Disclaimer: Refer to the first chapter please :)
The Last Day
Stupid.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
It was extremely rare for Damon to insult himself, let alone curse himself out multiple times in the same hour, but it was a special circumstance. He went to bed fuming, tired of everything and everyone and wishing and hoping that everyone turned up dead so he could get the hell out of dodge and move on with his life. However, the moment his eyes lifted from his sleep, calming him down from the anger he had felt the previous night, he realized what a big, gigantic, stupid mess he'd made of himself. He would never admit this fault to anyone, of course, but he knew it was wrong of him to have done everything he did the moment that Christopher sauntered into the study as if he held the world at his fingertips. Of course, Christopher Fell was still a gigantic prick, but that didn't change the fact that Damon knew what he should have done and ignored it anyways, which caused it all to roll downhill from there. First with Elijah, then with Andie, and finally with Claire.
"Tonight is the full moon," Damon heard coming from downstairs, recognizing the voice as Elijah's. "We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse."
As soon as Damon heard the word 'curse', he realized that he better be downstairs to hear what the noble son of a bitch had to say. Just because he knew what he did was wrong didn't mean that he had to trust Elijah at all. Quickly, he dressed for the day and left his room, moving down the hallway all the way until he reached Claire's room, which was shut. With a heavy sigh, Damon raised his fist and knocked, waiting impatiently for her to answer the door. Only a few seconds passed before Damon heard someone catch his attention from down the hallway.
"She's not there." Damon turned and noticed Christopher, a sour and unimpressed expression resting on his face, as he looked to the door and looked back at Damon. "I tried already."
Without anything more to say, the vampire simply went down the stairs, showing no signs of remorse or plans of leaving. Bitterly, Damon turned back to Claire's door and knocked again, damned if he would take advice from his girlfriend's ex-husband who just spilled her deepest, darkest secret to the one person that mattered more to her than anyone else. The likelihood of it was that she knew it was Christopher and refused to answer the door.
"Claire," Damon called through the door. "Claire, open the door. It's me." No response.
Sighing, he twisted the knob, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn't. Confused, he pushed it open and observed the room. It seemed colder than it should have with a bed that looked like it hadn't been slept in. At first, Damon assumed the worst, panicking for a split second before he realized that maybe, just maybe, she was already downstairs for the morning. Deciding not to assume anything for the moment, he turned and walked down the stairs, entering the study where Elijah, Amelia, Stefan, Elena and Christopher were all congregated in, listening to the Original speak his peace. Christopher was behind the couch pouring himself an early glass of alcohol while Stefan, Elena, and Amelia were all sitting on the couch, listening intently.
"Elena said that the Sun and the Moon curse is fake?" Stefan asked disbelievingly. "That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus?"
"Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting," the nobleman explained. "But if he breaks it, he'll be a true hybrid."
"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" Damon piped as he strolled into the study and faced his friends. "We can kill him today. With Bonnie."
"Damon..." Stefan began.
"No," Elena interrupted him, looking up at Damon with evil eyes. "Bonnie can't use that much power without dying!"
"I'll write her a great eulogy!"
"It's not an option, Damon."
"Okay, hold on, hold on. Wait a minute." Amelia lifted herself from the couch, interrupting Damon and Elena's stare down as she looked at Elijah with a sigh. "Let's get the details hashed out, shall we? How, exactly, is this curse broken? What are the steps?"
"Well, the ritual itself is relatively straightforward," Elijah started. "The ingredients, so to speak, you already know."
"The moonstone," Stefan filled in.
"A witch will channel the power of the full moon to release the spell that's bound within the stone. After that, Klaus, being both werewolf and vampire, will sacrifice one of each."
Christopher swallowed the hard liquor and looked up. "And using Claire's blood would ultimately make him stronger than any vampire in the entire world for the rest of eternity, right?"
Elijah hesitated, but after a while, he took in a deep breath and stated, "King blood is preferred in most spells. It strengthens the binding and makes it virtually impossible to break. No one knows why or how their blood was made so special, but it was. My family and I were turned into vampires using King blood and therefore, yes, we are stronger than the average vampire. Klaus using Clarissa as his vampire sacrifice, ultimately draining all the blood in her body, would not only strengthen him but also strengthen the spell. It would become irreversible...indestructible. As will he."
"And where do I fit into it?" Elena asked, raising her eyebrows.
"The final part of the ritual." Elijah walked over to a shelf in the study and grabbed an old box that he had procured for himself and brought along with him. "Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelgänger to the point of your death."
The entire room went painstakingly silent among the harsh words, but Elena held herself high and exhaled roughly. "And that's where you come in."
"This is an elixir that I acquired some five hundred years ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation," Elijah explained as he reached into the box in his hand and pulled out a dusty bottle of this elixir he mentioned. Elena leaned forward.
"So I'll be dead..."
"And then you won't."
"That's the plan?" Damon scoffed. "A magical witch potion with no expiration date?" He looked over at Elena. "You want to come back to life? W-What about John's ring?"
"Those rings only work on humans," Elijah interjected. "The doppelgänger is a supernatural occurrence. Odds are, the ring won't work."
"Well, I'll take those odds over your elixir." Damon rolled his eyes before looking back at the doppelgänger, contemplating the situation at her own spot on the couch. He sighed. "What if it doesn't work, Elena?"
She caught his eyes. "Then I guess I'll just be dead."
Damon looked around the room, waiting for someone to object to Elena's uncertain statement, but no one did. Frustrated, Damon threw his hands up.
"Whatever! You wanna kill yourself, Elena, be my guest. Not my problem. You know what is? Claire. Where the hell is she, anyways?" The older Salvatore looked pointedly at his brother, who realized Damon was talking to him and knotted his eyebrows with a shrug.
"I don't know...getting changed? Maybe she's still sleeping, I'll go wake her up." Stefan lifted himself from the couch to go upstairs, but Christopher set down his glass wearily and shook his head.
"She's not in there," he told Stefan, who looked back with an increasingly worried look on his face. Amelia watched Damon, Stefan, and Christopher and widened her eyes.
"Well, where the hell is my sister?"
"She went out last night," Elena blurted out, causing everyone to look over at her and wait for the human to elaborate. "She was, uh, she was upset. Stormed downstairs, grabbed her jacket, and took off. I thought she would come home later, I-I didn't know."
Damon sighed. "Yeah, we fought." He turned to Elijah. "Did you have something to do with this?"
Elijah cocked an eyebrow at the Salvatore. "Me? What would I have to do with Clarissa's disappearance?"
"You're the one talking about all this mumbo-jumbo with hiding her before the ritual so Klaus will have no choice!" he boomed. "Maybe you suggested she take off, leave everyone behind so we wouldn't know where she was!"
The Original turned to Damon with a sour frown. "I had suggested we hide her, yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of a local safehouse where she could remain in our sight so there would be assurance she wouldn't be used to break Klaus's curse, Damon. It's too dangerous for her to have fled out into the open."
"Well then where is she? Can you tell me that?" Damon challenged. Elijah didn't answer, and therefore, Elena slowly stood up to look at her ally.
"Elijah, if you know something..."
"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for a thousand years, Elena." The Original looked around at all the vampires and the human in the room with hard eyes. He shook his head tightly and looked down at the floor. "My guess is he already has her. It's over. Clarissa will be dead by the end of the night."
Matt picked up the bucket of half-eaten fries on his table, right about ready to clear it and clean it for the next customer when he looked up and nearly jumped out of his shoes. Caroline stood unexpectedly in front of him, a smile on her face as he recoiled from the scare.
"Jeez!" Matt scolded.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." She laughed. Matt sighed.
"It's okay, I just...didn't know you were here."
"Yeah, I wanted to try to catch you on your break so we could hang out," Caroline admitted, stepping forward with a smile. He shrugged.
"I...have lunch in an hour."
"Perfect! I will go run some errands and I will be right back," she told him as he leaned forward and he dipped down to kiss her. She bounced on her toes before pulling away. "See you in a bit."
"Okay." He watched Caroline walk away, but before she could get more than a few steps in, Matt called her back. "Uh, hey, Care?"
