Previously on The Vampire Diaries: Rebecca was attacked by a group of five vampires and she was shocked that she had taken care of them by herself. Damon realizes that she hates the part of herself that can let go like that. Damon, Stefan, Elena and Rebecca are going through the founders journals trying to find information about the grimoire and/or the tomb.
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-Three
The next few days were filled with training, reading through journals that weren't Jonathan Gilbert's, and letting Caroline think up an outfit for Rebecca for the dance. Rebecca decided to be afraid of what Caroline would make her wear.
The night of the dance Rebecca was standing in her room, putting her outfit on. She couldn't believe what she was wearing, what Caroline wanted her to wear. Think Sandy at the end of Grease. The form-fitting black pants, the shirt that hung from her shoulders, even the high heels. The open-toed shoes were red like Sandy's had been and the heels were made from wood. She kind of wanted to see if she could stake a vampire with them.
Rebecca had Elena on speakerphone - they were both getting ready while talking.
"So . . . I finally talked to Jenna," Elena admitted. "About the adoption. She said my mom was gonna tell me, she just never got the chance."
"Oh . . . Did she say anything else?"
"Uh . . . It was a woman named Isobel. She was sixteen. My dad delivered the baby and she disappeared. My parents kept me, obviously. It was like you said - my dad put their names of the birth certificate so they would have proof, documentation."
"Wow." Rebecca didn't know how she'd feel if she found that out, so she definitely didn't know how Elena felt. "Are you okay? I mean . . . do you need a hug or something because I can come over right now and give you one."
"Uh . . ." Elena giggled. "I think I'm okay."
"Okay, just checking."
"Anyway, I gotta go. This compass thing is spinning, so I think Stefan's here."
"Okay, I'll see you at the dance."
It wasn't long after they hung up that Elena called back to say she'd been attacked by a vampire in the house, and it wasn't Stefan or Damon. So . . . who the hell had it been? Instead of them meeting at the dance, Rebecca went to Elena's house. The Salvatore brothers were already there. They and Elena were in the living room and she was explaining the situation.
"Well, how'd he get in?" Damon asked, which was a valid question because vampires couldn't enter a house without an invitation.
"He was invited in," Elena said.
"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night," Stefan added.
"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?"
"No, he was too busy trying to kill me."
"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asked, looking at Damon.
"No." Stefan just looked at him like he wasn't sure whether or not to believe his brother. "Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."
"Hm. Damon, he was invited in."
Damon nodded knowingly. "Then we go get him tonight." He looked at Elena. "You up for it?"
"What do I have to do?" Elena asked softly.
"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. We'll . . . see who shows up."
"That's a bad idea, Damon," Stefan said.
"I don't think there's another option," Rebecca said. "This guy's after Elena, so let him come. Then we'll take care of him."
"Take care of him, as in . . ." Elena shook her head. "You mean you have to . . ."
"Kill him, Elena," Damon finished for her. "Until we get him this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot."
"I'll do it," Elena said after a considerable amount of consideration. "I'll be with you guys. I'll be safe."
Stefan and Elena took Elena's car while Rebecca rode with Damon in his Camaro. That's when he mentioned the outfit.
"You know, that's completely indecent for you to wear in public. It leaves nothing to the imagination," Damon teased.
"What's to imagine? I have breasts and a vagina. Hopefully the boys already know that." She realized her tone was snappish so she took a deep breath. "Sorry."
"You're in a bad mood," Damon said, not judging but curious.
"No, I'm not. I just . . . I feel a little weird. I've been working a lot lately. Between reading and training and patrolling I've kind of been all-work-and-no-play Rebecca. I wanted to have fun tonight - or as much fun as you can at a school dance, anyway. But . . . instead I'm vampire hunting again. And maybe you haven't noticed but I've been absent from your life a lot recently, and I don't like it."
"I've noticed," Damon admitted. "My bed noticed. It's gotten cold and lonely without you in it."
"Yeah. I just . . . I feel like I have to train and stay on top of things because of all the things that are going on. And it's exhausting. And I know if I asked you, you'd help with anything but I don't like pushing my responsibilities onto someone else. They're mine to deal with."
"Well . . ." Damon looked at her briefly. "Why not share? You do everything for me, without me even asking you to. Don't you know I'd do the same for you? And it's not pushing if I'm offering, which I am. Right now."
Rebecca smiled softly at him and moved closer to him. What Damon was saying was true, and it made sense in a tit for tat mentality. She'd just have to find a way to share the load without making her feel like she was giving it to someone else.
When they arrived at the dance This Magic Moment was playing loudly over the speakers in the gym. It made Rebecca worry about Damon's and Stefan's sensitive hearing. They wouldn't bust an eardrum or anything, would they?
