Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or any quotes used/borrowed.
and the world was gone
"Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real."
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"So let me get this straight. The Hunters of the Five were created by a witch descended from this Qetsiyah chick, in order to get rid of all vampires, hoping that they'd accidentally find Silas – the original immortal and her ex-boyfriend – and kill him with some ultimate weapon thing that happens to be a Cure for vampirism, which you can find because of a map on each Hunter's arm, that grows with each vampire kill and can only be decoded with a special sword that Klaus found in Italy. But wait – Klaus wants the Cure to turn Elena human so he can make a lot of hybrids, but you two think that in order to get the Cure, he has to raise Silas, which will bring hell on earth. Does that sound about right? Oh, and there's probably a witch needed in that equation too, somewhere."
Bonnie and Kol exchanged glances. They'd all convened at the Salvatore Boarding House – that is, Bonnie, Kol, Elena and Damon – to share information about the Cure and Silas. Caroline and Tyler were mysteriously absent and Jeremy, Anna and Matt were at the school building, considering they actually needed to graduate. Bonnie and Kol, hearing a condensed version of everything they'd explained spat back into their faces by a skeptical Damon Salvatore made it all seem highly unlikely.
"Yes." Kol nodded and crossed his arms. "That's the gist, darling."
"I need a drink," Damon muttered and he turned around and went searching for a glass and a bottle.
"If you're taking requests, I'd like some Jack Daniel's," Kol hollered after him.
"Bonnie, you have to realize how crazy all this sounds," Elena said gently. "Are you sure the Expression isn't messing with your head?"
"I'm absolutely positive, Elena, listen to me," Bonnie sat forward in the couch and Elena scooted closer to her friend, "I'm not crazy, this isn't a ploy or a trick. There is a Cure for vampirism and Klaus is looking for it to turn you human. And unless you want the veil to the Other Side to come down – which would be very bad – and live your life as a human blood bag and subject your descendants to that, then we need to play along with Klaus and get the Cure so we can shove it Silas' throat."
"What if the Cure isn't real?" Elena asked quietly. "What if this is some made-up vampire myth?"
"Klaus still believes it exists," Kol told her, "and so that means you're in danger, sweet. If you don't believe us, that's your issue, but at least go along with us."
Damon returned with his bourbon and new Jack Daniel's for Kol. "I think it's a whole waste of time, but if I get to laugh in your face at the end of it, why the hell not."
"Damon," Elena warned. "Be serious."
"I am." Damon tipped his glass towards her.
"Okay, let's say it really is a Cure," Elena allowed and focused on Bonnie. "We can't actually take it?"
"No, darling, because as we explained, to get the Cure, you have to release Silas, and we plan on making Silas take the Cure and die. Otherwise, like I said, hell on earth." Kol rolled his eyes. "And where's your sister? Isn't she usually around for this stuff? Offering an opinion? Being morally self-righteous?"
Damon paused in the midst of the group. "She's been shut up in her room all morning, doing God knows what. She didn't make a sound when I said to come downstairs."
"I hate to be the responsible one, but shouldn't you check on her?" Kol made a large event as he stood slowly, stretching and smirking. "Now, I believe Bonnie and I have to get to school. Busy day – there's an occult exhibit that Bonnie volunteered us for."
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Stephanie had tossed and turned all night, her mind riveted on seeing her father and then disappearing. The blood had magically gone from her bathroom as if it had never been there, and she'd heard whispers all night long. They were all very familiar and sounded as if they were in pain, and when they were screaming, they were accusing her. Murderer. Ripper. Killer.
"Can't sleep?" Stephanie's eyes flashed opened to see slight streaming in through her bedroom mirror. She searched her room, but saw no one. "I'm over here." Steph shot up in bed and swung her head around, heart pounding in her ears. Connor Jordan was standing at the foot of her bed. "You know? It makes sense. Guilty conscience."
Stephanie flew backwards and hit her headboard. "You're dead. You're not really here."
"How do you know that?" Connor asked curiously. He tilted his head. "Go on."
"I killed you." Stephanie's hands clenched the bed sheets. She slowly released them.
"That's right," Connor said, nodding his head. "You killed me. But I wasn't the first, was I? The person who received that pleasure is over there." He pointed toward her bedroom door.