The blonde turned around hearing her nickname and walked back up to him with a shrug. "Yeah?"
Matt tried to form the words so they didn't sound so skeptical, so well-thought. He knew he couldn't let Caroline know he knew what she was, what the Salvatores were, what the King sisters were, either. He knew he couldn't give her any clue that would suggest he knew about vampires, that she hadn't really compelled him before. So he tried to phrase his next words as if he were that dumb human who didn't know his left foot from his right.
"Claire King was in here last night," he began, distracting himself by setting down the empty plates he had in his hands. Caroline waited for him to continue. "She was pretty drunk."
Caroline snorted. "That's Claire for you. But trust me, it's no harm. She has a...pretty high tolerance for alcohol. Wait, why were you here last night? I thought you got off work at three."
"I did. I left my jacket," Matt explained. She nodded, following along. "But when I came back to get it, she was at the bar talking to this guy and...I don't know, I've never seen him before. She was really drunk, though, and his friend took her outside. I just wanted to make sure she got home safe, that's all."
Now, that wasn't the whole story. He'd seen Claire talking to some guy beside her, a guy that he had never seen before. That part was all true. But what he neglected to mention was the small vile of yellow liquid he saw the friend slip into Claire's drink before she took a sip and started stumbling all over the place. He just hoped Caroline would know what to do with the sketchy information he explained to her, especially since vampires couldn't get 'really drunk' like he had tried to reason. He knew Caroline had caught on, even if she wasn't on the same page, once he had ended his statement and she realized that something was wrong. Her eyes went slightly wide and she nodded.
"Um, you know what, I'll just go stop by the boarding house and see if she's okay. I'll...um, I'll text you, okay?"
"Okay," Matt agreed. "Bye."
"Bye," Caroline rushed out before hurriedly leaving the Grill, letting Matt watch her as she left.
"Damon, take it easy!" Stefan shouted as he followed his brother outside, who was pacing like a madmen, gripping his hair in frustration with eyes wild and crazy.
"I knew I shouldn't have let her leave!" Damon growled to himself. "Stupid! So stupid!"
"Damon, we'll find her," Stefan tried, pulling himself to a stop in front of Damon, who was pacing rapidly back and forth while tapping his fingers to his leg. Beside him, Stefan felt Amelia rush up and shake her head.
"Christopher and I checked every inch of this property. She's not here, Stefan! She's not here."
"You're not helping," Stefan hissed at her. Amelia sighed and looked over at Damon, who was erratic. Stepping up to him, she clasped her hands down on his shoulders and looked into Damon's wild blue eyes.
"Stay. Calm!" Amelia yelled in his face, only causing Damon to frown and shove her hands off of his shoulders. Willingly, she conceded realizing that he had stopped pacing and panicking, so she stepped back to Stefan's side and shook her head. "What do we do now? Elijah's right, Klaus took her if she stepped out of this house."
"Or she ran," Stefan suggested optimistically. Damon scoffed.
"Oh, quit kidding yourself, Stefan! You're the one who convinced me the last time she got kidnapped that she would never run from us."
"She knew she has no chance of surviving Klaus if he captured her and used her for the ritual, Elijah made that clear. Maybe...maybe she did run, you know? Maybe she realized it would be best that she didn't tell us, that she just left and came back when it was all over so we wouldn't have to worry about her." Stefan looked at his girlfriend and his brother, trying desperately to make sense of the situation, but they both knew what he was spewing was bullshit. It took nearly a minute before Stefan swallowed thickly and began, "She didn't run, did she?"
"She wouldn't," Amelia whispered. Though it was meant to be assuring, it wasn't.
"I'm going to find her," Damon muttered under his breath, thinking to himself. "She's...she's got to be somewhere close. Somewhere I can get to in time—"
As Damon moved forward with his plan, about ready to go inside and grab his jacket, both Amelia and Stefan blocked him from going inside. Stefan shoved his brother back and shook his head.
"Damon, you try going after her and Klaus will kill you!"
"I don't care, Stefan!" Damon barked. "I'm done worrying about Elena and her martyr mission. I'm done listening to her. I'm getting Bonnie, we're killing Klaus, and this sacrifice is not going to happen. End of discussion."
"You can't do that! Damon!" Stefan forcefully grabbed Damon's arm and prevented him from entering the house. Damon spun around with fuming eyes. "Elena's made her decision. She refuses to let Bonnie die."
"I'm surrounded by idiots!" Damon stepped forward into Stefan's space. "You really think this is gonna go off without a hitch? That your ex-girlfriend in there is gonna survive because of some mysterious magical witch cure? No! And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let Claire go down with her, Stefan."
"No. No!" Once again, Stefan grabbed his brother as Damon tried to go inside, clamping down on Damon's shoulders and securing him in place. Damon tried to fight, but Stefan held his head straight and looked right into his brother's hurt eyes. "Hey! Look at me. I get it. You love her, Damon, I get it. I love her, too. She's my best friend and I don't want her to die. I don't want Elena to die, either. But if we do anything to stop this thing, we will end up dead, okay? All of us. Not just Claire and Elena...all of us. What good will we be then, huh?"
"And what do you suggest we do, then?" Damon spat. "Sit around like spectators at a football game? I'm not going to sit around and watch her die, Stefan, I won't do it. You might be willing to, but I'm not."
"She's not going to die!" Stefan assured, raising his voice slightly. Damon waited for him to elaborate, but instead, Stefan released him and turned around at Amelia, who was watching the two brothers with intent while they discussed her sister's fate. "Amelia, find Christopher and start researching. Tear every single book in this house off the shelves and start looking for a way to save her. Go through the Gilbert journals, too. We're not gonna let her die."
Amelia nodded carefully and walked past the two to go inside, where she did what she was asked to by Stefan. When she was gone, Stefan turned to Damon and studied his brother carefully, realizing that Damon was deciding whether to defy him or whether to trust him. All Stefan cared about was the fact that his brother didn't turn up dead before the night was over.
"Elena trusts Elijah," Damon said underneath his breath, looking down at the floor with narrowed eyes before meeting his brother's glance. "And even he said there was no way to bring her back if she's used in that ritual tonight."
Stefan held his breath, afraid that what would come out would scare them both. At last, he gathered up the confidence to stand straight, swallow, and assure, "We will find a way, Damon. Okay?"
And Damon contemplated again, thinking about flitting away at that very moment to track down the son of a bitch responsible and hold his heart his his hand. But Stefan was right, that would get him killed. And he would be no use to Claire if he was dead, so he nodded, and turned around to walk inside with Stefan behind him. But the moment they reentered the house, there was a loud, obvious slam from the front, causing Stefan and Damon to look at each other with immense concern before darting towards the noise.
"Get out!"
"Jenna? Jenna—"
"Get out!"
Damon and Stefan stopped at the foyer, where they saw Aunt Jenna wielding a crossbow against Alaric, who was standing inside the house with his hands up in the air as if he were surrendering. Elena, Elijah, Amelia, and Christopher soon joined the Salvatore brothers and the two opposing adults in the foyer as Alaric's breath shook seeing his girlfriend with his wooden stake crossbow in her hand.
"Jenna, put the crossbow down, okay?" Alaric tried to reason with her. "It's me."
"Stay away from me," Jenna growled.
"What's going on?" Elena demanded, looking back and forth between the two of them. Alaric desperately looked at all of his friends, waiting to attack him at the first chance.
"It's me, Elena. I swear, okay? He let me go. Klaus let me go!"
"Prove it," Damon suggested. Alaric let out a deep breath, looking to his friend in the dark corner and then looked around at everyone, all of them waiting for Alaric to prove it as Damon asked. Nodding, Alaric agreed.
"Okay...uh"—he looked at Jenna and immediately thought of something he knew she would understand—"first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was about to—"
"Okay!" Jenna shouted over the last parts of his proclamation, putting down the crossbow with a nod. "It's him."
"Why did he let you go?" Stefan asked.
"He wanted me to deliver a message." Alaric's eyes went to Elena. "The sacrifice happens tonight."
