AN: Wow! I couldn't believe how fast the reviews were coming in last night! You guys are awesome! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!
"Why are you doing this?" Elena demanded, glaring at the man in front of her. She couldn't see Damon...she hadn't seen him since the school parking lot. She was tied to what seemed to be an office chair, and from her lack of mobility apparently the wheels were broken.
"Why does anyone do anything, Elena?" He said, pulling out a thick book which looked similar to Emily's Grimoire.
"You're the one who switched them, aren't you?" She said, watching him flip through the pages.
"Yes." He tore out a page.
"Why? It could kill them!"
"Obviously. That's the point." He said, tearing out another page.
"What?" Elena said in disbelief.
"Well" he said "I couldn't get to you with the two of them constantly around, so why not make them as weak as I am?"
Elena shook her head. "What do you want with me?"
He turned. "What does anyone want from you, Elena?" he said.
"There are a lot of things that could fill that blank." She was annoyed.
He smiled. "Klaus." He said. "But that's enough answers for you. Here" he said, holding up a piece of tape. "I have things to do, and you speaking is distracting." He placed it over her mouth, tilting his head at her annoyed expression. "Be good."
Damon had been sliding in and out of consciousness for hours, and in-between blackouts he realized that he'd been dumped off the side of the road to the boarding house. It was only after a lot of interrupted thought that he decided to make his way to Bonnie's house. He didn't expect her to want to help him, but he knew she would...especially as Elena had disappeared. After blacking out twice on the way, he could see the two-story house through the trees. He bolted for the patio, relieved that he was still conscious as he knocked on the door.
What if she wasn't home? He realized, cursing under his breath. He had no idea what time it was or how long he'd been in his blackouts, but the sun was definitely in a different place in the sky. Even if she wasn't writing an exam, she'd probably be out somewhere with friends on a day like this; so sunny and warm. He heard the deadbolt turn, and he sighed in relief. When Bonnie opened the door, he could have hugged her, but he blacked out. Again.
Bonnie opened the door to find Damon waiting anxiously. Before she could open her mouth to make a retort about him being there, he passed out, crumpling to the patio floor as he sunk from consciousness.
"What the hell?" She said, looking at him. She looked up and down the street before pulling him through the doorway, making sure no one saw. She had to use all of her bodyweight to drag him into the house, shutting the door and stopping for a breather once he was inside. He moved, raising his head and looking around, disoriented.
"Stay down" Bonnie said, shifting to kneel by his head. "You're safe." She watched him run a hand through his hair, and she caught sight of something white. "Wait, turn your head" she said, sliding a hand under the back of it. She pulled a piece of crumpled paper off the back of his skull, shaking her head. Damon turned his head back, confused.
"What's that?"
"a paper talisman." She said. "It was causing your blackouts."
"What? Why didn't it come off?" he said. He'd assumed that it was his abilities slipping away.
"It sticks to whomever it's placed on. It's a talisman that's supposed to only work on humans, and it's supposed to keep them unconscious until it's removed." She said, reading what seemed like scribbles to Damon. "Because your powers disappear and return randomly, the talisman could only affect you when you were in a humanish phase." She'd been reading about switches with humanoid immortals; there was a lot of information.
"humanish phase?" he said, sitting up.
"The switch turns you human first. It's impossible for a vampire to age, and as such it reverses what happened when you turned. I suggest you watch yourself. Timelines vary, but from what I've read you should be fully human within two months. Stefan also."
Damon's face cast over with realization: he'd lose any and all ability to protect Elena. Suddenly, the pressure to get switched back was deafeningly apparent.
"How many abilities have you lost already?" she asked.
"None so far entirely, but I'm weaker...and my strength comes in waves. Sometimes I could destroy a car, and other times I'd be lucky to fight off a guard dog."
"We need to work fast, then." She said.
"Says the one who isn't waiting to be turned back into an appetizer." He raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, I know." Bonnie would have laughed at the Damon-like expression on Stefan's face, but she figured it would be out of place.
"If you came to be healed or something, I can't do it. I'm not strong enough."
"I didn't come to be healed. I need you to find Elena." He said.
"Find Elena?" Bonnie asked quizzically.
"She's missing; the warlock took her." Bonnie nodded, and pulled out a map of the area.
"Let's do it."
Stefan stepped into a large colonial house, relieved that he didn't have to be invited in. It was remarkable that he'd been able to find Elijah's American residence, and it was also interesting that he didn't have a human guarding it. It had taken long enough to find, and he was glad that the building was human-free. Unfortunately, Elijah wasn't there, making Stefan's trip longer. He'd have to wait for Elijah to get back.
