Chapter Twenty-one
"Here's what I don't get," Damon said to Slater. "Elijah moved around during the day, which means that the Original people knew the secret of the day ring. Now, why would Klaus wanna lift the curse of the sun and the moon?"
"To keep the werewolves from lifting it. If a vampire breaks the sun curse, then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice-versa."
"But werewolves are all but extinct," Rose said.
"Well, true, I've never seen one, but rumor has it . . ."
"Not such a rumor," Damon said.
"Mystic Falls? I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome."
"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it. Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?"
"What d'you mean?"
"Well, can we render the moonstone useless and stop the curse from being broken?" Damon rephrased his question. There was no way he was telling this guy the reason he wanted to know.
"Well, yeah, probably, but why would you wanna do that?"
"Tell me how."
"You think I'm gonna tell you how to do something that will piss off an Original and keep me from walking in the sun?"
"You wanna walk in the sun? I can make that happen if you help us."
Before Slater could even answer there was a big bang and then the glass was shattering and Damon, Slater, and Rose were falling to the floor.
Chaos broke out, and all Damon heard was screaming. Before Damon did anything else he looked out the window. He wanted to know what had made the windows break. Nothing was outside that Damon could see. The people were talking, of course, but nothing was amiss.
Damon stood up and helped a now blistering Rose up from the floor. She was screaming and crying and Damon knew if he didn't get her out of there, she would burn to death.
Damon quickly removed his jacket and placed it over the parts of Rose that weren't covered. He led her to the back exit where everyone else was headed. Damon noticed that over half this place's patrons were of the undead variety; they would burn too if they didn't get out fast. Rose began stumbling and Damon figured that her pain was very distracting; it had to be if it took away her ability to walk straight.
Damon lifted Rose into his arms and he quickly made his way to her car.
"You're gonna be okay," he said firmly.
"I know. I just . . ."
Damon helped her into the backseat and watched as Rose's burns faded.
"Who was behind that?"
"I don't know. Where's Slater?"
"Iowa by now. Who the hell knows?"
"He's not behind this. He's a good guy, he wouldn't betray me."
"Then who did?"
"It's Klaus. Don't you understand? You don't know this man. We're dead. We're all dead."
Rose began sobbing anew. Damon didn't know if this Klaus character was all he was cracked up to be, but Rose obviously did. Rebecca had been nervous, too, or she wouldn't have been so secretive about going to the tomb with Elena to see Katherine.
At the Grill, Bonnie was taking a break from playing pool. Jeremy had destroyed her anyway; she hadn't been lying when she'd told him she wasn't that great at the game. Jeremy had ordered her a drink and an order of fries that they were planning on sharing whenever the food arrived.
She was seated now just watching as Jeremy shot a few on his own. Luka came up to her and sat down quietly.
"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "My dad . . . he wasn't very subtle with the whole, uh, Bennett-Salem question. He picked up on you, but he was just fishing around. He didn't mean any harm."
"I felt something too," Bonnie admitted.
"I know. That's why we're having this conversation right now. He, uh . . . he doesn't like for anyone to know, but we were both worried that you would nail us."
Luka picked up the salt shaker, unscrewed the lid, and then poured a small amount of the salt onto the table.
"He just wants us to fit in here. For once."
Luka placed his hand over the salt and Bonnie watched as the white crystals began floating under his palm.
"It's tough, Bonnie. Being different."
"You're a witch?" she whispered, amazed. She'd never heard of a male who practiced magic before.
"Well, we prefer the term warlock."
"How long have you practiced?"
"A while. I've known pretty much my whole life that I was different."
Bonnie didn't know what having two new magic practitioners would mean for the town of Mystic Falls, but she was glad she no longer had to feel alone.
At the tomb, Stefan walked down to the entrance just as Elena seemed to be packing up to leave.
"Stefan, what're you doing here?" Elena asked him quietly.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Caroline told you. Or Damon."