Upon this news, everyone silenced. Elena turned around at Elijah, who was less than surprised, and everyone began to think about what was starting. As they all settled with this news, they brought Alaric into the parlor, essentially deposing him on his version of what had happened over the past few days. Stefan paced in front of the couch, his arms crossed over his chest defensively.
"So you don't remember...anything that happened?"
"No," Ric confessed. "It's like I blacked out and woke up three days later. Katherine was there."
"She's under compulsion. Damon snuck her some vervain."
"And I snuck her more," Christopher added from his position beside the fireplace, as Damon had taken the first shot at standing behind the couch getting himself a glass of bourbon from the bar. Everyone turned to him, causing him to shrug. "I did it so I could get information and it worked. She should have plenty, we don't need to worry about her doing anything else that Klaus tries to compel her to do."
"Still, she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can," Amelia reminded them all. "Which...pretty much renders her useless, anyways."
Elena looked around, noticing that there was one person missing from their group. "Speaking of, where is Damon?"
"I saw him go upstairs," Jenna told her. With a sigh, Elena lifted herself from the couch and followed Jenna's instructions to go upstairs, where she went into Damon's room and left Alaric downstairs with the rest of them. However, he wasn't in his own room. Confused, Elena turned down the hallway and tried another, and this time she was successful. Pushing open Claire's door, she watched as Damon ransacked her things, as if going through her underwear drawer would give them some insight to where Klaus took her. The doppelgänger sighed and crossed her arms as she entered.
"You disappeared," she noted. Damon didn't even bother looking up at her, let alone speaking to her. "Damon, I know you're worried, but Claire can handle herself. My guess is, she'll escape before the ritual and everything will be okay. She will be fine, I promise."
Suddenly, Damon slammed one of Claire's drawers and looked up at Elena with fire in his eyes, causing Elena to jump back and a chill to run down her spine at his demeanor. He pointed a finger at her.
"Don't you dare tell me that everything's gonna be okay, Elena. I don't want to hear it anymore. You might be okay with dying to save your friends, but I sure as hell am not okay with letting her die. Which means that I sure as hell am not going to accept your promise as the words of God, himself!" Damon screamed. Elena flinched, but she tried to remain strong in her stance. Damon watched her slightly quiver, but he didn't care. In his eyes, she deserved it. "Just go. Go away."
"I know you're not that fond of me right now." Elena walked into the room as Damon turned his back, trying to get her out of his head. He stopped and listened, his back still to her as she slowly increased the volume of her voice. "In fact, I don't think you were ever really that fond of me. If anything, all you really cared about was tormenting Stefan because I look like Katherine, and now that Stefan and I are over, you couldn't care less about me. Claire was the one you really loved—the one you always loved."
Damon snorted. "That offend you?"
Elena shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't really like you much, either, if we're being honest. But I do like Claire. She's my friend, Damon. You think I want something bad to happen to her?"
Damon turned around sharply. "I think you're so eager to play the martyr that you're forgetting who's gonna get hurt."
"You'll find a way to save her, Damon, I know you will. You always do," Elena assured him, stepping forward carefully, observing Damon's broken gaze. "You love her and...and there's no motivation more powerful than loving someone. But even though I don't like you all that much, I don't want to see you dead...most of the time, anyways."
Damon frowned. "No one wants to see you dead, either." She cracked a small smile. "And that's why Bonnie should use her powers to kill Klaus before the ritual!"
Elena dropped her smile and grimaced at him. "I told you, Damon, that is not an option. Drop it."
"She can't die, Elena," he growled, causing Elena to lighten her anger and look at him the same way she did when she gave him the charmed hair comb. Damon shifted, his voice turning from a growl to a soft whisper. "She's my life. I can't lose her."
Elena gave him a faltering smile. "You won't."
Damon stared down at her, trying to think of a response, but he couldn't handle it anymore. One more second around Elena and he would lose it. Probably go insane, start crying again. And the last person on this Earth he wanted to see him cry was goodie-two-shoes Elena. Therefore, with a shake of his head, Damon passed her shoulder and sighed.
"I'm going out."
She turned around. "Where?"
With a grimace, Damon turned at her and gave her a pitiful look. "You know, Elena, I would stop spending so much time worrying about other people and spend a little time worrying about yourself. That elixir won't work, you're gonna die, and everything we have sacrificed will have been for nothing."
Elena stiffened, offended, but he didn't care. Without anything further, he walked out of the room, out of her sight. She was left to stand in the middle of Claire's cold room with Damon's cold words repeating in the back of her mind. She didn't believe him—the elixir would work, she would live, and everything she had done to save the people she loved would be celebrated. Claire would be alive and so would she. If she didn't have hope, what was left?
But then there was that part of her, the part that doubted. Elijah told her that the elixir might not work, and what if it didn't? What if she really did die? What then?
Suddenly, there was a knock, and Elena looked up to see Stefan standing at the doorway with a confused look on his face.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Elena studied his face and realized that he noticed something that made him ask the question, and when she let herself think about what it was, she felt something rolling down her face. A tear. Quickly, Elena reached up and wiped it off, shaking her head.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just...uh, worried about Claire."
Stefan walked into the room, looking around. "Well, she didn't take any of her stuff. If she really did flee, she would've at least taken a change of clothes."
Elena nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
Stefan removed his eyes from the walls around him and looked down at Elena, who was avoiding his gaze and trying to compose herself. He knew it, too, from all the time he spent with her knowing what made her tick. After a moment, Stefan stepped forward and began softly.
"Do you trust me, Elena?" he inquired. She looked up at him, confused.
"O-Of course I do, Stefan. Why?"
He looked around, slipping his hands into his pockets for a moment. "I want you to go somewhere with me."
"Stefan, I can't—"
"No, no, no. It's not far. It's just for the day; just the two of us. I promise."
Elena thought about declining again, but she saw the willingness in his eyes and she would be lying if she said she didn't want to go. She would go anywhere with him. She loved him unconditionally and no matter who she was with or who he was with, that would never change. And for the moment, she was with no one, loved no one. Though he loved someone else, she would never decline her love for him, no matter how hard she tried to forget it. And however wrong it was to want him to herself for the day, she didn't care. She wanted it.
So she nodded and let him take her wherever he wanted.
"Thanks," Damon mumbled at the bartender as he poured Damon a glass of cheap bourbon while Damon sat down at the bar.
"I'll have the same," said Alaric, who sat down next to Damon. For a moment, Damon was surprised that Alaric followed him, but he didn't bother to bring it up. He would never admit it, but he was glad that Alaric was back to being Alaric again. Silence ensued the both of them before Damon finally let out a long-winded sigh and, without looking at his friend, spoke tragically.
"I love her."
"Yeah. Yeah, you do."
"Gentlemen? Why so glum?" Before Damon could get a chance to respond, Alaric straightened and looked over Damon's head to see who had spoken to them, recognizing the face instantly upon seeing the third party. Damon turned his head to see the young, accented vampire standing at his side with a satisfactory grin resting on his lips. He groaned tiredly.
"Ugh. Klaus, I presume."
"In the flesh." Klaus looked up at Alaric. "Thanks for the loaner, mate."
With wild eyes, Damon got up from the stool begrudgingly and walked a few steps to face the enemy before him. "Any reason you stopped by to say hi?"
"I'm told you fancy my lovely Clarissa King."
"She's not your anything."
Klaus smiled. "Well, I just thought I'd remind you not to do anything you'll regret."
Damon tried not to falter in front of the Original, maintaining a very calm look while he thought of the words inside of his head before speaking them aloud.
"I don't suppose you and I could strike a deal?" Damon suggested, leaning up against the bar. Klaus's smile grew wider. "I mean...you have a vampire. Katherine's perfect for the role, trust me...no one would be happier to see her dead than I would. So, technically, you could just hand Claire over to me."
The British male laughed. "And why would I do that? Just so I can see Katerina dead?"
Damon shrugged. "That and Claire and I will get the hell out of town and you can carry on with your doom and gloom trying to break this curse of yours. I could care less about the rest." He swallowed and dropped the smug grin on his face to look Klaus seriously in the eye. "Just give Claire back. She doesn't have to die. That's all I want."
"You are kidding." Klaus dropped his own smile and looked up at Alaric. "He is kidding, right?"
