PART 1

CHAPTER 22

Franz Ferdinand/ Do You Want To

Rose glanced at the candles on her nightstand, focusing on the now familiar power of her witch heritage. It fed off her vampirism and she let out a command. "Incendia." The candles lit and Rose focused once more trying to turn the flames into black roses, but nothing came of it. She sighed, throwing the sheets off her body intent on a scalding hot shower.

When she was done and dressed in simple black jeans and a corset top, Rose gathered her leather jacket and sped into the kitchen. She took a blood bag from the fridge and turned around to find Damon standing directly behind her. Rose was startled, having not heard him. They had an intense second of silence before the stoic expression on Damon's face gave way to his signature smirk. "We have work to do." He said, moving her out of the way to get a

bag of blood. Rose released a near-silent breath of air before sitting on one of the island's stools.

Ever since she had returned from Sheila's and had lied to Damon her friend had been acting weird around her, at odd moments like before. Rose swore Damon was contemplating ending her life when he stared at her so blankly and completely void of emotion. "What's going on?" She questioned, drinking her blood. "We're getting in bed with Stefan and Elena." Damon raised his eyebrows suggestively. Rose tried to control her facial expressions but by the smirk on Damon's lips, she failed to. Her features were in a sneer, the blood in her mouth gaining a foul taste. She clicked her tongue and discarded her meal in the kitchen's small bin. "No." She voiced her feelings, stuffing her hands into the pockets of the oversized leather jacket. Damon left his seat using his speed, hands cupping Rose's face. "I thought you and Stefan… got along?" The pause for dramatic effect made her more irritated than she already was. Grey stared at blue. "No. We don't, and we never will. I'll deal with Elena, but I don't want to be anywhere alone with him."

Damon let her walk away a frown on his lips. The brief thought of ending her life flashed again, but he ignored it. Damon knew it was just his demons whispering to him trying to take away the one good thing in his life. It was his fault, no one was perfect. Not even Rose, but he had put her on that level so when she came home and lied about what she had been doing, Damon had felt the familiar sting of hurt and betrayal. The voices in his head were trying to lump Rose in the same category as all the others but he knew she wasn't. She was just, human.

The sound of Elena and Stefan's voices reached his ears and he sped into their room, putting his conflicting thoughts about Rose to the back of his mind.

"My father never approved of anyone I've dated, which only made me want them more. Of course. What about you?" Damon said as he chopped looking between the knife and Jenna. Rose wanted to scoff, but she swallowed the sound in her throat focusing on the taste of the wine in her glass and not on the ridiculous conversation or Damon's whole fake demeanor. He was trying to butter Jenna up, and get her to trust him. Rose knew it wouldn't work, but she didn't try and stop him. She could hear Elena shuffling about upstairs, which brought her thoughts to the deal Damon had struck with Stefan to work together to find the Grimoire.

When Damon had informed her about all the details she had slipped up. He mentioned a Grimoire and when he started to explain what it was exactly, she blurted out what it was before she realized her mistake. Damon stared at her before going on further with the conversation he and Stefan had.

A frown pulled at her lips, Damon was looking over a lot of her mistakes and secretiveness lately. Rose was sure Damon knew she was hiding something from him but was giving her the benefit of the doubt or at least trying to. The memory of Damon's cold stare directed at her made a cold chill push spread through her body.

Damon's presence in front of her brought Rose out of her head and back into her childhood home's kitchen. Her sire filled the empty glass with wine again, smiling gently at her. She leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek, spotting Elena over his shoulder.

Damon addressed her sister as she made her way out of the kitchen, taking a seat next to her brother. He glanced at her briefly before focusing on the game again. "Jenna's, letting you drink?" Rose smirked at Jeremy, "Unlike you and Elena I'm not a baby, plus I'm responsible." Jeremy let out a laugh pausing the game to retrieve another controller. He set up the connection and held it up for Rose to use. She placed her glass of wine down before taking it, settling into the comfortable and familiar sofa. "You forget I was there for all the parties and drinking, plus the guys. Don't think I don't know about Tyler." This shocked her, but she played it off. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Jeremy shoved into her side gently, "I know you hooked up with Tyler, I caught the two of you. Left before I saw anything damaging to my psyche though." Rose rolled her eyes and knocked her car into Jeremy's. "Hey!" He protested.

Both of them focused on the game, but Rose still kept her ear on Damon and Elena's conversation.

