of her RV.
"Well Lorenzo, would you mind telling me why I should check- Where did she go?" Bonnie asked, looking back at where her mom had been standing, then turned and observed that Jamie had already turned back to their home away from home.
"Bonnie, stop Jamie I think your mother is in transition, remember like Vicki!" Jeremy shouted. He immediately felt guilty about comparing them like that, but he needed to say something. Abby shouldn't be around anybody with a normal heart beat. Anna had explained once that the urge to feed and complete the transition is almost unbearable. Jeremy could only imagine what Bonnie's mom was dealing with having a good number of walking blood bags waiting to take a sip from and thereby completing the transition from a witch into a vampire. Jeremy didn't like that his sister was still sitting in a car with two tiny infants.
Not really aware of anything else, Jeremy approached the driver's side and peered into the backseat where he was once again surprised to see that Caroline, in the midst of a potential crisis, had somehow convinced his sister to hand over one of the infants. Jeremy didn't mean to, but he suddenly felt sorry for her. Thanks to her vampirism and being undead and all it was highly unlikely Caroline would be a mother. Caroline would have made a great mom, Jeremy decided.
"Hi Care, need some help?"
"Nah… I'm good I've got this precious little girl Jeremy," Caroline cooed, not bothering to look away from the infant who was watching the blond vampire. Jeremy couldn't say anything because his sister was staring at him with something, not really recognition, but something close enough.
"Jeremy?" his sister said as if still unsure in an odd accent that he couldn't place.
Salvatore Boarding House
November 1, 2010
Bonnie really wanted to check on her mother, but she needed to finish her current assignment first. Caroline, being Caroline, had immediately taken charge. Somehow both she and Jeremy had coaxed a rather reluctant Elena out of the back of Damon's Camaro and put her and the twins into one of the spare rooms. Jeremy refused to leave his sister's side so Caroline reluctantly handed over the little girl to Jeremy before she returned, and with Stefan's help managed to get Abby inside somewhere she couldn't harm anyone with her new craving for blood. Stefan had suggested one of the cellar cells in the basement and Bonnie had instantly rejected the idea, but it was Abby who ultimately made the call to stay down there, away from all the humans in the boarding house.
Bonnie had a half a mind to continue to protest the treatment of her mother, but it had been Abby's decision. So instead she started explaining to everyone else, including Caroline when she rejoined them, what they needed to do with the dozen bags of rock salt. She really didn't know how old it was, but it would have to do. She had just started describing to Damon and his vampire friend Lorenzo when Matt's truck pulled into the gravel driveway.
"Hey guys uh… Can any of you explain why did I get a strange text from Caroline all but ordering me to meet all of you here?" Matt asked after he joined their little work party.
"And what's the deal with all the salt?" Matt added. Taking in the group, he paused when he met the gaze of the new vampire.
"Who are you?"
"Lorenzo St John, mate, but my friends call me Enzo."
"Matt Donovan," Matt greeted in return. Bonnie was sometimes amazed about how her childhood friend seemed so well adjusted to the supernatural nonsense in their hometown. Other than Elena, despite her strange behavior and being a supernatural entity herself, Elena's former boyfriend was the only normal one of them all.
Being the only individual with more than just a passing understanding of magic, she called everyone's attention to herself and started to explain what she needed each of them to do while she prepared the other ingredients for the protection spell she needed to cast.
"Long story short but we now have five Originals in Mystic Falls, thanks to Tweedledum and Tweedledee here-" Bonnie started but stopped giving Damon a look almost begging him to actual say what he had just opened his mouth for, it did surprise her that Enzo was giving her some appreciative looks that made her feel warm. But she couldn't think about that now, not after what had happened to her mother and losing their one chance of defeating Klaus. She wasn't in the mood. Although a part of her was curious as to what Abby had found in the locked coffin before whatever it was escaped into the night. That was another problem they'd discuss after they were all safely behind the magical barrier she intended to erect around the Salvatore Boarding House.
"As I was saying, we need to regroup and, with the magical barrier I'm going to erect, it will give us time to come up with something. I have my mother and my grimoires here. If we break up into groups, we can get everything done before dawn," Bonnie explained.
Jeremy was with his sister and Stefan had promised to stay with Abby until Bonnie was finished. Before they started to lay the salt circle around the perimeter of the boarding house and out into the driveway where all the vehicles were parked, Damon brought up something she needed to adjust the spell she intended to cast. Thankfully, Abby's RV had the items she needed.
"Here Damon, before you leave, I need you to give me some of your blood and also from your brother," Bonnie said without a preamble, handing him two empty vials before she then handed one to Caroline, who accepted it without comment, but the look her friend was giving her meant she'd better start explaining herself. The last vial she handed to Lorenzo. He too accepted it but his fingers lingered on hers and while normally she felt an icy chill run up the back of her spine whenever she touched a vampire's bare skin, she felt an inviting warmth that was the complete opposite.
"Thanks Love," Lorenzo said and quickly filled the vial with his blood before stoppering it closed, then handing it back to her. Although it wouldn't have taken very long, the world seemed to slow down around them as the pair stood there. It was Caroline's voice that snapped the world back into motion.
"Bonnie… Hello?" Caroline asked. Bonnie, shaking herself free from whatever just happened, accepted Caroline's filled vial as well. Thanks to vampire speed, Damon returned quickly with two filled vials, which he handed to Bonnie, but not without a demand of his own.
