Chapter Forty-Nine
Damon was not the type to apologize for being who he was. If he got mad and killed someone, so be it. He was a vampire, and it came with the territory. He wasn't going to apologize now for trashing his room. He was, however, sorry that he'd frightened Rebecca with his outburst.
He never should've acted that way in front of her, but it was what it was.
Damon was now making it his mission to get Rebecca's necklace spelled. It was obvious that Bonnie wasn't going to be any help, so he called a friend. Someone he'd known about twenty years ago. A witch named Bree; he'd met her when she'd been a freshman in college. He'd been going to college at the time, too.
He'd contacted her a day ago. She lived in Georgia, so she should arrive at any time. Rebecca was semi-excited that she was going to be able to walk in the sun again, but she was also disappointed that Bonnie wasn't going to be the one to help her.
"She's an amateur spell-caster anyway," Damon said. "She might not have been able to do it."
When Bree arrived Damon introduced her to Rebecca.
"The Rebecca?" Bree asked.
"Yup. One and only."
Rebecca took in Bree; the woman was dark skinned with curly black hair. She was tall, about six feet with the help of heels.
"What does she mean? The Rebecca?" Rebecca asked.
"Damon came to me years ago," Bree explained. "Time traveling spell. He wanted one."
"Time traveling into the future to be exact," Damon said.
"Then he broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances at happiness," Bree said.
"And yet you came running when he gave you a call?" Rebecca asked, feigning innocence.
Bree shrugged. "About twenty years ago, when I was a sweet young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love. And then he told me about his little secret . . . Made me love him even more. 'Cause, see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody. That I'm a witch." She smiled at Damon. "You changed my world, you know?"
"I rocked your world," Damon countered playfully.
"He is good in the sack, isn't he?"
This little witch had slept with Damon and she expected Rebecca to be okay with talking about it? Rebecca laughed uncomfortably. "Uh, Damon?"
"Let's not take a walk down memory lane," Damon said quickly. "There's a reason why I asked you to come. Rebecca's a vampire and she needs to walk in the sun."
"Yeah, you said." Bree looked at Rebecca now. "Where's your little trinket?"
Rebecca grabbed at the necklace around her throat. She didn't appreciate that comment about Damon being good in the sack, but Bree was willing to help her out, so . . .
"What do I have to do?" she asked. "Do I have to -"
"Just hand it over for a second."
Rebecca looked at Damon, confirming whether or not she could trust this woman. Just because Damon had slept with her didn't mean she was a good person. Speaking of . . . Damon could've warned her that an ex-flame was going to be visiting. When Damon gave her the go-ahead, she took her necklace off and handed it to Bree, who smiled.
"Okay, I have to open a curtain, so be careful," Bree warned.
Rebecca backed out of the parlor and narrowed her eyes at Damon on the way out.
"What?" he asked, following her.
"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" she quoted Bree.
"Well, I am,' Damon defended himself. "Besides that was twenty years ago. You weren't even born yet."
"That doesn't make it okay for her to come here and talk about it in front of me."
Rebecca realized that Damon had probably only slept with Bree because he'd wanted something from her, but still . . . it was the principle of the thing. People weren't supposed to bring up stuff like that to people's girlfriends.
"Look, you won't have to put up with her for long; she's only staying for the day."
As they were talking, Damon's phone rang and he looked at the ID screen. "Elena," he said. Why was she calling him?
"What?" he answered.
"Nice, Damon," Elena said. "I tried calling Stefan, but he didn't answer. I'm supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day parade. If I don't, I get the wrath of Caroline, but I wanted to check in first."
"Oh. Well, I'm doin' great. Thanks for asking," Damon said. Rebecca shook her head, smiling.
"Check in on Stefan," Elena cleared up, but she sounded amused, too.
"Oh, him? Oh, he's - he's terrible. He's back to boring, straight-laced, off-the-junk. You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality."
"Don't forget who helped me," Elena sing-songed.
"I hate myself." Damon grinned but sobered up pretty quickly. "Hey, did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?"
"No, I've still been avoiding him. Why? What's he up to?"
"I don't know, but I'd love if it you could find out for me."
Elena didn't promise anything. "I gotta go. I'm late."
"Have fun with the Mystic Queen. I know I did."
He earned a punch in the arm from Rebecca for that one.
"Ow! Why'd you do that?" he asked as he pressed 'end' on his phone.
"Stop making references to your ex-girlfriends. I'm right here."
Another phone rang; this time it was Rebecca's. The ID screen said Alaric.
"Huh. Hello?"
