Loving the Hate
"Stefan!"
Damon opened his eyes and shuddered while struggling on the floor in the mirror room. He was still immobilized, so at best he could only move a miniscule amount. His muscles all over his body tensed as he tried to move. His rapid and heavy breathing and sweating were the only reward that he got for his efforts.
"Are you okay?" asked Bonnie beside him.
"Bonnie? How is that you're here again?"
Bonnie sighed. "I don't know. I've given up on asking those kinds of questions. Sometimes I wake up alone. Sometimes I'm here with you. It doesn't make sense."
Damon closed his eyes and breathed in deeply and slowly, trying to rid himself of the negative emotions he had just felt upon seeing Stefan's face.
"What did you see, Damon? You blurted out Stefan's name."
"I saw him…and Elena. We were all in Mystic Falls. It's…it's bits and pieces but that what I remember seeing."
"I saw Liv Parker, albeit briefly. But it was weird. When I saw her, there were these weird emotions that accompanied her image. It was like feelings of embarrassment and extreme anger…and pain. Like she said or did something that our…hosts…didn't like at all."
"Humph! That just breaks my heart!" Damon said with heavy sarcasm.
Bonnie chuckled. They both then lay in silence, staring up at the mirror ceiling looking at nothing in particular.
"It's too bad we can't damage them ourselves," Damon said.
" I…think we can," Bonnie replied, unsure of whether she should say anything or not.
"How?"
"Something happened earlier."
"What?"
"I'm not sure. I just remember being in a room with Caroline. She was being…tortured or something. By me, maybe? Anyways, I just cried out for help, and all of a sudden, it was like I was me again. For a brief moment, it was like I was back in my own body, in the Salvatore mansion with Caroline. I cried out to Caroline for help."
Damon's face contorted. "Are you sure you weren't just imagining it?"
"Maybe. But it was definitely a different experience. I think broke through, Damon."
"Yeah? But how?"
"I don't know! I just…fought, I guess."
"You make it sound like we haven't been fighting all this time."
Bonnie glared at Damon in the ceiling mirror. "Have we been really fighting them, Damon? Or have we been giving in?"
"You think I like what they've been doing to me?"
Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "I did see a naked Katherine, or something that looked like Katherine, get on top of you. Don't tell me that that was oh-so-torturous!"
Damon glared back at Bonnie in the mirror. "And you? I've seen the look on your face when they've got you in the zone. Same look you had before when you working with that Expression magic."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bonnie retorted, her eyebrows furrowing.
"I remember Bon Bon," Damon said, sneering. "When Elena attacked you with her humanity off and you took her down…that look in your eyes and face? Absolute power! The arrogance, the smugness…I'd seen it on the face of thousands of vampires and witches over the years. Even myself. It was power and you loved it. It's a rush. Believe me, I know! And I see you getting it here too. Whatever they're doing, they're feeding you that rush. I can see it in your face! Hell, I can even feel it coming from you. I don't know how but I can. Lying next to you, I feel it sometimes."
Bonnie's lower jaw protruded out, almost pouting, as she looked away, her eyes narrowing at Damon's stinging barb of truth. She finally nodded her head and looked back at him.
"You're right, Damon. You're right. It did feel good. Actually, it felt great! To finally be able to take one of you down with ease, one of you vampires who so casually and callously fed on others without a second thought because you felt like it…to make you feel the kind of pain that you made me feel…it felt great! And maybe I'm getting that here too, but I'm also getting pain and torment and suffering. Not only me, but who knows what they're doing to my Grams? Whatever rush I'm getting, it's not worth it. And for a brief moment, so ever a brief moment, there was something I wanted beyond that rush—beyond worrying about my Grams—beyond avoiding their punishments."
"And what was that?" Damon asked, his eyes flickering with curiosity.
"To be free! When I saw Caroline, it was like I was looking through a glass window or something. And while I could hear her and see her, I knew I couldn't talk to her. I knew I couldn't interact with her," Bonnie replied, her voice beginning to crack. "And I wanted to so badly! I wanted to yell at her for help. At that moment, there was nothing…NOTHING…that I wanted more than for her to hear me. And I think she did."
"Pfft!" Damon mocked. "All I've ever wanted to do was get out of here too and I'm still here! So I don't think that's the answer."
"No. You and I, we both are holding onto something. I feel it from you too. And I feel it from myself. And they are taking advantage of it. We're not helpless here. We have to—"
A black shape suddenly wandered into their peripheral view.
The Warden was back.
The Keymaster and the Gatekeeper
With the blanket of evening finally settling on Mystic Falls, Bonnie and Liv approached the pentagram that served as the gateway to the Abyss. While Bonnie was content to let the bright moonlight serve as her sole source of illumination, Liv held up her phone's flashlight to help light her way.