She heard the nerves and hesitancy in her sister's which Damon seemed not to. Frankly, even though she and Elena were working on their relationship Rose didn't trust Stefan and by extension Elena. Rose had a feeling that Stefan was trying to trick Damon again, but Rose kept her thoughts to herself. Damon would have to see for himself that he couldn't trust the younger Salvatore.

Rose, Damon, Elena, and Stefan stood outside on the porch ready to hear what Stefan had found out. "Who took it?" Was the first question Damon asked after Stefan explained that the journal was missing. "I don't know." The younger brother answered to which Rose scoffed aloud crossing her arms over her chest. She glared at Stefan, "Missing for the entire day and you came up empty? What were you doing all this time, Stef?" There was a mocking tone to the nickname. Stefan glared back at Rose, anger rising within him. Before he could respond to Rose, Damon interrupted. "You know what, it's that teacher. There's something really off about him."

Rose rolled her eyes at Stefan facing Damon, "Yeah, he seemed overly interested in you at the dance. He could have something to do with this." Stefan felt panicked but kept it off his face as he answered. "No, he doesn't know anything. Somebody got to it right before me."

Damon shared a look with Rose, "Who else knew it was there?" He asked addressing his brother. Stefan glanced through the window, eyeing Jeremy, but he doesn't say anything. Damon follows his gaze, but before he moves looks to Rose for permission.

Rose nodded, understanding Damon's silent request. She followed after him when he moved towards the house intent on questioning Jeremy. Elena protested, but a single withering look from Rose stopped the words short. Jeremy glanced at all of them around him, before focusing on his game again. "So… I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?" He began, leg twitching with impatience. It was also showing all over his face which is why Rose moved from behind the couch to stand in front of her brother. Jeremy must have lost the game because his face twisted into a frown and his mouth opened with protests. "Jeremy. Who else knew about the Journal, besides your history teacher." Jeremy's brows pulled together in confusion. "What the hell's going on?" He asked, looking between his sisters and their friends. "Don't ask questions, just spill," Damon spoke, his words wound together tightly. Elena sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Johnathan Gilbert's journal?" The brunette asked. The teenager scoffed, seeming done with this interrogation. "Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?"

Rose could tell they were getting nowhere, Jeremy never liked to be ambushed and they were all gathered around him which was certainly making him more reluctant to answer their sudden questions. Damon looked angry now and Elena saw, so she opened her mouth to speak once again but Rose stopped her with a raised hand. "Jeremy," Rose paused waiting for her brother's gaze to land on her once again. "Who else did you tell?" She didn't know what her face looked like, but it must have been bad because Jeremy's whole attitude shifted from a rebellious teenager to a little kid being scolded by their parent. He even began playing with the loose fabric of his hoodie. "Just that girl Anna."

Damon's face lit up. "The hot, weird one?" He questioned. Rose vaguely remembered Damon and Jeremy talking about some girl while they played games. Jeremy nodded, "Yeah." Stefan frowned. "Wait, who's Anna?" Damon shook his head, "That's what I want to find out."

Rose looked up as a phone rang, it must have been Elena's because the girl walked away from the group leaving Stefan standing near her. Damon's voice sounded again as he spoke to Jeremy but Rose couldn't Identify the words. Even though they weren't truly alone, Elena wasn't there. Stefan's expression which had been filled with frowns and anger since he got here was now changing into one of guilt, concern, and… love. Rose fought against the part of her that wanted to step closer to him to steal a moment with him. Days before, she would've discreetly crept closer to him to gently tease him by taking his hand. Now she willed her anger to reignite, once again, in the face of the hidden love Stefan had for her showing in his forest eyes.

Rose shifted her attention to Damon when he stood with Jeremy, pulling at the boy's hoodie. "We're going, Rose. Meeting this Anna chick at the grill." Rose nodded, following her best friend and brother.

Not looking back at Stefan, missing the longing look on his face before it hardened as he turned clutching the hidden pages.

A key fiddled in the lock and Damon motioned for Rose to remain still. Rose gathered he wanted to handle this on his own. She remembered the shocked expression on his face when Anna had met up with Jeremy. Before she could speak Damon stopped her, taking out his phone to type on it. The words, 'She's a vampire' was enough explanation as to why it wasn't a good idea to speak. Rose was also angry that another vampire had gotten so close to her younger brother without her realizing it. Or Stefan, who by extension would have told Elena.

They had both failed to protect Jeremy.

Anna entered and Damon sped her against the opposite wall, a hand around her throat. But Anna must have been faster than Damon was expecting because she managed to do the same to him. Rose shut the door intent on helping Damon next but a pressed out, "Don't" from her friend stilled her movements. Rose obeyed, but she could feel the magic welling up inside of her, she knew it would be easy enough for her to bring Anna to her knees by making the blood vessels in her brain pop. But that would expose her, and not just to Damon but to a potential enemy as well.