Stephanie spun around. Her mother was standing there, long dark curls hanging around her face, bright blue eyes piercing Steph's heart. She was as white as a sheet. "I didn't kill you," Stephanie said firmly and she swung herself off of her bed. "You were sick."
"Why was I sick, Stephanie?" Victoire Salvatore asked gently. Her eyes were so sad.
"It happened; there wasn't good medicine back then," Stephanie snapped but her hands were trembling and her voice was rising. "I didn't kill you."
"I never did recover from your birth," Victoire said sadly. "I got sick a lot more until one day came and I couldn't shake it. That was your fault, darling."
"No, no, no," Stephanie clapped her hands over her ears. Victoire came closer and reached out her hands as if to strangle her. Stephanie rushed her mother and shoved her up against the wall of her bedroom. "Go away!"
"Steph! What the hell is wrong with you?" Stephanie blinked and her mother's visage melted to form Damon's. She dropped her hands to her sides and felt cold inside. If Damon hadn't been a vampire, she'd have killed him. She turned her head, but Connor was gone too. "Stephanie?"
"I saw Mom. She was going to hurt me," Steph said listlessly. "Connor was here."
Damon slowly reached toward Steph, his hands opened palmed. "Mom? Stephanie, she's been dead for almost two centuries . . . and you killed Connor yesterday." He gently placed his hands onto her shoulders. "Why don't you get dressed? Then you can come downstairs, okay?"
"I know they're both dead," Stephanie said sharply. He was acting as if she was a glass doll and if he touched her too hard she would shatter into a million pieces. "I'm going to take a shower," She said quietly and turned. She shut the bathroom door behind her and stripped, stepping into the searing hot water. Her memories of the bathroom weren't pleasant, but she felt like there was grime all over her skin and it was driving her crazy . . . Stephanie opened her eyes because the grimy feeling wasn't washing off. In fact, it felt like it was . . . intensifying. She reached for a scrub but froze mid motion; her arms were covered in blood. Her entire shower was coated in it – it was raining out of her faucet head.
She screamed loudly and shrilly.
She flew backwards out of her shower and tore out of the bathroom, dripping blood all over the floor. It was in her eyes and ears and mouth, choking and blinding her. Hands were on her arms, shaking her and wrapping her up in the blanket. They deposited her onto her bed, and rubbed circles onto her back.
"Wake up, Stephanie. It's not real. It's not real." Steph blinked and Damon came into view. Beyond him stood Elena in her doorway.
"Damon, I hate to bother you, but Klaus –" Elena paused.
"What about Klaus?" Damon demanded.
"He's at the front door and wants inside. What's going on up here?" Elena came into the bedroom, padding softly on the balls of her feet. "Damon? Steph?"
"I'm getting dressed," Stephanie said and shook Damon off and scoured her room for clothes and shoved herself into them.
"Damon?" Elena asked again.
"She's hallucinating," Klaus' voice floated towards the trio and they turned to look at him as he sauntered in behind Elena. He addressed Steph then, "I tried calling you back, love, but you didn't pick up. I tried to warn you about Connor."
"What about Connor?" Elena demanded sharply, stepping in front of her friend and boyfriend. She crossed her arms protectively.
"I once killed all of the Hunters of the Five," Klaus explained, blue eyes riveted onto Stephanie. "I know what the consequences are. Hunters were spelled by witches to kill vampires; if you prevent one from completing his destiny, he'll take you down with him. It's called the Hunter's Curse."
"What does that mean?" Stephanie asked, sitting up.
"Love, it means that you're going to hallucinate until you kill yourself just to escape it all," Klaus said almost gently. "I'll need you to come with me now."
"That's not happening," Damon said flatly.
"It's for her own good, really," Klaus said. "I'll make sure she stays away from any sharp wooden objects."
"I really don't think that's a good idea," Damon stood next to Elena, making a united front, "and I think it's time for you to leave."
Klaus looked between the two of them and seemed to be fighting a smirk. He crossed his arms and gazed beyond the couple and into Stephanie's fatigued eyes and kept it.
"I'll do it."
"Stephanie, no!" Elena replied, aghast. "This is Klaus we're talking about!"
