Chapter Fifty-One
The next day Rebecca told Damon about Anna and Pearl, and they came to the conclusion that John had been the one to kill her. As far as they knew, no one else had known about Pearl being a vampire. Not the rest of the Council, not any civilians aside from Ric, and he hadn't said anything about going after Pearl.
"So what did Liz want?" Rebecca asked. "Yesterday when you had the meeting."
"People have been going missing again. This time it's downtown near the old abandoned theater. Liz wants us to check it out. Do a little reconnaissance."
"We should take Ric along. With Isobel having appeared out of nowhere . . . he might need a distraction - or at the very least some kind of release."
"Oh, like the fun kind you and I share on an almost daily basis?" Damon teased, and she blushed. "Doesn't he have Jenna for that?"
"No, he doesn't have Jenna for that! They're not together-together; they just . . . wanna be."
"Well, what he waiting for? The grass to grow?" Damon asked incredulously.
"Ric's a shy sort of guy, I think, when it comes to Jenna."
When Damon and Rebecca showed up at Ric's apartment door neither of them could get in, but Ric was home and they had a short conversation that led to Ric grabbing a bag of weapons and following them out.
When they got to the theater - it was actually the original structure - they got in relatively easily. What locks there had been were broken, and even if they hadn't been, Rebecca would have had no qualms about breaking in. It wasn't like it was a house.
They had the right place, it seemed, if the glassy-eyed corpses were anything to go by. The bodies were placed in seats randomly throughout the room.
The building had hosted musicals and plays up until about ten years ago, then the local officials had decided to transform the town square into a sort of outside theater. Four or five times a year a stage would be set up or a projector and screen would be brought in, and people would take off and picnic on the grass for community time.
"You do realize this is a trap . . ." Ric spoke up from behind Rebecca and Damon. Rebecca had made a stipulation; she and Damon had to go in first because they were less vulnerable than he was, even if he did have on his come-back-to-life ring.
The dark theater, the bodies set up in a grotesque manner . . . Yeah, definitely a trap.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Come on, Ric. Give us some credit, please. I've been around long enough to smell a set-up from a mile away."
"Right."
"Guys, focus," Rebecca said. "There are at least four of them in the balcony above."
Ric seemed ready for anything and Rebecca's eyes strayed to his nifty ring. It was a relief knowing he could get hurt and still be fine. Ric handed Damon and Rebecca each a wooden stake.
"Remind me why I decided to come with you," Ric said.
"People going missing, people dying, we asked you," Damon said. "And you have no social life."
Rebecca shook her head and sent a half-smile in Ric's direction. The history teacher didn't look majorly offended in any way. He seemed to understand that, as Damon's friend, he had to learn to put up with the teasing. Nine times our of ten, if Damon was going to tease Ric, it would be about his occupation - teaching wasn't exactly the best way to make friends.
Well, whatever job Ric had, he was still a friend, and Rebecca cared about him enough to not let him get hurt if it could be helped. Which was why she pushed Ric down as a vampire - more than one vampire, actually - came down from the balcony; Ric ended up in one of the seats and on top of a body. Thank God he wasn't squeamish.
The vampire she'd saved Ric from had basically landed on Rebecca's stake. She heard Damon scoff; the second the stake had pierced the vampire's heart he had mummified.
Two more vampires jumped down, and one of them had grabbed Rebecca by the shirt. The first two buttons at her neck popped and then she moved enough to get out of his grasp. She launched a kick at the vampires jaw and his head snapped back hard. Then she kicked him again. The other one Damon had grabbed, but Rebecca couldn't focus on that because the one who she had kicked was coming back again. He was snarling.
She drove the stake up through the vampire's ribs and into the heart. She watched him fall to the ground, dead and mummified.
Another vampire had gotten to Ric, and the hunter was cracking the vampire over the head with his fist. For a human that was thirty-something, Ric could handle himself pretty well. He staked the vampire easily.
All would've been well, but another vampire raced to Ric and tackled him to the ground.
"Ric!" Something bad could happen to him, and she cared about him. He was like a brother or an uncle or something like that. She felt close to him - he'd helped save her life over and over again, so how could she not?
Luckily, Damon had been paying more attention. Not that Ric seemed to need help; he'd been fast enough to turn the stake in his hands so he could kill the vampire.
With all the vampires that had been on the balcony having been killed, Rebecca stood still and focused a little. There were more vampires in the building.
"We're not alone," she told Damon and Ric.
"There are more?" Ric asked, and Rebecca nodded.
The three moved deeper into the theater, farther down the dark aisles.
"God, the smell," Rebecca complained.
The people that were dead had had their throats ripped out; that had been why they'd died. When Rebecca, Damon, and Ric reached the stage, the red theater curtains were drawn back. And then they saw more vampires and more bodies, only these people weren't dead. They were awake and terrified.