Rose managed to calm her magic down just as Damon and Anna released each other. "Damn. You're strong for a little thing." He commented, coughing. Rose rushed towards him tilting his head up to expose his neck. She eyed the red marks on his flesh, already beginning to heal. Anger took over her, but she managed to control it and set her expression into a neutral mask. "You, okay?" She asked, cupping his neck gently.

Warmth filled Damon's eyes at her concern, covering Rose's hands with his own Damon gently lifted them away from him. "I'm good." Rose nodded before facing Anna, who was looking between her and Damon with a confused expression on her face. "You make any move towards him again, and I'll rip your head from your body."

Anna was older than this girl, but the words chilled her through her bones. She shook the feeling away meeting Damon's eyes. "I was wondering how long it would take you to find me," Anna spoke as she moved away from the wall, subconsciously giving Rose a wide berth. "How long have you been here?" He asked. Rose watched as Anna removed her bag and placed it on the dresser before leaning against it. Content to let Damon handle speaking to his old acquaintance, and trusting that her earlier warning would be sufficient enough to prevent Anna from attempting to harm either of them, Rose took a seat on the bed intent to listen.

Anna spared her a glance, before returning her attention to Damon. "I arrive half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open the tomb." The oldest vampire had a smirk on her face, which angered and irritated Rose. Rose made a sound in her throat, drawing Anna and Damon's gaze. "Watch the insults, your head will roll for them too." The grey-eyed girl closed her eyes, resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

Damon smirked at Rose's warning. The arrogance spread over his face. "How did you know about the spell?" He questioned, moving towards Anna slowly.

Anna was weary of the young vampire seated on the bed. It was known that the older you were the stronger you were as a vampire. But Anna's instincts were warning her against fighting Rose. Anna had a feeling she wouldn't come out the victor, and certainly not unscathed. However she couldn't allow Damon to intimidate her, so she kept up the confident façade she always wore. "I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything."

Damon sneered at her, crossing his arms over his chest. "So if you've been here the whole time, then why are we just crossing paths right now?" Anna pushed past Damon, "I like to use others to do my dirty work." She said, having swapped positions with Damon, Anna was now closer to the girl on the bed.

Damon blinked as Anna's words registered, he had a shocked and offended look on his face when he turned around. Before he could speak though, Rose did. "Logan Fell." The husk of her voice was deeper, which Damon knew as a sign of either her irritation or anger. Given the look on Rose's face, he wagered she was feeling both right now. "Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me and he hurt Rose too."

At the mention of her name, Rose opened her eyes to find Anna staring at her, a new fear in her eyes. "Rose… you're Jeremy's…" Anna couldn't finish her sentence, the cold stare Rose was giving her was clue enough. "Logan was an idiot." Anna continued, willing herself to ignore the new threat to her life. Damon hummed in confirmation. "We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family journal. I couldn't let him die." She explained. Damon's brows furrowed, "What'd you want with the Fell journal?" Rose was equally confused because the Journal everyone was looking for was the Gilberts. Anna shook her head, "I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book. I was wrong." Rose scoffed but Anna continued. "According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Johnathan Gilbert. And according to this…" Anna stopped speaking, going for her bag again, Damon moving out of the way to let her do so.

When she took her hand out of the bag, Anna had an old book in her hand. Rose assumed this was the journal everyone had been running around for like headless chickens. "He gave it to your father. So now you're going to help me find it."

Damon blinked at Anna like she had no brain between her ears. "Why would I help you?" He questioned. Rose stood from the bed, coming to stand beside Damon as Anna handed the journal to him. "Cause you and I both want that tomb open."

Rose didn't bother to read over the journal like Damon was doing, rather she kept her eyes on Anna. "You get Jeremy involved or hurt in any way. I'll end you." The words were barely spoken when Damon shut the journal loudly. Humming low in his throat, Damon placed the book on the dresser. "Sorry. We work alone."

Anna's mouth fell open as she gaped at Damon and Rose whose backs were turned to her. Rose had a hand on the door, her body halfway through it when she turned. Vein's running down her face, "I'll drain you dry before I end you, stay away from my brother." The grey eyes disappeared as the door closed.

Anna knew her instincts had warned her away from the girl, but she needed to get into the tomb. She needed to save her mother. Anna steeled her resolve, a plan forming in her mind.