A.N.: A bit more action for 22cjwolf22. I did promise another dedication!
Dangerous Beauty
27
Wolf-Moon
They took Caroline's car, Giulia's Beetle not exactly an all-terrain vehicle. Giulia transferred an icebox into the trunk with a change of clothes, a Thermos and a First Aid kit – she and Caroline had debated, Giulia had consulted with Meredith, and they thought it might as well just be best to have it on them, along with a handful of protein-bars and Gatorade for immediate hydration and nutrition – Meredith agreed with Giulia that Tyler would be burning through a lot of calories. To say Meredith was curious about Tyler's transformation was a mild understatement.
"So I looked it up online, and we have until 12:18 a.m. until the moon is at its fullest," Caroline said, slinging the bag of chains over her shoulder as if it were a pillow, leaving Tyler staring as Giulia reached into the trunk. "From Mason's video I worked out that's like your peak during the transformation, if you can get past then, then you can get through it all."
"You watched the video again? What is your macabre fascination with this?" Giulia asked, frowning in confusion at Tyler and Caroline. She understood the desire to research from every angle – but that video was…intimate. It tried to show something that most people would never experience in their lives, could never be replicated, it was a harrowing thing to watch and even the times when Mason had been off-screen, her spine had tingled unpleasantly, dread rising like nausea.
"You're the one who says it's better to always be over-prepared," Caroline pointed out. Giulia frowned.
"That's you," Giulia called after her. Usually Caroline was referring to extra hair-pins and bug-spray and discreet compact tampons in their purses. Caroline was a nagger for it, especially during cheer events. If anyone's bows went flying she went full-on Mean Girl. Tyler shook his head in wonder as Caroline's bright curls bounced in the sunlight dappling through the trees, skipping along toward the Lockwood cellar. He frowned and turned to the trunk.
"Did you seriously bring a First Aid kit?" he asked, astounded.
"Purely precautionary," Giulia assured him. She and Caroline had tried to cover all bases, thinking of everything. They'd get through tonight, and Giulia had things in the works. Sarah's death had been an accident, but Sheila…she was old-school about her magic, and she believed that even if it had been an accident, a tragic accident…Tyler's first transformation was a sort of amends for Sarah's death.
But that didn't mean Sheila wanted a werewolf running around Mystic Falls every month, wreaking all sorts of havoc.
For a half-hour, they helped Tyler set up the cellar.
"Tell me you brought the instruction manual," Caroline scoffed, trying to make light of the situation; even Giulia could smell the tension in the air.
"Tell me you brought the wolfsbane," Tyler replied.
"That was all Giulia."
"I brought it," Giulia muttered, digging into her backpack. The stem of wolfsbane with its delicate yellowish-green flowers had been freshly-cut from her little supernatural garden. And she had more. She delicately pulled the stem out of a Ziploc baggie, and Tyler frowned in consternation and doubt, reaching out to touch the flowers. His fingers hissed, and he jerked his hand away, fingers sizzling where the plant had burnt him, searing away skin.
"Guess I'm growing the right stuff," Giulia said darkly. Tyler hissed, grunting in pain, and shook his fingers out; in seconds, the skin had healed, and he looked bewildered. This was brand-new to him. It wasn't like Giulia, with Stefan and Damon coming back to town; she'd known the secret all her life. Mere days ago Tyler had learned about this strange world he had now been thrown into.
"I got water-bottles in my bag," Tyler said quietly. "We can mix it in there."
"Okay," Caroline sighed softly, and Giulia passed her the cutting as she rummaged around in Tyler's duffel.
"Guy at the hardware store said this setup was rated up to five-thousand pounds," Tyler said, tugging at one of the chains.
"Is that more than a werewolf can pull?" Caroline asked.
"I have no idea." Tyler stood up to jerk on some of the chains, testing the bolts driven deep into the cavern walls.
"Hey, Tyler…" Caroline said, after screwing the cap on his sports-bottle. "How you doing?"