"If I'm going to be killing myself I'd rather it not be in front of the two of you," Stephanie said shortly and in the next moment there was a whiz of air; within the blink of an eye, Klaus and Steph had vanished from the boarding house and there was not a sign of them left.
"Well, damn."
"What do we do now?" Elena asked and she sunk onto Stephanie's unmade bed.
"What we always do we have a problem," Damon replied lightly. "Call Bonnie." So Elena pulled out her cell and called her friend and urged her to come back from the exhibit and to the boarding house because they had an issue that had come up since she'd left.
Bonnie arrived by herself with an air of annoyance that grew into agitation after Damon and Elena explained their new issues in the living room next to their crackling fire. "So, then you lost her?"
"I wouldn't say it exactly like that . . ." Damon trailed off uneasily.
"I'm worried about what Klaus said about this Hunter's Curse thing," Elena put in anxiously. "How does he even know about this stuff?"
Bonnie rubbed and forehead. "I'll see if there's something I can do with Expression to break this Curse. But first, I need to go and ask Kol or Shane about it and see what exactly we're dealing with here. This might be more complicated than we know."
"I'll come with you," Elena said and grasped Bonnie's hand reassuringly.
"Great. Have fun," Damon said shortly and circumvented the girls. He stalked out of the room and into the foyer. Elena and Bonnie exchanged exasperated looks and followed him.
"Where are you going?"
"To find Stephanie!" Damon hollered and then slammed the boarding house door hard enough to make the walls rattle.
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Jeremy had woken up, picked himself off of his bed, and managed to get himself to school in time (miraculously) to help with Bonnie's professor's exhibit thing. Bonnie was there, with her ever present shadow, along with Anna and Matt. He'd even caught sight of a compelled April, who'd grinned and waved cheerily at Jeremy. He'd smiled back at her, conflicted over his happiness that she didn't have to remember the trauma of the day before, but also a deep wave of regret.
When he'd gotten to school, he'd taken notice of something that he'd never seen before on his body: the beginnings of the same tattoo Connor had had on his hand.
"Hey, man?" Jeremy flagged down Matt, who was hauling around a box. Anna was, surprisingly, not by his side.
"What's up?" Matt asked. He didn't look like he'd slept well the night before, not that Jeremy could blame him. Being held hostage by a vampire hunting maniac was no walk in the park.
"Do you see something on my hand?" Jeremy asked. He lifted up the appendage in question and wiggled his fingers around a bit.
Matt looked at Jeremy quizzically. "No. Should I?" Well, that confirmed it, Jeremy thought to himself. He wasn't only just a Potential Hunter anymore, surely – now he was one of the Five.
"What if I told you I saw the beginning of a mark like Connor's?" Jeremy whispered urgently. Matt put down his box and folded his arms across his chest and leant forward.
"Are you serious?" He asked tiredly.
"Yes." Jeremy nodded. "I think it showed up after Connor died, but I didn't really notice until now. He told me I was Potential, which was why I could see his mark."
"What? Does that make you the next chosen one?" Matt demanded. "Like – like Buffy or something?"
"I think so," Jeremy said and swallowed. He felt his palms sweating nervously. Being a Hunter of the Five sounded cool in theory, sure; super strength and really good reflexes, but a lot of his friends – his family – were vampires. Would he want to hurt them? Surely it was a choice.
"Hey guys," April's cheery voice greeted them and a spot of warmth rose in Jeremy's belly. He turned around and felt Matt tense a little beside him. April was smiling at them happily, and at her side was a teacher type with curly black hair and red shirt and a plaid jacket.
"Hey April." Matt said and Jeremy quickly repeated. She blushed at Jeremy and looked down.
"Don't let her do the heaving lifting herself," The man beside April said with a smile. He hefted a large stone in his hands. "She was carrying heavy thing around the halls and I had to rescue her. Just teasing." He shoved the stone into the crook of his elbow and eagerly shook both Jeremy and Matt's hands. "I'm in charge of all of this freaky stuff, actually; I'm Professor Atticus Shane, but please, call me Shane, I beg of you. Thank you for helping, I really appreciate it. You all get free admission tonight to the exhibit, I promise." He waved them off and then took the stone with him as he left them in the hallway.