"No. Not really," Ric answered, causing Klaus to turn to Damon sharply.
"Let me be clear. I have my vampire and that vampire is Clarissa King. There is no deal that would convince me to let her go so there's no point in asking again." Damon eyed Klaus suspiciously as the vampire growled, "The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up."
Without another word, Klaus turned and left the bar, causing Damon to reluctantly sit back down on the bar stool, a plot forming in his head. Damon exhaled heavily.
"That was fun."
"You're gonna screw it up, aren't you?" Alaric noted.
"I just have to find out where he's keeping her. If I find her, we can get out of here in...what, like two hours, tops," Damon mumbled to himself, knowing Alaric could hear the plan forming. "We can go back to Rio. No, wait, that would be way too obvious...or maybe it wouldn't be because it'd be the last place he'd expect. How about India? But it's way too hot this time of year. You think we should go to India or Rio?"
Damon turned to Alaric, who shook his head. "I think it won't matter. Because you'll be dead."
"But if we get out of here in time, he'll have to choose another vampire and deal with what he's got. And then he'll be dead...so it's a win-win!"
"For who? You'll still be dead."
Damon frowned. "You gonna help me or what?"
"Damon!" The dark-haired vampire jumped and turned around, watching as Caroline, who stopped to wave at Matt with a false smile on her face that caused him to be extremely suspicious, made her way over to Damon and Alaric, dropping her smile and letting out a panicked breath. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I went to the house and Amelia said Claire wasn't there."
Damon sighed. "You're a day late and a dollar short, Blondie. This is information we were already aware of. Klaus took her."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got that part. Matt said something about it this morning and when I told Amelia, she already knew and when I asked her what she was gonna do about it she just said she was...trying to find a way to bring Claire back after the ritual. But I thought there was no way to bring her back, I thought she had to run."
Damon swallowed the rest of his bourbon. "Look at that...breaking the stereotype. Yes, Caroline, Amelia and Stefan have decided that instead of taking my advice they're just gonna cross their fingers and hope they find something."
She hesitated. "And what are we doing?"
Before Caroline had even responded, Damon opened his mouth to tell her to get lost, but he was glad he didn't. One look at Caroline and he knew that she was willing to do whatever it took to get Claire back, and she wasn't the only one. Damon pointed at her with a stern finger.
"Get Claire's ex on the phone. Now." With a smile, Damon turned his head and looked over at Alaric, who was patiently observing.
"So...what do you say, Ric?" Damon prompted. Alaric took a moment, but soon sighed in defeat.
"What do you want me to do?"
Alaric twisted the key to his apartment in the lock, preying that it worked. Luckily for him, it did, and the door to the apartment opened to reveal Katherine peering around the corner, looking to see who it was. She relaxed when she saw it was only Alaric, and he crossed his arms at her as she scoffed.
"Look who's dumb enough to come back."
"Well, somebody had to invite them in," Alaric told her, causing Katherine to frown as she realized what was going on. Alaric turned his head. "Damon? Christopher? Would you like to, uh, come in?"
Damon sauntered into the apartment, cautiously passing the threshold before doing a theatric bounce into the apartment, causing Katherine to begin plotting her attack. Christopher followed closely behind and Caroline stood at the door, not needing to have been invited inside. Immediately upon Damon's entrance, Katherine flashed at him, pushing him up against the wall beside the door.
"Are you trying to get me killed?!"
Damon frowned and grabbed a hold of her throat as he pushed them both up to a wooden pillar in the middle of Alaric's loft, taking no shit from his own ex.
"I gave you vervain. Now I'm here to collect. We've got it from here, Ric," he called out over his shoulder. Alaric knotted his eyebrows.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Get back at the house and make sure everyone is safe."
"Okay..." Alaric reluctantly turned and Caroline turned around, guarding the door to make sure that no one came inside. Katherine shoved the Salvatore off of her so that Damon fell back beside Christopher. She looked between the two of them.
"The two of you working together? After what I told him?" Katherine scoffed, her eyes drifting to Christopher and then back at Damon. "What are you up to, Damon?"
"Tell us where Klaus is keeping Claire," Christopher demanded, earning Katherine's attention. The brunette laughed, crossing her arms.
"Ha! What would make you think I'd tell you that? Besides the fact that I won't let you interfere, mainly because it'd mean he'd kill both of you and everyone you two have ever met, why in the world would I want to save her?"
Damon groaned. "Come on, Katherine, this whole vengeance thing is getting pretty old. We all know you have some respect for Claire and that you actually do care whether she lives or dies. So tell us where she is so we can save her."
Katherine walked around him. "Yeah, I care whether she lives or dies, Damon. I care about the fact that she's gonna die tonight." The vampire turned at the two men and smiled. "I'm already planning to throw a celebration party. You wanna come?"
Suddenly, Christopher flashed forward, pulling Katherine to the ground by wrapping his hand around her throat like Damon had before, pinning her to the floor and tightening his grip. Katherine choked and clawed at his hand, but she was weakened from the vervain, enough to delay her escape. He knelt down and shook his head.
"You're gonna tell us where she is Katherine, and I'll tell you why. If she dies, I will never forgive you. Eventually, you'll escape from Klaus and you'll try to make it up to me. Apologize, tell me you love me, spin this whole story about how you were doing the things you did to protect me. Well guess what? I'm gonna remember this moment, the moment where you chose whether or not to save my wife, and depending on your answer, I'll either forgive you or I'll kill you. So what'll it be, Katherine?"
She choked softly, thinking about his words as Christopher stared her down from above. Katherine narrowed her eyes into cat-like slits before grabbing hold of his wrist and, fortunately for her, Christopher let up, removing his hand before she had the chance to force him off. Coughing once, Katherine straightened up and Christopher got to his feet, waiting for her response. But if Katherine was anything, she was dramatic, and therefore she let the room hang in silence for minutes as she rose to stand and looked at both Damon and Christopher with pity.
"She's got you both wrapped around her little finger. It disgusts me," Katherine snarled before wiping her mouth and turning her eyes to Christopher. "She's in the tomb, okay? Klaus has Tyler Lockwood, too."
Caroline blinked and looked over her shoulder into the apartment as she heard the words. "Wait, what? Tyler's back?"
"Thank you," Damon chirped, ignoring Caroline as he stepped off to the side and exited the apartment. Christopher followed closely behind after locking eyes with Katherine, confused yet still pleased, and they closed the door of the apartment to leave Katherine to her bidding and get out of sight before Klaus came back. Damon nudged Caroline with his elbow. "Come on, Blondie."
"What about me?" Christopher asked as he closed the door and watched Damon and Caroline turn around. Damon sighed. "Damon, I'm coming with you."
"No, you need to go home, Christopher."
"Damon—"
Suddenly, Damon flashed forward, yanking Christopher up by his jacket collar. "What if this doesn't work, huh? What then? Then, Klaus'll take her, he'll kill her, he'll kill me, and all of this would have been for nothing. So you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna go back to the house, you're gonna get on the phone with Bonnie, and you're gonna figure out a Plan B so she can live. You understand me?"
Christopher shoved Damon off of him, but Damon was hardly fighting the other vampire. Jerking his jacket back onto his shoulders so that it sat smoothly, Christopher ran his tongue along his teeth and reluctantly nodded.
"Fine. I'll go back to the house." Damon nodded and watched as Christopher pointed a finger at him. "But if you screw this up and somehow manage to get alive and she ends up dead, I'll kill you myself."
Damon could've come up with a comeback, but he didn't have the energy. Christopher left, speeding down the staircase to get back to the boarding house while Caroline waited for Damon to turn around and nod so they could rescue Claire.
When Claire finally came to, it was extremely clear to her what had happened to her. Drugged by a witch, distracted by Klaus. It was clever, too, not to mention whatever witch potion they'd given her to knock her out cold before she'd even made it to the mysterious witch's car from the Grill. Her body felt as if it had been run over several times and she was groggy as hell; weak, too.
"Claire, right?"