"Still human," Tyler said offhandedly. Giulia glanced from Caroline to Tyler. Aside from the night she had had to tell Tyler everything, the night of the masquerade, the night Sarah had died, this was the longest Giulia had spent with Tyler in a long time. The brush-off comment he'd just given Caroline was exactly how Giulia remembered Tyler answering any question she posed to him about his feelings – he'd brush them off, hide things away. He had never been a guy who could come out and say what was thrashing around in his head, driving him crazy. The fact that he had allowed them here, the both of them, tonight, on a night when he would have to go through the worst experience he would ever go through in his life… That was huge.
Not that he'd had any choice.
For her own reasons, Caroline didn't want Tyler to be alone during his transformation. Giulia hated watching that video of Mason, she hadn't…hadn't been able to desensitise herself to the fact that it was Mason – that this would be happening to Tyler. It was real. It was horrific and life-shattering and she could study slavery and medieval torture methods without batting an eye – but people she knew, her friends going through excruciating torment? She didn't want to see Tyler going through what Mason had – but at the same time…this was Tyler. One of her oldest friends, and the first boy she had ever loved. And she had loved him, for all her relationship with Elijah showed her just how badly she'd let Tyler treat her.
She couldn't stand the idea of Tyler going through so much hurt alone – the way she'd been the only one who knew his dad smacked him around: this was theirs, too. Only, Caroline was part of it now. Because she'd gone through something just as jarring, and she wanted to help make sure Tyler came through the other side.
Giulia blinked as Tyler took his t-shirt off, expression unchanged. Now Tyler was a guy who spent too much time at the gym – he was young, cut muscle, not a mark on him. And she snickered as Caroline blushed, curls bouncing as she whirled around, hand up to her eyes, blurting, "Oh, my god! You're not gonna get naked, are you?" Giulia stuck her tongue between her teeth, eyes glittering as Tyler caught her eye, blushing a little bit; she tweaked an eyebrow up challengingly, but he sent an embarrassed glance at Caroline's back.
"It's elastic," he explained, a little defensively. "I mean, what should I wear? I don't think it's like the Hulk where I get to keep my pants."
"Well, don't get shy on our account," Giulia said, sighing contentedly as she watched Tyler. "I've already seen all the merchandise." Tyler gave her a look, and she raised her hands up defensively. "Just trying to relieve some of the tension."
"You dumped my sorry ass, remember; you don't get to see my goods anymore," Tyler reminded her.
"I dumped your sorry ass because you were showing every girl in town the inventory!"
A few hours later, and they were all bored. Tyler's boredom was tinged with anxiousness so palpable Giulia could see it eking from his pores; Caroline sat patiently, hands folded on her knees, not even fidgeting. The vampire's nature revealing itself, utterly still, while Tyler paced to a constant rattle of chains. He'd never been patient; and knowing what was going to start happening, he had to be driving himself crazy. Giulia had taken the opportunity to have a nap: seducing Elijah only to leave him royally unsatisfied took it out of her. The tables had turned; she could sort herself out before he'd had the chance to climax, and she had been enjoying the hate-sex. Rather, the disappointment-sex. She didn't hate Elijah for what he'd done to Slater, she just wished he hadn't been so cliché, so…lazy. So, in retaliation, she rode Elijah like a lazy-horse and did things to him that took his breath away, made him forget himself and swear in ancient Norse, he'd grin and play and only make her fall deeper in love with him – before she'd finish herself off, climb off him and saunter away, leaving him – and it was her favourite word of the moment, discombobulated.
Serves him right. This was a high-stakes game; there was no taking the easy way out. He'd cheated.
She yawned, sitting up and shifting positions; her left butt-cheek had fallen asleep. And she yawned again, a long, exhausted yawn that left her wiping bleary eyes, staring glumly at Tyler.