He headed up one of the double staircases, deciding that checking out the house would help the time go by. It hadn't occurred to him until recently just how much of a pain stairs were; he'd gotten used to flashing up them, but over the last two weeks he'd been getting headaches when he moved too quickly...something that he wasn't enjoying. After talking to a friend from years ago, he'd learned a bit more about the switch, and from what he'd been told...switching back quickly was priority number one. Luckily, Damon's body was much stronger than his own, and he'd been managing the effects of the switch fairly well. Of course, his newly re-adopted human blood diet was helping.
He pushed open a door, being greeted with sunlight streaming through the window of an office. The office was surprisingly modern, something he didn't expect from Elijah. He slowly scanned the shelves, reading the titles and comparing the collection to his own; Elijah's was much larger, but he was missing some classics that Stefan considered mandatory. The few shelves that weren't full of books were heavy with various items from different times. From what Stefan could tell, they were separated by age and location; things as small as necklaces and bullets, and as large as axes (which hung on one wall). It was an interesting mix for sure, modern and ancient. One shelf stood out from the others, holding a single blade. Stefan reached for it, picking it up off the shelf and examining it. He pulled the blade from a worn leather sheath, and a small piece of aged paper fell out. The paper seemed fairly new, not nearly as old as the blade. He put the blade back down, opening the folded yellow sheet and reading.
Bonnie sat next to Jeremy (whom she'd called immediately after finding out what Damon needed) who was now holding his hand over the map, watching Bonnie mutter, her eyes pressed shut. As the blood moved, Damon felt nervous jitters, something that he definitely hadn't felt in years. Finally, when it felt like he couldn't wait any longer, it was done.
"She's here" She said, pointing to the collected blood. It hovered over a residential area only ten miles from where they were sitting. Damon jumped up.
"Wait!" Bonnie said. "Take this." She handed him a strip of paper with scribbled symbols on it.
"What?"
"It's another talisman. This one will stop others from working on you." Damon looked at her for a moment, unsure.
"Fine."
Bonnie lifted his shirt and pressed it to his back, settling the fabric back over it again. "Now GO!"
It couldn't be! A dagger for killing an original? It made sense that Elijah would have it; what better way to stop it from surfacing than to keep it to yourself. Stefan picked up the dagger, re-sheathing it and tucking the paper back in. He picked up the jar of ash that had been sitting with it as well. With this, he wouldn't need to ask Elijah's help to get Katherine out of the tomb. From what he could tell, all the information he needed was there, on the jagged-edged little page. He'd seen the handwriting somewhere else before, but he couldn't remember where.
He slid the dagger into Damon's leather jacket and made his way out of the house.
Elena watched the man pile the torn out pages in front of him, pulling out a large manila envelope and sliding them in. He'd torn six pages out in total, and from what Elena could tell, he was paying particular attention to each one. All six pages were sitting in page protectors and he handled them with care.
"You're pretty bad at hide and seek"
Elena turned, hearing Stefan's voice with Damon's characteristic sarcasm. The man caught a breath in his throat, scrambling for a piece of paper on the desk. "And you're getting pretty bad at being a vampire." He said, grabbing a piece and turning around. Damon flashed towards him as fast as he could, coming up short as he was hit in the forehead with another piece of paper. It fell off.
"What the..." The man said, eyes narrowing as he realized what was going on. He didn't have time to think about it for long, Damon had a firm hold on his neck, and before long he was flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. "Someone's got a witch friend. The same little one we were harassing, I imagine."
"Friend, not sure. Your enemy? Definitely." Damon smiled.
"Pressing me to the ground with your body weight, how very human." The look on the man's face made Damon's eyes narrow. He smashed the warlock's head against the floor, almost laughing as he went unconscious, splinters from the floor landing around his head.
"Humans wouldn't smash in your floorboards with your skull." Damon stood, flashing to Elena and untying her. He peeled the tape from her mouth.
"I didn't realize you could still move that fast! Are you ok?" she asked, pressing her hands to his cheeks. They were hot.
"I can, it just feels like being hit by a train afterwards." Her hands felt good; cool against his skin. "Did he say much?"
"Not nearly enough." She said. "But from what I could tell, his Grimoire is on the desk, and he was tearing pages out of it."
"What did he do with the pages?" Damon asked, picking up the Grimoire.
Elena stood. "They're in the manila envelope" she said, pointing. Damon picked it up, sliding it into the pages of the Grimoire.
"Take this." He handed the Grimoire to her. "I saw the Camaro parked outside, I'm going to take care of him; pop the trunk when you're out there, will you?" he pulled the keys out of the warlock's pocket, tossing them to her. She left, and he heard her pull the trunk latch a few minutes later. He tied the man with the same ropes that had been on Elena, picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder, the action making him sick. He needed to change, and he needed to do it fast.