I went to take a look at my mail box, at the beginning of the week, and I saw an email called "Eternity for your pleasure (35)". I was like, what the hell did yahoo have to drink? I don't have 35 emails called that? Then I look closer, and I see it a review notification. I blink. I open the email. Yep, it is. I've got 34 reviews in three hours. What the... I go on ff, and look, and phew, it's just someone who started reviewing every single chapter... Nothing to be alarmed about, then.

Wait, what the freaking hell?!

Thanks, MADStar529. Truly.

See, guys? You can do as much, I won't get angry. Or just one review, once in a while, it's great too.

And now, on with the chapter!


You wanted it? Here it is!
(No, I'm not telling what is "it". You'll have to read.)

And, by the way, I have now more chapters than in part one, "Adjusting to our reality"! Cheers!


Each a monster, part 33: Undoing

Magdalena Haguenhauer was a tall woman with flaming red hair and deep brown eyes. Her suit was dark grey, and her shirt matched her hair. Her smile seemed genuine and soft, but after what Ric had just told them, Damon wasn't fooled.

"Falkenbach" wasn't written on anyone's forehead, and so they always seemed like normal people, at first glance. The key part being, "at first glance". One quickly changed their mind when the "normal people" held a blade to their throat and yet looked like they were drinking tea.

Speaking of Falkenbachs, Theodoric was nowhere to be seen, and yet the vampire was certain to have seen him enter the Mystic Grill not half an hour ago. Damon wasn't going to complain about that. He had way too many Saltzmans to deal with right now. One in jail, one defending him, and one on the loose. Wait, actually, it'd be better if he knew what the lunatic was planning...

Damon looked around, but he couldn't get a glimpse of the black hair, nor of the eyepatch, of the most-irritating-natural-killer-out-there.

So he looked back at Magdalena, who had started speaking with Liz, and was positively giving him the chills. How was she doing that, exactly? Her voice was even, maybe kind of sweet, and her features were welcoming. She wasn't batting an eyelid as she was arguing in a civilized tone with the sheriff. Full of contradictions, that she was.

Those Saltzmans really were awesome, when they weren't awful.

In the end, Liz seemed convinced. Not that Alaric was innocent, because it had been her feeling all along, then again, you can't trust a Falkenbach's honesty because they were bloody impossible to read, and she had learned it the hard way, even if she hadn't understood it at first. But she was convinced she could let him out without anyone arguing against her decision, if this Magdalena was the one doing the talking. No matter what point she raised, the woman could simply smile and find an answer in less than three seconds, as if she had been reading her thoughts.

And that was unnerving, but right now, it was mostly useful.

If they had a serial killer in town trying to put the blame on a cursed man, Liz Forbes was certain they could use two natural born killers to get rid of him, since they had an incentive to do so. Between two Saltzmans, at least one vampire, and the sheriff department, they were bound to find out who was the killer... and it was more than probable the culprit would be dealt with quickly enough. They were targetting members of the Council, after all, and the sheriff couldn't exactly write in a report what kind of link there was between the victims. If the killer was killed, they could always say they had no idea why they had done what they had done...

It wouldn't be the first time such an investigation were to be covered up in Mystic Falls.

Speaking of which...

Elizabeth Forbes turned to look at the man with dark hair, Damon Salvatore they had said, and Magdalena stopped a frown from disturbing her countenance.

The man was strange, in a way she couldn't quite describe.

When he had looked at her, the lawyer had felt something dangerous watching her, and her instincts had told her to be careful about this particular person. Why, she wasn't sure. Yes, he was handsome, but that was hardly this kind of warning. Yes, he seemed muscular enough, for someone of his caliber, but he wasn't a bodybuilder either, and Magdalena was a Saltzman. She could deal with someone his size if she had to.

No, there was something predatory about him, and not in the same way that there was always something predatory about her family. It was something else. More... feral, maybe? That wasn't the word, but it was the best she could come up with for the moment. And she had more important things to think about anyway.

When Landyn had heard about what was happening to Alaric, the head of the Saltzman Family had stayed silent for a whole minute, as if trying to process the piece of information. And Magdalena could understand that.

A Saltzman simply didn't get caught for something like that. Sure, it happened that they were caught and sent to jail over a murder they had perpetrated, after all, they weren't immune to bad luck or overhelming circumstances. But they were never accused of serial murders because 1) It wasn't their thing, unless they used it to cover up something else, 2) If they started murdering people like that, the family would be on their tail soon enough, 3) Serial murders were usually done in a way that let a lot of time to the killer to plan everything beforehand, and when a Saltzman had time to plan, they weren't caught because of an easily recognizable weapon or something as dumb as that.

And Alaric was far from being an idiot. He woudn't make such mistakes, because he was a Saltzman, and even the dumbest of the family could tell those were beginners' mistakes, and he was smarter than most.

Which meant someone was framing one of their own, and that, Landyn wouldn't tolerate it. Last time someone, back in Boston, had tried to frame a Saltzman to his fall in society, they had discovered one didn't fuck with the family, unless they wanted to lose their own place in society, their work, and all of their money – what, no horse head under the sheets? The Saltzmans were civilized, thank you very much.

Anyway, as soon as she had heard of Alaric's predicament, Landyn had called Magdalena to handle the case, and here she was, observing this strange place, where the sheriff seemed to know something was off at first glance, and where a good looking guy who surely hadn't worked a minute in his life seemed to be her counselor or something.

"Damon, now that I think about it, I'm sure it's not the first time Council members' are targetted. Unfortunately, the police records are long lost. But maybe you have something in your... archives?"

The tone sheriff Forbes had used implied something, and Magdalena wondered what exactly. And anyway, what was that Council? The Town Council?

The man frowned as if trying to remember something far away in time and memory.