April frowned to herself. "He looks so familiar . . ." Jeremy and Matt shrugged, and then the latter retrieved his box and shot Jeremy a look that said they'd be continuing their conversation later.
"So, you wanna help me out here?" Jeremy asked and April nodded.
"I'd love to."
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"So, am I your prisoner now?" Stephanie drawled as Klaus pulled her along by the hand through his mansion. "Just because I don't want Damon and Elena to see me self-destruct doesn't mean I want to spend my last hours with you, you lying, psychotic creep. Maybe I want to do this alone."
"I wouldn't call you a prisoner," Klaus tsked. "Besides, this was entirely voluntary." He ignored the name calling for the moment.
"So you're saying I can leave whenever I want?" Klaus' grip was strong but gentle as he pulled her into a bedroom with no windows and a sturdy door. Stephanie was furious with herself for noticing the way his hands felt on her.
"Of course not, but why would you want to leave?" Klaus grinned and he pulled the door shut behind him.
"Oh, I don't know." Stephanie rolled her eyes and sat on the large bed. She curled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. "Maybe because you're a psychopathic control freak who takes advantage of teenage vampires when they're going crazy."
"I am not a control freak," Klaus denied sharply.
"It says a lot about your character that you'll deny that but not the psychotic and manipulative accusations," Stephanie pointed out dryly.
"No one ever said I was perfect." Klaus looked at her aloofly. "I apologize for the lack of windows, love. This is my art room see, and so it's designed to preserve my pieces. And of course, it's to make sure that you don't slip off your daylight and kill yourself."
"Of course," Steph mocked and then sighed. "What makes you think that I'm going to kill myself?"
"You'll want to," Klaus assured her, suddenly deadly serious. He walked toward her. "I certainly did. But you see I had a problem; I am truly immortal. No matter how hard I tried, how many witches I sought out, how long I waited for something to end it; death would not come for me. For 52 years, 4 months, and 9 days . . . I was tormented in my every waking moment, my every dream . . . with the relentless, never-ending torture."
Stephanie licked her lips. "This happened to you. Before. Before we met?"
"Yes. It was one of the only times in my life that I actually felt the time passing," Klaus mused darkly.
"And you knew this would happen if someone killed Connor?" Stephanie asked and her fingers curled.
"I tried to warn you," Klaus said quietly, intensely. "I called you several times."
"Yes, well, ten voicemails are more than enough to get my attention. I just didn't want to listen to them," Stephanie said lowly.
"If you'd listened to them, you wouldn't be in this mess," Klaus growled.
"Don't blame this on me," Stephanie snapped, jumping up from the bed. She pointed a finger into Klaus' chest. "Excuse me for thinking you'd be waxing poetically about how you loved me and missed me, considering all the stuff we just went through. I didn't want to hear it anymore."
Klaus recoiled and glared.
"How long do I have to be here?" Stephanie demanded after a moment of tense silence. "What makes it go away?"
"Nothing," Klaus breathed. "One day it just . . . stopped. So we could be in a for long few decades love, full of my poetic waxing. Sleep well." He turned on his heel and slammed the door. Stephanie heard a lock sliding into place.
She stood and paced anxiously. "Somebody's upset," Connor drawled.
"Would you just go away?" Steph snapped angrily.
"I can't. I'm going to be with you forever – a constant reminder of what you are," Connor explained. "So, I'm curious; how does it feel to drain the life out of people? Out of me? What about him?" He pointed across the room and despite herself, Steph's eyes followed.
Her father was striding toward her and Steph flinched. "Such a disappointment," Giuseppe said and she could hear the disgust in his voice with her. "You were my little girl. My sweet little angel. If you'd been a boy, you would have been perfect, you know. I would have wanted you to inherit everything."
"Sorry I ruined your plans," Stephanie muttered and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at him.
"Damon was always a disappointment, but you . . . I had hope for you!" Giuseppe snapped. "And then you and he befriended that vampire . . . and you let her turn you into monsters! And then you killed me!"