"No, she kept your secret. But it didn't take long for me to figure out what was so important that you'd have to keep it from me."
"I knew that you'd stop me," Elena said unapologetically.
"Listen to me," he said, "whatever she said to you is a lie. Do not listen to her. She is a liar, Elena."
"What if she isn't?" Elena asked. "You didn't hear what she said."
"You don't have to worry. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."
Stefan would protect her with his life if he had to.
"That's the problem. You won't. But you'll die trying. How is that any better?"
"There's nothing you can do, Stefan," Katherine's voice came from inside the tomb. "I haven't even told you the best part of the story. He killed them, my entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance. On your friends, your family, on anyone that you've ever loved."
"No," Stefan said, knowing that with Elena's selfless nature she would gladly give herself up if it meant saving the people she cared about. "Look at me. Do not listen to her, okay?"
"Always the protector," Katherine said, chuckling. "But even you must realize that she's doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it. Unless, of course, you have this."
Katherine held up the moonstone that Rebecca had left there. Everyone had assumed that Katherine wouldn't have been able to use it, seeing as to how she was stuck inside the tomb.
"There it is," Stefan scoffed. "That's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?"
"I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth."
"No, let me guess. You wanna trade that stone for your freedom. You manipulative, psychotic bitch."
"My freedom?" Katherine asked, smiling. "That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all, and he will . . . I'll be in the tomb where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town."
Katherine slowly walked away, leaving Stefan there to think about what she'd said. If Katherine really didn't want her freedom, then why had she showed them the moonstone? What else could she possible want from them?
Mystic Falls, 1864
It was the night of the Founder's Ball; Damon had just walked Rebecca to her room and she had since left her room to snoop around Giuseppe's office. After doing so, she snuck out of the house and went towards the woods. She knew Elijah would be around.
Everything would've been fine had George Lockwood, in all his drunken glory, not taken it upon himself to follow her home. He had grabbed onto her arm. Part of her noticed that he wasn't trying to hurt her even if he was drunk, but the other part of her was furious because he shouldn't have followed her home and he shouldn't have been grabbing at her now.
"Why're you sneaking around out here?" he asked. "It's really not safe here."
She almost laughed. This guy really had no clue how right he was. It wasn't safe here. In fact, her survival instincts were kicking in and she could feel the hair on her arms beginning to stand on end. She was also fighting against those instincts because she knew that it was Elijah who was making her feel that way.
"Miss Stone." There was Elijah's polite and refined voice. "Are you in need of assistance?"
"Um . . ." Again she realized that George Lockwood's hand was gripping her arm. "Yes, thank you."
Elijah moved toward George, grace in every step. She noticed then how tall he was; he was easily almost six feet tall. He had excellently tailored clothes, and Rebecca imagined that he had probably come from a time when appearance was more important than anything else.
Elijah met her gaze before switching his eyesight to George Lockwood. Rebecca was surprised to find that Elijah wasn't trying to compel George Lockwood. It looked like he was only planning on giving him a lecture.
"You're going to leave this place and you will not approach Miss Stone again in such a manner. She deserves more respect than that."
Elijah released George's eye-line and looked back at Rebecca as George sulked away.. She was surprised that Elijah hadn't just killed George. Surprised, but glad too. She hadn't wanted him killed, anyway; she had only wanted George to leave her alone and he had.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "You didn't kill him."
"Violence is not necessary in every situation."
She smiled and nodded. She had never taken Elijah in, had never felt the need to because she had only seen him as a vampire. Now she saw him as a person.
His hair and eyes were equally dark – his eyes were as black as so many bottomless pits. His hair was long and glossy; his hair fell to his shoulders; his locks looked clean and soft.
"It has come to my attention recently that you're not from around here, and I mean that in the time management standpoint. How are you here? How did you come to be here?"
"I – uh . . . How did you . . ."