"Well, this is very dull," she sighed miserably. She wasn't looking forward to Tyler starting to turn into a wolf, but she felt like the Doctor waiting for the alien attack with Vincent and Amy. And she'd already finished the 789-piece star puzzle she had been given for Christmas – and gone through the Sudoku book she'd found in Caroline's bag.
"What time is it?" Tyler asked.
"Almost ten," Caroline said, making Giulia squint as her iPhone screen shone brightly in the gloomy cellar.
"Only a couple hours," Tyler muttered to himself, staring unseeingly at the wall. "Mason's journal said the first transformation can happen before the moon hits its apex."
"Well, think of it like going to your gynaecologist. The sooner you book the appointment, the sooner it's over and done with," Giulia said, and Caroline turned raised eyebrows on her. Giulia shrugged. There was nothing more undignified than visiting the gynaecologist. She blinked, remembering that Tyler had been directly responsible for her last visit, the day she'd been checked out for any STDs. She frowned at him in the dark. Tonight was a night of penance for him, alright.
"Does it say in there how long you'll actually be a wolf?" Caroline asked quietly. "I mean, Mason's video, when he knocked the camera over, you couldn't see anything for ages."
"He said a few hours," Tyler said, looking more nervous than he had before. "Maybe more. Maybe less."
"You'll get through it," Giulia said quietly. That was what they all had to remember; that Tyler would survive whatever he was going to have to go through. She watched him closely, taking in the way his legs shook, the way he clenched his hands every now and then, the way sweat had broken out all over his chest, his face, his back, panting gently though it was a relatively cool night, the gentlest they'd had in a while since the heat-wave started, so cool the edge to the air had stopped her from falling into a real deep sleep. Tyler walked over to them, and tripped about two foot from where she and Caroline were perched on the old steps. He grunted, grabbing the chains and jerking them in annoyance, before turning scared, dilated eyes to his sports-bottle. He refused their help, he had to do it himself, reaching for the bottle, shaking out his limbs in anxiousness, almost like a pre-game ritual, as he wandered back across the cellar.
"Are you sure –? Are you sure you wanna do that?" Caroline asked anxiously.
Tyler sighed heavily, nodding. "Yeah. Mason wrote it will diminish my strength so I can't break free." Caroline stood, wringing her hands, and Giulia watched, grimacing compassionately as Tyler took a deep breath and tilted the bottle to his lips. For a few seconds, he managed to do it – then he pitched forward, grabbing his stomach and spewing the light-yellow liquid across the cavern floor, retching. As Caroline darted forward, Giulia scrambled to her feet, feeling utterly helpless. She and Caroline exchanged a grim look as they knelt by Tyler, on his hands and knees, shuddering and retching, panting and agitated.
"Don't! Don't!" he kept shouting. "Just don't!"
"Shh, shh," Caroline said soothingly, glancing at Giulia as she patted Tyler's shoulder gently. He seemed to be calming down again, his features regretful as he lifted his face, staring at Caroline.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. Giulia would happily admit her jaw almost hit the floor at that point; she'd never heard Tyler apologise. He caught her eye; even in the dark she could tell his pupils were dilated with fear. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his, just calm and quiet, closing her eyes. This was the way they used to be, when he was anxious and humiliated and hurt by his dad hitting him – he'd get quiet, allow her to curl up with him, he'd be physically affectionate, letting her in. She was by no means perfect and with everyone but Caroline and Elijah she was pretty standoffish, physically – but Tyler was just not used to being touched. Carol wasn't a hugger, and his dad used to hit him. Giulia had the benefit of a dad she used to cuddle up with in the library, or watching TV and slumber-parties with the girls.
She opened her eyes, sighed softly, and sat back as Caroline gently stroked Tyler's temple, his dark hair beaded with sweat.
They were all waiting, and she hated it.
For a long time they had been waiting, nothing at all had been happening. Then, all of a sudden, everything seemed to start happening all at once. Tyler's breathing, once sharp and short bursts, anxious and agitated, waiting, turned into full pants, his entire body shuddering with them as he remained on his hands and knees, his fingers curled into fists so tight, Giulia spotted blood dripping onto the dusty floor.