"I'm sorry," Stephanie said, looking up. "Is that what you want me to say?" She demanded harshly and stood. She flung out an arm. "Well, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I hurt Mom and I hurt you. I'm sorry I killed the Founders and their families. I'm sorry I killed those people in New Orleans and New York and Monterrey." She laughed loudly and it bounced off the walls eerily. "Someone get me some paper and I'll write a damn list of every person I've ever killed. Do you really think I haven't obsessed over this for my entire life? If that's the case, you've underestimated me, Father."
"No, Stephanie," Giuseppe said slowly. "I overestimated you."
"Excuse me?" Steph drew backward.
"I thought you'd have killed yourself already," Giuseppe said. "Get rid of one of the monsters that haunt humans' dreams. A ripper, that's what they call you. Wouldn't you rather be dead than a murderer?" It's not like the thought hadn't occurred to her before. She'd tried. But there was always someone to stop her, always someone that needed something, needed her.
"I think you're lying," Connor said suddenly. Stephanie looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"What?"
"I think you're lying. You enjoyed killing all those people. You're not sorry. You'd do it all over again," He pushed her.
"No. I'm not lying," Stephanie argued, "I've punished myself for years over each and every person I've killed."
"You're lying," Connor said flatly.
"I'm not!"
"Admit the truth! You enjoyed draining the lives out of those people!" Connor roared.
Steph's hands tore through her hair and she screamed back at Connor. "Fine! I liked it – no, I reveled in it! There's a reason I was called the Ripper, Connor Jordan! I killed and loved the taste and sensation of the blood in my mouth – the power I got from holding their lives in my hands! And then I found the one person who was even more destructive than I was and we were perfect. And I loved him. Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?"
"I'm not happy, I'm dead. I had a family – a brother, parents." Connor said.
"I'm sorry." Stephanie looked away.
"Are you sorry about your parents? You were a killer at birth," Connor said dispassionately. "Your poor mother."
"Stop, I've already been through this," Stephanie snapped and pressed her hands to her eyes. "I didn't kill my mom. I killed my dad and he's over there, judging me." She made a vague motion toward Giuseppe in the corner.
"They died because of you," Connor said. "I won't stop until your last breath."
"Okay, so they died because of me," Stephanie said. "There's nothing I can do about it now. There's nothing I can do about any of their deaths now."
"You can get rid of the problem," Her mother laid a hand on her shoulder. She whispered into her ear. "You can kill yourself, my sweet. Come on, flower. Do it for the people you'll kill in the future if you don't."
"Everyone stop talking!" Stephanie clamped her hands over her ears and sank to the floor. "Every just stop!"
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"Caroline, my dear, good friend, how are you doing today?"
"Damon, shut up." Caroline glared. "What do you want?"
Damon raised his hands placating. "Okay. Just, you and Tyler are snug little rabbits, right? I mean, you guys are still doing the dirty together?"
Caroline put her hands on her hips. "Do you want me to get my mom's gun?"
"Tyler's a hybrid," Damon cut to the chase. "I need you to get him to call off Klaus' other hybrids. Occupy them for a while so I can get in and get Stephanie, and then get out. Easy as pie."
Caroline's face abruptly softened. "Elena told me about Steph."
"Yeah, so you know she needs our help. So? Hybrids? Tyler?" Damon pressed impatiently.
"Actually, there's something I need to tell you . . ." Caroline trailed off. "You should come inside. You've been invited before, right?" It was Tyler's house, and so yes, Damon had been invited before. He stepped over the threshold and moved around Caroline without touching her and strode to the living room.
"Well?" He asked, bored.
"Let me get Tyler," Caroline said and held up one finger. "Just a minute." She disappeared and then reappeared with Tyler. "Okay."
"Well? What's this big secret?" Damon demanded. "I'm short on time here, okay? Who knows what the hell Klaus is doing with my sister?"
"I should probably start with my time in the Appalachian Mountains," Tyler said, almost to himself. Then, to do, "That's where I met Hayley and her pack of wolves. She helped me break the sire bond by forcing myself to turn, over and over again. Eventually, it worked."
"The point being?" Damon asked shortly.
"When Hayley showed up here, I thought it was a coincidence. But it turned out the new hybrids that Klaus has are Hayley's old pack from the mountains," Tyler said grimly. "So she knows them, and I do too, a little. She's been trying to help one of them. And she came to help get the rest of them from under Klaus."