Elijah graced her with a small smile. "I believe I asked you first, Miss Stone."
"So you did, but . . . uh . . . Am I that obvious?"
"It is not you, I assure you."
"Hm . . . Well, I came here accidentally. I was reading from a spell book and . . . Well, the rest is history."
"You're a witch as well as a vampire slayer?" Elijah asked, surprised.
"No. I mean . . . I don't think so. I just think it was meant to happen."
"Destiny?" Elijah asked fondly. "You're still young enough to believe in destiny."
"You don't believe in destiny?"
"Not anymore. We sometimes have no control over what happens in our lives, but we are what cause things to happen."
"I've never thought of it that way," Rebecca admitted.
Again Elijah smiled. "You are young; you shouldn't have to think of such things anyway. Enjoy your youth – just not too much."
The more time Rebecca spent with Elijah, the more she realized she enjoyed his company. She didn't enjoy it in the same way she enjoyed Damon's, but Elijah was good to talk to.
Present Day Mystic Falls
"I'm sorry about today," Rose said from the backseat. "I didn't know that was gonna happen."
"I believe you," Damon said.
Rose had long since healed and stopped crying, but she hadn't spoken until just then. They were almost to the boardinghouse and Damon was anxious to get home. He wanted to spend some time with Rebecca – some time where neither was snapping at the other.
"I wish we could save Elena. I know that you want to."
Of course he wanted to save her. Elena was Stefan's girlfriend; Elena had given Stefan life. Stefan had spent so much of his time just existing, but with Elena he was alive. But Elena wasn't important to only Stefan. No, Elena mattered to everyone. She was Rebecca's friend, and was like a sister to her. There was no way Rebecca would put up with Elena's crap if she didn't care for the little doppelganger. Plus, Elena had weaseled her way into Damon's own heart with her self-sacrificing, selfless-almost-to-the-point-of-stupid ways.
"And I will," Damon told Rose. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw her smile.
"You remind me of Trevor. He always talked a big game. He was always working an angle. But underneath it all he was the best friend anyone could ever hope for."
"And where'd that get him?"
"Dead. And my loyalty to him almost got me dead too."
Damon finally pulled up to the boardinghouse. He didn't want to seem like he was too desperate to see Rebecca and Chelsea, but he was desperate. Not to mention the fact that all he could hear was Chelsea crying. In fact, if she had been older, he would've sworn she was screaming, and Rebecca didn't seem to be doing anything about it.
Something had to be wrong because Rebecca wouldn't let Chelsea carry on like that. So he rushed into the house and went straight to the parlor where Chelsea's cries were coming from. The little girl was on the floor beside an unconscious Rebecca.
She'd been having more memories coming back, it seemed. He shouldn't have left either of his girls alone. Rebecca had a weakness right now. She never knew when the memories were going to hit her and therefore didn't know when she would suddenly become unresponsive.
Leaving Rebecca vulnerable had left Chelsea vulnerable.
Elena had just arrived home; Stefan had walked her. She hadn't said anything to him about what Katherine had told her. She didn't think she'd be able to talk about it, but she needed to. She couldn't hold in all the guilt and agony she was feeling.
"I wanted to know the truth, Stefan, and I got it. It's not just me that's in danger. It's – it's Caroline and it's Tyler and it's Bonnie. They're all part of breaking the curse. I can't blame anyone else anymore."
Elena had never said it out loud before, but she'd been harboring resentment toward Stefan for moving to Mystic Falls; she'd secretly thought that maybe he and Damon had brought the other Supernatural things with them. Then she'd fallen in love with Stefan and she'd thought that maybe they were being punished because humans weren't supposed to mix with vampires, romantically speaking. In fact, humans weren't even supposed to know about vampires existing.
She had even had a period where she'd blamed Rebecca. The fact that Rebecca was a Slayer could've brought all the vampires here; they could've been drawn by her power.
Now she knew it wasn't anyone's fault but her own.
