Hey guys! Still here. To everyone who is impatient for updates, please remember that I do this for free and for fun whenever my muse cooperates and I manage to find free time in between planning lessons, grading papers, doing the readings for my grad classes, writing papers, and writing my thesis. I'm completely in love with this story and have no plans to stop writing any time soon, but real life as a grad student is insane, so please bear with me.
Anyway, here's the new update. This is probably my favorite chapter title ever. I've been dying to use it since the Grayson/Richard rivalry first popped up in the story. If you don't remember what's been happening lately, here's a recap: thanks to Bonnie's vision, the good guys now know that whoever killed Vicki is a werewolf and a member of the Founders' Council, but the rest of the Council is still using the Gilbert compass to search for vampires. Jeremy has enlisted a reluctant Stefan to inform him of new developments in the search for info about Vicki's death. Damon is continuing to dreamshare with Elena on a regular basis, showing her all the decades he's lived through.
Friday, July 3
The raven flew low over the treetops, leaving his little flock far behind. He'd been spending much more time on his own lately, fulfilling his duty as spy. It was a job he was perfectly content to carry out; he was helping to keep his master's human safe. On the whole, he was fairly indifferent towards humans, but she was an exception.
After a few minutes, he reached his destination, and he dove silently lower until he could alight upon a stone statue. It was an ideal position from which to watch the small group of mourners. There was his master's human, her family, a man all in black except for his white collar, a black-haired girl who hovered near him, a slightly frazzled dark-haired woman whose eyes and cheeks were wet, and a blond boy. The blond boy stood right next to his master's human, her hand clasped in his. The raven cocked his head to the side. The sight of her in such close proximity to a male other than his master or her father or brother made him feel oddly restless. The emotion was not his own, and it was not one he understood.
He turned his head, peering sharply into every crevice and corner of the cemetery. It was deserted but for the people clustered around the flower-covered coffin, silent but for the voice of the white-collared man. For the moment, there was no threat. The raven looked back at his master's human. Just then, she turned and caught sight of him. He ruffled his feathers until he appeared twice his usual size. She smiled. When he flew away a short while later, he couldn't resist doing a few unnecessary loops, feeling a sense of elation that was no more his own than the jealousy had been.
X
Saturday, July 4
"Caroline, we need to go!" said Bonnie.
"We're already going to be late," said Elena.
"I just need five more minutes to finish my makeup," said Caroline. "Besides, you know nothing happens at these parties for at least the first half-hour. We'll be skipping to the good part, when we can really make an entrance."
Bonnie and Elena rolled their eyes. They were sitting on Caroline's bed, waiting for her to emerge from her bathroom. At Caroline's insistence, they had all donned matching Fourth of July outfits. Caroline was wearing a red spaghetti strap sundress and white flats, Bonnie was wearing a white dress and blue flats, and Elena was wearing a blue dress and red flats. To complete the look, they all wore dangly silver star earrings and had put their hair up in identical braided side buns. It was a tribute to Caroline's fashion sense that neither Bonnie nor Elena had protested against any of this.
"So has your grandma found out anything about werewolves?" Elena asked, quietly so that Caroline wouldn't hear.
"No, but she's been asking a lot of her witch contacts, so something's bound to turn up soon. Do your parents have any idea who it could be yet?"
"They're hoping to smoke him out at the meeting tonight," said Elena.
"Meeting?"
"Yeah," said Elena. "You know how a bunch of the adults have this tendency to mysteriously disappear into a locked office at a lot of these parties?"
Bonnie nodded.
"Turns out that's when all the founding family people get together to talk about vampires and make plans to deal with them."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense," said Bonnie. "What are your parents going to do?"
"Dad and Meredith Fell are going to share their findings about Vicki's body—the real cause of death. If the werewolf's on the Founders' Council like we think, then hopefully his poker face will slip when he realizes that his whole 'make it look like a vampire did it' ploy failed, and then we'll know who it is."
"But won't that be like painting a target on your family and Dr. Fell?" said Bonnie. "I mean, sure, the Sheriff will probably reopen the investigation and everything, but the full moon's in three days. That's not a lot of time to get the werewolf behind bars. And even if it was, bars might not be enough."
Elena looked at her. "You're really worried about this, aren't you?"
"The vision I got when I touched Matt has been replaying in my nightmares every night since Tuesday. Worried is an understatement. I'm scared, Elena. I don't think this is going to end well."
"Okay!" said Caroline happily as she emerged from the bathroom. "How do I look?"
"Perfect," said Elena, trying to ignore the squirming feeling in her stomach. "Let's go."
X
Jeremy had never liked the endless parties thrown by Mystic Falls' elite, but this one was especially awful. Sure, the food was good, but he couldn't enjoy it. He, his parents, and his aunt had taken chairs at the same table as Matt and his mom, which meant he had a front row seat to every display of temporary sympathy from the partygoers who hadn't been invited to the funeral. He was disgusted. It was like acknowledging Vicki's death was just another stop on the buffet line for them. Once everyone got their helping, they'd just resume chatting, laughing, and eating as if a seventeen-year-old girl who should've been sitting at that table wasn't gone forever.
To keep himself distracted from this, Jeremy had started asking Matt for details about what Vicki had been doing on her final night. Evidently, Matt hadn't been able to think about anything else for days, so he required very little encouragement to divulge everything he knew. Jeremy was particularly interested in the fact that Vicki had been out with a guy on the night she died. Matt might have no idea who the guy was, but Jeremy did.