There were balloons and streamers everywhere, and a couple of refreshment tables were placed to the side near the bleachers.
Rebecca talked to Caroline and Bonnie for a minute. Caroline was not having fun but she'd worked hard on her outfit so she was going to stay for at least an hour. Bonnie was only there because Caroline had pleaded for her to come.
Rebecca kept looking around but she couldn't home her Slayer radar in this crowd. If Damon hadn't been right beside her then . . . she wouldn't have even been able to find him. How the hell was she supposed to hunt in this din?
Hunt? she wondered. No. Patrol. I patrol, I don't hunt. Though she realized then that she'd made the mistake of saying hunting when she'd been talking to Damon in the car earlier that night.
Rebecca noticed the music wasn't really from the 50s but more from the 70s and 80s - only with a 50s vibe to them.
A lot of the students got in a line to dance when Car Wash came on and they sang along. Elena had to beg Stefan to participate - he seemed embarrassed about dancing in public - but Damon made himself right at home in the mass of teenagers. Rebecca had to grin at how easy it was for him to blend in. She was glad she had come - Damon was entertaining to watch.
Rebecca hummed along when I Will Survive came on and then she mentioned how sad it was that she knew these songs. She could go on forever about music, though, because she loved it.
Tears of a Clown came on next and she was having a genuinely good time now. Elena was dancing with Stefan, Caroline was dancing with Bonnie, and Rebecca had Damon. They were all having fun, which was what she had wanted. It wasn't very often she got to see all of her friends happy at once, so she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
Damon began doing some dance Rebecca had never seen before and she giggled as others began watching him too. She slow danced with him once to When a Man Loves a Woman - it was the only slow song of the evening.
When Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head came on she said, "Top secret information? I love this song."
"That's because you're Miss Optimistic."
She even dirty danced - or as dirty as one could dance at a school dance - with him. It was a bad idea though because she could feel him harden against her whenever his body touched hers. And seemed to love the pants.
"Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now?" he asked, lips close to her ear. She shivered when she felt his breath on her skin.
"I can think of a few things."
Finally Rebecca had to get a drink; she'd been dancing nonstop for about an hour and a half. She went to hang out with Jeremy, who had been stuck with punch duty - he was failing English so he'd copped a plea.
"Hey, you," she said, coming up behind him and jumping onto his back.
"Becca, hey!" She let go and he spun around to smile at her. She'd always loved his smile - when he was really happy he had this everything's-awesome-brilliantly-adorable smile. "Uh . . . nice outfit?"
"Ugh! Don't even. Caroline made me wear this."
"Figures. You wouldn't wear something like that on your own. But all the guys are thanking Caroline right now."
Rebecca blushed and looked away. She didn't care about the other guys or what they were thinking, but the fact that Jeremy had pointed that out made her a little embarrassed. Since he was kind of like a kid brother, he shouldn't have noticed things like that.
"You neglected to mention this was a theme party," a new but familiar voice said. Anna. Rebecca hadn't felt her because, like she'd feared, there were too many people here.
"Anna," Jeremy said. "What're you doin' here?"
"Mm. Seeing as you also neglected to invite me, I took matters into my own hands."
Well, if he neglected to invite you, it's probably because he doesn't want you here, Rebecca thought seethingly.
"You're doin' that thing again," Jeremy said.
"What thing would that be?"
"The thing where you pretend we're dating even though we're not," Jeremy pointed out.
"Oh. You mean stalking? Yeah." Anna nodded and scoffed. "Get over yourself. Come on, I've never been to a school dance before. Humor me."
"Um . . . I'm gonna go," Rebecca said. "I'll leave you two alone."
Rebecca needed to talk to Stefan and Damon. Maybe Elena's stalker wasn't here, but Anna was. And that couldn't be good news.
Damon was standing off to the side talking to some guy in a Letterman's jacket. Said guy was . . . Alaric Saltzman, the new history teacher. Rebecca recognized him as she drew closer to the two.
"Hey, I don't recognize you. How'd you get roped into chaperoning?" Damon sort of gave the guy a what the hell are you talking to me for look. "Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher."
The guys shook hands and Rebecca stopped by Damon's side. Whenever these two were done she'd spill.
"Damon Salvatore."
"Salvatore? As in, uh, Stefan?"
"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian. Hence the chaperoning."
"I hear he's very bright, not that I've had a chance to see for myself."
"Well, his attendance record's a little spotty. Family drama."
"No parents?"
"Obviously not, if he's the legal guardian." Rebecca's word vomit came into play. "Sometimes I just . . . shouldn't say words."
"Forget about it. You look really familiar. Do you go to school here?" Alaric asked her.
"Used to. Rebecca Stone. I would've been in your class, but -"
"You graduated early. Yeah. I got the memo. It's too bad. You were a straight A student. I'd have been honored to have taught you."