"My God," Ric said.
Rebecca didn't say anything, but she was fairly certain God didn't have anything to do with what was happening. Rebecca was assuming there were more vampires backstage, but she didn't know how many. Right now she was more worried about the humans. They needed help.
"You rescue, I'll distract," Damon said to Rebecca and Ric.
Damon ended up on the right side of the stage and he knew there were at least six vampires, but since they weren't attacking him he left them alone. That was until he was attacked from both sides - one male, one female.
They were easy enough to take out, but three more were coming his way. At least they weren't going after Rebecca or Ric. Whether they killed all the vampires or the vampire ran away, they would have serious damage control with the victims. Serious compulsion would be needed. He would be able to teach Rebecca how to compel people now.
It happened very fast then. One second it was three against one and then it was three against two. Rebecca had done some cool gymnastics move that resembled a somersault and had landed on the stage. If Damon hadn't been fighting for his life, he might've stopped to watch. Damon vaguely wondered where Ric had gone off to, but couldn't ask yet. He didn't want to distract Rebecca, who was kicking a vampire in the face.
Rebecca had drawn more vampires to her and Damon; she'd told Ric to guard the humans, which was what he was doing right then.
She saw a vampire - a big football player one - dive for Damon, who sidestepped and brought his knee up to connect with the guys' stomach. Damon then proceeded to force his hand through the vampire's chest. When he moved his arm back there was a heart in the palm of his hand.
"Ew," Rebecca said, momentarily distracted.
Which wasn't good because someone wrapped their hand around her throat and lifted her into the air, throwing her toward Damon, who caught her before she hit the ground.
"Nice save," she said, straightening herself up. Now she had a bloodstain on her shirt and it was very prominent. Her shirt was white, too.
As soon as Rebecca had righted herself, Damon went after the vampire who had dared lay a hand on Rebecca. But the vampires - all the ones left - were quickly vacating the premises.
"Ric!" Rebecca said, going toward center stage where the people were.
"Wait," Damon said, grabbing her wrist. "This feels like another trap. Why would the people be on the stage unless someone wanted us to see this?"
Rebecca had to admit she hadn't thought of that, but it was true . . . To place the victims in center stage . . . someone was making a spectacle.
Rebecca looked from Damon to the people Ric was now helping. She shrugged a little and began walking toward center stage. If this was a trap, they wouldn't know until they walked into it; then they could take care of it if someone popped out.
After a few minutes they were sure that they were safe from whatever trap had been set - if there had been one to begin with. No one was there to see it through. Maybe it had been a coincidence, having the victims on stage.
As Rebecca and Damon compelled the people to forget what they'd been through and to only remember being bitten by an animal - it would work because the vampires who had taken these people could've done it themselves. The problem was that compelling people took energy; expending energy for vampires wasn't much different than it was for humans - once the energy was used, one would need to replenish it. That meant Rebecca needed to feed soon.
"Damon . . ."
All the people here - there were five - were bleeding and the scent of the red liquid was invading her senses. She wanted it, and it would be so easy . . .
"Ric, get her out of here," Damon said and the teacher didn't hesitate.
Rebecca let Ric lead her off the stage and up the aisle toward the exit. Once outside, Rebecca took a deep breath of blood-free air.
"You okay?" Ric asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." She took another deep breath. "Take me home? Damon's gonna be here a while; he has to wait for Liz anyway."
"Sure. Come on."
The second Ric and Rebecca had gotten to the boardinghouse Rebecca knew something was wrong. It was too quiet. Rebecca had left Chelsea with Sarah - the young vampire was good with Chelsea. But Rebecca didn't hear anything coming from inside. No heartbeats, nothing.
"Sarah?" Rebecca called as she ran in, leaving Ric standing outside. "Stefan? Chelsea?"
She checked the basement in case Sarah had gone down for blood, but she wasn't there.
"Sarah!"
Back upstairs, she found Ric standing there with his phone out. She could hear Damon's voice on the other end.
"I'm checking the rooms upstairs. You check down here," she said as she used her speed to get upstairs.
Rebecca's heart was beating triple time. Where was her sister? And where was Sarah? Or Stefan?
Chelsea's room hadn't been touched and no one was there, so she went to Sarah's. She found out why there hadn't been any noise. Sarah was there on her bed, a stake through her heart. The girl was dead. The only thing Rebecca could think about then was that . . . Chelsea was gone. Chelsea was gone and Rebecca couldn't find out what happened because Sarah was dead.
The pain and fear she felt right then was crippling. She actually fell to her knees. Chelsea was . . . Rebecca didn't know where Chelsea was.