"Everyone I love is in danger, and it's because of me. Everything is because of me and –"
Elena couldn't speak any longer. She broke off into gasping sobs, and Stefan wrapped his arms around her, grasping her to him tightly.
Elena didn't know what to do with herself. She had never wanted to be the cause of so much drama or trauma. She didn't want to be the cause of her friends and family getting hurt.
She didn't know what to do to prevent that.
"It's a lie, you know," Rose said, sitting beside Damon, who had just put Chelsea down to sleep. She had calmed down exponentially when Damon had walked into the room. "There's no switch you can turn off. Sure, when you're a newbie, but after a couple hundred years . . . you just have to pretend."
Rose's phone started to ring, so she answered it. Damon heard Slater's voice come through on the other end.
"Slater. Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yes. I – I took off. I'm sorry. I was freaked."
"No, I'm sorry to involve you."
"Look, I want no part in any of this, but I did some digging. You can destroy the curse, but you need the moonstone."
"How? What d'you mean? I don't follow."
"Well, can your friend get the moonstone? You need it."
Rose looked at Damon, who nodded. He had to think of a plan, but he would get it if they needed it.
"Yes, he can get it. What next?"
"You need to witch. Get the moonstone. A witch should be able to figure out the rest. Good luck, Rose."
"Thank you," she said.
By the time Rose had hung up, Rebecca had begun to wake up. Damon's attention was drawn to her.
"Becca?" he said, trying to make her focus. She seemed dazed, like the first time the memories had invaded her mind.
"Damon," she said, sitting up slowly. "We were friends."
"What?" He was fairly certain they still were friends – more than that, even.
"Elijah and I – we were friends. We talked a lot while Katherine was compelling you. He was going to help me get you back from her in exchange for me handing over Katherine. I think that's why Katherine wanted me dead."
What was Rebecca going on about? She and Elijah had been friends? Damon hadn't even known Elijah had been in Mystic Falls before, let alone in 1864. He didn't know if he liked where all these memories of Rebecca's were going. They were all leading to Elijah having to have compelled her at some point. Damon wanted to know why it had been necessary.
"He promised no harm would come to me the night I met him and then he walked me home."
"He walked you home?" Damon asked incredulously. "What, did he kiss your cheek to?"
"What? No! It was nothing like that. He was keeping me safe because there was a full moon that night. Plus, he needed something from me."
Damon noticed that it had taken several minutes for Rebecca to even wonder where and how Chelsea was. These memories must've really been clogging up her head space for her not to ask about her sister sooner.
"She's asleep. She was going nuts earlier when Rose and I got here."
Rose smiled uncertainly. "It's strange. Chelsea's so young and yet . . . she wouldn't leave me alone when I was upset this morning. She's a very special girl."
"That she is," Damon said.
The next morning, Rebecca woke up sprawled over Damon's chest. She hadn't had any more memories come back to her while sleeping, which she was thankful for. She was already confused enough as it was; she didn't need any more information to fill her headspace.
She knew Damon liked having her close when he was sleeping; she didn't hate it herself. It was very comforting having someone there who loved her, who would protect her if anything should happen in the night.
She looked up at him and noticed that his eyes were trained on her. His blue orbs were hooded from sleep, but they were also sexy and electric.
Damon slipped an arm around her and she accepted the embrace gracefully. Rebecca enjoyed being held close like this. She knew Damon needed this right now. She hadn't thought about Damon becoming insecure about their relationship because of all her new memories; he hadn't let anything slip until the day before.
Damon wasn't the only one who needed reassurance that morning. After everything she'd learned from Katherine about Klaus, and everything she'd learned about Elijah from her own new memories, she wanted to be held by Damon.
Damon moved her hair to the side and placed his lips on her neck, eliciting a small shiver from her. He made her want to forget anything that didn't have to do with her and Damon.