The voice she heard was nothing but an echo in her head. It took her so long to get out of whatever funk she was in, she was sure it had been at least a minute before she was able to respond properly and make out the fuzzy figure in front of her. Still, everything was shaking and the sounds in her head were mediocre at best.
"Mmmm...yeah. Yeah." Claire cleared her throat and looked in front of her through slitted eyes. "And you...oh. Lockwood boy. T-T—"
"Tyler," he filled in. She nodded, despite the headache she had.
"I was getting to that." She forced her eyes open wide and looked up, where she realized she was chained up against a stone wall. Weak, she tugged at the chains, but they wouldn't give. "Damn."
"I already tried," he informed her. She scoffed and tried again, feeling some of her strength return, but it was hardly enough. Regardless, she didn't let that stop her.
"Yeah, but you're not a...not a...ugh!" Claire trailed off when she realized her limbs were way too weak to try and break the chains off her hands. Defeated and tired, she slouched against the wall. "Okay. You win. How long have I been out?"
Tyler shook his head, but she couldn't see him. She had her eyes closed while she rested for a moment to regain what little strength she had from the massive vervain drug the witch dropped on her. "You've been unconscious since they put me here which was...well, I don't know, probably a few hours ago."
Claire opened her eyes again. "Was it nighttime when he took you?"
"Who is 'he'?"
"Just answer the question."
"No. It was the morning. I came back into town to see my mom. She had an accident," Tyler explained to her. Claire shifted herself so that she was sitting straight against the uncomfortable wall and sighed.
"Oh, that's great. So I've been gone for an entire day." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Whatever that witch gave me, it was strong. I guess it had to be, anyways...magical blood and all. You know, I don't even know how to use it!"
Tyler watched as the vampire in front of him started to hysterically laugh, and it was creeping him out. As Claire's laughter echoed through the hallway, Tyler shifted uncomfortably and tried, "Um, Claire...are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" she repeated through her hysteria. Tyler observed with a look of disdain as her laughter turned into anger. "I-I don't know, Tyler, are you okay? Are you okay?! We were taken by a psycho witch working with Klaus who will sacrifice us on an alter to release a centuries-old curse in a few hours time! Why? Well, for me, I'm just an energy drink. An eternal energy drink at that. See, you're just the werewolf. There's nothing special about your blood! But mine? Oh, see, he can't live without mine. Because God forbid Klaus isn't already the strongest vampire on this entire planet! So am I okay? No! I am not okay! And for that matter, neither are you!"
The entire tomb went silent, filled with echoes of her shouting. Tyler stared at her from across the way, observing Claire as she relaxed and shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout," she admitted, shifting again. He swallowed.
"It's cool." She rolled her eyes, but he inhaled sharply. "Uh, just one question...who's Klaus?"
"Who's—?"
Claire looked at him in utter disbelief, but then she remembered something. Caroline had told her about Tyler a while back before all of the Klaus nonsense really started to kick into gear. Tyler left Mystic Falls before ever finding out about Klaus because Stefan made her keep the fact that Tyler knew about vampires a secret from Damon. And after Jules kidnapped Caroline and Claire, Damon, Stefan, and Amelia saved her with the help of Elijah's witches, he and Jules fled town. He didn't know anything about Klaus. He was utterly clueless.
"Oh, Tyler." She let out a heavy sigh. "You really shouldn't have come back."
For a secret hiding place, the tomb was unusually poorly secured on Klaus's part. Damon and Caroline walked the grounds of the cemetery with no trouble and when they reached the tomb, there was no trouble there, either. It was practically a cakewalk. Damon looked over his shoulder at every turn as he and the blonde neared the tomb just in case someone attacked, and surely enough, when they were inches away from the entrance, there was a voice in the distance.
"Which one are you trying to save? The blonde or the wolf?" Unimpressed, Damon and Caroline turned around to face a witch that revealed itself from the woods, circling them with a small smile. "Did you really think Klaus would leave them unprotected?"
Damon shrugged. "Wishful thinking."
The vampires and the witch stood across from each other at a standstill before Damon flitted over, gaining the upper hand on the witch by wrapping his strong hand around the witch's throat and throwing him to the ground. As Damon fought with the witch, he choked out, "Caroline, go!"
Caroline wasted no time. She flashed down to the tomb and went to find Claire and Tyler just as the witch managed to fight Damon, using his powers to force Damon off. Damon flew back and hit the wall of the tomb, landing on his stomach, able to get a moment of his strength back before the witch in front of him hit him with immense power, causing Damon to scream aloud from the pain in his head. He tried to get up, but he couldn't.
And then it stopped. It stopped right where there was a loud shot, and when Damon was able to focus on anything but the mind-numbing pain in his head, he looked up and found the witch on his knees with blood soaking through his shirt from a bullet wound. But it didn't quite kill him, and therefore Damon flashed up and snapped his neck faster than the witch could get a chance to try another power move again. The witch's body fell to the ground, lifeless, as Damon looked up to see who the shooter was.
Surprisingly, it was Matt Donovan.
"What are you doing here?" Damon asked him, his eyes narrowed as he recovered from the shock of seeing innocent Matt Donovan standing over the witch's body with a rifle in his hand. Matt didn't answer.
"Where's Caroline?"
Damon sighed. "Listen, man. Not a good time to play the hero."
Matt cocked his gun and pointed it at the vampire in front of him while looking down at the witch by his feet. "Where is she? And what did he do to her?"
Damon held up his hands defensively. "She's helping me rescue Claire, okay?"
Matt opened his mouth to ask another question, but Damon didn't give him a chance. Moving forward, the vampire snatched the rifle out of the human's hand and knocked him over the head with it, causing Matt to fall to the ground, unconscious. Standing over Matt's body, Damon disassembled the gun so when the kid woke up, he wouldn't have anything to shoot people with. But as he did so, he looked down at the ground at the bullets he had expelled from the gun and slowly fell to his knees, grabbing the bullets in his hand. They weren't regular bullets—not the kind you get from the store. They were wooden bullets, carved by hand.
And that scared the shit out of Damon. But he didn't have time to think about it; all he had to do was save Claire.
"The whole Sun and Moon curse is fake?" the wolf repeated back to Claire as she explained to him what she had learned up until the moment she had been taken by Klaus. She shrugged.
"Yep. He still needs to do the sacrifice, though, but it's not for all vampires or all werewolves. It's for him. I think Elena said something about him being both." The blonde shook her head tightly. "I don't know much. All I know is what she told me when she came back with Elijah, Klaus's brother."
"And you think that's why they grabbed us? For the sacrifice?"
"I don't think. I know."
"He's going to kill us?"
"Do I have to repeat the whole goddamn story, Lockwood? Yes, he's going to kill us," Claire stated irritably. She listened as Tyler huffed and then rolled her eyes. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap."
He scoffed, but didn't respond for a while, causing them both to fall painstakingly silent. After that time, Tyler took in a heavy breath and began. "This whole time I've been gone, Jules has been helping me come to terms with what I am. How to deal with it. Guess none of it matters anymore."
"You know," Claire started, her voice nothing but a soft whisper, "I think that all the time. None of it matters. When you live an eternity, it can get pretty messy—figuring out what matters and what doesn't. For example, my friendship with Caroline...you see, that matters. Because living an eternity without a friend, without anyone to confide in...well, that's just sad. Then you're really all alone. You can live without a boyfriend, but you can't live without a friend. But the rest of it, love...passion...hatred, what really matters? Fall in love with a human, they're dead in a century, anyways. Fall in love with a vampire, there's no way it's gonna last. Eternity is a long time to be in love with someone...too much time, actually. None of it matters." She paused, looking off into the dark halls of the tomb with a scowl on her lips. "And then you get drugged, end up in a tomb, and chained to a wall to await your certain death. Suddenly, everything matters. Have you ever been in love, Tyler?"
Tyler stared at her, trying to see where she was getting at. But she wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was looking off into the distance as if whatever was down the dark path was more important than speaking with him. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe," he admitted. She turned her eyes and met his glance.
"Caroline?" He didn't answer. "When she told me you left, I could tell she was angry. It was because you left without saying goodbye. Why would you do it? Leave without saying goodbye?"
Tyler swallowed. "I knew she hated me."