A soft breeze would occasionally blow her curly blonde hair into her face, annoyingly muddling her vision. The breeze, however, was the only activity that betrayed the stillness and tranquility of the environment. It was that very tranquility that bothered Liv. It was horribly inversed. Liv, as a witch and a servant of Nature, had a communion with Nature and could get a sense of it wherever she went. But here, the tranquility was disgustingly unnatural. There were no birds chirping or insects playing their natural nocturnal symphony. There were no critters scurrying about under the blanket of darkness replaying their nightly routines. The stars seemed not to twinkle at all, but rather looked like a white dots painted in the sky. Other than the breeze, there was no activity other than from Liv and Bonnie that would suggest anything was even alive in the vicinity.
As the pair approached the pentagram, Liv's senses started burning. Indeed, the power that she was feeling from the gateway was akin to the heat one would feel from the opening to a volcano. And yet, as she got closer, even though it felt like she would burn away into ashes, she didn't. The pentagram itself looked faded, almost as though it were burnt into the ground, covered by twigs and leaves and other debris. But as she looked into it, her perception was different. It felt like she was looking into a whirlpool, as though energies and matter were spiralling down into a deep and dark bottomless void where nothing would return. She shivered and started teetering, shaking her head and trying to stop herself from falling over.
"So here it is—the gateway," Bonnie said.
"Where does it go to, exactly?" Liv asked, teetering on the edge of the pentagram, stretching her neck as though she were trying to look into the center of it without falling in.
"To our penitentiary. To where we now have new inmates in the form of those who were once on the Other Side. As we speak, we're trying to…recruit them. But some are proving more stubborn than others. We've not been able to bring any over though," Bonnie replied, looking upwards and around. "The Traveler spell is making the opening of the gateway unstable."
"Recruit? What…vampires?"
"Vampires, witches, werewolves. They are all welcome and they will all have a role to play. Eventually however, we will require an immortal body to dwell in."
"An immortal body? So…you're going to make everyone a vampire? And what about humanity on this side of the veil? What's in store for all of us?"
Bonnie smirked as she slowly blinked, shooting a look at Liv that barely conveyed the malevolent intent that the Sovereignty had for the human race.
Realizing Bonnie wasn't going to answer, Liv bent down and touched the pentagram. From the energy the pentagram was emitting, she expected it to be physically hot, but it was as cold as ice. She rubbed the dirt in between her fingers as she continued to look over the pentagram itself.
"I wonder…" Liv muttered to herself.
She had never encountered something like this before, a doorway into another dimension. But the energies from the gateway were seemingly running along the same lines as the energy she absorbed from the Red Dragon grimoire. She wanted to see what would happen if that gateway opened. A part of her was screaming not to do it, not to open a portal into Hell itself. But as a way to gauge her own power, as a sign of goodwill towards her new allies, and as a means to satisfy her ravenous curiosity, she began to concentrate.
The lines on the pentagram suddenly began to glow a bright, ember red and orange. Liv and Bonnie stood back and looked on in amazement as the entire pentagram began to light up as though someone had just turned the power on. Suddenly, along the glowing lines of the pentagram, a hand reached up from the ground. Then another hand appeared. They spread the lines apart and a woman's head appeared. She eventually pulled herself up from out of the ground. Bonnie and Liv looked over to see another pair of hands popping up elsewhere. They too spread the pentagram lines apart, with a male figure climbing out of the ground. Both the man and the woman were fully clothed, but drenched like newborn babies covered in their mother's placenta.
Bonnie smiled as she approached the pair.
"Who…who are they?" Liv asked.
"Heh, he, heh! Old friends," Bonnie replied gleefully.
Liv's hands fidgeted as she witnessed the trio huddle together. Abruptly, the glow of the lines immediately ceased, closing the gateway into the Abyss.
Bonnie turned around and hissed at Liv. "RE-OPEN THE GATEWAY!"
Liv stood dumbfounded. "I…I don't know what happened."
She bent down and touched the pentagram. She repeatedly touched it but nothing happened.
"You agreed to be our ally," Bonnie said angrily. "We need reinforcements. Open the gateway!"
"Hey! Watch it with the attitude! I am not your servant. I am not your slave! I don't even know how I opened the gate in the first place."
Bonnie smirked. "Really? Or perhaps you closed it because you're afraid we'll overwhelm you?"
"Power in numbers? It's crossed my mind. Considering the fact that you want to overrun this world with possessed vampires, witches and werewolves, I think I have a right to be uneasy! Besides, you have a vampire and a werewolf here now to help you," Liv replied, nodding at the woman and man respectively.
Though a witch would normally need to physically touch a person to determine their preternatural status, Liv somehow knew what the man and the woman were. Both seemed quite young, athletic in build, Caucasian and brunette. Even though physically they didn't look alike, they seemed to share a similar—presence—with each other and with Bonnie.