He was almost done with his burger when he spotted Stefan Salvatore through the line at the grill, heading back inside the house. Without a word to his parents or Matt, Jeremy dropped the burger back on his plate and jumped up. By the time he caught up to him, Stefan was at the threshold of the parlor, where several couples had started dancing.
"Stefan," he said loudly over the music.
Stefan turned around, looking resigned and a little annoyed. "Hello, Jeremy."
"You said you'd tell me anything you find out about Vicki," said Jeremy, "but I haven't heard from you since I was at your house on Tuesday, and it's freaking Saturday now."
"Last time you thought you knew something, you came charging over by yourself to fight me and my brother to the death, so I'm really not sure I can trust you to handle new information rationally."
"Fine," said Jeremy through clenched teeth. "If you won't tell me what you know, I won't tell you what I know about who Vicki was with the night she died." He turned to go.
"Wait," said Stefan, who sounded more annoyed than ever. Jeremy stopped. He had to suppress a triumphant smirk; had he really just succeeded in manipulating a vampire into telling him what he wanted to know? He turned to face Stefan again. Stefan glanced around anxiously and jerked his head toward the hall. Jeremy followed him away from the dancers in the parlor.
Once Stefan seemed satisfied they wouldn't be overheard, he looked at Jeremy, his expression very serious. "Vicki was killed by a werewolf."
Jeremy's eyes went wide. "Werewolves are real too?"
"Apparently," said Stefan, "but this is the first Damon, your father, and I have ever heard of it."
"Okay, so how do you find out if someone's a werewolf?" said Jeremy, running his hand through his hair, trying to absorb this revelation. "Poke them with something silver?"
"I have no idea," said Stefan. "None of us does. All we know is that whoever did it knew enough about this town to think that the best way to cover his tracks was to make it look like a vampire did it." He narrowed his eyes. "Okay, that was my end. How about yours?"
Jeremy met his gaze. "Vicki was out on a date the night she died. The guy? Tyler Lockwood."
Stefan's brow furrowed. "A founding family kid."
Jeremy nodded.
"Then let's go have a chat with him."
An incredulous grin spread over Jeremy's face, while a hint of a conspiratorial smile appeared on Stefan's. Hell yes.
X
By the time Elena arrived at the Lockwoods' with Bonnie and Caroline, the Fourth of July barbecue was in full swing. The whole place was decked out in red, white, and blue streamers and balloons, people were dancing and mingling inside (it was too hot an evening for dancing outside), Mayor Lockwood was manning an enormous grill outside, and a bunch of little kids were laughing as they threw poppers down on the cement.
The girls had barely gone five steps beyond the foyer when someone seized Elena by the hand and spun her around. "You made it just in time!" said Damon. "The music just got good."
"Wait, Damon," Elena giggled. "You have to meet my friends." She turned him toward Bonnie and Caroline (the former's eyebrow was raised and the latter had a wicked gleam in her eye). "Damon Salvatore, meet Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes."
"Well, don't you three look patriotic," he said, smirking.
"I've heard a lot about you," said Caroline with a significant glance at Elena. "It's great to finally meet you."
"I tried to explain to Elena that it wasn't fair of her to keep me to herself, but she wouldn't listen," said Damon. Elena elbowed him in the ribs while attempting not to grin.
"I've also heard that you have a brother," said Caroline. "Would he happen to be here, by any chance?"
Elena and Bonnie exchanged slightly exasperated looks, but Damon's smirk only widened. "I managed to drag him over here, but you might have a hard time finding him. He's probably already found the best secluded corner to lurk in until it's time for fireworks."
"Is he still in high school?" asked Caroline.
"Yep," said Damon, "and I'm sure he'll join the football team too."
"Hey, is my family here already?" said Elena, before Caroline could get even less subtle.
"Got here right after me and Stefan. Last I saw, they were in line for burgers."
"Speaking of burgers," said Bonnie, grabbing Caroline's arm, "we should go get some."
"But—," Caroline started to protest, but Bonnie dragged her away before she could get another word out.
Elena laughed, and Damon pulled her close to resume the dance. The music was fast and lively, but none of the couples around them seemed to be having as much fun with it as they were. "Have you had any luck finding another swing ball?" Elena asked after Damon pulled her up from a dip.
"Not yet, but it'll happen," said Damon.
"You know, I might be willing to accept a '50s dream as a substitute for a '50s-themed swing dance," said Elena. "You could take me to one that actually happened."
"No way," said Damon. "You're getting a real swing ball or it doesn't count."
"A '50s dream would still be fun, though," said Elena.
"The '50s were boring. And swing was at its best in the '40s, anyway." Damon spoke casually, but there was something tense in his eyes. Elena wondered what that was about, but before she could give it much more thought, the song ended.
"Come on," said Damon, jerking his head in the direction of the stairs. "There's something I need to get while we're here."
"What is it?" said Elena, following him without hesitation.
"It's a crystal that will open the tomb," said Damon.
Elena's pace slowed. "Oh," she said. She frowned. "What's it doing in the Lockwoods' house?"
"I stashed it here for safekeeping a while back," said Damon. They made their way up the stairs and down a hall. Damon moved carefully, making sure they weren't being observed or followed. At the second door on the left, he paused. "Keep watch for me?" he said.
"Sure," said Elena. As he slipped inside the room, she leaned against the doorframe, looking back towards the top of the stairs. "So how exactly does the crystal work?"
"It's all a bunch of witchy mumbo-jumbo, but I think the gist of it is that Emily used it to store the power of the comet in 1865, and once the comet passes again, a witch can release that power to open the tomb."
When he came out again, he was holding a long iron chain that ended in an ornate pendant with an amber crystal set in the middle. "Right where I left it," he said. The next thing Elena knew, he was putting the crystal around her neck. "Want to hang onto it for me for a while?"