She didn't want to think about Elena, who was having a fit about the Klaus thing. Rebecca knew it sucked that Klaus – whoever that was – would kill Elena's friends just to break a curse, and Rebecca didn't want that to happen anymore than Elena did because most of Elena's friends were also Rebecca's friends.
"I love you," she heard Damon say, and then she felt his hand go up her shirt so he could trail his fingers over the skin of her stomach.
"I love you," she said back. "You don't have to worry about anything, Damon. I loved you even back then."
She hadn't thought about Damon's insecurities in a while because he hadn't shown them much lately. However, when she'd mentioned her and Elijah being friends she could tell the little green monster had roared its ugly head for Damon. She just needed him to know that he was it. Elijah had nothing on him.
She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled gently, just hard enough to make him feel it. He brought his mouth to hers, but before she could really get into it he moved back to her neck. He kissed her skin as if he had all the time in the world.
In a way, she guessed they did.
About an hour later a knock came from outside the room. Damon quickly pulled the covers over Rebecca – he didn't really have any modesty issues, but he knew if anyone were to come in Rebecca would be mortified.
"Um . . . Bonnie's downstairs." Stefan was on the other side of the door. "She's here for Chelsea."
Damon groaned; they had just been about to make love for the second time that morning. He felt better, however, when Rebecca seemed like she was a little disappointed too.
"We'll be there in a minute," Rebecca said.
"We'll be downstairs in the living room," Stefan said and then walked away. Both Rebecca and Damon could hear his footsteps fading as Stefan went down the hallway.
"You know he did that on purpose," Damon said to Rebecca, who smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, he probably did. We should get dressed, though."
"No . . ." Damon pretended to whine and stuck his bottom lip out. He was only pretending to pout; he didn't really care. Bonnie had come so they could figure out what was going on with Chelsea. No, he hadn't liked being interrupted the way they had been, but he could handle it because it was important.
Once downstairs, everyone ended up in the parlor. Damon and Rebecca had gotten Chelsea from her room. The girl had climbed out of her crib, much to their surprise, which meant they would have to get her an actual bed or something – or use the mattress they had been using in the beginning so she wouldn't fall and hurt herself.
"Did you find anything?" Rebecca asked as soon as she saw Bonnie. "I mean, we already know what she is, I think, but how do we stop it?"
"Well, we can always bind her powers," Bonnie suggested.
Rebecca saw Bonnie take the Grimiore out of her shoulder bag and set the bag on the couch beside her.
"When she reaches whatever age I set the spell to . . . everything will come back to her. She'll be older, more able to handle it and understand it."
"Any drawbacks?"
"Well, only one. We don't know what she's capable of, not really. And if we suppress her natural abilities . . . they could all hit her at once. Mental overload. It wouldn't hurt her, but she'd be out of control for a while."
"But older?" Damon asked, because to him that was the most important part. When Chelsea was older she would know to leave when Damon or Rebecca had to do something that would result in Chelsea feeling empathetic pain. Now, Chelsea was vulnerable and defenseless and every time she got hurt she didn't understand why.
"How long will this take?" Rebecca asked. "What do you need?"
"I'll need maybe an hour to get ready and the spell will only take a few minutes."
"Great."
Just then Rose walked in, her hair all messed up from sleep.
"What about the moonstone?" Rose asked.
"What about the moonstone?" Bonnie reiterated.
"The guy we went to see yesterday said that there's a way to break the moonstone curse," Damon said. "He also said a witch could figure it out. You're a witch, so . . ."
"And breaking the curse will save Elena?" Bonnie asked.
"Yes, hopefully," Rebecca said. "Or at least that's what we're shooting for."
"I'll help," Bonnie said. "What d'you need?"
"Well, Katherine has the moonstone and we need it," Stefan said. "If we could get in and get out . . ."
"That could be tricky, but I'll see what I can come up with."