"So, are you telling me that they're not sired anymore?" Damon squinted.
"No." Tyler shook his head. "I'm saying that one of them isn't sired anymore."
"Chris," Caroline clarified.
Damon smirked. "You dog. So, let's get started then. Call your buddies." Tyler gave him a sour look, but called over Hayley and asked her to bring Chris with her – it was important.
They arrived in relatively quickly. "What is it?" Chris asked sharply as he stalked inside, followed by an irate Hayley. "Klaus is going to know that I'm missing."
"Then we'll be quick," Tyler said. "He," Tyler indicated Damon, who wiggled his fingers in greeting, "needs you to help spring his sister."
"No can do," Chris immediately shook his head. "Klaus has got her under lock and key and commanded everyone – and I mean everyone – to make sure nothing happens to that girl."
Damon stood. "Well, you see, that girl is my baby sister. And she's trapped with a psycho. You can see the problem, right? I'll cause a distraction, and you grab Stephanie. You won't be implicated. It'll be fine."
Chris glowered.
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They'd set everything up in the gymnasium and Shane was standing up on a stage. He had several pictures erected, but the main centerpiece and focus of his current lecture was the large rock that he'd taken from April earlier in the hallway. He looked and spoke about it almost reverently, giving the apparent first headstone glowing praises. April, Anna, Matt and Jeremy stood in the back row.
"It was donated to Whitmore College last month," Shane was saying as his lecture was coming to a close.
"Oh!" April let out a sudden noise of recognition.
"What is it?" Anna asked her inquisitively.
"I just remembered where I've seen Professor Shane," April shared. "I knew him through my father." Unbeknownst to her, the trio around her exchanged wary looks.
"Oh yeah?" Jeremy asked. "How'd they know each other?"
"He taught a theology seminar last year at Whitmore," April said. She frowned at Shane curiously.
The Professor was then talking about the immortal, Silas, and how he cast a spell to make himself so with "-the help of a witch named Qetsiyah, who was in love in him. Unfortunately for Qetsiyah, Silas was in love with someone else and so wanted to use the immortality spell on his love and himself. He managed to spell himself, but not his lover in time; seeing as Qetsiyah was jealous, of course, she killed Silas' love and then buried Silas alive. He was alone. And you know this might be the origin story of hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." The crowd laughed and Jeremy noticed Elena, Bonnie and Kol for the first time.
They were whispering amongst themselves, and continued to do so until Shane finished his miniature lecture and walked toward Bonnie.
"Come on, man," Matt whispered. "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah, sure," Jeremy said.
In the group at the front of the gymnasium, Bonnie introduced Shane to Elena. "Shane, this is my friend Elena. You know Kol." She inclined her head.
Kol gave a little halfhearted wave and Elena gave a nervous smile before sticking out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Shane."
"Likewise, Elena." Shane grinned at her. "So, what can I do for you?"
"I had a question, actually. Is that okay? Bonnie said you knew a lot about all this occult stuff . . . and I saw your lecture," Elena said quickly, "and I think you do. Know your stuff, that is." She fished around her purse and pulled out a folded stack of papers. She smoothed them out and then pushed them toward Shane. "Have you ever heard of anything like this?"
Shane looked bemused as he took the papers and flicked through them. "This is the Hunter's Mark. Where did you get it?" His bemusement fell away and was replaced with a quiet sense of urgency.
"My brother likes to draw," Elena said. It wasn't really a lie, after all. "He saw something on the internet somewhere and then drew it. Bonnie said it looked occult and suggested I ask you about it." It was a flimsy excuse, but it was the best they had on short notice. "Do you know anything about the Hunter's Curse?"
"Why? Have you got a dead hunter in the back of your car or something?" Shane sounded entirely too serious for the supernaturals present.
"What would you happen to know about Hunters?" Kol asked suspiciously. His hackles had been raised since Shane's lecture about Qetsiyah and Silas.
"Please answer her question," Bonnie asked softly.
Shane took a breath. "Well, legend says that if a Hunter is killed by that which it hunts, then that person will be cursed to walk the earth in torment, until . . ."
"Until . . . ?" Bonnie trailed off significantly.