"Okay," she said, resisting the urge to swallow hard. "I-it doesn't really go with my outfit, though." She stood perfectly still, her eyes locked with his as he ran his fingers down the chain until they reached the crystal, then dropped it down the front of her dress. For several agonizing seconds, she was convinced that, despite everything, he would kiss her. But then…
"Ooh, sounds like a really good song just started up down there," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back towards the stairs. "Let's go."
X
Stefan was the first one to spot Tyler Lockwood. He didn't actually know what the boy looked like, but he could hear Mrs. Lockwood talking to him.
"Tyler, you always love the Fourth of July barbecue. You can't just grab a plate of food and sneak off to your room."
Stefan turned until he spotted Mrs. Lockwood not far from the buffet tables, talking to a black-haired, muscular teenager whose shoulders were drooped and face was screwed up in an extremely reluctant expression. Stefan nudged Jeremy and pointed.
"I'll come back down in a while, Mom," said Tyler. "I'm just not feeling it right now."
"Haven't you said hi to Matt yet? You know, he asked about you the other day when I stopped by his house."
"What am I supposed to say to him?"
"Maybe he doesn't need you to say anything. You could just take your food and go sit with him."
Tyler shook his head and brushed past her on his way back into the house.
"Come on," said Stefan.
"What?" said Jeremy.
"He's going to his room. We'll be able to catch him with no one around," said Stefan. "I think you might actually be onto something with this."
"Why?" said Jeremy.
"Because for being Matt's best friend, Tyler sure doesn't like the idea of going near him right now."
"How come you're letting me come with you?" said Jeremy, hurrying to keep up as Stefan pursued Tyler through the crowd and into the house.
"Because you'll just do it on your own anyway," said Stefan. "This way, I can make sure everything stays under control."
Jeremy scowled, but he couldn't exactly argue. If Stefan hadn't taken the bait earlier and told him what he knew, he'd been planning to find Tyler and question him anyway.
By this point, they had reached the top of the staircase they'd seen Tyler go up and were now out of sight of the guests on the ground floor. With a slight rustle of the air around him, Stefan vanished from Jeremy's side. Jeremy barely had time to be bewildered before he heard a slamming sound down the hall ahead of him, and he ran forward. He skidded around a corner on the hardwood floor and saw that Stefan had Tyler pinned against the wall next to what was probably his bedroom door. The burger, corncob, and brownies on the plate he'd been holding had tumbled to the floor and were rolling in different directions.
"What the hell, man?" said Tyler.
"You're going to tell me everything you know about the night Vicki died," said Stefan. Jeremy noticed that he was staring intently into Tyler's eyes as he said this, and that Tyler's face went blank afterward.
"I can't," he said tonelessly. He suddenly looked a little sweaty.
"You're going to tell me everything you know about the night Vicki died," Stefan repeated, sounding frustrated.
"I took Vicki out to dinner," said Tyler immediately. "Then we went to the quarry. When I was driving her home, she told me to pull off to the side of the road. We were making out in the backseat, and then…." His voice trailed away, and he seemed to come out of whatever weird trance Stefan had put him in. "I can't tell you, man. He'll kill me if he finds out." He was definitely sweating now.
"Who?" said Stefan, still staring unrelentingly into Tyler's eyes.
Tyler shook his head.
"Maybe this guy you're talking about isn't the one you should be afraid of," said Stefan. As he spoke, the veins under his eyes writhed and bulged to the surface of his skin, the whites of his eyes went red, and his canine teeth lengthened into fangs.
"What the hell are you?" said Tyler. Even Jeremy couldn't resist taking a step back. It was dawning on him now just how insane and suicidal it had been for him to go charging to the boarding house alone.
"I'm a vampire," said Stefan. "And it's been a long time since I killed a human, but I used to be very good at it, so if you don't tell me what I want to know—"
"Okay, okay," said Tyler. Stefan eased off a little with the arm pinning Tyler to the wall. "Vicki and I were getting pretty hot and heavy, you know? And then out of nowhere, my dad showed up. He pulled me out of the car and told me to go home. He said he'd drive Vicki back to her house. So I left. End of story."
"If that's the end of the story, then why were you so scared to tell it?" said Jeremy. "Are you sure you didn't see what happened to Vicki?"
"Why are you helping him, Gilbert?"
"Seems like a good way to find out what's really going on in this town," said Jeremy, shrugging.
"What did you leave out, Tyler?" said Stefan, his tone icy. Jeremy had no trouble imagining that he'd killed people before.
"Nothing!" said Tyler. "I drove home."
"But you know something, don't you? And you're going to tell me."
Tyler swallowed hard. "When I got home, I waited," he said. "It took about an hour for my dad to get back. He didn't come inside right away, so I went downstairs to see what was going on. He came in the back door, and then he went in his office and burned his dress shirt. The next morning, I found Vicki's phone in his desk. The screen was cracked, and it looked like she had tried to call Matt, but the call didn't go through."
"Your dad is the one who killed her?" said Jeremy. He felt like he might fall right through the floor any second.
"I didn't say that!" said Tyler, sounding anguished and terrified. "All I know is what I told you."
"And we're very grateful for the information," said Stefan. His features had returned to normal, but he was looking into Tyler's eyes again. "Jeremy and I were never here," he said firmly. "You tripped and dropped the plate on the floor. You're going to clean it up and get a new plate, and you're going to forget this conversation."
Tyler nodded vaguely, then bent down and started picking up the spilled food.
Stefan turned to Jeremy and pulled him back down the hallway until Tyler was out of sight and earshot.