While the man remained calm and composed, the woman stared at Liv, breathing heavily while licking her lips.
"No! Not her," Bonnie commanded, staring at the woman and then at Liv. "She is our…ally. Besides, there is a whole town on which you can feed!"
"There is one," the woman replied, "that we wish to see first! He can be our firsssssst!"
Bonnie chuckled. "A wonderful idea! But I am curious…how did you know to possess these two?"
"We've been watching from the Abyss," replied the man. "We know of your plan. And these two…souls…were quite willing to give up control so as to avoid more torment."
Bonnie nodded and smiled. She suddenly turned her gaze away, as though she either heard or sensed something. She then looked to the two new recruits and grinned.
"Damon has a gift for us. We need to see him now."
"What? How do you know what Damon is doing?" asked Liv, confused.
"We know!" replied Bonnie brusquely. She then turned her attention to the woman. "You! Go and find your victim. When you've had your fill, meet us at the Salvatore mansion."
"And what about us? We wish to see Tyler Lockwood," said the man.
"Yes! We too wish to see him," replied the woman.
Liv looked at both of them with suspicion.
"In time," Bonnie replied. "First, we have to go and see Damon. Then we'll see about Tyler."
The woman nodded and vanished instantly.
"Now, be a dear and see if you can work to keep this gateway open. After all, you are our ally, are you not?" asked Bonnie.
Liv nodded and knelt down at the pentagram. As soon as Bonnie and the man had left, Liv got up and dialed Tyler's phone number. However, all she seemed to get was static.
She put her phone away and looked at the pentagram. Seeing those two people come up from out of the ground scared her a bit. She realized that indeed, power in numbers would put her at a disadvantage. She reached down and touched the pentagram, mumbling something under her breath.
Once she had locked the door, so to speak, she intended to head for the Lockwood mansion.
Dark Relations
Grunting and sweating, Matt had been at it for what seemed like hours.
But he finally unloaded the last box of plates and put them away under the bar. He wiped his brow and sat down at a bar stool, taking a swig of water, looking over the continuing renovations to The Grill.
Despite Jeremy's protest, Matt had had enough of going over weapons and tactics at the Lockwood mansion. After catching a few winks, he decided he needed to get out of the mansion for a while. Even though he was somewhat proud of Jeremy for finally taking his Hunter training seriously, he lamented over the idea that Bonnie might be a recipient of Jeremy's new found interest in tactical preparation. It seemed to Matt that as far as Jeremy was concerned, if Bonnie was in cahoots with Damon, then Bonnie was just as guilty as Damon was for whatever crimes either of them may have done. It was a conclusion that Matt didn't agree with at all and would not share. Matt had known and loved Bonnie for practically his entire life and he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt up until the very end.
Matt needed a break and decided to burn off some frustration and steam by continuing to help out at The Grill. He let his fellow co-workers take the rest of the night off so he could be alone. He needed to be alone. In many ways, though he found it a tad bit pathetic, The Grill was becoming his refuge; a symbol of the normalcy of life that just seemed to escape Mystic Falls on a constant basis.
Though it wasn't always that way.
He remembered his and Elena's first date being at The Grill. He was so nervous, trying to impress her that he even went so far as to tip the bartender to let him have a beer before the date to calm his nerves. Seeing as how it was really the first time that he ever drank alcohol, he wasn't prepared for the effects. Suffice to say, he never did know if Elena fell for him because he came off as cool and confident, or because he was just inebriated enough that she found his antics comical. He had always meant to ask her that question.
Of course, everything changed after the Salvatore boys came to town. Things changed and seemingly not for the better. As Matt began to think, he couldn't help but shake his head in remorse. He wondered how many lives would never have been lost had everything not happened the way they did. He wasn't blaming Stefan and Damon. Then again, maybe he was. Their world and the supernatural world were going to collide at some point. Even if the Salvatore brothers never showed up, Klaus would have. So would have Katherine. Elena would have been gone and Klaus' hybrids would be running the world. Jeremy would have become a Hunter at some point. But then Matt began to wonder who would have survived, be it his sister Vicki, or Tyler's mother and father, Bonnie's father, or Elena's aunt Jenna, or the close calls they had with Alaric, Bonnie and Jeremy, all dying and yet coming back to life.
Matt shook his head again.
He was thinking in circles. He smacked himself on the side of his head, trying to prevent himself from getting caught in a labyrinth of 'what-ifs.' But his mind began to wander and wonder.
People dying and coming back to life.