More agitated, and growing more senseless, ignoring or simply not hearing Caroline as she tried to coax him, Tyler rose up onto his knees, panting and grunting as he tugged at the chains he had wrapped around his neck.
"I'm burning up!" Tyler blurted, and Giulia had never heard his voice thicker with emotion. "It burns!" He gave a brutal yank on the chains, choking and whimpering a little.
"I know. You just have to breathe through this, okay?" Caroline coached him.
"I'll try!" Tyler choked tearfully.
"Sun rises at 5:45 in the morning, Tyler, you only have to go this for a few hours," Giulia told him gently.
"A few hours!" Tyler laughed, tears of pain spattering the floor with those droplets of blood that had made Caroline turn wide, concerned eyes on Giulia, who'd shaken her head.
"A few hours, and then normal," Giulia promised him, her voice calm and sincere. Caroline watched her best-friend. She was a pretty good gauge of Giulia's moods, how she was handling certain situations; a lot of emotional stuff put her on edge, and she'd been worried that Giulia wasn't…wasn't concerned by this. She hadn't been interested in watching Mason's video – Caroline knew she'd already seen it, but this was Giulia, there wasn't anything she couldn't handle! But Caroline knew how much this was affecting Giulia by how emotionless she seemed. In the glow of the single lantern Caroline had found in the garage, Giulia's exquisite features were marble-like in their perfection, no emotion ruining the sharp planes and delicate curves, sending her eyelashes like shards of charcoal across her cheekbones, her eyes glowing an eerie silver in the lamplight. She'd never looked prettier, or more eerie. And that was how Caroline knew that no matter how difficult this was for her, Giulia was struggling to watch Tyler, helpless.
She and Giulia were so different in a lot of ways, but in one way they had always been bonded: they both cared. They showed it differently, and there was less Giulia was willing to put up with that Caroline would, for the sake of argument and friendships, turn the other cheek to, but ultimately they both cared about their friends. Giulia had killed two vampires the other night to protect Elena, whom she wasn't even getting along with right now; and they were both here. For Tyler. Even though he had slept around behind Giulia's back when they were dating, and he was pretty much the biggest douche in town besides Duke, who was away at school half the time.
"Hey," Giulia whispered coaxingly, even reaching out to cup Tyler's chin with her elegant fingers, catching his eye and refusing to let him drop eye-contact. "This first time, and then I promise, Tyler, you don't have to do it again." Tearful, shuddering all over, Tyler eventually nodded. "Tell me one good thing."
"A good thing?" Tyler panted, looking bewildered. He panted several times, before blurting, "The smells. I can smell everything."
"Like what?"
"Like – flowers. Everywhere. The earth, when it's warm, I can smell it; it's alive. I can tell there's grapefruit and magnolia in Caroline's perfume – I can smell you," Tyler panted, sweat dripping into his eyes; he swatted it away irritably. He panted, and Giulia watched him, curious, as he raised his hand to his head, "I smell you and I keep…thinking about things. When we were together." His voice ended on a squeak, his body writhing. Panting, he turned to Caroline, glancing back at Giulia but focusing on Caroline when he said, "You should go."
If Tyler accidentally mauled Giulia, Caroline could heal her. They all knew that. They all were aware that a werewolf-bite supposedly killed vampires, and none of them were willing to test the theory. But Caroline glanced at Giulia, who shook her head ever so slightly; they weren't going anywhere.
"Mm-mm," she shook her head.
"You – should – leave," Tyler forced out, panting heavily.
"Not yet," Caroline said gently.
Tyler's pants gave way to grunts, shouts, his body curling into itself, breathless with pain.
"Tyler. Tyler?" Caroline blurted, eyes widening. "Tyler!"