"Mayor Lockwood killed Vicki," said Jeremy hollowly. "Mayor Lockwood killed Vicki."
"Jeremy!" said Stefan sharply. "Look at me."
Feeling dazed, Jeremy looked up at Stefan.
"Jeremy, this is very important," said Stefan, putting his hands on Jeremy's shoulders and looking him square in the face. "Yes, it looks like Mayor Lockwood probably did it, but you cannot go running to confront him. If he did it, it means that he's the werewolf, and right now, we have no idea how to fight them. I will tell you anything else we find out, but you have to promise me you won't try anything by yourself."
For a moment, Jeremy said nothing. It seemed that the full weight of everything he'd learned in the last week hadn't properly sunk in until just now. Maybe his parents had been right to try to keep him out of it. "I promise," he said.
X
Once he was sure Jeremy wouldn't do anything stupid, Stefan left him and went to find his brother. He couldn't let him go into the Council meeting blind. Before he could make much headway looking for him, however, he was accosted by a pretty blonde girl in a red dress.
"Stefan Salvatore, I presume," she said with a flirtatious grin. "Your brother said I might find you if I looked hard enough. I'm Caroline Forbes." She stuck out her hand, and seeing no alternative, he shook it, realizing as he did so that she was the same cheerleader he'd compelled just outside the locker room when Bonnie and Elena had sent him off on that wild goose chase so that Elena could free Damon. "Does this make me the first to welcome you to Mystic Falls?"
"Technically," said Stefan. Zach, Damon, Elena, and Dr. Gilbert certainly hadn't been welcoming, even if things had improved since then.
"Damon said you might be going to high school here in the fall," said Caroline. "What grade are you in?"
"I'll be a junior," said Stefan, glancing around to see if Damon was nearby.
"Perfect! Me too!" said Caroline.
"Look, uh, you seem really nice and I'm glad to meet you, but I need to talk to my brother. It's urgent."
Caroline's face fell, but only for a second. "If you promise to come back here and dance with me afterward, I'll tell you which way he went."
Stefan stared at her. As long as he'd lived, he had rarely met a girl this bold, but it was kind of charming. It made him think of Lexi. And she really was very pretty. One dance wouldn't hurt. "Deal," he said.
She beamed at him. "After Elena got tired of dancing, he went with her to the buffet line outside. They're probably still waiting; it was really long."
"Thanks," said Stefan.
"Hurry back!" said Caroline.
Stefan left the room and headed outside. Just as Caroline had said, Damon was standing with Elena in the line for burgers. He sidled up to them.
"Hey, Stefan," said Elena, smiling.
"Hey," said Stefan, looking at Damon. "I need to talk to you."
"So talk," said Damon in an irritatingly laid-back way.
"This really isn't the best place," said Stefan. Mayor Lockwood was passing out burger patties less than ten feet away, and for all he knew, werewolves could hear just as acutely as vampires.
"I can get your burger, Damon," said Elena. "I even remember how you like them. All I have to do is put a thousand pickles on it."
"One of these days, you will admit that pickles are amazing," said Damon before following Stefan away from the line. They kept walking until they were so far away from the grill that they were almost in the forest on the other side of the house.
"Paranoid, much?" said Damon.
"Well, considering that I think I know who the werewolf is, yes," said Stefan.
"What?" said Damon.
"I just talked to Tyler Lockwood. His dad was the last person to see Vicki alive. When his dad came home, he burned his shirt and he had Vicki's phone on him."
"So Richard Lockwood, Grayson's lifelong nemesis, mayor of the town and head of the anti-vampire council, is our one and only suspect," said Damon. He didn't look happy at all. "We've got to make sure it's true."
"How?" said Stefan. "We can't compel him. Thanks to you, he and the rest of the Council are on vervain by now. We're lucky Tyler wasn't."
"Maybe you can find some more evidence while I'm in the meeting."
Stefan frowned. "Based on what Tyler said, Richard probably killed Vicki while they were on the road, so there might be something in his car."
"Perfect. Check out the car. Try not to leave fingerprints. If the original plan works, we want the Sheriff's investigation to be as straight-forward as possible."
"Okay. Are you going to warn Dr. Gilbert?"
"Not until after the meeting. As much as he hates Richard, I'm not sure he could keep that juicy tidbit under wraps if he's locked in a room with him for an hour."
"That wouldn't surprise me," said Stefan, thinking back to when Grayson shot him to make a point.
X
Damon stayed behind after Stefan went back. There was something he needed to do before he returned to Elena and their burgers. He concentrated hard. After about thirty seconds, a large raven fluttered silently down to land on one of the lower branches of the tree nearest to him.
"Hello, Edgar," said Damon. Edgar croaked and cocked his head to the side. "I've got a new assignment for you." He pictured Richard Lockwood in his mind, projecting the image towards Edgar. He also pictured a wolf, the full moon, and Vicki's dead body. Edgar seemed to understand. He flew away towards the big house. He'd be following the Mayor from now on.
X
As much as Damon was enjoying himself hanging out with Elena and being harmlessly obnoxious to Baby Witch—and he would definitely be teasing Stefan later about dancing with Blondie—, he made sure to put significant distance between himself and any of the Gilberts by the time Mrs. Lockwood and her simper came looking for him. Now more than ever, it was crucial to make it look like he was joining the Council on the Lockwoods' invitation.
"Damon!" she said, smiling. "There you are. We're all heading to my husband's office now. I'll see you there." And then she was off, no doubt looking for another Council member to rustle up for the meeting.