He thought about the absurdity of such a concept. He still couldn't believe it happened. It was an idea he had heard about in church and seen played out in zombie movies and horror flicks. But up until recent years, it was all just flights of fancy and religious dreaming. And yet, he had witnessed it time and time again. He himself even experienced it! It had happened so many times that Matt became numb to the reality of it. It seemed like it was a common occurrence in his life now. Along with all the other normal things about life he once thought were defined and unchangeable, death too had been redefined along the way.
There was no 'normal' death anymore, at least not for those with a supernatural element to them. Be it Elena or Caroline or Bonnie or Jeremy or Tyler or Alaric—a normal death didn't apply to them. It seemed like if death touched them, they had a second chance to come back; and a third chance; and a fourth chance. Who knew how many chances? It seemed to be very easy to take death for granted.
Matt sighed. Because for all that had changed, he didn't. At least, not like everyone else had. There was no Other Side for him. There was no way to come back from death like the others could. He was the last of them all, the only one who had somehow remained the same, at least on the outside.
He started to laugh. As he looked around, he realized another absurdity. It had been less than 24 hours that he and Jeremy were attacked by a vampire who, by rights, shouldn't have even been walking around Mystic Falls. An innocent person was decapitated, with his truck being used as a tool in that decapitation. His town was under siege…and here he was, unpacking boxes of dinnerware to get The Grill ready for its reopening.
Matt took another swig of water and grabbed a utility knife to cut the tape on the box so as to compact it to chuck into the recycling bin. Suddenly the lights began to flicker, eventually turning off. Light streaming in from the outside lamp posts illuminated the room a little bit, but not enough for Matt to distinguish shadow from hard object. He remained still and silent for a moment, clutching the utility knife in his hand, trying not to breathe so that he could hear for any kind of movement in the room.
Though he had thought enough ahead to bring his bag of vampire weapons with him in case of an attack, he had left it behind the bar. If it was that vampire that had trashed his truck the night before, he knew he couldn't beat her to the bag, no matter how fast he ran. Tactically, he figured it best to let her make the first move and see if he could somehow counter whatever she did.
With his pulse beating like a machine gun and sweat stinging his eyes, Matt continued to stand still, turning his head slightly to try and look around for any movement. His body jolted slightly when the lights suddenly came back on. He continued to stand still, though moving his head around, looking to see if anything in the room had moved. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Matt slowly moved off the bar stool and made his way to behind the bar. He retracted the utility knife and clipped it to his belt, reached down behind the bar and grabbed the weapons bag. He continued to look up over the bar to see if anyone was there, but he saw nothing.
Power outage maybe?
He wasn't taking any chances. He unzipped the bag and rummaged through it to pull out a stake.
"Mattie!"
A woman's voice whispered to him. It didn't come from any one location but sounded like it was coming from all around the room. Matt got up and scanned the room. He desperately wanted to shout out to see if anyone was there, but he knew it was an exercise in stupidity. Whoever it was that was messing with him was neither a friend nor a co-worker.
He grabbed the bag and walked out from behind the bar and into the dining area of the restaurant. He made his way to the door when he heard the clinking of glasses from behind the bar. He turned around to see what made the noise but he saw nothing. He began to breathe heavily and suddenly noticed that he could see his own breath. The sweat on his face and neck began to chill him as though he had walked in from a gruelling workout into a frozen meat locker. A pungent stench wafted into his nostrils, but it was smell that he couldn't identify.
The lights flickered again and then turned off. Matt again scanned the room and saw a pair of glowing gold and red eyes and a black silhouette sitting at a booth at the far end of the restaurant.
"Join me for a drink, Mattie?" said the figure in a deadly, velvety female tone.
The lights flickered and came back on. Matt looked up at the lights and then looked at the booth, but the woman was gone.
He reached into the bag to pull out another weapon when he instinctively sensed someone standing right beside him. His peripheral view could see a pair of brown boots and tight dark blue jeans standing behind him, slightly to his left. He figured Valene had returned to finish the job. Matt knew that she was waiting for him to make a move. The element of surprise was his only chance.
He pulled out a stake before throwing the weapons bag in his hand at the woman while simultaneously rolling away. As soon as his feet were planted firmly on the ground, he turned to face the vampire with the stake in his hand, ready to strike. But the woman caught his hand and squeezed it until Matt could no longer hold onto the stake and dropped it. She grabbed Matt by his shirt and flipped him over hard onto the floor.
Shaking his head and blinking rapidly, Matt tried to get his bearings, only to see the woman mount on top of him and then lunge at his neck, her eyes blazing with gold and red, a mask of black veins around her eyes, her fangs menacingly protruding from her mouth.
He flinched and brought up his left arm to block her attack. It did, but it only gave her something new to bite on. She clamped down on his forearm, shaking her head from side to side like a dog tugging at a piece of rope. It served to make the bite marks all that much wider, allowing for more blood to flow out.