"The line between love and hate is extremely thin. Trust me, I would know." She smiled to herself. Tyler watched her closely as she chuckled under her breath and leaned her head against the wall with a sigh. "Oh, what am I doing? I'm the definition of a cliché, reflecting on my tragic life while I wait for some manipulated witch to come and haul my ass to the ritual site. Poor me, I've never told anyone I loved them in my entire life...well, anyone other than family, including Stefan. Is that so bad?"
Tyler chuckled, himself. "I guess some people just aren't wired that way."
She swallowed back a pain in her throat. "Yeah. I guess you're right."
Tyler and Claire sat across from each other, both of them acknowledging the wiseness of the other, just as they heard a loud grunt and the door to the tomb was pushed open. From the dark hallway, they watched as Caroline rushed into where they were behind held, running a hand through her hair when she saw her sire and her ex-friend sitting on the floor, chained up like animals.
"Caroline?" Tyler asked, surprised. He shifted straight and watched her as she looked over at him with a sigh of relief.
"Tyler! What the hell are you doing back here?" she demanded, but before he had a chance to respond, she turned and looked at Claire. "Claire! You look like hell."
Claire scoffed. "Jeez, thanks, Caroline."
Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but someone else took the words out of it. Damon walked up by her side, causing Caroline to turn to him as he said, "Your boyfriend's outside with a rifle loaded with wooden bullets. You have some explaining to do."
Caroline blinked, shocked. "What, Matt?"
He didn't answer her. After hissing the threat to Caroline, Damon spotted Claire on the floor and hurriedly walked over to her, bending down to break off the chains that bound her hands.
"Matt knows about you?" Tyler asked Caroline, who was starting to walk towards him, reeling over the piece of information she was given. As she knelt down, she shook her head and tried to explain herself while Damon broke off the first chain at her wrist.
"What do you mean Matt had a rifle with wooden bullets?" Claire asked, her voice softer than she meant it to be. Damon hushed her.
"Shh. Tomorrow's problem. Let me just get you out of here."
"Damon, you can't be here right now..." Claire trailed off, her mouth dry. "You...you'll get killed for this. You know you will."
Damon broke off the second chain on her other hand. "I don't care. No way was I gonna let you die tonight."
"I'm not gonna let you die, either," she argued as he helped her up from the ground and nodded.
"Good. If the both of us aren't dead, we're both happy. We'll go to..." She slipped in his arms and he grasped her tightly, fighting gravity to hold her upright as he finished his sentence half-heartedly, "...Rio, Mumbai...freaking Iceland for all I care. As long as we're both not dead, okay? Can you walk?"
"I can try," she admitted, letting Damon throw one of her arms around his shoulders so that she had leverage to walk. His fingers gripped her waist tightly and he turned around to see Caroline break the first of Tyler's chains.
Immediately, Damon snapped, "Blondie, what the hell are you doing? Leave him here! It's gonna be dark soon and if he's not restrained, we're his next meal!"
"I'm not leaving without him," Caroline demanded. Damon wanted to think she was bluffing, but he knew that Caroline wouldn't leave until she had Tyler at her side. Damn morals. Damon sighed, exhausted, and looked at Tyler.
"How fast can you get the hell out of here?"
"I need to get to my family's cellar," Tyler replied. "I can lock myself up."
"I'll help," Caroline added, waiting for Damon to let her break the other chain. Biting his cheek, Damon slowly nodded.
"Don't make me regret this," he threatened them as Caroline hurriedly broke the chain and helped Tyler up from the ground. Damon and Claire were halfway out of the tomb by the time Caroline and Tyler got up from the floor and started to walk out. Once everyone was on the higher ground, Caroline left Tyler's side and rushed over to Matt, who was lying on the forest ground, groaning in agony.
"Matt!" Caroline exclaimed as she put her hands on his face and looked back at Damon, appalled. "Hey, did you hit him?!"
"Did you already forget the part about the gun with the wooden bullets?" Damon barked. Before Caroline could object, behind Damon and Claire, Tyler groaned loudly, causing Caroline to look up with immense worry.
"Tyler?"
"It's starting."
"Ugh." Damon tightened his grip on Claire and jerked his head to the side while looking at Caroline. "Grab Boy Wonder and let's go."
Stefan and Elena had been out for the entire day. He had taken her to a mountain only a few miles away from the Salvatore home, and instead of cheating and carrying her to the top, he insisted that they both hike it. They spent the day reminiscing and inching towards what Stefan really wanted to talk about—how she felt with her fate. At first, Elena neglected that anything was wrong, refusing to talk about it. Then, after they'd reached the top and she saw the sun set peacefully over the horizon, she broke. First it was a tear, then it was two, and then it was a waterfall. She was so uncertain of her fate and it scared her. It scared him, too, but he tried to stay strong for her. Stefan would be lying if he didn't admit that something, some feeling, had resurfaced for her inside of him, but he knew just as well as she did that by morning she may not be alive. At the end of their hike, after Elena had broken down and told him how she really felt, how scared she was, Stefan soothed her and let her drink the elixir that would later determine her fate. Then they hiked back down and he drove her back to the boarding house.
When they arrived at the house, he walked around his car and opened the door for her, helping her get out. She breathed carefully and smiled slightly.
"Thanks for today."
Stefan nodded, but he didn't need to say anything. He and Elena stared at each other for a long, wonderful moment before Stefan saw something out of the corner of his eye, causing him to push Elena behind him and step in front, protecting her. Before them, a well-dressed vampire stood, cocking his head at them.
"You got me all nervous," the British vampire confessed. "I thought maybe you'd done something stupid. You ready, my dear?"
Klaus looked at Elena, who was hidden behind Stefan's shoulder, but she nodded to him. "I'm ready."
Slowly, Elena started to walk forward, attempting to go around Stefan and reach Klaus. Instead, she watched Stefan's arm quickly jump out, wrapping it behind him so that he shielded her from the evil vampire in front of them, determined not to go down without a fight.
"No," Stefan growled.
Klaus grimaced. "I wouldn't. No reason for you to die, too."
"No!" Elena maneuvered her way around Stefan's arm and stepped in front of him, her breath short and panicked. She wouldn't let Stefan die, not for her. "Stefan, hey! Hey. It's fine, it's fine. I'll go. No one needs to get hurt. There's no reason for you to get hurt."
But Stefan's eyes never left Klaus's as they watered over with her words. She knew he wanted to do something stupid, but she wouldn't let him. And so she stood on her toes and against all her morals, she kissed him. She knew it was wrong, she knew that it wasn't her right. She knew he was in love with another girl. But regardless of the fact that if she didn't stop him from protecting her that he would be killed, she wanted to kiss him. She wanted one last kiss, one last time. She loved him with all of her heart and it was impossible for her to leave him without knowing that he knew how she felt. So she smiled and pulled away, finally earning his attention as she stood back on her heels and whispered quietly.
"I love you."
Elena didn't expect him to say it back. She'd said her peace, she'd memorized his face. If she died, she would die knowing she made herself clear. She didn't need him to say anything, but he did. He reached up and stroked the hand that was holding his face and nodded down at her. She could tell the words were catching in his throat, but it was only because he didn't want her to go. He didn't want to say those words and know that they were his last. He loved her, too, no matter what they'd gone through. Therefore, he leaned forward and whispered quietly.
"I love you."
Elena stared at him, a soft yet sad smile on her lips, and he tried not to cry. Leaning forward more, he pressed a last kiss to her lips before pulling away, both of them sniffling as tears fell out of their eyes. Elena, trying to keep from breaking down as she had before, nodded and grabbed his hand.
"Close your eyes," she instructed. Stefan looked up at Klaus, who was waiting patiently, and then back down at Elena, who was waiting for him to do what she asked. "Close your eyes."
Reluctantly, Stefan let his eyes flutter closed, and Elena took a deep breath, stiffening as she watched him keep them closed and waited for her to leave. He kept a firm grip on her hand, but she stepped back, slipping out of his grasp. Finger by finger, she fell away from him as if she were a ghost, and when he finally opened his eyes when he could feel nothing but the cold of the night resting on the warmth of his hand, Klaus was gone, Elena with him.