Hm. This guy was acting extremely . . . odd. That was a quick way to get one's self killed in Mystic Falls.
"You, uh, you live here your whole life?" he went back to Damon.
"On and off. Travel a bit."
"Really? Where? Around the states?"
"You ask way too many questions," Rebecca said, and this time it wasn't word vomit - she'd meant to say it. "And this time I'm not sorry for saying it."
The history teacher chuckled. "I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I don't mean to pry. It was nice meeting you."
"You, too."
"Enjoy the rest of the dance." He walked away and both Rebecca and Damon's eyes followed him as he went.
"That wasn't suspicious at all," Damon muttered.
"I know, right. I didn't like him. And Anna's here. She was talking to Jeremy, which leads me to think he hasn't shown her the journal; she wouldn't be hanging out with him otherwise."
"Probably right."
"Will you . . . stay here? Because I'd like to talk to Anna alone. She'll probably respond better if it's just me."
"Fine. You have fifteen minutes, starting the minute you walk out that door."
"Yeah, yeah."
It wasn't hard for her to find Anna. She was in the hallway near the history room. Hm . . . maybe she knew Alaric.
"Hey," she said, and Anna turned to her.
"What d'you want?" Anna sounded like she didn't want to be disturbed right now, like maybe Rebecca had distracted her from something.
"To talk," Rebecca said simply. "Are you sending people after me?"
"Why would I do that? I told you, as long as you don't get in my way, we don't have a problem. You haven't gotten in my way."
"Right. Do you know of anybody who would send trouble my way?"
"One of the countless vampires you've probably pissed off by being a good Slayer."
"Hm. Are you -" Rebecca broke off when she heard a scream and Anna zipped away.
Damn it! She took off after the sound and arrived in the cafeteria just as Stefan was stabbing some guy in the stomach with a wooden stake. Probably the vampire who'd been after Elena, since Elena was there too. Damon was there helping the brunette off the floor.
"Why're you doing this?" Stefan asked him.
"Because it's fun."
Damon actually smirked at that, and Rebecca rolled her eyes.
"What do you want with Elena?"
"She looks like Katherine," the guy said.
"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked.
"Aw . . . you thought you were the only ones. That bitch ruined my life."
"Are you working with Anna? Trying to help her open the tomb?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes."
"Did she know you were after Elena?" Stefan asked, twisting the stake around.
"She told me not to!" the guy groaned out.
"Maybe you should've listened," Damon said. "Why does Anna want Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"
"The grimoire. She wants the location of the grimoire; she thinks it's in the journal."
"Emily's spell book?" Rebecca asked. "The book would tell her how to reverse the spell on the tomb."
"Yes."
"Who else are you working with?" Damon asked.
The guy wouldn't talk so Stefan killed him. He had to die anyway because he'd been invited into Elena's house. Mr. Saltzman almost interrupted their little torture session but Damon went, compelled him to tell what he was doing, and found out Alaric was just a history teacher - but he was still nosy.
Elena generously offered to cover for Rebecca if she wanted to stay at the boardinghouse with Damon, and she accepted. Maybe Elena only tolerated Damon, but she was slowly warming up to him. And she didn't complain as much about him to Rebecca anymore, which was a plus.
"Hey, uh . . . about Katherine," Rebecca started. "I finally looked. She didn't have a baby, Elena - or if she did, it was kept secret. Her line stops with her."
"Where did you learn that?" Elena asked.
"In a book. Katherine Pierce was also known as Katerina Petrova. She was born in Bulgaria in the late 1400s. I don't know how it happened but her family was killed, slaughtered in their own house."
"Was that before or after she became a vampire?"
"I wanna say after, but I'm really not sure."
"Oh. Well, thanks for looking anyway."
"No problem." Rebecca really didn't mind helping; it was in the top five things of reasons she got up every morning. "Uh . . . can I say a couple things without you getting angry?"
"Sure."
"Okay. Number one: Jeremy's hanging out with Anna. She wants Jonathan Gilbert's journal. Obviously. Number two: I know how you feel about Jeremy getting involved in all this, but he should know. He wouldn't have invited that guy in if he'd known. This wouldn't have happened, he would have given that vampire an all access pass to your house. You know I'm right about that, and I'm not gonna argue with you, but at least think about it, okay?"
With that, Rebecca said her good-byes and went to find Damon.
"God, how tight are these pants?" Damon said. He was trying to get the offensive things off of Rebecca without ripping them, but it was like trying to remove a second skin.
Rebecca giggled and helped shimmy out of them. She wouldn't have really cared if he'd torn them - she was never wearing them again. She removed her shirt and strapless bra as he worked on the pants and panties. Once the material was off he kissed his way up her body and had her squirming in anticipation. Sometimes she wished he'd just . . . take her without teasing. But Damon seemed to like it best when she was impatient and ready to scream for him.