Damon made his way to the Mayor's office. There were already about a dozen people inside when he reached it. He felt a shudder of anger roll through him as he realized that everyone gathering in this room was a descendant of the people who'd taken Katherine from him. Part of him wanted to just kill them all right now. He wouldn't, though, and as much as he'd like to believe that the reason for his restraint was that he didn't want to spoil Katherine's fun once he freed her, he knew it had much more to do with Elena. She was so good at finding the best in him, but she hadn't seen many examples of the worst. He could imagine the way she would react. The horror, the confusion, the betrayal…the hatred that would look out at him from those big, kind eyes if these people died at his hand. Just the idea of it was agony.
These people might be cut from the same cloth as their ancestors, but they weren't actually responsible for what had happened in 1865. Maybe Grayson's deal wasn't so bad after all. Maybe he could persuade Katherine that revenge wasn't necessary.
X
After Damon and her parents left to go to the secret meeting, Elena found herself wandering, bored, around the rooms adjacent to the Mayor's office. She wanted to know what was going on. The outcome of this meeting would determine whether or not the Council kept searching for vampires, and no matter how much Damon and Stefan had done to keep them off their scent, it still made her anxious.
"Hey," said a voice behind her. She turned around. It was Bonnie.
"Hey," said Elena with a somewhat halfhearted smile. "How's Matt?" She knew Bonnie had spent the last little while sitting by him.
"Sick of this party," said Bonnie. "I think he and his mom might leave before the fireworks." She frowned, looking at Elena's neck. "What's that?" she asked.
"What?" Elena brought her hand up to the spot Bonnie's eyes were fixed on, and felt the chain of Damon's crystal. "Oh, this," she said, pulling the chain up so that the crystal was no longer hidden down the front of her dress. "It's Damon's. He asked me to hold onto it for him."
Bonnie stared at the crystal as if hypnotized. "Can I see it?"
"Sure," said Elena, lifting it over her head and pulling her hair through the chain. "He did say it was Emily Bennett's."
Bonnie held out her hand. The moment Elena dropped the crystal into it, the air around them stirred. It was as if a strong breeze had started up, except that they were in the dining room and there were no open windows or doors here to let one in. Bonnie closed her fingers around the crystal and breathed in deeply. All of a sudden, every single candle in the old-fashioned chandelier overhead, the candelabras all along the walls, and the candlesticks on the table spontaneously lit, creating a gentle yellow glow and a wave of additional warmth in the room.
"What just happened?" said Elena, her eyes wide.
"Magic," said Bonnie softly. "Way more powerful than anything I've been able to do so far." Her expression was awed and reverent. "I think I'm supposed to have this crystal."
"I don't think Damon wanted me to give it away," said Elena.
"Well, he owes me," said Bonnie, putting the necklace on. "This is me collecting."
"He needs it to open the tomb, though," said Elena.
"Yeah, but a witch still has to do the actual spell," said Bonnie. "I guess that witch is me."
X
"I'd like to introduce our newest Council member, Damon Salvatore," said Carol Lockwood, holding a hand out to indicate Damon, who stood up. "Damon will be sitting in for Zach while he's out of town, and he's the one who provided us with the new batch of vervain."
There was a murmur of welcome and appreciation from everyone gathered in the room. Once it died down, Damon sat back down between Sheriff Forbes and Pastor Young. Carol sat down as well, and Richard stood up from his desk chair.
"As I'm sure you're all aware," he said, "the main item on tonight's agenda is the hunt for the vampire who killed Vicki Donovan."
"So far, we haven't found anything," said Logan Fell. "We've searched the caves, the electrical tunnels, and we've even checked out any empty houses in town. Not so much as a twitch from the needle of the compass anywhere."
It took all of Damon's restraint to stop himself from asking, "Are you sure you aren't barking up the wrong tree?" But he wasn't supposed to draw attention to himself, and slinging canine puns around was not the best way to remain inconspicuous.
"Actually, I think there may be a good reason why the searches keep coming up empty," said Meredith.
"What's that?" said Sheriff Forbes, frowning.
"Dr. Gilbert and I had an opportunity to examine Vicki's body before she was buried," said Meredith, nodding at Grayson.
"Your point?" said Brian Walters coldly. "It was a vampire attack."
"Actually, it wasn't," said Grayson.
Damon was watching Richard Lockwood very closely, and he was pleased to see the way his eyes flared in alarm, then narrowed in anger at these words.
"I examined the body myself!" said Brian indignantly. "The trauma to the neck indicated a vampire attack!"
"If you had spent more than five seconds examining that body, you would've noticed a few other things," said Grayson. Whispers started up all around the office. Brian Walters looked furious. "Dr. Fell?" Grayson went on, ignoring this, "did you bring the file?"
"Of course," she said. She stood up and walked over to Grayson. She was holding a manila folder. While she was approaching him, Grayson pulled a small container out of his pocket, which he opened to reveal the plaster mold. "As you can see from this mold Dr. Fell made of the neck wound, it is far too irregular to have been made by fangs." He passed the mold to the older man sitting on his left.
Meredith opened the folder, which seemed to be full of large, color photos of Vicki's wounds. She held up the first one, which showed the dark bruising all over Vicki's back. "The victim of a vampire attack would be drained of blood, but as you can see in this photo, Vicki's body showed extensive lividity—this bruising here—, which is only possible if blood loss was not the cause of death."
"If blood loss wasn't the cause of death, then what was?" said Damon, affecting a skeptical tone that matched the expressions on most of the faces around him.
"Broken neck," said Grayson. Meredith pulled another image from the file. This one was an X-ray. She passed this one to the man on Grayson's left, who had by now passed the wound mold along.