And suddenly she knew . . . the fight at the theater and the people. . . . it hadn't been a trap; it had been bait. Whoever had Chelsea now had known she and Damon would check it out. They had waited and had stolen Chelsea the first chance they'd had.
Rebecca's worst fear was coming to life. She had to find her sister, but she had no clue where to start. She needed Damon; he would know what to do.
She was brought out of her fear-induced state by a sudden crack and thud. It had come from downstairs. Ric . . . what had he done?
She slowly made her way down the stairs, calling his name on the way. There he was, in the parlor, on the floor, dead. A glance at his hand assured her that Ric would come back to life. She was assuming someone supernatural had killed Ric because it would've taken a lot for a normal person to get the drop on the hunter.
She heard a creak come from behind her and then there was a small sting in her back. It grew to a serious burning sensation running through her veins. Vervain; she'd been dosed with vervain.
That was all she knew as her world turned to darkness.
"Ric?" Damon's voice called again. He'd been talking to his hunter friend when he'd heard something snap and then it sounded like Ric had dropped the phone.
He'd gotten the gist of the story. Rebecca thought Chelsea was missing or had been taken. Damon hadn't wanted to jump to conclusions, but Rebecca wasn't the type to unduly freak out. If she thought someone had taken Chelsea, she probably had a reason to think that.
Which was why he'd excused himself from Liz's presence and was now on his way home.
Ric was just waking up when Damon stepped into the house. The teacher seemed sore but otherwise fine.
"You okay?" Damon asked, just to be sure.
"Yeah," he said, massaging his neck. "I think he snapped my neck."
"He who?" Damon asked. "Where's Rebecca?"
Ric shook his head. "Chase was here. I think he took her."
Chase . . . God, Damon had thought he'd left. Nobody had heard from him since the night of the kickoff party. And this couldn't be happening.
Damon had just gotten her back. First she'd been tortured by the tomb vampires and then Stefan had killed her. Damon had almost lost her too many times; it couldn't be happening again.
"Damon, I'll help you find her," Ric said, putting a hand on Damon's shoulder. "Just tell me what you want me to do."
Damon looked at Ric, a new respect in his eyes. Ric had just died and yet here he was offering to help. Maybe he could trust Ric after all.
"Go to Elena's. Stefan's not here, so that's where he'll be. Elena or Jeremy has a compass that will lead you to vampires. I can't use it because I interfere with the signal, but -"
"I'm human, so I won't. Got it."
Damon was halfway to the door before he turned back around and said. "Ric . . . Thanks.
Ric, still massaging his neck, shrugged sheepishly and said, "You're welcome."
Rebecca awoke to someone kissing her neck and massaging her breasts. Her shirt was open and her bra had been torn off.
"Damon . . ."
That was the logical conclusion; she didn't allow anyone else to touch her this way. She continued to believe that until the hand caressing her breasts turned rough. Whoever it was, had squeezed hard. That hurt made all her other nerve endings come alive. The vervain had worked its way through her system and she felt as if she were on fire.
"I'm not Damon," the voice said. "But you can pretend if you like."
Her eyes snapped open. She knew that voice. Chase.
Her body jerked away from his touch when she realized who he was with, who she'd allowed, however unwittingly, to touch her so intimately.
"You . . ." She grabbed her head as dizziness struck her. "Where's Chelsea?"
"Safe. Not here."
Chase reached out and touched her leg, her thigh, and Rebecca realized Chase had removed her jeans. She clenched her jaw. What was he playing at?
She moved away again, but he followed her. She closed her shirt and began buttoning it up.
"What do you want? Aside from the obvious."
"I'll make it clear. Chelsea is safe because I allow her to be safe. How long she stays safe is up to you."
Without thinking, Rebecca reached up to smack him. He caught her hand with ease.
Damn the vervain! she thought.
Chase squeezed harder than necessary and she cried out.
"Don't do that again."
He reached down and parted her legs and she let out a small hiss.
This would not happen. She knew Damon would be looking for her right this instant. All she had to do was wait.
"This isn't happening," she said, tugging away, and he allowed her to go free. "Not with you, not ever. What was with the stunt at the theater? All those people who died . . . why?"
"I had to get your attention somehow," he said shrugging.
"And Sarah? She was you sister, and you killed her."
Chase shrugged again. "I never cared about her; you know that."
"You don't care about anything, Chase. You don't even care about me, you just want me."
Then it struck her that she was completely vulnerable, and with the worst person. Chase could do whatever he wanted and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
When Ric had gotten to Elena's he had called Damon right away. Damon had had a short conversation with Ric, telling him to check the south side of town while Damon would take the north. Then Stefan had gotten on the line.
"Damon, let me help. And stop whatever you're doing. Calm down."
"I am calm!" Damon snapped, proving he wasn't calm at all. "Why?"