"There you are!" Alaric called at Stefan as the younger Salvatore stormed into the house looking for his brother. "Where have you been? Where's Elena?"
Unintentionally, Stefan ignored Alaric and looked at Amelia, who was surrounded by a pile of at least three dozen books. They were all tossed over and ripped open, and she stood the minute she saw Stefan enter the parlor. Stefan looked at her seriously.
"Tell me you found something," he pleaded. Amelia was silent, but shook her head causing Stefan to let out an exhausted, panicked sigh and start to pace with his hands on his hips. He turned around at Alaric. "Damon. Where's Damon?"
"He went to save Claire, Stefan," Amelia told him. Stefan widened his eyes.
"That'll get him killed!"
"I tried telling him that, but he wouldn't listen. It's Claire," Alaric reasoned. But Stefan shook his head and pulled out his phone, immediately dialing Damon's number.
"What's happening?" Matt asked, clueless, as he watched Tyler slumped over and yelping every time the transition struck at him. Caroline kept looking back, trying to make sure that Tyler was doing okay. Damon was barely hanging on, holding Claire up at his side and stumbling through the forest with her. He didn't have time for a wolf attack.
"He better not wolf out on us," Damon warned, but before he could say more, his cell phone started ringing in his pocket. Claire was walking on her own, but she still needed his body as leverage to remain standing when her legs tried to give on her. While trying to hold her upright, Damon held the phone to his ear and shook his head. "Bad time, little bro."
"What the hell are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Well, as a matter of fact, in addition to saving your best friend, I managed to screw up all the ingredients Klaus needs for his entire ritual—whoa!" Claire slipped, tripping over a branch, and Damon caught her again, stilling them on the rough terrain. He could hear Stefan speaking through the phone, but he didn't care. When he put the phone back to his ear, he said, "Look, just tell Elena to stay put. The sacrifice isn't gonna happen tonight."
"She's already gone, Damon," Stefan told his brother tensely on the other end of the line. Damon widened his eyes.
"What?"
"Klaus came. He took her."
Damon bit down on his cheek, trying to refrain from screaming. Did Elena annoy the hell out of him? Sure. But he meant what he said earlier in the morning—he didn't want to see her dead.
"I'll take care of it," Damon snapped before ending the call and slipping the phone into his pocket. Right as the call ended, he heard something snap, causing Tyler to moan aloud, screaming in agony at the pain.
"Tyler!" Matt shouted. Tyler bucked and screamed again as the bones in his wrist flexed, causing his hands to bend in ways they shouldn't.
"Oh, God!" He yelped and landed on his hands and knees on the forest ground. Damon and Claire looked at each other, both of them knowing what came next. The transitioning wolf looked up at Caroline. "I don't know if I can hold it off. Get out of here!"
Caroline took a tentative step forward. "Tyler, it'll be okay."
"Go!"
"You've got time," she tried. "We're almost there, just—"
"It's happening faster." He whimpered as his bones shifted again, but Caroline refused to leave him behind. Abruptly, Damon felt Claire flash out of his grip, her vampire movement slow and choppy as she stumbled over in front of Tyler, her knees weak from all the strength she exerted flashing over to him. Damon moved to go to her, but he was too late. Things were happening too fast.
"Tyler, you can do this," she pleaded. "Just focus. Stay calm. The calmer you are, the more you delay this so...so don't think about it. Think about what we talked about in the tomb. Think about that, huh? Come on, you can do this. We can make it. You can—"
"Claire!" Damon shouted, but before she could get herself out of harm's way, she watched as Tyler's eyes turned the golden yellow of a wolf's and he moved to strike at her. She was far enough away that Damon was just in the nick of time, tacking Tyler's half-human body as he went animalistic on them all. Tyler flipped them, pinning Damon underneath while Damon moved his hands to try and choke Tyler out, fighting to keep Tyler away from any part of his skin. Tyler struggled with power, as did Damon, and he barred his teeth and chomped at any chance he got. As Tyler's chomping became more and more ferocious, Damon managed to slip his foot back and kick Tyler off of him with all his vampire strength, causing the transitioning wolf to blow back a few yards. Damon rose from the ground, and immediately, Claire rushed over to him.
"Damon!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide and worried as she reached out for him. Damon gripped her shoulders and nodded assuringly.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." He grabbed Claire again, swinging her arm around his shoulder so that he could help her walk again.
"Get out of here!" Tyler snarled at them all, trying desperately to suppress the urges inside of him. Damon turned to Caroline and Matt hastily.
"Get to the Lockwood cellar," he instructed them. "If it held him in, it'll keep him out. If it doesn't, use these." He produced the few wooden bullets he had pulled out of Matt's gun earlier, handing them to the human, who took the bullets without fail and loaded them into his gun. Caroline was weary, but Claire shook her head.
"Go, Caroline." Matt already started to walk backwards towards the cellar, but Caroline was still reluctant. "Go!"
Finally, Caroline conceded, pulling Matt with her as she raced through the forest. Damon and Claire watched them as they went and a few moments later, Claire turned to look up at Damon. She opened her mouth as if to say she was okay to run, but Damon one-upped her. In one fluid motion, he pulled her up into his arms and took off, trying to get as far away as he could before Tyler full-on wolfed out and killed them all. In a few seconds, he managed to get them out of the woods, out of the cemetery, and all the way out to his car on the side of the road. Once in front of the blue '69 Camaro, Damon set Claire down on her feet and took a quick breath that he barely had time for. He reached into his pocket and produced the keys, setting them in her hand.
"Go," he instructed her, gesturing to the car. "Drive. Get the hell out of here...I don't want to know where you go, just leave. When this is over, I'll find you."
He turned to leave, but she stopped him by reaching out and gripping his arm tightly. "No, wait! Damon, come with me."
"I can't," Damon argued, turning around by force. She shook her head, refusing to let him go. "Look, Claire, Stefan said Klaus took Elena. I just ruined Klaus's ritual...I need to find her and get her somewhere safe."
"What about getting you somewhere safe?" she challenged, panicked. Damon looked up, avoiding her eyes. He didn't have time to do what she wanted because she asked for it. "Damon, you just ruined Klaus's ritual! He'll kill you! Please don't go. If you go, you'll die. You can't—"
Damon cut her off, bending down and taking his lips to hers roughly, causing her to stop mid-sentence. It was a short kiss, a messy one, but when he pulled away, he slipped out of her grasp and flashed away into the night, not giving her time to argue anymore with him. When she realized he was gone, she shook her head desperately.
"No. No, no, no! Damon! Damon! Damn it!" she shouted, but he was long gone. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair, walking around in an aimless circle before the anger exploded. She kicked the side of Damon's car with extreme force, and the metal clanged loudly. When she looked down at it, she realized she had made a dent the size of a crater in the side of Damon's vehicle. It didn't matter. That sudden burst of strength caused her to wobble in her steps and nearly faint, but before she could, someone caught her and lifted her to an upright position, turning her around so she rested her back against the car.
"Hey. Hey, you're okay. You're okay." Claire wiped her forehead free of sweat and she forced her eyes to focus, realizing that it was Christopher standing in front of her. He reached out and tried to help clean up the perspiration on her cheeks, but she swatted his hands away.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped angrily.
"I followed him here. I had to know you were okay," he replied, feeling the skin on her cheeks. "Shit, Claire, you're burning up. Come on, we need to get you out of here."
"I-I'm not going anywhere with you," she refused, turning her head. "He told me to drive. Drive, drive, drive."
"Clarissa, you are in no condition to drive."
"But—"
"Get in the damn car, Claire. I'll drive. I'll drive," he promised, but she was so feverish she wasn't able to argue with him. She let him lead her around the car to the passenger seat and she climbed inside as he flitted around and quickly jumped into the car, turning the key into the ignition and hitting the gas pedal as hard as he could, the tires screeching as he drove them both into the darkness, trying to get as far away as he could.
"Where's Maddox?" Klaus demanded as he slammed the door of Alaric's apartment and looked at Katherine, who was moping around at the table by the door. "He should be back by now."