"The X-ray also shows that her skull was fractured on the right side," said Meredith. She pulled another photo from the file and held it up. It showed the blood coming out of Vicki's ear. "And we've taken more photos that show Vicki's body was completely covered in scrapes and bruises."
"If a vampire didn't do this, then what happened?" said Sheriff Forbes, who was now holding the wound mold. Grayson and Meredith had clearly captured her full professional interest with this new evidence.
"We believe that Vicki was involved in some kind of struggle," said Grayson. He pulled two photos out of the file. "There are finger-shaped bruises on the right side of her neck, as well as on her right arm." He turned so that everyone could see the photos. "We believe this struggle is how the skull fracture occurred."
"We also looked at the clothing she was wearing when she died," said Meredith. "It was badly ripped and covered in dirt and gravel. Based on that, we think that after sustaining the head injury, she either fell or was thrown from a moving vehicle, which is when her neck broke, killing her instantly."
"Then how did the neck wound happen?" said Brian, who no longer sounded angry, just bewildered that he could have missed so much.
"Whether or not the person Vicki struggled with actually meant to kill her, the neck wound was very deliberate," said Meredith. "I found dust and grit embedded in the wound. It looks like someone took a sharp rock and tried to make it look like she died from a vampire bite."
"Which would be insane unless the killer knew about this town's history with vampires, and knew that our medical examiner would take one look at that neck wound and stop asking questions," said Grayson. "What this all means is that the killer is most likely in this room right now."
At this, there was a great uproar from all the Council members, most of whom leapt to their feet. Damon heard plenty of voices claiming personal innocence. A few of the more idealistic souls were saying, "None of us would've done that!" At least two were swearing at Grayson for daring to make such an accusation, but the majority were demanding that the killer be found and punished. It was with great satisfaction that, through this chaos, Damon spotted Richard Lockwood, whose face was ruddy with anger. Even if Stefan didn't find any evidence in Richard's car, this was proof enough for Damon. But his satisfaction was short-lived. Richard was glaring murderously at Grayson and Meredith, and for a second, his eyes flashed golden. Maybe provoking the werewolf hadn't been the smartest plan after all.
"Everyone, quiet!" Sheriff Forbes bellowed over all the panicked, angry voices. They all looked at her in surprise and silently resumed their seats. "My deputies and I will reopen the investigation immediately. I hope you all understand that we can't afford to play favorites in this situation, so we will be questioning every single person here, myself, Grayson, and Meredith included."
"Do you want any of this to go on the news?" said Logan.
"Not yet," said Sheriff Forbes. "Until we narrow down the suspect pool, any kind of news spot or press conference would draw too much attention to the founding families as a group."
At this point, the meeting began to break up. Damon made his way over to Carol Lockwood. "Are these things always this exciting?" he asked.
"Not at all," she said, sipping from a glass of wine. "Actually, it's been fifteen years since anything interesting happened, but that time it really was a vampire attack, so none of the Council members were suspects."
"Are you nervous about getting questioned by the police?" said Damon, smirking.
Carol rolled her eyes. "No, I don't have anything to hide. I just hope I don't have to reschedule any of my committee meetings for it."
X
As soon as Damon emerged from the Mayor's office, Stefan tapped him on the arm and led him away from prying ears. "It's true," he said. "It's the Mayor. There was blood on the carpet in his car, on the passenger side between the door and the seat. He tried to clean it, but I could still smell it."
"Grayson and Meredith's presentation succeeded in convincing the Sheriff to reopen the investigation, but I was watching Lockwood the whole time, and he was beyond pissed. I would definitely say that the good doctors are now on his hit list."
"Do you think we should keep an eye on them just in case?"
"At least until after the full moon," said Damon. "I'll take Grayson, you take Meredith." His lip curled in a snarl. "I wish we could just kill him now."
Stefan raised an eyebrow. "What's stopping you? You never would've hesitated before."
"If we kill him before the rest of the town knows what he is and what he's done, then he'll be a martyr and they'll all be on his side, which could get very dangerous for us. Plus, we don't actually know how to kill him, and I'd like to get that right on the first try."
X
It was almost time for the fireworks, and Elena couldn't find Damon anywhere. She'd checked every room on the ground floor of the mansion and wandered around all the tables outside looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found. She was just about to give up and just go find Caroline and Bonnie when he appeared in front of her.
"There you are!" she cried, before whacking him on the arm. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Did you forget you said you'd watch the fireworks with me?"
"Of course I didn't forget," he said. "I just had to talk to Stefan about something. Now come on, I found us a really good spot." He grabbed her hand and started walking purposefully around to the side of the mansion. He led her to the most deserted place on the outside of the house, where the forest came so close that they were blocked from view of the party in the backyard.
"Um, I'm not sure this is such a great spot," said Elena. "I can't see anything but tree and house."
"O ye of little faith," said Damon. "We're not there yet. You're gonna need to hold on tight."
Elena frowned, but even if she had no idea where he was going with this, she didn't need to be told twice to get closer to Damon, so she put her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder. She felt his arms go securely around her waist. Before she could ask what this was about, Damon bent his knees slightly and then they were flying through the air. Elena gasped, but the next second, their feet were on something solid again. She pulled away from Damon and looked around. They were standing on the roof of the mansion.
"See?" he said smugly. "I told you I found a good spot."
"But won't everyone see us up here?"
"Pfft," said Damon. "They'll all be looking at the fireworks too. We'll be fine."
They sat down side-by-side on the peak of the roof next to the chimney. Elena was watching the fireworks stand by the lake to see if they were about to get started, but she felt Damon's eyes on her. "Where's the crystal?" he said suddenly.