Matt cried and clenched his teeth as the vampire's bite grew increasingly tighter. He could feel her fangs digging deeper into his arm, penetrating through flesh and muscles, feeling like they were making their way right to the bone. He knew that eventually she would bite all the way through and rip out a chunk of his arm. He tried to think about what he could do but her eyes of blazing hatred and savagery stunned him momentarily. It was the same look that the vampire had when she threw that jogger at his truck. It was only when she shook at his arm again that the pain snapped him out of his stasis and he began scrambling for something to get her off of him.
As he wriggled on the floor, he felt something jabbing him on his hip. He reached down and felt the utility knife clipped on his belt. He grabbed it and extended the knife and then, with everything he had, rammed it into the left eye of his attacker. She immediately opened her mouth and twisted her head, inadvertently breaking the blade off of the utility knife, leaving the metal blade itself imbedded in her eye. She fell backwards screaming, clutching at her eye as blood spurted out onto her face and onto the floor.
Matt slid back, looking at his arm, staring at the massive bloody gash that seemed to take up most of the space on his arm. He remained stunned at the image as blood poured out of the wound, his arm quivering with his hand going limp. He started to feel light headed, but he didn't know if it was out of blood loss or shock, or perhaps both. Either way, he knew he had to finish the job because he was not going to survive otherwise.
He ripped off his t-shirt and wrapped it around his arm to try and stop the bleeding. He stumbled forward and picked up the stake. With adrenaline numbing the pain in his arm and transforming fear and panic into rage, he watched the woman thrashing around on the floor, her long, light brunette hair veiling her face as she continued to clutch at her eye. She curled up on the floor and had her back to Matt. He saw his opportunity. He grasped the stake tightly and raised his arm and prepared to plunge the weapon into the woman's back.
"This is for my truck!" Matt growled.
"Why Mattie?" the woman sobbed. "Why? Why do you hate me so much?"
Matt froze as he recognized the voice. The woman stood up and turned to face him.
"V-Vicki?" Matt muttered, dropping the stake.
She stood up and turned to face Matt. She casually reached into her damaged eye and pulled out the metal blade. Blood spurted and then oozed out of her eye until she it shut. She brushed her blood soaked hair aside and walked to over to Matt.
"Why are you always looking to hurt me, Mattie?" Vicki asked sorrowfully. "Wasn't it enough that you left me alone on the Other Side? Wasn't it enough that you chose that bitch Elena over me? And now you won't let me feed? Why won't you let me feeeeeed?!"
"Vicki! I…I…," Matt stammered as he shuffled backwards. "What happened to you? How are you even here? When you were on the Other Side, you…you—"
"I was claimed by the Sovereignty! THEY cared about me. THEY wanted me. Unlike you, little brother!"
Matt kept shuffling back as Vicki continued walking towards him, malice and vengeance arising from her like some cheap cologne.
"No, Vicki. No! I…I love you. You're my…you're my sister. I didn't want to leave you on the Other Side. But you left me no choice."
"NO CHOICE?!" Vicki screeched. "There was always a choice, Mattie! There was me and Elena! There was helping me or condemning me! And you ALWAYS choose to condemn me. ALWAYS!
"No, Vicki! I love you. I always have and I always will," Matt said, the pain in his arm distracting him for a moment. "I've…I've taken care of you…at your worst and always had your back. But I had to do what was right. And doing the right thing sometimes…sometimes means making sacrifices!"
"Yessss…it does! So help us now, little brother. Like you always have," Vicki said. Matt found her instant switch from vicious anger to soft pleading highly unnerving. She wiped Matt's blood from around her mouth and licked her lips. "We need to feed. And then, we'll be alright."
Matt continued moving backwards until he hit the bar. Vicki continued moving towards him until she was face to face with him.
"Look at you, Mattie! How big you've grown. How much of a man you've become," she said, lightly touching and stroking his muscular bare chest with her finger. Being that close allowed Matt to finally scrutinize his sister. Her skin was pale. She definitely looked dead. Her good eye was the normal brownish and green colour that he was used to seeing and not the gold and red with the black slit in the center that he had seen when she attacked him.
"You let me feed," Vicki continued, looking at him with lustful, bedroom eyes, "and we'll let you do to us whatever you want!"
"What?!" Matt recoiled in disgust. "Vicki! What…what's happened to you? What the hell is going on?"
"Oh, c'mon Mattie. You seem to have a thing for vampires now, don't you? Elena…Rebekah…why not me? What…am I not good enough for you?" Vicki asked, her tone becoming increasingly agitated. "Am I beneath you?! Is that why you left me to ROT on the Other Side, you little BASTARD?! IS IT?!"
She grabbed Matt tightly by the jaw. Tears began dripping from Matt's eye from the pain she was generating, as though she was slowly crushing his jaw with her hand. His face became beet red as he struggled with his good hand against Vicki's steel grip.