"Do you trust me?" Damon asked, smirking.
"Yes," she said instantly, though she was a little wary because when he asked that it was usually because he wanted to do something she might not want to. Or in this case . . . hadn't done before.
"Turn over."
"What?"
"Turn over," he repeated patiently. She obeyed and Damon began stroking her back, encouraging her. "Now, get on your knees."
Rebecca listened even though she was a little shaky and nervous. This required complete trust on her part because she couldn't see what he was going to do now. But Damon knew she'd never been with anyone but him so he also knew she'd never done this before. Anything sexual he had taught her. She'd only done these things with him.
"Prop yourself up however you're comfortable with."
She placed her hands on the headboard and squeezed.
"Okay, now . . ." He kissed her spine a few times and she breathed with each one. "Most importantly, relax."
He positioned himself at her wet entrance and he slid in more gently than he normally would have because he'd done little to no preparing her for this and she shook from the sensations he was causing in her. She moved her body to meet his and almost screamed when he hit her spot on the first thrust in.
"Fuck!" Damon exclaimed. "I've wanted to do this all night." He moved again when he felt her adjust to his size. "When we were dancing. When I watched you walk out the door of the gym." He snapped his hips forward and felt his stomach clench in a really good way when she gasped as he hit her spot again. "I blame it on those pants."
Damon was in so much ecstasy at the moment that it was almost painful. Taking a woman from behind was always . . . empowering. And the fact that it was Rebecca submitting to this was even better; it made the predator part of him purr like a kitten.
She was so tight this way that when she squeezed around him it was almost like she was trying to lock him inside her body. She was also more vocally responsive this way. She moaned and cried out and repeated his name like a mantra. She pushed back against his body with all the force she could muster. She wanted him to go deeper and thrust harder. All she had to do was say the word and she got what she wanted.
Her arms began shaking from holding herself up, and Damon slipped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Her back was now pressed right up to his chest. Her arm automatically came up to clutch at the back of his head. His mouth latched onto the side of her neck - just to kiss and nibble, not to really bite - and she pulled his hair a little.
"Oh, Damon, I - I -"
She was so, so close and she usually found she couldn't speak coherently when she was that close. He moved her hair to the side and she knew now he was going to really bite. It just made her grip his hair tighter.
The hand that wasn't attacking his head traveled down to her nether regions and she began touching herself. She heard the little groan Damon let out and knew that he was probably looking down over her shoulder and watching what she was doing. Then his hand covered hers and, even though he was letting her pleasure herself, his fingers moved with hers.
She suddenly wished they had a mirror - she'd never wished that before, but she wanted to see what they looked like this way. One of Damon's arms was right under her breasts to keep her from falling forward; one of her arms was held up so her hand could grip his hair. Then their other arm's were together, each of their hands bringing her higher. She wanted to see - she could imagine it - their bodies shining with sweat, moving together.
Only when she was clenching around him from her climax did he sink his fangs into her flesh. Then . . . something happened that had never happened before. His bite made her come again. And it felt . . . wonderful. She actually had to keep herself from screaming out from the pleasure. This was happening to her whole body.
"Oh!" She really hadn't expected that to happen; she hadn't known it could. "Oh, yes!"
Their hands were still moving together and it seemed she was having a never ending orgasm, because as soon as one ended the next began. Not that she was complaining.
That was when Damon began moving faster and harder, and her body moved right along with his. He stopped drinking from her but she could still feel his human teeth biting into her shoulder. He spilled himself inside her in long, hot spurts and they fell to the bed, him still on her back, and she let out a small oomph!
Damon was licking her neck where he'd bitten her - cleaning it probably - and she felt him trembling. She was glad that had been just as intense for him as it had been for her.
A small zing ran through her body and she realized their arms were trapped under her and Damon was moving his hand with hers against her almost abused clit - she'd been going fast and furious there at the end; she was even a little sore - and she could feel another orgasm coming. She let him continue because why stop when it felt good.
This one was small compared to the other ones but it still made her shiver and whisper his name. Afterwards, though . . .
"Oh, I can't anymore. Damon, I . . . I can barely move."
She literally couldn't; her body was exhausted. Damon moved, but the fact that he'd collapsed onto her after that very . . . satisfying experience . . . hadn't had anything to do with why she couldn't move. Between the dancing and the sex, she was too tired to do anything but lay there.
After a few moments of quiet bliss she felt her neck where he had drank from her. There were only two puncture wounds - nothing major - and she'd already stopped bleeding on her own. It would be healed by the time she had to go home the next day.
Finding her energy again, she moved to him and got comfortable.