"Oh!" she said. "I was gonna talk to you about that. Bonnie has it."
"Why?" said Damon.
"She said she was cashing in the favor you owed her. I guess since it belonged to her ancestor, she's got a connection to it. You should've seen what happened to all the candles when she touched it. It was amazing."
"When I gave you the crystal for safekeeping, I didn't think you were going to re-gift it," said Damon.
His tone was rather accusatory, but Elena refused to feel guilty. "Maybe you shouldn't be giving me things that'll make it easier for you to leave town. My first instinct was to smash it. Be grateful I gave it to Bonnie instead."
"Are you trying to stop me from opening the tomb?"
"No!" she said, looking around at him in surprise. His expression showed confusion and betrayal.
"How can I believe that when you just said you wanted to smash it?"
A sharp ache lanced through Elena's chest, making it difficult to swallow. She could feel tears coming, so she looked away again. "I don't want you to open the tomb because then you'll leave, and I don't want you to leave. But I know I can't ask you to give up this thing you've been waiting nearly nine of my lifetimes for. I can't ask you to leave the woman you love to rot. You deserve to get what you've been waiting for, and I'll do whatever you need me to do to help make that happen." She looked down at her hands. "You don't have to worry about Bonnie. She'll do the spell for you."
Damon didn't reply, and the seconds ticked by in silence. Elena hated the idea that he was angry with her or that he might not be able to trust her as much now, but it hurt that he was so unaware of her feelings that he could just hand her the key to Katherine's release like it was nothing. She needed to make him understand just a little how hard this was for her.
Just when she became convinced that she'd ruined everything, his arm went around her shoulder, pulling her close against his side, and he kissed her softly on the temple. "Leaving you behind is going to suck, Elena Gilbert."
The dam broke. A sob tore its way out of her throat and tears streamed down her cheeks. She turned her head into his shoulder and wrapped both her arms around him, holding on even tighter than when he'd jumped them up here.
There was a piercing whistle, a burst of sparks, and a thunderous bang. Then another, and another. Then two at once. Damon and Elena watched the fireworks without really seeing them, each wondering how they would ever manage to let the other go.
X
Tuesday, July 7
The raven watched the man-wolf diligently over the next few days. He did not need his master's warning to know that this creature was dangerous—perhaps more dangerous than his master. This was the first of these creatures he had seen, though he had long known of their existence. What he observed made him very uneasy. The man-wolf was full of anger, anger that was sure to erupt in violence. Though he was safe in his high perches in the trees, every instinct told him to flee.
As the sun set on the night of the full moon, the man-wolf grew sweaty and pale, and his limbs shook. The raven watched him shrug off the concerned hand of his mate and leave his house. He got in his car and drove down the road until he was deep in the forest. The moon was just emerging over the horizon when the car swerved wildly off the rough dirt and gravel. It came to a stop after barely avoiding a tree, and the man-wolf tumbled out onto the ground. He yelled in pain and tore at his clothing.
The raven watched, his claws and wings twitching with dread.
X
"I was starting to think I wouldn't hear from you until after the full moon," said Grayson. The Salvatores had stopped by his office the previous day to tell him everything they'd learned about Richard Lockwood the night of the barbecue, and he was itching to do something about it.
"Sorry for the delay," said Sheila. He had her on speaker so that Miranda and Jenna could hear her too. "It seems that werewolves are very guarded with their secrets, and they don't often deal with witches—not like vampires, who can't seem to stop pestering us to cast spells for them."
"What did you find out?" asked Miranda.
"Not much just yet, and I'm afraid there won't be time to do anything about it tonight," said Sheila grimly. "I spoke with a friend of a friend who lives in New Orleans. She hasn't seen a werewolf in decades, but she remembers something her mother said when she was young. They would plant blue rocket all around their house to keep the wolves away."
"Blue rocket?" said Grayson.
"It's a flower," said Sheila. "Another name for it is wolfsbane; I'm guessing this is why. It's the werewolf equivalent of vervain. It's also poisonous to humans, though, so I'd recommend gloves when you're handling it. Anyway, I might have another lead I can follow. I'll call or visit as soon as I know anything new."
"Thanks, Sheila," said Grayson.
Miranda leaned forward to click the "off" button on the phone. "Well I guess that's something," she said.
"Maybe we should tell Liz about werewolves when she comes to interview us for the investigation," said Grayson. "If she had some wolfsbane, she could test everyone, and then no amount of weaseling and arm-twisting would help Richard hide what he did."
X
Tonight's dream was of the '60s. Damon still refused to show Elena the '50s, but last night had been the '40s and tonight was the '60s. She was hopeful that she'd be able to wear him down soon, but for the moment, they were in 1969, sitting in Damon's brand new Camaro in Florida, watching the launch of Apollo 11 while the Beatles played on the radio and a family on one side of the street was enjoying a thrilling game of Lawn Darts. Elena was wearing go-go boots and a mod skirt, but Damon seemed to be in the '60s version of his standard outfit: leather jacket, black shirt, black jeans, black boots.
"Okay, is this actually what you wore in the '60s, or do you just not want me to think you look silly?"
"This is totally what I wore!" said Damon indignantly. "My sense of style is very stable, thank you."
Elena frowned at the family playing Lawn Darts. "That does not look like a safe game."
"There's a reason it's been banned longer than you've been alive."
"What happened?"
"Casualties. Three, by the end."
"That's insane."
Damon shrugged. "You said you didn't want to go to Woodstock, but you were wildly mistaken if you thought that gig had a monopoly on the crazy in this decade."