She closed her good eye for a moment. Matt could see the black veiny mask return around her eyes. Suddenly, both of her eyes flew open, the demonic look from before had returned. She gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip around Matt's jaw.
"It's a shame that you'll die a regular human being, Matt," Vicki said, a deep growl seemingly underlining her words. "We could have used someone like you in the Sovereignty."
She twisted Matt's head to the side to give her access to his neck. Matt clenched his eyes shut.
"Let him go, Vicki!"
Vicki's fangs barely pricked the surface of Matt's skin when she turned around and saw Jeremy standing at the restaurant entrance, a crossbow pointed right at her.
"Jeremy! Aren't you a sight for our eyes?" Vicki replied, grinning wildly.
She pushed Matt away and started walking towards Jeremy. He steadied his crossbow, making sure that he had a clear shot to her heart.
"Stay back, Vicki! I don't want to do this," Jeremy warned.
"Oh, Jeremy! Do you hate me too? This is just as much your fault as it is his," she said, motioning with her head towards Matt. "We came to you for help and you refused us. You instead listened to that Asian whore! You stood by while Stefan killed me!"
"That's not true, Vicki, and you know it! Now stand down."
Vicki seductively walked towards Jeremy while running her hands over her body. "C'mon, Jer! Don't be like that. Put that crossbow away and we can have fun like we used to have. Do you remember? Help us out and we can relive those good times."
She stopped and turned to look at Matt. "Oh, and if you want join in, you can, Mattie. It's not like I haven't done a threesome before!"
As soon as she turned back to Jeremy, an object was flying through the air towards her. She caught it and looked down in time to see a vervain grenade explode in her hands.
Vicki screamed as she her face and chest began burning. Jeremy shot off a couple of arrows, getting her in the shoulder and stomach. Vicki flailed around before finally taking one last look at Jeremy and Matt and hissing at them before she flung herself through a window and disappeared.
Jeremy checked the window to see where she went before rushing to Matt.
"Matt, are you alright? Where did she get you?"
Matt straightened himself up and removed the shirt that was wrapped around his arm.
"Oh man!" Jeremy replied as he turned slightly away from Matt's gnarled and bloody arm. Jeremy ran behind the bar and found a bottle of vodka and a roll of paper towels.
"This is going to sting a bit but it'll help clean the wound," Jeremy explained as he poured the liquor onto Matt's arm. Matt groaned as the vodka began burning. Jeremy immediately began wrapping the paper towel around Matt's arm as tight as he could without ripping the delicate tissue.
"What…what the hell happened to her?" Matt mournfully asked, his eyes welling up with tears.
"I don't know, Matt. I don't even know if that was her.
Matt looked away at the window that Vicki had escaped through.
"It was her, Jer. I know it was her. And yet…it wasn't," Matt said, wiping the tears running down his face. "Something happened to her. She's like that vampire that was hanging out with Damon and Bonnie. We have to help her!"
"Never mind that now, Matt. We have to get out of here. Who knows if there are more of them around? I was able to…borrow…a car from one of Tyler's neighbours who happens to be on vacation. It will do for now until Tyler can get us some better wheels. That's why I came here…to pick you up so we could go do some investigating."
Jeremy helped Matt to stand up, but Matt stumbled a bit, the room spinning all around him.
"Here, take a swig of the vodka," Jeremy said, holding the bottle to Matt's lips. He then propped Matt on his arm and slowly walked out of The Grill.
"We better get back to the mansion to take care of your arm and get some more weapons. I have a feeling we're going to need them!"
New Tactics
As Elena remained kneeling and crying on the concrete road, she could hear the rumblings of a car approaching her along the road to Mystic Falls. Squinting and putting her hand up to block the blinding of the headlights, Elena's grief was quickly transforming into annoyance. She stopped sobbing and started curling her lips. With her vampire eyes forming and her fangs extending out, she looked like a wild raccoon on the road awaiting its destined collision with the vehicle. She hissed as the car came closer, waiting for the driver to honk the horn and step out, only to become the recipient of her anger and grief.
The car slowed and finally stopped a small distance away. The door opened and it was then that Elena heard a familiar voice.
"Elena!" bellowed Alaric as he stepped out.
Soon, the passenger door flew open and Caroline ran out to meet her.
"Elena! Oh, my God, what happened?" Caroline asked as she bent down to hug her.
"Damon…he…uh…*sniff*…he took…he took Stefan," Elena mumbled.
"What?!" Alaric reacted. "How did Damon get Stefan?!"
Wiping the last remnant of tears from her face, Elena slowly got up with Caroline's help. She saw Istas and Abby step out of the vehicle as well and sheepishly looked away from Abby's scornful glare.