"Most of tonight was fun, and at least we got rid of Elena's stalker guy."
"Mm."
Damon wasn't very talkative after sex - especially sex like that - but he didn't mind listening. Rebecca obviously didn't want to talk a lot that night, though, because she just curled up against him, pecking him on the cheek, and put her head on his chest.
"Love you," she said, already half-asleep.
He answered back, and this time it wasn't forced. He said it naturally. He felt her smile against him, and she hummed in contentment.
The next day Rebecca and Elena talked to Jeremy about the Gilbert journal, and found out he'd loaned it to Mr. Saltzman, the nosy history teacher. Stefan volunteered to go get it when Elena told him about it, which Rebecca was thankful for because she was sure if Damon had gone, the history teacher would've wound up dead. Damon was suspicious of him anyway. Damon might've gotten rid of him for being nosy.
They all were going to meet up at the Gilbert residence that night. They were having family night and, ever since her parents accident, Elena didn't like leaving on that night.
The only one missing was Stefan. Damon, Elena, Rebecca and Jenna were in the kitchen. Jeremy was in the living room playing a video game.
"Jeremy, come in here and stop being such a loner!" Rebecca said loudly.
"Or you could come in here and play the game with me,!" he shouted back.
"I'm gonna go bring him in here," she said.
Damon was the one cooking, though Rebecca had been a little wary about letting him have a sharp object around people that weren't her. But he was behaving, though he kept pouring Jenna wine. Maybe he needed her tipsy for some reason.
Rebecca went into the living room, which was right by the kitchen, and watched Jeremy get absorbed with his racing game. "Come on. I'm gonna unplug that."
"No, no, no. I'll come in there when dinner's ready."
"All it has to do is boil," Damon said. "If Rebecca will come watch the food, I'll race you."
"Do you even know how to play?" Rebecca asked.
"It's a device and a controller; it can't be too hard."
"Okay, okay. Have fun then."
Rebecca went back into the kitchen and heard Jenna say, "He is ridiculously hot. How on earth did you get him?"
Jenna wasn't being offensive; she was genuinely curious.
"Shh," Elena said. "He's an ass."
Elena had a box in front of her full of her family's things. It was mostly junk stuff, nothing vital.
"What're you doing with all this stuff?" Jenna asked.
"I thought there might be something about my birth parents." Elena sounded disappointed, so Rebecca assumed she hadn't found anything remotely helpful.
"Have you told Jeremy?"
"I will when the time is right."
At the school Stefan had sneaked into the history classroom to find that Alaric Saltzman had been ready for him. With some kind of stake gun. It really was a master piece.
Stefan had had no problem catching the stake that had been fired from the weapon, but it was still a good piece of work. Alaric was quickly reloading the gun, but Stefan was quicker. He ran to the teacher and snatched the weapon away from him.
"You shouldn't have done that," Stefan said, pushing Alaric into the first row of desks.
The teacher fell to the floor but got up as fast as he could, grabbing onto the desks.
"Have a seat, " Stefan said.
When Alaric looked at him questioningly, Stefan nodded his head at one of the desks and Alaric slowly sat down. He was on alert, though, and Stefan understood why. Stefan was a vampire; Alaric was probably just waiting for him to attack.
"What is this?" he asked, looking down at the weapon. "Compressed air? Did you make if yourself? Who are you?"
Stefan moved closer to the teacher and saw that Alaric was clenching his hands into fists, getting ready to attack him. Or more than likely getting ready to defend himself if Stefan attacked him.
"I'm not gonna hurt you," Stefan said sincerely. "Unless you try that again."
As a show of good faith Stefan handed the weapon back to Alaric, who took it hesitantly. He probably couldn't believe what Stefan was doing. He was a vampire, after all.
Stefan sat down in another desk, across from Alaric, and began contemplating what to do next. He didn't want to have to hurt Alaric, but he did need some answers.
"Now, who are you?"
"I'm a teacher," Alaric answered simply.
Stefan chuckled. "Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"
"I'm also a historian. And while researching Virginia, I made a few discoveries about your town."
"So you show up like Van Helsing? Come on, tell me the truth."
"My wife was a parapsychologist," Alaric said. "She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here."
"Where's your wife now?"
"Dead. A vampire killed her."
Ah. Stefan could see where this was going. A vampire had killed Alaric's wife and now he had a mission. Killing vampires, hoping maybe one day he'd find the one that killed his wife. He was on a vengeance kick.
"Where's the Gilbert journal?"
Stefan had deliberately changed the subject to throw the teacher off guard.
"On my desk," Alaric said gesturing to the desk.
"No, it's not."
Alaric looked and, sure enough, it wasn't there. "It was on my desk. I didn't move it."
Stefan clenched his jaw. If Alaric didn't have it - if the teacher wasn't lying . . . that meant that Anna probably had it. Damn it.