"I don't know," she lied, but he was barely listening to her. Without replying, Klaus took his phone and plugged it into his laptop, where he watched something Katherine couldn't see on the computer screen. She cocked an eyebrow. "What are you doing? Where's Elena?"
"I sent her off with Greta. It's almost time." Just as the words escaped his mouth, the door to Alaric's apartment swung open, and Klaus, though surprised, leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. "I wasn't aware you'd been invited in."
Damon stood behind the Original, and Katherine stood from behind Damon, realizing that Klaus was about to get real angry real fast. However, Damon didn't seem all that concerned.
"I've come here to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual," he threatened.
Klaus frowned. "Hours ago, all you wanted was your girl released."
"Yeah, but I already saved her. And on top of that, I rescued your werewolf and killed your witch."
The Original abruptly stood on his feet, turning around at the confident, ordinary vampire. "Excuse me?"
"And you can kill me for it. I don't care. It was all me."
The room went completely silent before Klaus, with a small smile resting on his lips and without tearing his eyes from Damon, spoke to the girl behind the dark-haired, brave hero. "Katerina, give us a moment."
Katherine, without a word, nodded and slowly left the room, her eyes still lingering on the two feuding vampires in the loft. Damon waited for her to leave and looked back at Klaus, who stepped forward as an attempt to intimidate. Damon kept his ground steady, refusing to give in.
"I've heard about you," Klaus started, his voice soft and articulate. "The crazy, impulsive vampire in love with his childhood sweetheart; a woman that refuses to love him back." Carelessly, Klaus turned and walked away from Damon with a shrug. "I knew one of you would try to stop me. It was just a 50/50 guess on who. Would it be the one in love with my doppelgänger or the one in love with my vampire? Or maybe it'd be a surprise. Maybe the one in love with my doppelgänger would choose to save his best friend, as well. And perhaps, maybe the one in love with my vampire would choose to rescue the woman his brother loves, too, out of the kindness of his heart. Oh, well. It doesn't really matter, does it?" He walked over to the computer he had just been watching and turned up the volume. Damon watched the screen as a woman yelled, screaming in agony. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he waited as Klaus chuckled under his breath. "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs. Need a closer look?"
Klaus shut the laptop and removed his phone, tossing it to Damon in the middle of the room. Damon looked at the screen on the phone, hearing the nails-on-chalkboard screaming of the woman, and when he looked down, he realized that it was, in fact, another werewolf. He tried not to show his defeat.
"Jules," Damon noted bitterly.
"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse, you learn a thing or two," Klaus growled as he circled Damon like a shark would his prey. "First rule—always have a back-up. Back-up werewolf, back-up witch..."
"Back-up vampire," Damon realized. Klaus smiled.
"I've got that one covered, too."
And just like that, everything in Damon's vision went completely black.
"Hey. Damon." The voice was faint, but Damon could hear it as he started to slowly regain consciousness. He could feel something sliding down his throat and the voice got louder. There was also an unpleasant sting on his cheek. "Hey! Hey! Damon!"
"Ow," Damon protested, slowly opening his eyes. "What the hell happened?"
Katherine sighed while Damon forced himself to sit up. "He's gone. He went to do the ritual. I'm sorry, I had to! He would have known that I was on vervain if I didn't do it."
"Do what?" He groaned, half-listening to what she was saying. Katherine's breath grew rapid.
"Klaus. He made me call her to lure her out. He needed another vampire."
"Who did you call?" Damon asked. Katherine hesitated, causing Damon to widen his eyes, regardless of the weakness he felt regaining consciousness. He reached out and gripped Katherine's arm tightly, growling, "Who did you call, Katherine?"
"Where are we going?" Elena complained as she stumbled around in the darkness, avoiding tripping over rocks and twigs that she could feel under her feet and barely see with her less-than-standard vision.
"This way," the witch in front of her explained. Greta Martin, that was her name, Elena realized. She'd heard Klaus call her Greta and she remembered Bonnie telling her about Luka and his family.
"You're Luka's sister, aren't you? I heard about you. He and your father were looking for you."
"They were wasting their time," Greta told her flatly. "I wasn't lost."
Elena stopped, realizing the answer was strange. But Greta moved forward, and in the darkness, the witch was the only thing that she could see. But inevitably, she ended up tripping, grunting in frustration as she growled, "God, I can't see anything!"
Greta stopped and Elena copied her. Suddenly, flames bursted all around them, causing Elena to gasp out of surprise as the fires burned and lighted her path. They were standing on rocky terrain at a dead end and before them, a body was lying on the floor, unconscious. It took Elena a moment to realize who it was, but when she did, her eyes widened.
"Jenna?" Elena rushed forward, dropping to her aunt's side. "Jenna? Jenna! Hey, hey! Jenna! Come on!" She used two fingers to measure her pulse, but she couldn't find her a heartbeat. Elena's eyes watered over as she realized what had happened and she turned around at Greta in disbelief. "He killed her? Why?! I-I did everything that he asked!"
Before Greta could respond, there was a loud gasp, and Elena fell over as Jenna gasped to life and rolled on her side, feeling around her as she looked around, confused with her surroundings. Elena's mouth dropped in shock.
"She's not dead," said Greta with a smile on her lips. "She's in transition."
"He should have used me!" Damon muttered as he forced himself up from the floor. "Why didn't he use me?!"
"He couldn't!" Katherine tried, standing up to look him in the eye. "Damon, he said you were as good as dead."
"What does that even mean?"
"What does it mean?" She narrowed her eyes and reached forward, grabbing his arm and pulling up the sleeve of his shirt. "What is this, Damon?"
Damon looked down, still reeling over the unconsciousness and the fatigue of the day, but when he saw what was on his arm, he froze. His veins pulsed and his skin bubbled and instantly he recognized what was on his arm. He recognized it all to well as he looked up at Katherine slowly, wishing the words didn't have to come out of his mouth.
"It's a werewolf bite."
Thanks for reading! Please review!
grapejuice101: And here's another! Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review!
NicoleR85: Thank you! Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reviewing!
SomebodyWhoCares: Well, at least he tried to redeem himself and be the hero in this chapter. Thanks for the review!
Pompeii1224: Well here it is! Hope you enjoyed it!
RHatch89: Thank you!
HALEBTRASH: He was definitely hella mad but it was kind of funny to me for some reason...don't ask me why. Thanks for reviewing!
ThisIsMeAndYou: He's got flaws, insecurities. Yeah, it basically was an arranged marriage and she definitely didn't marry him for love. I mean, she grew to like him but she never loved him (not that she would tell him anyway tbh). And yes, it's completely his fault that Damon and Claire grew closer, which he will note in the next chapter and come to terms with. Well, everything worked out anyways without her getting bitten by Tyler. Damon was, though, and it'll definitely shake things up for Claire later on. Thanks for reviewing!
darkangle1234: Thank you! I'm trying to, I just have no motivation to write for it right now. The inspiration will come, though. I know a lot of people have been really patient with me and I appreciate it but right now if I sit down and write it, I'm probably just gonna kill everyone off because writing it bores me so much. One day, the inspiration will come, and when that day comes there will be an update. Thanks for the review!
Tvd2014: Yep he definitely went insane! Thank you! This chapter was extremely long so I hope you liked it!
Just Another Netflixer: Thank you! That really means a lot. I like Christopher's character too...sometimes. He annoys me when he gets all high and mighty, but I do like the challenge that he brings in with Damon and the challenge he'll create for Claire in the next two chapters and in later seasons. Thanks! Damon and Claire still have a long way to go and yeah, it's extremely hard for them to be together and I appreciate your feedback on it! Here's the update! I hope you enjoyed it!
Guest: Thanks! Yeah, I'm trying to make things go into a forward motion instead of a backward one...although Damon and Claire will have a bunch of setbacks in the next few seasons but ultimately, they'll overcome it and their relationship will be better for it. Claire's character has really grown since the beginning and in the next few chapters she'll grow even more. Klaus has already shown interest in Claire and that will only be explained in depth through the next season which will be a lot of fun to let her struggle with. They will definitely have a backstory, similar to Klaus and Stefan's. Claire and Damon FTW, though, of course :) Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!