"Rebecca?"
"Yeah?"
"Is Damon around?"
"Yeah, he's right here. Did you want to talk to him?"
"No, he can hear. I saw Isobel last night."
"As in saw her saw her or as in you were tripping acid and saw her?"
"No, I saw her. She came up to me at the Grill." Ric sighed. "I'm getting Elena and Stefan when I see them; we're gonna meet in my classroom. Just giving you guys a heads up."
"Thanks. Uh . . . we'll be there shortly."
After hanging up, Rebecca said, "John and Isobel are working together. There's no way it's a coincidence that he showed up about two weeks ago and now here she is."
"Agreed," Damon said.
Poor Elena. What was she going to think when Ric told her what was going on? And what did Isobel want? It couldn't be anything good or Ric wouldn't have bothered calling her.
"Whatever Bree's doing to my necklace, she needs to hurry. I'm going to the school with you."
When Damon and Rebecca got back into the parlor they say Sarah there holding Chelsea - Sarah loved the little girl. Sarah was watching Bree work her magic; Rebecca was a little suspicious. Bree was just standing there looking at the necklace, which was on the floor in a beam of light coming from a slit in the curtains.
Within seconds, Bree was handing Rebecca back her necklace. "Try it," Bree said.
Once the chain was clasped securely around her neck, Rebecca went to the window and hesitantly let her hand fall into the sunlight that was being filtered in. The warmth hit her skin and was magnified because of her being a vampire, but . . . there was no pain. The spell, whatever Bree had done, had worked.
She let out a small squeal and she saw Damon smile. Her love for him surged forward; he had called Bree here for her - it didn't matter what had happened between him and the witch twenty years ago. And now . . . she could go out during the day.
"Thank you!" she said, talking to both Damon and Bree. She pretty much skipped over to Damon and caught him in a hug; he lifted her up and spun her around once.
That was when she saw Sarah, who was still holding Chelsea, look crestfallen. Rebecca's spirits fell a little. Sarah was probably wondering when she was going to be able to go out in the sun.
"Oh . . ." Rebecca looked at Damon. "We can start looking for a jewelry piece, right? It's not right, leaving her here alone all the time."
"Let's just deal with today first," Damon said. "Now that you can walk in the sun in a nice, non-painful way . . . we should head to the school."
Rebecca nodded and took Chelsea from Sarah, who still looked sad and a little jealous. Rebecca felt for her. She understood now what it felt like being cooped up; she understood it could drive one crazy if one let it.
"We will look, okay. I promise. Just let us deal with this first, okay?"
Sarah obviously recognized the honesty in Rebecca's voice because the girl brightened exponentially.
"Good girl. We'll be back when we know what's going on," she said as much for Bree's benefit as for Sarah's. "Keep yourself busy, time will go by quicker."
When Rebecca and Damon arrived at the school they just went on in. It wasn't actually a school day so they didn't need a visitors pass. They passed the cafeteria where everyone was working on plans for the float. Most of the football team were making banners promoting the team; the history department was working on a float - the theme was a reenactment of the Battle of Willow Creek. That would be easy. Soldiers and Old Fell's church. Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy were stuck working that scene; Bonnie, Caroline and Elena were working on the Miss Mystic float - Elena, however, was currently missing.
"Okay, let's reference last year's Miss Mystic float." Rebecca heard Caroline even through the din. "This is what they did last year, and it's exactly what we don't want to do."
"Ew." That was Bonnie.
"Yeah."
"Okay. So, what're we doing?"
"Southern classic elegance."
"Gone With the Wind?"
"How'd you know?" Caroline asked.
"You channel Scarlett daily," Bonnie answered.
"So true," Caroline chuckled.
Rebecca shook her head, snapping out of it, when Damon touched her arm. She'd been thinking that she wouldn't mind being a part of what they were doing. She had never really helped the town set up for the Founder's Day parade before. In fact she'd never really felt like helping the town do anything. But being on the council - even if it was just to protect Damon, and now herself - made her a little more town-conscious.
"Come on," he said. "They're probably waiting."
When they reached the class room, Chelsea in Rebecca's arms, they walked right in and shut the door behind them.
"Sorry we're late," Damon said. "Dog at my, uh . . ." He took in the unamused expressions of Ric, Elena and Stefan. Though Stefan was hardly ever amused, so . . . "Never mind."
Stefan looked worried; Elena looked shocked. After all the talk of wanting to find her birth mother, the thought of actually being able to meet her was obviously daunting.
"Did you ask about her and Uncle John?" Damon asked. "Are they working together?"