"How long have you been aware of me?"
"I learned just recently," Alaric answered. "When I met your brother."
"You met Damon."
"Who do you think killed my wife?" Alaric asked stoically.
"Are you certain it was Damon?"
"I witnessed it."
"If you're here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you."
"I just wanna find out what happened to my wife."
"I thought you just said -"
"I saw him draining the life out of her. He must've heard me coming because he just disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."
"I'm sorry," Stefan said. "But Damon can never know why you're here. He'll kill you without blinking."
"I can take care of myself."
"No, you can't. But I can help you, if you'll let me."
When Stefan showed up at the Gilbert residence he didn't have the journal. Someone had taken it from the teacher, stolen it off his desk.
"Anna," Rebecca surmised. "She has it, and now she can . . . not open the tomb."
"What do you mean?" Elena asked. "She has the journal now."
"Well, yeah, she has the journal but she doesn't have the grimoire. But even if she did, Anna lacks a crucial ingredient. A witch, and a powerful one at that. Emily told me a witch had to break the spell, so we're safe until she gets that grimoire and a witch."
"Bonnie?" Elena suggested.
"Not strong enough," Rebecca said. "She's not practicing like she should be. She couldn't do it alone."
Jeremy suddenly walked outside and began walking down the steps.
"Where are you going?" Elena asked.
"To the Grill. I'm meeting Anna there."
Sometimes Fate just hit you in the head.
"You - it's family night."
"Yeah, right. Jenna's passed out on the couch."
Rebecca looked at Damon for a second. He looked at her innocently. Damon had obviously put something in Jenna's drink. She didn't envy her the headache Jenna was likely to have when she woke up.
Elena went back in the house because her phone was ringing, and Damon offered to drive Jeremy to the Grill - for his own purposes, obviously.
When Elena was done Stefan and Rebecca went up to Elena's room. Stefan had finally done something right in that Mr. Saltzman had made a copy of the journal before it had been taken and Stefan said Alaric had loaned it to him. Rebecca couldn't think why Mr. Saltzman would've wanted a copy of the journal - other than the fact that it had been written back in the Civil War days - because she had too much on her mind already.
They each took a section of the journal and began reading through the parts about Emily or the vampires.
The Fells thought it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book, but I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. He said he would carry it to the grave.
"I know where it is," Stefan said.
"His grave?" Rebecca joked.
"Yes."
"Oh, he was being literal when he said that?"
"Yes."
Rebecca had forgotten how literal Giuseppe had been. He hadn't had a sense of humor, just like Stefan didn't now.
"So . . . we have to . . . dig him up?" Elena asked. "Tonight?"
"Yes. We can go now. Damon is going to track Anna, so we shouldn't be disturbed."
Once Damon dropped Jeremy off at the Grill he picked up Anna's scent and it led him to a motel where he waited in her room for her to come back. When she did, he shoved her into the wall and began choking her. Problem was she was older than him - vampire-wise, anyway - and she began choking him back. Technically he didn't need to breathe but his lungs felt flat and empty without air and it was uncomfortable, and her fingers were so tight against his flesh that it felt like she was trying to rip into his throat.
"Okay, I give, okay." He let go and then she let go. "Damn. You're strong for a little thing."
"I was wondering how long it would take you to find me."
"How long have you been here?"
"I arrived around half past comet."
"How'd you know about the spell?"
"I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything," Anna said, smirking.
"If you've been here the whole time then why are we just crossing paths right now?" he asked, moving closer so as to appear intimidating.
"I like to use others to do my dirty work." Anna was not to be intimidated; she just moved around him nonchalantly.
Others. Logan Fell. That Ben guy. The guy at the dance.
"Like Logan Fell? Oh, yeah. Thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me."
"Logan was an idiot. We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser-Slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal. I couldn't let him die."
"What'd you want with the Fells journal?"
"I thought it contained the witch's spell book. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And according to this . . ." Anna showed him the journal. "He gave it to your father. So now you're gonna help me find it."
Damon tilted his head to the side. "I am? Why would I help you?"
"Because I'm gonna give you the same warning I gave Rebecca. If you get in my way - and you not helping me would be considered getting in my way - someone you love dies bloody."
"If you're talking about Rebecca . . . you're gonna find she's not so easily beaten."
He'd seen the damage Rebecca could do when she set her mind to it. She could hold her own against Anna, he was pretty sure.
"Fine then. How about this? If you don't help, then you are the reason her aunt will die."
"You're bluffing."
Anna used to be so . . . sweet. What had happened to her? Life, his subconscious answered. It had changed him too.
"Am I? Are you certain enough to risk Tina's life? And her unborn child's?"