In an instant, Tyler's right arm had broken, flung back at an unnatural angle with a sound like a shotgun blast. It stole the breath from Giulia's lungs, making her go cold, and Caroline smothered a panicky gasp, backing up a pace. Tyler's screams echoed on the still air, Caroline could taste the salt of his tears, and Giulia fumbled her way to Caroline, heart pounding a mile a minute, body shivering with cold sweat, wild-eyed as she stared at Tyler, the sound of more breaking bones bringing up a wave of nausea and a burning sensation behind her eyes and at the back of her throat, filled with horror as Tyler's body contorted against his will. The sound of his screams, turning into cries of despair, would haunt her dreams.
"It hurts!" Tyler cried, and Giulia's eyes burned. "It hurts!" He was sobbing; they were powerless. All she could think about was Tyler – and Sarah, and how glad she was that she had had Elijah compel Katherine. Desiccating in a tomb seemed little punishment in comparison to this. As Tyler sobbed and more bones snapped, taking them unawares, she shivered and swiped at her cheeks, something stinging them.
She didn't dare relax, let her guard down, even when Tyler's breathing slowed, his body relaxing, and he seemed to be dozing on the floor, still chained, the sweat dried, unnatural bruising disappearing too quickly. The transformation was supposed to be a punishment, but Giulia thought who or whatever was responsible for the werewolf race being created was a sadist. Why snap his arms and collarbones now if it would be hours before he transformed, giving his bones time to heal with unnatural speed? Punishment, a little voice whispered.
Glancing at Giulia, Caroline crept closer. She had the superhuman reflexes, and she had pinned Giulia to the wall earlier and forbidden Giulia to put herself in harm's way – Damon telling her about the café being blown up with Giulia in it had really brought out the protectiveness in Caroline.
"I wanna help, but I don't know what to do," Caroline said gently.
"There is nothing you can do," Tyler panted, his voice sluggish. Giulia wandered forward, watching as Tyler pushed himself to his knees.
A crunch and a popping snap like a sapling tree snapping in half exploded around the cellar, filling her with a dread that made her stomach evaporate, and adrenaline that made her hands tremble, staring, as Tyler's back contorted unnaturally, bones visibly breaking and shifting beneath his skin, marbled with bruises, a canvas of fuchsias, dark-purples, angry mottled reds and unhealthy greens and yellows.
"Oh, my god!" Caroline cried, hand over her mouth as Tyler screamed in pain, writhing. "Tyler!"
"Get out." Tyler panted. Caroline darted forward; Giulia gave a shuddering breath and followed. Caroline didn't even think Giulia realised she was crying.
"No," Caroline said tearfully.
"Get out," Tyler barked. "I don't wanna hurt you!"
"No! No. Okay," Caroline blurted, and they both crowded Tyler, holding onto him, physically holding him together while his body tried to tear itself apart. Giulia held his hand, crouched low to the ground, her nail-polish drawing Caroline's eye as it glinted in the lamplight, stroking her thumb against the back of Tyler's hand. Tyler panted, groaning in pain, lifting his head, panting, eyes unseeing, but he blinked a few times, focused on Giulia's tearstained face.
The only other time Caroline had seen Giulia cry was…was the night she realised Caroline had been turned into a vampire – had realised Caroline had died.
People could say what they wanted about who they thought Giulia was: This was her.
He might've fallen asleep. Fingers intertwined with Giulia's, his head resting on their hands, Caroline cuddling him from behind, he was surrounded by them. Their love, their perfume. Giulia's warmth, feeling guilty for Giulia's wince when he gripped her hand as another spasm racked his body, unable to tear his hands away from her and thankful she would never jerk her hands away from him, the crispness of Caroline's scent, her natural chill wafting over his sweaty body like a caress, murmuring in his ear as emotion choked Giulia to silence. He'd never seen her cry before. Even when he'd been such a jerk to her any normal teenage-girl would be reduced to tears – from anger and frustration, if not hurt feelings. They were both here. For him. The two of them, doing something he'd never ask anyone to do for him, never dare ask anyone to witness, but they were here. Resolutely, stubbornly, here. For him.