"No." Ric said.
"No, they're not?"
"No, I didn't ask," Ric said.
"What about the invention."
"Didn't ask." Ric seemed indifferent.
Rebecca got it. He'd been searching for his wife for about two years. The invention and whether or not Isobel was working with John probably weren't the first things on his mind.
"Does she know about the tomb vampires?"
"I don't know."
"Did words completely escape you?" Damon asked - more like demanded.
"I don't know. I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions!"
"What does she want?" Rebecca asked softly, defusing the situation.
"She wants to see me," Elena said, speaking for the first time. She was seated at a desk, hands clasped together on the top.
"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting," Stefan said. "We don't know why or what she wants."
"You don't have to see her if you don't want to," Damon said, looking at Elena.
"I don't really have a choice," Elena said with a small voice.
"What does that mean?" Rebecca asked. "Of course you have a choice."
"She's threatening to go on a killing spree," Ric said softly. "Starting with my history students."
"Oh . . ." Damon said shortly. "I take it that's not okay with you guys."
Rebecca really couldn't tell if he was joking or not so she hit him on this leather clad arm. "Be serious. I won't allow a killing spree in my town!"
"I wanna do it," Elena suddenly said. "If I don't, I know I'll regret it. So . . . set up the meeting."
Ric had gotten Isobel's number from her the night before, so he knew how to get in touch with her. The meeting was set up for two that afternoon. Damon and Rebecca were going to take Chelsea with them again - this time because they were meeting at the Grill, which had a small picnic area nearby; Chelsea had been kept inside just as much as Rebecca had been. It wasn't healthy.
Ric was obviously going to be there, since it was his ex-wife causing all the problems. Stefan was going to be inside with Elena, just in case Isobel got violent.
"We should be in there," Damon said. He'd been pacing for the past five minutes. Rebecca was expecting him to zoom off any second now.
"No," Ric said. "Isobel made it clear we're not to step foot inside."
"I'm not gonna kill her in a crowded restaurant."
"You're not gonna kill her, period," Ric said firmly.
"She ruined your life and you still wanna protect her?"
"She's my wife," Ric said simply.
Both Damon and Rebecca gave Ric a weird look. Neither one of them understood the loyalty Ric had to his undead wife.
"Was, then," Ric said. "Was my wife. I looked for the woman I married, but she wasn't there. Whoever that is . . . is cold and detached."
"Yeah. She's given up her humanity," Damon explained as if it were obvious.
"See, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity. He's a good guy. Hell, you're a dick and you kill people, but I still see something human in you. But with her . . . there was - there was nothing."
Up to that point Rebecca had just been listening - sort of - and watching Chelsea. The girl had been running and tripping and playing with leaves; she'd even brought some to Rebecca like they were gifts. But now . . .
"You can turn it off," she told Ric. It might not have been comforting, but it explained why Isobel was the way she was.
"It's like a button you can press," Damon added. "I mean, Stefan's different. He wants the whole human experience. He wants to feel every episode of "How I Met Your Mother" so he shuts his feelings out. The problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel. Isobel chose the easier road. No guilt, no shame, no regret. I mean, come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn't you?"
"You haven't," Ric said.
"And he won't," Rebecca said." "FYI, the day he flips the switch is the day he will no longer have me as a girlfriend."
She knew how hard it was for Damon to accept that part of himself; he liked to reject the good in himself. But she'd made a promise not to shut her humanity off, so she expected him to repay her in kind.
It wasn't long after that that they saw Isobel coming out of the Grill. Black hair, brown eyes, healthy pink lips. She hardly even glanced their way and Rebecca say the hurt play over Ric's face. Isobel had never deserved Ric anyway, not if she'd had no intention of staying with him, which she obviously hadn't.
Rebecca grabbed Ric's arm and squeezed gently. "I'm sorry."
Ric gave her a small, sad smile, but he seemed appreciative nonetheless. Rebecca didn't know what Ric was feeling. She didn't know how she would feel if she were in his shoes. To love someone so much that she'd spent the majority of the past two years searching for her only to find that she couldn't care less.
"I'm, uh . . . I'm gonna go," Ric said softly, voice thick with emotion. "Yeah . . ."
Rebecca nodded, understanding. "If you need anything . . ."
He nodded, getting it. "Thanks."
After Ric left, Damon did too. All he'd said was that he had something he needed to take care of. Rebecca figured that meant he was going to threaten or kill Isobel - or maybe both. Rebecca wanted to check on Elena, anyway, so she didn't protest him leaving.