Damon detested being used and he detested being manipulated even more - and he would get even - but he'd play, for now.
"Give me the damn journal."
She handed it to him, page already turned to where she wanted him to read. He didn't know it, but he was reading the same passage Stefan, Elena, and Rebecca had read. He knew where the grimoire was now, and he was going to go get it himself.
Meanwhile, back with the other three, Stefan, Rebecca, and Elena were digging up Giuseppe's grave in the cemetery near old Fells Church, or what was left of it, anyway.
"So, why isn't your father buried in your family's tomb?"
"It wasn't built until well after he died."
"And you're sure the grimoire's in there with him?"
"Sure as I can be."
"Great."
A moment passed between Elena and Stefan that Rebecca didn't understand, so she just kept digging.
"You guys . . . I can do this on my own," Stefan said.
"I said I'd do anything I can to help," Elena reminded him.
The three continued making small talk as they dug in the earth. Rebecca noticed Stefan was even quieter than normal and she felt sorry for him having to dig up his father's grave. Whether the man had been good or not . . . Stefan shouldn't have had to be doing this.
"Not many girls can say they've done this," Elena said in a good-natured sort of way.
That was when they reached the coffin. Stefan leaned down and opened the head of it while Elena and Rebecca hopped out of the hole. There was a book-shaped box inside and Stefan pulled it out.
"Is that it?" Elena asked.
"Let's see." Stefan opened the box, which had been bound together, and inside was the grimoire. They could tell because the book wasn't written in English.
What Rebecca hadn't expected was that Stefan drew a small can of lighter fluid from his jacket pocket and began sprinkling it on the book.
"What're you doing?" She looked at Elena, who was lighting a match. "What're you doing?"
"I'm sorry," Elena said softly. "You weren't supposed to come with us, but we couldn't just tell you not to. We have to destroy the spell book. It's dangerous."
"If the tomb gets opened, a lot of people are going to die," Stefan explained. He gestured for Elena to drop the match and she did. The book went up in flames and Rebecca moved forward quickly to try and put out the fire.
"Elena! She'll kill someone I love!"
Hurt and betrayal flowed through Rebecca. She didn't care much for Stefan, but she'd expected better from Elena. Stefan she knew could do something like this, she'd seen it happen, but Elena . . . she'd never done anything so back-stabby in her life.
"Becca, you're my friend and I love you, but this is for the best."
"Best for whom? You" It's not your family that's in danger this time so you don't care?" She began covering the book with dirt so she could put out the flames.
"Stop it," Stefan said, grabbing her.
Within two seconds she had hit him square in the jaw, and then he'd shoved her against a tree - not hard enough to hurt, but it did jar her a little. He ripped her necklace off and, since she was a little out of it . . .
"You're going to calm down now," he said, compelling her to listen. "I'm going to restart that fire and you're going to let me because it's the best thing for this town."
He stepped away from her and she let him go toward the grimoire and she didn't stop him. She knew in her brain that she wanted to . . . but she couldn't move. She knew she shouldn't be letting them destroy the grimoire because it was what was keeping Anna from killing someone Rebecca cared about, but she couldn't do anything to stop them.
But Damon could. He'd seen everything: The lighter fluid, the match, Rebecca being compelled, everything. Damon tackled Stefan to the ground and told him if he tried to destroy the grimoire he'd rip Elena's heart out. He really had expected better from Elena.
"You won't kill her," Stefan said, sounding so sure of himself. "Rebecca would never forgive you if you killed one of her friends. She was going to allow Anna to open the tomb to protect her friends."
Damon raced over to Elena and grabbed her, much like Stefan had done with Rebecca. "I can do one better." He bit his lip and forced his blood down Elena's throat. "Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck and you will have a vampire girlfriend."
He watched the emotions play over Stefan's face but he couldn't bring himself to care. Damon had known Stefan's renewed sense of brotherhood hadn't been real. He'd known Stefan couldn't be trusted but he'd played along for Rebecca's sake. Now he knew it had been for nothing.
He felt Elena struggling against him and had to steel himself against the tears he felt hit his arm. Forcing blood on someone wasn't something Damon was fond of but it was a good weapon if the situation called for it. He knew Stefan didn't want Elena to become a vampire and it was too soon for Elena to have made a decision like that. He knew he would get what he wanted this way.
"Let her go first," Stefan said. "I'm not giving it to you until she is standing next to me."
"The problem is that I no longer trust that you'll give it back."
"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will," Stefan said.
So they made the exchange, and Damon got the book and Stefan got Elena. Stefan got the two of them out of there. Then Damon undid what Stefan had done to Rebecca. It wasn't hard, seeing as to how Stefan was the weaker vampire. The only problem was she didn't remember what happened after Stefan had compelled her.