"I…I tried to find Damon. I needed to know what happened to him so I took one of the Ambrosia rings and came here to look for him. Damon somehow knew I was coming and met me here. But Stefan followed and managed to take my ring off and throw me to the outside of the town. The next thing I knew, both he and Damon were gone."
Alaric sighed and walked up to the border. "He must've taken him back to the mansion. He needs his blood to bring down the Traveler spell. Thankfully he doesn't have yours."
Elena closed her eyes for a moment and deeply breathed in. She opened her eyes again and blinked slowly as the pit of her stomach started to ache. "Alaric. He…he does. He took some of my blood before Stefan could get me out of there."
"You IDIOT!" Istas screeched. With lightning speed, she pushed Caroline away from Elena, grabbed Elena's head and hurled it into the road, knocking Elena semi-unconscious. Alaric moved to Elena's side while Caroline shoved Istas away and then got in her face.
"HEY!" Caroline exclaimed, almost snarling. "You so much as TOUCH her again and I will end you myself!"
Not backing down even an inch, Istas snarled back. "Bring it, Blondie! I've got enough for the both of ya!"
"Stop it, the both of you! You're not helping matters!" Alaric commanded.
"Tell that to your idiot friend here!" Istas replied, pointing at Elena. "She just handed those damn freaks what they need to bring this spell down and take off and we'll never find them again!"
Istas felt a soft hand on her shoulder and turned to see Abby there. "Izzy, please! Alaric is right. This isn't helping."
Istas scowled at Caroline before storming off, shaking her arms and breathing in deeply to expel the adrenaline that had built up.
"So what do we do now?" Abby asked as she watched Istas move away.
Alaric was about to speak when he heard Elena stirring beside him. She grabbed her head and moaned as she lay dazed on the road. Alaric bent down to help her up but then stopped. He closed his eyes and straightened up again. He stared at her for a moment and then walked away, running his fingers through his hair. Pacing back and forth, switching his hands from his hair to his face, Alaric finally stopped and dropped his hands in exasperation.
"I don't know! I don't know. Istas is right! Damon and Bonnie now have what they need to bring the Traveler spell down and once it's down, they can go wherever they want. And right now, we can't do a damn thing about it! They've heightened Damon and Bonnie's powers to a point that even I'm overmatched. And we have one Ambrosia ring left, for whatever good it does if it just ends up turning any one of us into blood-lusting monsters!"
All of them suddenly picked the sound of grass and leaves rustling in the distance. They looked to see a black form slowly making its way to them, facing towards Mystic Falls, sprinkling something on the ground while murmuring to itself, seemingly following the boundary of the Traveler spell.
The figure got close enough for the group to recognize that it was Luke.
"Luke!" bellowed Caroline.
He immediately stopped his incantations and looked up. He stretched out his hand towards the five of them and they immediately started to feel their temples throb and ache. The pain slowly became worse to the point that all of them shut their eyes and started to grasp their heads, joining Elena on the ground, prostrate and in agony.
"Luke…Luke, wait! We're…*ugh*…we're not going to attack…you," pleaded Alaric, stretching his hand out to Luke, begging for mercy.
"Right! You'll excuse me if I don't take your word for it," Luke answered, sneering.
"Luke, he's telling the truth. They…they don't…*agh*…they don't have…the rings on anymore…they won't…," Abby attempted to explain.
Luke turned his gaze away without easing on the migraine. He nodded to himself and retracted his hand, releasing the five vampires in the process. After all of them sighed in collective relief and got back to their feet, they approached Luke.
"Thank you. Look, we're very sorry for what happened before," Alaric said. "We don't know what happened. We even attacked each other while we were in there. We lost control and I don't blame you for being upset with us."
"Yeah…well…it wasn't exactly the greeting I was expecting when you returned."
"What are you doing here anyways?" asked Elena, rubbing her head.
Luke looked at the group and hesitated to answer. He took off his knapsack and put away the container of salt he was using.
"Are you putting up a boundary spell?" asked Abby.
"Yeah. I talked with Liv. There's something going on in there and she asked me to put up a second boundary spell in case the Traveler spell is brought down. I've been going around the Mystic Falls border doing just that."
Alaric nodded and smiled. "That's good! That's really, really good! Smart thinking. Is that going to keep Damon and Bonnie in there?"
"Damon, Bonnie, and pretty much any other supernatural creature. None can get in or out."
Elena's face scowled. "Wait…what? Then that means we can't get in either!"
Luke stared at her stone-faced. Again, he hesitated to respond but slowly closed his eyes and sighed. He reached into his knapsack and brought out multiple pieces of string.
"Keep these on your person and you'll be able to pass through the boundary spell," Luke said, handing them over to Alaric.
"How do they work?" Alaric asked.