Inside the Grill she bumped into Bonnie, who was just leaving. Bonnie stopped when their skin touched and her head snapped toward Rebecca.
Oh, God! Rebecca thought. Bonnie was a witch; she would be able to feel that Rebecca was no longer human. Why hadn't she thought of that before?
"Becca?" she whispered. "No, you're not . . . you can't be."
"Bonnie . . ." Rebecca didn't know what to say; it didn't much matter because Bonnie turned around and fled without another word.
Refusing to let that get in the way, Rebecca - with Chelsea, of course; she hadn't thought sending Chelsea with Damon when he was on a mission was a good idea - turned to look for Elena. The brunette was by the pool table with Stefan. She was upset, almost crying, and her boyfriend was comforting her.
"Elena . . ." Rebecca reached her as quickly as humanly possible. "What happened? What did she want?"
Elena told the story. Isobel knew Katherine - Katherine had sought her out once Isobel had been turned. Isobel chalked it up to genetic curiosity. Katherine had even helped Isobel get a lapis lazuli necklace so she could walk in the sun.
Rebecca wondered what Katherine had wanted in return for that gift.
Isobel wouldn't tell her who her father was; all Elena got was that he was a 'teenage waste of space'. What Elena did get was that Isobel wanted what John wanted - the Gilbert invention.
"Why? It doesn't even work," Rebecca said. "Or at least not that we can find out. And how does she even know John?"
"She said she spent a lot of time here when she was younger," Elena said. "John had a crush on her for years. He was the first one who told her about vampires."
Elena looked at Rebecca, fresh tears coming to the surface. "You have to help me get the device from Damon. She . . . she threatened to start killing people if I don't get it for her."
"Hm." Rebecca could see that Isobel was going to be a problem for Mystic Falls. "I wish we knew why she wanted it. But I'll talk to Damon."
Unless Damon was off killing Isobel as they spoke; that would take care of the problem.
Damon hadn't been killing Isobel; he'd been searching for her. He'd taught Isobel how to get around certain rules - like the invitation thing. As long as a human didn't own the house, there was no invite needed.
Isobel was staying at the edge of town, not too far from the boardinghouse, in a big white house. She wasn't there when he arrived so he let himself in. A girl with long brown hair met him at the door. Damon could tell she was heavily compelled; she didn't seem scared that a strange yet hot - if he did say so himself - man had just wandered through the door.
Her name was . . . well, he didn't care to ask, so he didn't know . . . but she poured them some wine and they began playing strip poker. She got down to her bra and panties; he got down to his pants and underwear. "Uh-oh, Cherie. You won again. Hope I'm wearing my good underwear."
That was when Isobel came home. "Tonight's just one blast from the past after another."
Damon put his shirt back on but didn't bother to button it back up, and Isobel told the girl to leave them alone so they could talk.
"It's good to see you, Isobel. Just having fun with your naughty little minion."
"Mm. What would Rebecca think?" Isobel taunted. "How'd you find me?"
"I searched through all the neighborhood bank-owned foreclosures and found the most expensive one."
"Oh, I should've known. You were the one that taught me that."
Damon ran over to Isobel, trapping her against the wall. He remembered Isobel as . . . soft, if not a little selfish. But this wasn't her, wasn't how he remembered her.
"What're you really doing here?" Her eyes were suspicious.
"Well, you caused quite a stir. You blew into town, saw everyone except for the man who made you. I'm a little hurt."
"I'm so sorry," Isobel said sarcastically. She wrapped him in a mockingly maternal embrace but then dragged his head back by gripping his hair tightly. "Did you bring the device?"
She let him go and sauntered past him. He looked at her anew. Yes, Rebecca had talked to him about the stupid device, but he wasn't giving it to anyone until he found out what it was.
"What are you doing with John Gilbert?"
"We dated a few times when we were young. He was a little bit in love with me."
"I'm sure. One of the many. Now, this little invention . . . what do you want with it?"
"Oh, me personally? I don't want anything with it, I'm just doing what I'm told."
"Well, who's giving the orders?"
"Katherine," she said coyly. "She wants John Gilbert to have the device. And I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants."
"Why're you doing her dirty work?"
"Don't kill the messenger. We both know that you can't control Katherine." Isobel shrugged. "She does what she wants."
"Pfft. So do I," Damon said, moving forward.
"Oh, really, Damon? You do?"
Isobel tried to hit him but he caught her arm easily and yanked her forward. There were maybe two inches between his body and hers. Isobel was breathless.