"Why do you need our blood? Why not Ric, Jeremy, Matt, or Um…, Sorry who are you again?" Damon asked, giving Jamie a once over, which only annoyed Bonnie. She hated when he played these little games.
"His name is Jamie, you arse! Damon, I hardly know the lad, but even I know he's Abby's son," Lorenzo cut in before Bonnie could lash out at Damon's insensitivity. Bonnie only tolerated Damon and his brother for the sake of Elena. Caroline was like a sister to her so, while bothersome, she'd learned to accept her being a vampire. She knew should have listened to her Grams about dealing with vampires, but whoever Lorenzo was he, by his put down of Damon, had just gone up several points in good standing with her as far as she was concerned.
"I'm going to incorporate Caroline, Stefan, yours, and Lorenzo… I mean Enzo's, blood into my spell so the four of you can come and go through the barrier just as long as you are not being watched by prying eyes. Suffice to say if you can't cross the salt boundary you're being watched," Bonnie said as she mixed all four blood samples into a copper pan with some herbs she found in her mother's RV.
"Bloody clever," Enzo said first.
"Well… I'm going to pick up some additional blood bags and supplies. So I guess I will be the first to test your magical barrier. Don't take too long. I don't know how long we have before we have unannounced quests," Damon huffed and climbed into his car, driving away.
"Bonnie, I will help with laying down the salt, but I have papers to grade and my class to teach tomorrow," Ric apologized.
"I'm in the same boat, Bonnie, sorry. I need to keep my job at the grill. I've got bills to pay that no amount of compulsion or magic will let me fort up in Castle Salvatore," Matt apologized.
Old Lockwood Cellar
November 1, 2010
Katherine's lungs gasped for air once her body's healing fully repaired the damage done to her neck. Her mind raced to determine who had the courage to break her neck. While the list might be long from all the enemies she gained while running from Klaus for the last five centuries, it was a sure bet that for now she could count the nearest of them on a single hand.
Sitting upright she rubbed her still somewhat sore neck, trying to work the lingering aftereffect of her pain away. She froze the moment she first heard the echoing voices coming from the winding passageway.
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry, Bekah? You'd think I'd be granted some latitude given the circumstances I was the one he compelled," Katherine's Doppelgänger argued.
"Well… I'll think about it I'm still sore you didn't tell us anything."
Katherine frowned. She had only heard that voice once before and the last time she had both Stefan and Klaus had been close by. As quietly as she could, Katherine climbed to her feet and looked for another exit but couldn't find another way best she could do would be to move into the other chamber and pray no one would find her there. She probably only had seconds to spare before she was caught in the faint flicker of light that pierced the darkness of the underground outer chamber. From the relative safety of the much larger chamber, Katherine listened with mounting curiosity. Why was her dull as dishwater doppelganger speaking so blatantly with Klaus's younger sister. She only knew Rebekah by reputation and everything she heard almost made her fear the youngest Original as much as she did the Original Hybrid.
"Seriously? Do you think I wanted to hide the truth from all of you? Honestly, if I had told the truth how many of you would have believed me? Mikael would have chased me out of the village, calling me mad for even suggesting it. I did try to change things, but it's not like I knew exactly when Henrik was going to die or the aftermath that followed," Elena countered her voice catching when mentioning their little brother's name. Katherine was still confused despite her eavesdropping, how did Elena get into their hands she worried and how was it going to affect her chance of freedom.
"We're not blaming you Ella it's just well… Overwhelming," Klaus spoke. His mere voice made Katherine instinctively shrink away from the opening she'd been listening from. What the hell is going on? Did Elena Gilbert ruin her arrangement she had with the infamous Original Hybrid? She was going to kill her if that was the outcome. No, she would make Elena Gilbert suffer first, perhaps killing her little brother repeatedly thanks to his nifty Gilbert Ring.
"I know Nik and trust me I know what you're talking about. I just have had a long time to think about a lot of things while I was daggered," Elena sighed. Their voices were now in the outer chamber. Katherine wasn't foolish enough to want a peek to see who else was there. Hopefully there was too much noise echoing around them for them to pick up her own heartbeat. Still, their conversation was confusing her, how was Elena daggered? Had they compelled her, she wondered. But if that was the reason, what would be the purpose?
Katherine felt utterly trapped, and she hated feeling so out of control.
"It's hard to believe that before the last hundred years or so, you've been down here after all this time just waiting for us," Elijah spoke for the first time. Katherine perked up, maybe she could talk to Elijah. He did have a weak spot for the Petrova Doppelgängers that had saved her once before. It worried her that they were talking to little Elena Gilbert like she was their equal. There was something she was missing but she didn't have enough information to go on just yet.
"It looks like your friends departed just after you recovered. I would have loved to have seen their expression when they unlocked the last coffin," another unfamiliar voice exclaimed. Katherine wished she could see what was going on inside the other chamber; fortunately her luck was holding out. She did hear movement in the other chamber, but it was difficult to place without visual context.
"I… found it I thought I lost it!" Elena exclaimed. For her immortal life, Katherine had no idea what her boring double was prattling on about. But Elena's next words froze Katherine's undead heart.
"Okay, let's go check on how Tatia and the twins are doing. They must be-"
"Katherine!"
"Katerina!"