"Just take them and stop asking so many damn questions! Geez, why do you have to know every damn—"
Luke stopped, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry. I'm tired and it's been one hell of day, ya know!"
Alaric nodded, put the strings in his pocket and put his hand out to shake Luke's hand. "No need to apologize, Luke. You've gone above and beyond what any other person would have done considering all that we've put you through. Thank you for these…for everything!"
Elena and Caroline both compassionately smiled and nodded in agreement while Istas stood cross-armed and passive. Abby, meanwhile, looked upon him with a mother's concern.
"Where is Liv? Why does she think the Traveler spell will be brought down?" asked Abby.
Luke looked down, closing his eyes while his hands fidgeted.
"Luke, I—" Abby said before being interrupted.
Luke raised his head and, with an apparent newfound focus and resolution, addressed Abby. "Abby, can I talk to you for a moment…alone?"
"Uh…sure."
The two walked away from the others a fair distance. Luke reached into his knapsack and pulled out a small bundle of sage. He pulled out a lighter and lit the sage, murmuring a spell under his breath.
"I don't want the others to hear about this. I don't necessarily trust them," Luke said, trying to stand with his back to Alaric and the others so as to mask the smoke wafting up from the burning sage.
"But you trust me?" asked Abby.
"I don't know who to trust anymore, to tell you the truth," Luke said in resignation. "My coven is of no help right now. They sent my former teacher to us and now she's disappeared. I have these psycho vampires attacking me. And now Liv—"
Luke started to blink rapidly, attempting to stave off the tears and grief that threatened to overtake him. He breathed in deeply and continued.
"Look, Abby. I have to trust someone. My coven has always respected the Bennett witches, especially your mom. Also, you have a stake in this, and that's your daughter's life. And from what I've heard, considering what she went through with Expression magic, maybe you can understand what I'm feeling right now."
Abby looked at him puzzled. "What are you talking about? Is Liv dabbling in Expression magic?"
"Worse!"
Luke looked back to the others to ensure that none were able to see what he was about to reveal. He opened up his knapsack and pulled out the Red Dragon grimoire.
"Is that…," Abby started, looking at the book with both shock and amazement, "…is that the—"
"It is."
"But…but how? That book is supposed to be locked away in Vatican City."
"I don't know, Abby. I thought it might be a fake but I think it's the real deal. Thing is, I found it in Liv's dorm room. I think my former teacher gave it to her. And from what I can tell, she's pretty much absorbed all of it. She said that she was going into Mystic Falls to eliminate a threat. I don't know what that means but if she's using this stuff to do it, either way it can't be good."
"No, it can't," Abby replied, nervously staring at the grimoire. "Bonnie became overwhelmed with Expression. I can't imagine what this book did to Liv."
"Which is why I need you to take it," Luke said, pushing the book towards Abby.
"Me?!"
"Yes, you!"
"But why me? I can't do anything with it."
"That's exactly why I need you to take it. I've had to stop myself three times already from opening this book and soaking up its contents. If I keep it, I know I'm going to eventually give in. But you? You're a vampire so you can't do magic. You won't be tempted like me. But you're also a former witch who knows all too well how dangerous this book truly is. The others? They—" Luke looked back at the group as they continued to talk amongst themselves. "—they don't understand and probably never will. I can't trust them to keep it."
Abby took the book. She ran her hand over the cover, tracing the dragon emblem with her finger.
"What about Liv? What are you going to do about her?"
Luke sighed. "I don't know. I find myself trusting her less and less. She's changed and I have no idea what she's capable of now. If this book has corrupted her to the point that she seeks to harm others, I…I may have to—"
Luke looked down and closed his eyes. Abby softly put her hand on his shoulder. "I know, Luke. I know."
Luke glanced at her and nodded in appreciation. He pulled out a twig, told Abby to hold onto it while he held onto the grimoire at the same time.
"Phasmatos radium calaraa," Luke whispered. He opened his eyes and handed the book over to Abby. "The book is cloaked now. To break the cloak, simply snap the twig. As long as you hold onto the twig, only you can see it. I'd better go and finish putting up that boundary spell."
He was about to snuff out the burning sage when he paused and looked again at Abby. "Just so you know, the boundary spell is linked to the lives of Liv and me. Those strings are lined with my hair and hers. Heh! She sheds so much of her curly hair anyways that it wasn't that hard to do. But just so you know…in case anything happens to me."
Abby nodded as she watched Luke walk past the others and continue putting up the boundary spell. She then scrutinized the grimoire and began feeling a clash of emotions. She was thankful that she was a vampire and could no longer do magic, lest she be tempted by the book.
At the same time, as she flipped over the pages, her eyes widened. She clamped them shut at the same time as she snapped the book closed. She opened her eyes again and sighed.