Since Bonnie had agreed with the idea of getting the moonstone, Rebecca, Damon, and Stefan went to the tomb to talk to Katherine. Rebecca only went for moral support; she didn't really care what Katherine had to say.
The brunette looked a lot like she had the day before – starved and dirty. Rebecca couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for the vampire at all.
"Come on in," Katherine said. "There's plenty of room for all of us."
"I'd rather poke my eyes out," Damon said.
"But they're such pretty eyes," Katherine purred.
"Those words may be the truest you've ever spoken," Rebecca said. Then to Damon, "You do have pretty eyes."
"We're here for the moonstone," Stefan said, leaning against the entrance of the tomb. "Feel like tossin' it over?"
"Tell you what?" Katherine started, "you get your little witch to hocus-pocus me outta here, and you can have whatever you want."
"I thought you liked it in here. Nice and safe, where Klaus can't get to you."
"I've had time to reconsider," Katherine said.
"Meaning you're hungry," Rebecca said.
"I'm starving, actually, and dirty. But above all, I'm bored. At least running from Klaus wasn't boring."
"Of course it wasn't," Rebecca snapped. "Because you ruined every life you came across."
Katherine slowly made her way to the entrance of the tomb. "Here's the deal. You get me out of here, you get the moonstone, and I'll disappear from Mystic Falls forever. Let me know what you decide."
Katherine pulled the moonstone out of the bosom of her dress and waved it in front of their faces. Rebecca actually stepped forward and would've reached for it, but Damon kept her from going into the tomb.
"Ah-ah," he said. "You go in, you're not coming out. Not happening! We'll find another way."
Rebecca took a deep breath, knowing he was right.
"No, please. We could have fun, just us girls," Katherine quipped.
Rebecca rolled her eyes and went out of the hole that led to the tomb and then got her phone out and dialed Elena's number.
"Yeah," the brunette answered.
"Hey," Rebecca said. "Can I come over? Stefan, Damon and I went to see Katherine."
"Oh, uh . . . sure. Come on over. Did you learn anything new?"
"Um . . . Not really, but she wants to make a deal. Her freedom for the moonstone. We let her out and she'll give us the stone and leave forever."
"You don't actually believe her, do you?"
"No, of course not. We just want the moonstone." Rebecca sighed. "According to Rose's friend, Slater, there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break. No spell, no doppelganger sacrifice. Ergo, you live."
"How do you destroy it? And how do you even know this is gonna work?"
"Because we have a crafty witch on our side," Damon said, appearing by Rebecca's side. He'd obviously been listening in.
"You've discussed it with Bonnie," Elena said, resignation in her voice.
"She said she'd do anything to help us."
"Yeah, but it's Katherine who has the moonstone; she's not gonna give it to you."
"We have Bonnie working on it. If she can lower the seal for just a few minutes then we can get in, get the stone, and get back out without a problem," Rebecca said. "One of us, meaning me, can probably hold her back since she's weak from starvation, and Stefan and Damon can go find the stone."
"Wow. It sounds like you guys have it all planned out," Elena said, but despite her words, she didn't sound impressed.
"Yup, we're awesome," Damon said playfully, placing his mouth nearer to the phone so Elena would hear.
"Except for one thing. I don't want you to do it."
Rebecca looked at Damon and he just looked back. He had an unreadable expression on his face.
"Elena . . ." Rebecca bit her lip hard once, her throat tightening. "You'll die."
"I know," Elena said calmly. "But everyone else I love will be safe and alive."
"Look, we'll be there shortly, okay? We'll discuss this then, okay?"
"Okay, but I've already made my decision."
Okay, so here's my latest offering to you guys. I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I hope I did the Rose/Damon scenes justice since I'm not getting them together in this story. I feel kind of iffy about Elena's reaction to finding out everything is her fault - or so she says. I don't actually know if she would blame Stefan or Damon or Rebecca for all the supernatural stuff going on, but that's how it came out.
Review, please, and let me know what you guys think.