"Leave," Tyler mumbled through his pants, as he writhed and grunted, sweat covering him again. With visible effort, he disentangled his fingers from Giulia's, curling his fists to his chest.
"No."
"Just go. Please!" Tyler choked.
"No, not yet," Caroline said soothingly.
"Just go!"
"I can't," Caroline murmured.
"We're staying here, Tyler," Giulia whispered, leaning down to smooth his hair away and kiss his temple.
"We're not going anywhere," Caroline assured him.
Tyler's back snapping for the second time made him scream, Caroline jerking away in shock, and Giulia scrambled to her feet as Tyler panted, his body writhing, things snapping, and she watched in horror as his teeth, bared in an agonised grimace, sharpened, lengthening, his eyes glowing that same brilliant amber they had the night Sarah had died. Giulia glanced at Caroline: before Tyler had snapped his new fangs, a growling bark echoing off the stone, inherently an angry sound, Caroline had grabbed Giulia's hand and whisked them out of reach.
Giulia grabbed the door, slamming it shut behind her; Tyler launched himself at the bars, as Caroline fumbled to wrap chains around the door and the rusted old frame.
Tyler was gone, or on his way out: in his place was an animalistic creature more wolf than man in behaviour, on his hands and toes, movements sharp and aggressive, eyes glowing in the dark, angered by the chains binding him, and even Tyler's voice was becoming more animal than human, a low, consistent growl instead of the pants she had become used to.
Jarred by the sudden change in Tyler, Giulia watched on in horror, unable to move despite Caroline's urging, nagging, ordering her to leave the cellar while she held onto the chains, as Tyler thrashed around, suddenly too fast, too strong – he snapped the chains like they were yard-long Red Rope liquorice not steel. His screams became growls, howling, fangs sharp and lethal in the lamplight, eyes amber, no sign of Tyler behind them at all, just…anger. The chains rattled, Tyler freed himself, Giulia couldn't move, and they watched on, hearts shattering, tears falling freely, as Tyler reared, his scream turning into a growl, a crescendo of snapping bones accompanying the most horrifying…shift – Tyler's body looked like it was battling an earthquake, bones snapping with brutal clarity, a gruesome reforming of his anatomy into something she didn't recognise, fur growing to cover the new canine form, eyes glowing amber in the darkness, flashing in the lamplight.
A wolf launched itself at them, dark-furred and feral.
A hand appeared, blocking the brutal hit of the werewolf dead set on tearing them to ribbons, ramming himself against the bars. She recognised the voice, too appalled by what she was watching to move. Elijah.
"Go. I will come for you when it is safe to return," he said, and someone touched her arm.
Whisked her away so suddenly, she couldn't blink before she stood in the moonlight-dappled forest, the sun-baked scent of the woods wafting up where her shoes crushed fallen leaves and needles.
She didn't realise until then that her entire body was shaking. That her cheeks itched from her hot tears. That the coffee she had drunk earlier wasn't going to stay where it was. She darted to a tree-trunk and vomited. Coughing, she started, whipping around and darted away as someone patted her on the back. Caroline. White-faced, stricken, sobbing, as tear-stained as she felt.
It took a while for her heartbeat to gentle. She washed away the taste of vomit with the contents of her hipflask, alternating hits from it with Caroline, who kept glancing over her shoulder at the entrance to the cellar.
Hearing it without seeing what was going on was worse than being in there, Giulia decided. And it seemed to go on for hours – did. The echoing growls, the marrow-melting barks that made them jump each time, afraid an amber-eyed wolf would leap from the cellar-steps, they couldn't relax, couldn't stop shivering. It wasn't cold, like the cellar was cool, it was warm and Giulia was sweating, anxious and deeply upset. There was no unseeing what she had just witnessed, Tyler could never un-experience what he was going through. How did he come back from this?
How had Mason bounced back, chill and downing shots with Jenna, chuckling, twinkly-eyed and incredibly hot? How?