"What year?"

"1912."

Damon's eyes lit up. How come he hadn't thought of it before? He had been there in 1912, more than that, he had come back because a Council member, his own nephew, had been gruesomely murdered. And he hadn't been the only one.

"Oh. But... If that's the case, I'm not sure it can still go by 'serial murder'. It surely isn't the same killer, is it?"

Liz Forbes winced, knowing very well what he vampire was implying, but said nothing. Cursed woman or not, Magdalena Haguenhauer wasn't one of their own, and the sheriff couldn't even be sure that the woman did know about vampires and other supernatural occurencies.

"Serial killer or not, they are attacking my people. I have to act. And anyway, even if the culprit is only copycatting a centuries-old killer, it still stand as serial murder."

"I'll take a look."

And with that, the vampire was off.

The sheriff and the lawyer made their way to the police station to free the history teacher. Waiting on the outside stairs, Liz could see Meredith Fell. She hoped there wouldn't be a scene between the lawyer and the accuser, because she didn't need that. But considering Meredith had taken care of the wound she had herself given to Alaric Saltzman, she guessed maybe the doctor wouldn't be so upset seeing him free again. Maybe. Possibly.

As far as she was concerned, and she was, because she was the sheriff of this godforsaken town, Elizabeth believed the doctor had surely overreacted when she had seen the history teacher with the knife in hand. Maybe he had asked forcefully why she had had a file on him and the murders, and Meredith had panicked and thought he was threatening her. Because Liz certainly didn't believe, no matter what either party said, that any of them were guilty of anything. Meredith simply wouldn't be able to slice someone's throat, and the cursed man certainly wouldn't have sliced his own throat, even if that gave him one hell of an alibi for one of the murders.

Magdalena stopped walking just before a young woman called out to the sheriff. She wanted to listen and observe, for now. There was something off about this place, this town and its inhabitants, and she wanted to know what it was all about. As a lawyer, she didn't like secrets, unless she was the one keeping them. Secrets could be the undoing of their keepers.

The young woman had a file with her.

"Sheriff Forbes, I was looking for you. I've received a revised version of the coroner's report, that states the time of death earlier in the evening. I'm sorry about Alaric, but it matched, and he frightened me when..."

Liz sighed at the news, happy to hear the release would be even easier.

"Don't worry about that. You handed the report, Mr. Saltzman isn't hurt, and we can go back to searching for the real killer. You've done well, Meredith. I'd rather keep someone in jail for a night because you were too zealous in your assumptions, than have you killed too."

Behind the two women, Magdalena rolled her eyes. So, this was all? This was way too simple...

Alaric was going to answer her questions, because she was certain he knew what was going on in this town that nobody was telling her. Maybe he didn't know who had been framing him, no one seemed to know who was the culprit, but he sure as hell knew why everyone was behaving so strangely. A Saltzman didn't just live in a suspicious area and ignore it.

"Miss Haguenhauer and myself are on our way to free Mr. Saltzman. She's his lawyer and cousin. Do you wish to come with us?"

The woman winced a bit, and Magdalena had her idea of why. If she had understood correctly, this was the woman who had accused her cousin to begin with. She couldn't say Ric would be overjoyed to see her right now, even if she came in with the key to his freedom.

But then, Meredith looked at the redhead behind the sheriff, and squinted, thoughtful.

Cousin...

"It's funny, actually, I just met another of Ric's cousins, or so he said. Theodoric Saltzman, I believe. He was searching for the holding cells, to talk with Alaric, I guess. He's part of your family too?"

Magdalena had frozen at the mention of another cousin. There was only one other Saltzman around here, and...

And Meredith Fell had just said the name.

Theodoric had been insufferable about Alaric, lately, so much that Landyn had increased her supervision, suspicious when he had left for Mystic Falls. So far, he had only murdered one person, which in itself wasn't so bad, considering. But what did he want with Ric now, when their cousin was trapped in a cell?

"Theodoric?!"

Sheriff Forbes and Meredith Fell watched dumbfounded as the lawyer raced into the police station, but soon followed her. The redhead seemed to go for the holding cells, and how the hell did she know where those were? For a second, Liz entertained the idea Magdalena Haguenhauer had taken a look at the layout of the station before coming, in case she had to break her cousin out.

It wouldn't be so surprising if this was the truth.

There was no one near the holding cells, and that was definitely weird.

Rectification: there was no one conscious near the holding cells, and that was definitely alarming. Meredith rushed to the knocked-out sheriff deputy on the floor, and was relieved to see he was alive, though he'd have a large bump at the back of his head for a while. He didn't have his gun.

Liz and the lawyer entered the room with the cells, and saw a history teacher fighting off his deranged cousin trying to choke him out. Magdalena swore loudly. Both Theo and Ric looked up.

"What the hell are you doing, Theodoric?!"

"You all said, and him the first, that I was an inconvenience for the family. But think about it, Magdalena. Whether he is guilty or not, and I don't believe he is, for he'd have done a better job than this, but anyway, whether or not he did it, Alaric is the one causing trouble right now. The best one can do for the family is to get rid of him. So that's exactly what I am doing."

Alaric rolled his eyes and freed himself with a well-placed nudge of his elbow. The talking had allowed him to take his breath back, and he wasn't going to let Theo murder him any time soon.

Liz wasn't sure what was going on, but the young man with the eyepatch raised the gun he had taken from the deputy and aimed. Why he hadn't used it first, she couldn't guess.

Gunshot. Blood.

Alaric ducked, and reached for Theodoric's boot. His hand closed around the handle of a stiletto knife. He rolled on his side as his cousin aimed again. Magdalena grabbed the sheriff's gun.

Second gunshot. Theodoric fell, a red hole in his forehead, and a blade sticking out of his chest.