He pretty much told the truth because he knew she wouldn't judge him for it. She'd accept it and move on. Besides, Elena would be fine. Stefan would make sure nothing happened to her, and the blood would pass out of her system.
Rebecca touched her neck and realized the cross wasn't there. "My necklace."
"Stefan took it with him. I'll get it back for you."
Now that Damon had taken the compulsion off, she was angry again. She couldn't believe Elena had done this, had been willing to sacrifice one of Rebecca's friends - maybe Elena herself, since she was or had been one.
"How'd you know we were here?" Rebecca asked.
"The journal. I found Anna, and she showed it to me. She wanted my help. How'd you know where it was - the grimoire?"
"Stefan. The teacher made a copy of the journal and Stefan got it.
"Ah."
"Will you take me home? Do what you want with the grimoire, I don't care."
"What were you gonna do with it?" Damon asked curiously.
Rebecca took the book when Damon offered it to her. "I was going to offer to help Anna if she let me be there when she opens the tomb so I can make sure the others stay put. Maybe even destroy them."
"And you were going to let her have her mother," Damon said, because Rebecca didn't try to deceive people or manipulate them.
"Yes. Only her mother."
"Well, she's waiting for you at your house."
Rebecca tensed beside him but continued walking anyway.
"How did she knew you'd help her?"
Damon considered what to say, and decided on his brother's earlier words. "She did the one thing that ensured I would."
Rebecca nodded knowingly. He meant Anna had threatened her. She was his weakness now, and sometimes she felt sorry for that. If someone who was stronger than Damon wanted something from him all they had to do was mention her name and she knew he'd probably do anything.
When they got to her house Rebecca was still fuming. This wasn't something she would get over soon. She was, however, relieved to find that Anna hadn't been invited into the house. The vampire hadn't even tried to get in; she just wanted the grimoire.
Rebecca showed her that they did, in fact, have the wanted book, but she didn't hand it over right then. "I have a few ground rules if you're going to do this.
"You're negotiating?" Anna laughed. "That's adorable."
"It's not a negotiation. It's a you're-gonna-do-what-I-tell-you-to-do thing. See, because I have this book and you want it. See where I'm going with this?"
Anna glared but nodded anyway. "I'm listening."
"Good. I've just had a massively bad night, so your cooperation is appreciated. Rule one: You open the tomb; the only person you get out is your mother."
"I told you, I don't care about the others," Anna said defensively.
"One of my friends stabbed me in the back tonight so forgive me for not trusting you." Rebecca moved on. "Rule two: I'm there when you open the tomb to make sure you follow rule one."
"No tricks?" Anna asked, also suspicious.
"No tricks. You get in; you get your mother out. Rule three: I keep the grimoire until all this goes down so you can't do it without me." When Anna didn't respond Rebecca continued. "Rule four: If something happens and the others do get out somehow, you have to help get rid of them if they cause problems because this is something you want so they're your responsibility. And rule five: You're not going to hurt me or my family or my friends. If you do, Damon will destroy that grimoire and you'll never get that tomb open."
"Your terms are . . . acceptable. But if you betray me in any way . . ."
"I won't. No tricks, I promise."
"Can I see the grimoire?" Anna asked. "As a show of faith, I just want to make sure the spell is in there. I'll give it right back."
"It's not written in English."
"I knew Emily very well. I can read it -"
Rebecca let Damon hold the grimoire, just in case, and Anna flipped the pages. She obviously found what she wanted because she agreed to everything Rebecca had said, and left without trying to take the book.
Rebecca took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You know, I actually thought Stefan and I could be friends - even after everything, after everything he did to me and you. I was stupid. And I hate it but that's just who I am. Do you know how hard it is for me to be mean to anybody?"
"As hard as it is for me to be nice?"
"My whole life, it's been . . . it's been "Rebecca, do this, Rebecca, do that." And I've always listened; I've always let other people set the rules. I've always just gone with the flow, no matter where the flow led. And I'm done. As of tonight I'm done. I'm not gonna let people run my life anymore."
Damon didn't say it, but he thought she'd already made a good start with what she'd done with Anna. It put Rebecca in charge and it didn't compromise her moral standards.
She could leave the being mean to him.
Okay, so how did I do? I was a little confused with this one because I've never put a Stefan's POV in a chapter before, but it wouldn't make sense later without a little backstory about Alaric. And then I knew I wanted Stefan and Elena to try and destroy the grimoire because they're whole idea in the actual series was keeping the town safe. They were trying to do that here too, and I think Damon would've still reacted the same way because it was for Rebecca. He wouldn't like that Stefan had compelled his girlfriend and he wouldn't like that they had betrayed her in whatever way. In mine, though, he obviously felt a little bad for it (hence the steeling himself against Elena's tears).
So, what do you think?