Women went through childbirth all the time, Giulia reminded herself. Didn't they go through the same thing, sort of? Most mothers would say it was all worth it; Giulia's own wouldn't. Couldn't, because of her. There was a hollow senselessness to what Tyler and Mason went through that wasn't dissimilar to what Giulia felt about her mother going through childbirth for the sake of her – only to be killed in the effort.
It wasn't called a curse for no reason.
She had become aware, for a little while now, that Caroline was listening. She was still, staring with an intent frown into the dark, her fair curls glinting in the moonlight.
Giulia swallowed the lump in her throat, and her voice was hoarse when she asked, "What's going on in there?"
"That guy… He's talking to Tyler," Caroline whispered, her voice full of something like wonder. "Just…talking."
"What's he saying?"
"I don't know," Caroline said softly, tilting her head to one side, listening. "He's…speaking a foreign language… Giulia, who is he?"
"Elijah." Caroline's eyes bugged out, her lips parted and Giulia caught her hand before she could zoom into the cellar. "He's not hurting Tyler."
"Elijah's in there with Tyler?" Caroline blurted. "What – what – why's he in there?" Giulia gazed at the steps into the cellar. "You don't think – he wouldn't kill Tyler, would he? You and Miss Sheila made sure he couldn't get out!"
Her voice was heartbroken when she said, "He doesn't want to leave Tyler to go through this on his own."
Because Elijah had killed Slater, and he knew how important it was for Giulia to be there for Tyler through his first transformation. He also knew how dangerous it was for humans to be around transforming werewolves, and how devastated Giulia would be if anything happened to Caroline. Originals could not die from a werewolf-bite. And Elijah was just that arrogant enough to believe he could avoid being bitten. If Elijah was speaking his native ancient Norse to Tyler, Giulia was sure he'd be gentled; when he spoke it to her, starting to teach her the language, she'd do anything he asked, entranced by the rhythm and beauty of the language, and his rich, gentle voice.
Tonight was Tyler's penance for killing Sarah: Giulia would learn it was Elijah's, for hurting her feelings.
"Why would Elijah want to help Tyler?" Caroline asked softly, sniffling a little. "Damon killed him; he blew up a café with you in it."
"A man like Elijah does what he wants," Giulia said quietly, "for his own reasons." She remembered Elijah saying the same thing about his own mother once. She gave a little shrug. She meandered over to a fallen tree-trunk, settling herself down on it with a sigh, realising how exhausted she was, her legs aching, trembling as she sat. She reflected on her own aches and pains and wondered how Tyler would even be able to move when he finally transformed back into a man.
She fell asleep where she sat, so tired, emotionally drained, head in her hands, mouth open, oblivious to everything around her. She started into a brutal wakefulness, peeking blearily through the dark, shivering at Caroline's sudden nearness; she had vamp-zhoomed to Giulia's side, watching Elijah warily as he climbed the cellar steps buttoning his suit-jacket ever so calmly. The moonlight gleamed off his chestnut hair, and his expression was neutral as he strolled toward them.
"Your friend has resumed his usual form," he said calmly, and his eyes lingered for a moment on Giulia's tearstained face. "He will need you."
Caroline didn't linger; she took Giulia's hand and they were picking their way through the pitch-dark cellar a second later. Giulia tripped over the lantern, squawking in the dark and landing heavily and awkwardly on her bruised right side, her ribs protesting; she clicked the lantern on, and scrambled over the ground to get to Tyler, lying naked and covered in sweat and quickly-fading bruises, curled in the foetal position and crying silently. Caroline grabbed the blanket they had been perched on earlier, draping it over Tyler's waist.
"You're okay!" Caroline cooed. "You're okay. You made it. You didn't hurt anyone. You're okay."
"No, I'm not," Tyler whispered, and burst into tears.
A.N.: If you didn't feel sorry for Tyler in this episode, there is something really wrong with you!