"You remember what Bonnie's Grams said? You and Becca are connected. You could feel her better when she was human because it's supposed to be a vampire/human relationship, but then Bonnie said the bond was unbreakable, remember?"
It clicked instantly. The connection was still there. He just had to find it. And then he could find Rebecca easily.
"Okay, Stefan, you and Ric find Chelsea. Ask Jeremy to call Anna, get her to help. Check everywhere. I'll call if I find Becca. You do the same if -"
Damon's voice wouldn't work because he . . . he was in a very bad position. Rebecca had been taken by Chase, the abusive, controlling ex-boyfriend. That aspect of his personality would've been magnified. And Chelsea . . . she had to be alive. Chase had no leverage if Chelsea wasn't alive. And this - Chase using Chelsea - had been what Rebecca had warned him about when she'd brought up sending Chelsea away. They hadn't been able to keep the little girl safe; they might have to give the girl up, against his better judgment.
"Damon?" his brother said hesitantly. "We know they're both alive. Just find Rebecca. No matter what's happening to her right now . . . she'll be fine once you find her."
"Yeah. I'll . . . take care of it. Find Chelsea."
Meanwhile, Rebecca had moved from the room she'd woken up in. She'd gone down a spiraling staircase and had found she recognized the room she was now in.
"Isobel's house . . . She left."
"Yup. Now I'm living here." Chase shrugged. "I like it here."
Rebecca shivered. The vervain was still in her system and she was jittery from the effect of the dosage Chase had given her. But she didn't want him to know how bad she felt.
"Does John know about this?"
"Yup. You're a vampire now. He really doesn't care what happens to you."
"My becoming a vampire was an accident, Chase. How did you become a vampire?"
"I met someone who was very interested in you. She wanted you out of the picture. I offered to take care of that for her. But since you're a Slayer, I needed all the help I could get. Hence, my being turned."
"Who is she?" Rebecca felt like she already knew the answer, but she wanted to be sure.
"Katherine, of course," Chase said, green eyes sparkling with amusement. "Between you and me, she's a bit afraid of you. She's the one who's organized all these attacks against you. I think she was scared to face you on her own."
Chase stepped toward her. "Though I don't think you're that dangerous. Actually . . . right now you seem kind of weak and kitten-y to me."
Rebecca didn't step away from him. She wouldn't show him how scared he was making her feel. Only when she could feel the heat from his skin did she move away.
"Scared and defenseless and alone. Damon's not here to help you now."
Rebecca's predator instincts suddenly kicked in and she launched herself at him. She felt her face change and her canines elongate, and then she was sinking her teeth into his neck, much like she had done with Stefan. This was a defensive action; it was nothing like the intimate bites she and Damon shared.
Chase's blood wouldn't do much in the way of satisfying her hunger, but it would give her strength enough to get away. What she hadn't counted on was the fact that Chase grabbed her when she began biting him.
She felt his hands go up her shirt, but she wasn't worried about that. As he was feeling she was feeding. She continued drinking and Chase's hands fell from her once she'd taken enough.
"Vampire blood works too," she said as she pulled away.
She grabbed Chase's head and twisted until his neck snapped. And despite the fact that she was in her shirt and underwear . . . she ran. She knew she probably should've found something to kill Chase with, but she just wanted to be away from him. After finding out what he had wanted . . . she had no desire to be anywhere near Chase. She made it out the front door and into the woods.
What she didn't know was that Damon had been tracking her for the past thirty minutes. So when she ran straight into him she let out a small scream. A hand was placed over her mouth and an arm wrapped around her waist.
"Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. You're okay."
"Damon," her voice was muffled. "Oh, God!"
Damon felt her body go limp in his arms, but she hadn't passed out; he knew it was from exhaustion and stress and then relief. Then Damon realized Rebecca was almost bare. What had Chase been doing to her? And how had she gotten out?
"Becca, listen to me. Everything's gonna be okay, but you have to tell me where he is. He won't have the chance to do this again!"
"Isobel . . . he's where Isobel was." Rebecca grabbed his arms and squeezed. "Damon, you have to find out where Chelsea is, so you can't kill him yet."
"Don't worry, we'll find Chelsea. I'll take care of it." Damon handed her his phone. "Call Stefan. He'll want to know you're okay. He and Ric are looking for Chelsea. Find out what they know."
"Well, wait, I'm coming with you."
"Becca, no. You need to go home, feed, and help find Chelsea."
Rebecca nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to leave Damon so soon after getting back to him, but . . . she did need to feed and she wanted to help find Chelsea. While Damon did what he had to do to find Chelsea, Rebecca was going to search everywhere.
Okay so . . . here's one of Rebecca's worst fears come to life. They're using Chelsea against her. And the plot thickens. Katherine has been in on everything that has happened to Rebecca pretty much.