X
Hours of screams, convulsions, and the sound of bones snapping passed, but the raven kept to his post. Every other animal for a mile in every direction had already left in a terrified frenzy, but not him.
It was almost midnight by the time the moment came. The man-wolf, who had long since rid himself of his clothing, began to change. Fur sprouted all over his body, his mouth and nose bulged out into a muzzle full of sharp teeth, his torso lengthened and narrowed, and a tail grew from the base of his spine. This final phase of the transformation took no time at all compared to the long wait before.
The raven flapped his wings and croaked loudly in fright. The wolf didn't notice. His nose was in the air, sniffing for something. Then he began to move. The raven left his perch, following as closely as he dared, but soon the wolf picked up speed. Eventually, the raven couldn't keep up no matter how hard he tried.
X
Slowly, Elena began to notice something odd about this dream. She'd seen the '20s, the '40s, the aughts, the teens, the 1850s a couple of times, and the 1880s now. They had all been just as vibrant as real life. This one, however, looked like someone had dropped the saturation down to seventy percent. Everything was washed out and lifeless, even though they were in Florida in the middle of the summer.
She turned to Damon to ask about this, but was distracted by the sight of the large raven flying straight towards them. "What's Edgar doing here?" she asked.
Damon whipped around to stare at the bird, then swore loudly. "Wake up. Now." The grayish surroundings blurred and vanished, and Elena found herself sitting on her bed next to Damon, who looked more tense than she'd ever seen him. "What's going on?" she asked.
Glass shattered downstairs, making her jump. Damon grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "Elena, go get your brother right now and find a safe place to hide. Don't come downstairs until you hear me say it's okay."
Automatically, her body began to move towards the bathroom and Jeremy's room. She tried to stop, to follow Damon downstairs, but she wasn't in control. Something else smashed downstairs, her dad yelled, there was a snarling sound unlike anything Elena had ever heard, and then her mom and Aunt Jenna screamed. It made her blood run cold, but she had no choice but to trust that Damon would protect everyone downstairs. When she got to Jeremy's room, she found him sitting at his desk with his headphones on, clearly unaware of what was happening.
She ran the rest of the way to him and pulled his headphones off.
"What the—," he began, but she cut him off, tugging on his arm.
"Jeremy, come on, we have to hide!"
"What's going on?" There was another crash downstairs and more snarls. Jeremy's eyes widened and he stood up. "The werewolf's here, isn't it?" he said.
"How do you know—never mind," said Elena. "Damon's taking care of it. We need to hide."
X
Jenna had been watching late night TV in the living room with Miranda while Grayson pored over some papers for work in his office. She was starting to fall asleep when an enormous crash sounded from the front of the house. Miranda sprang up from the couch immediately, and Jenna followed. Grayson yelled and there was a terrible snarl. When they reached the office, they both screamed. Glass from the window was everywhere, the desk was overturned, and an enormous wolf had Grayson pinned to the floor, its jaws clamped around his throat.
The next second, something blurred past them. It was Damon. He seized the wolf around the middle and hurled it back out of the window, taking out the remaining unbroken panes of glass with it. "Help him," he told them. "I'll deal with Kujo." Then he was speeding out the window. Jenna heard a growl and a yelp from outside, but her attention was on Grayson. His breaths came in rasps and his eyes were glazing over. His throat was a mass of torn flesh, and blood was pouring out at an alarming rate. Miranda knelt on the floor beside him.
"He's not wearing the ring!" she said, checking both of his hands and sounding frantic.
"What?" said Jenna.
"Put pressure on the wound," said Miranda. "I'll be right back."
Confused and terrified, Jenna did as she was told. Grayson's eyes found hers as she held her hands to his ravaged neck, swallowing against the urge to vomit. "Hang in there, Grayson," she said. He didn't react. He didn't seem to be able to hear her. She could feel blood continuing to flow out between her fingers despite her efforts, but she was afraid she would do more damage if she pressed down any harder. His eyes began to roll back, and the fleeting thought that her brother-in-law was going to die right here in front of her flashed through her mind.
Footsteps came pounding down the stairs, and then Miranda was back. She was holding the ridiculously huge ring Jenna had often teased Grayson for wearing. She seized one of Grayson's hands and jammed the ring onto his finger. Grayson gave a long, rattling breath, and went completely still.
"Oh, God," said Jenna, pulling her blood-drenched hands away.
"He'll be fine," said Miranda.
"How?" said Jenna. Her voice came out as a squeak, her breathing was rapid and shallow, and tears were blurring her vision.
"The ring will bring him back," said Miranda, holding Grayson's hand to her chest with both of hers.
"What are you talking about?"
"It's magical," said Miranda. "If he's wearing it and something supernatural kills him, it will bring him back."
Jenna's breathing slowed. "How can you be so sure?"
"Because I've seen it work before."
Glass crunched behind them, and they turned to see a very disheveled Damon stepping back inside through the window.
"Is he gone?" said Miranda.
"Yeah," said Damon. "Scared him off." He winced and clutched his left forearm with his right hand.
"You okay?" said Jenna.
"I'll be fine. It was just a little bite. Did more damage to my jacket than to me." He looked at Grayson. "What about him?"
"He'll wake up in a couple of hours," said Miranda. "I don't know how to thank you, Damon."
Damon smirked wearily. "Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch."
Yes, I know that was a mean cliffhanger. No, I'm not sorry. Any theories about why the '60s would look weirdly desaturated in Damon and Elena's dreamshare? It wasn't because Damon was distracted worrying about what wolf!Richard was up to, and it's important that the '60s were desaturated but none of the other decades he's shown Elena were. A lot happened in this chapter; tell me what you thought!