"What should we do now?" Her mouth slid over his and Damon forced himself not to recoil; he had a reason for doing this, he reminded himself. "Oh, yeah, memory serves."
She shoved him onto the couch and straddled him, and when Damon sensed her guard go down he shoved her onto the floor and wrapped a hand around her throat.
"Now that I have your attention, listen up. You do not come into my town and threaten the people I care about. You leave them alone of I'll rip you to bits because I do believe in killing the messenger. You know why?" Damon leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Because it sends a message."
Damon knew Isobel was getting everything loud and clear, but to make sure, he lifted her head to jostle her a bit and shoved her back down. She cried out a little in shock.
"If Katherine wants something from me, you tell that little bitch to come get it herself."
On the way to the boardinghouse, Damon thought back to what Isobel had told him. From the Watcher's journals, Rebecca had found out that Katherine hadn't had a child. Obviously . . . obviously, the journals were wrong or Elena wouldn't have been born. Elena was Isobel's daughter, which meant Isobel was related to Katherine in some way.
Isobel had grown up near Mystic Falls and had met John and had ended up giving birth under the care of John's brother. Damon was sure that wasn't a coincidence; he entertained the notion that John was Elena's biological father. It stood to reason that that was the reason John and Isobel were still working together.
When he got home Elena and Rebecca were on the porch with Stefan. Chelsea was playing in the front yard. Rebecca didn't look too happy being there with Stefan, and she probably wouldn't have been had Elena not been there. She was there because of what Elena had been through that day.
When he reached Rebecca, he grabbed her hand and leaned in close to whisper, "Come with me for a minute."
Rebecca nodded. "Okay. Uh, Elena . . . watch Chelsea?"
"Sure."
When Rebecca and Damon got upstairs she hugged him a little but then stepped away from him. "Why do you smell like . . . perfume? And cheap perfume at that."
"Isobel," Damon answered, treading lightly. "I went to get some information from her."
"And did you?"
Damon told her everything he'd found out, glossing over the small make out session he'd allowed Isobel to get away with.
"Is she still alive?"
"I didn't kill her, I just . . . delivered a message."
"Oh . . . Okay. Um . . . do you need me to stay here tonight? I was gonna go with Elena, help her deal."
"I need you here every night," Damon said, grinning. "But I'll survive if you must leave."
Damon was being purposefully over-dramatic.; he even put his hand over his heart as if he were in pain. Rebecca giggled.
"You can be such a goofball sometimes." She kissed him briefly. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Rebecca got her stuff together and asked Damon if he wanted to watch Chelsea or if he wanted her to take Chelsea with her.
"You take her; I have something I have to do."
"What do you have to do?"
Damon shook his head. "I'll tell you tomorrow."
Rebecca agreed easily and went about getting everything else together that she would need for the night. She was kind of dreading spending the night with Elena because - well . . . all Elena was going to do was cry about how much of a disappointment Isobel was. But . . . Elena needed someone that wasn't Stefan; she needed a girl.
Bonnie was having her own problems that she needed to deal with; Caroline was oblivious about everything - she didn't even know yet that Elena was adopted; Jenna was in the dark about Isobel - no one could tell her about Isobel without telling her about vampires because as far as Jena was concerned Isobel had been killed.
So that left Rebecca. She could be a shoulder to cry on for one night. She just hoped Elena wouldn't be too weepy; Rebecca could only put up with so much.
Unknown to Rebecca, Damon was also being a shoulder to cry on - metaphorically speaking anyway. He'd gone to the Grill because he'd known Ric would be there. After Isobel coming back into his life, Ric probably needed more than a few drinks. So when he saw the teacher at the bar it didn't surprise him.
He sauntered over and plopped down on a stool, beside Ric.
"Did you know Isobel used to date John?" Damon didn't give Ric time to answer. "Yup. And now here they are working together. Don't you think that's odd?"
"That they're working together of that she dated that idiot?"
"That they're working together, obviously." Damon pretended to be thinking. "Now, what could be their common interest in this, hm?"
Even though Ric reeked of alcohol he still made the connection.
"Elena."
Okay, so . . . I know the show couldn't put a lot of scenes in about Damon and Ric, but I LOVE their friendship. I wish the show would have built it up more, shown Damon and Ric being there for each other like friends are supposed to be, but the show didn't because it's not about a friendship between two guys, it's about a love triangle between a teenage girl and two vampires. But, this is my story and I'm fleshing out the start of their friendship and I hope you guys don't mind. I love writing Ric and Damon scenes. Their friendship was fun - sort of, from an outsider's perspective, anyway.