"Until a new Hunter is reawakened and the legacy is passed on," Shane said hurriedly and looked to be in some amount of distress. "They're called Potentials. I have a bunch of research on it, why don't I get it for you and come back?"
"Sure, thanks," Bonnie smiled and Shane disappeared into the crowd. She turned back to them. "'A Potential Hunter'?"
"Jeremy," Elena breathed. "We need Jeremy."
"You go find him and we'll stay here and question Shame some more," Bonnie said. "Go."
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Sometime later, Stephanie wasn't sure when, her parents and Connor disappeared into thin air. She thought she'd have a reprieve, but it wasn't to be. "Stephanie Salvatore. Innocent, sweet . . . but a little badass with a dark side . . . you hit all of the tropes, don't you, Steph?"
"Katherine." Stephanie had to roll her eyes. "Why am I seeing you?"
"Because you're obsessed with me," Katherine said with a sly grin. "That's okay, though. A lot of people are. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Go away, Katherine."
"Sorry. Can't."
"What do want?" Steph demanded.
"To tell you I made a mistake," Katherine said and examined her nails. "I shouldn't have given you my blood. You're a terrible vampire. I mean, there's crazy, and then there's you. Most vampires learn control – they learn how to be around humans without tearing off their heads. But you? You can't even do that right."
"Maybe if you hadn't left Damon and I to fend for ourselves . . ." Steph trailed off.
"Damon's fine," Katherine brushed her off. "You're just a freak. You're never going to learn moderation, so you should just forget about those little lessons with Dullena. And let's talk about Jeremy, while we're talking about Gilberts."
"Stop."
"You and him are over, if you didn't know," Katherine pointed out with a curled lip. "He hates you now that he knows what you're really like. But I mean, at least you still have Klaus. He's a total douche bag who probably kicks puppies for fun right after he mutilates his dinner, but at least you two have that in common."
"Shut up!" Stephanie screamed and Katherine smirked. The locks on her door turned and the heavy thing crept open. "Go to hell, Klaus!"
"I'm not Klaus," An unfamiliar man said as he stepped into her room. Stephanie backed up warily and assessed him with narrowed green eyes. "I'm here to get you out of here. Damon sent me."
"Damon?" Stephanie asked.
"Yeah."
"Now's the time," Connor whispered into Steph's ear. "Get out of here now and you can kill yourself. Free the world of one of its monsters. It'll be easy."
"Easy . . ." Stephanie whispered.
"Um, what?" The hybrid asked, confused. Stephanie took no more time and darted out of the room, leaving the man behind her. She ran off of the Mikaelson property with the names of her kills ringing in her head as they all screamed at her. Connor was keeping pace with her as she ran, whispering in her ear.
"Find somewhere. Hide. And then end it."
"I'll go where it started," She murmured.
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"What's going on?" Jeremy asked when Elena found him and started to drag him out of the school building.
"We have an issue," She said tiredly. "You know about your Potential-Hunterness?"
"Um, yeah. I kind of have to, considering it's happening to me," Jeremy pointed out. "Why? What happened?"
"There's this thing called the Hunter's Curse," Elena explained, "that is put on anyone who kills a Hunter of the Five."
"Stephanie," Jeremy breathed.
"Yes. When she killed Connor, she triggered the Curse. Now she's having hallucinations that are trying to get her to kill herself and it won't stop until either she's dead or another Hunter is activated."
"Meaning, me," Jeremy realized. "So what do I have to do?"
"You have to kill a vampire," Elena said grimly. "That's why we're going to Klaus. Damon's there, trying to free Steph, but we need to ask if Klaus has any vampires he'll let you kill for her."
"We're murdering someone to save someone," Jeremy said. He would do anything to save Stephanie's life, he realized. He wondered what kind of person he was that he would kill to save.
"What else do you suggest we do?" Elena stopped and turned her brother to face her. She grabbed his chin. "You loved her. Are you going to let her die?" She sighed. "That wasn't fair of me. I shouldn't ask you this, but she's our friend, Jere."
"Yeah." Jeremy nodded. He loved her still, he thought. He would do this for her. "I know. Okay, I'll do it. Let's just get to Klaus." He paused as they got into Elena's car. "Why is she with Klaus?"
"I – wait, my phone's ringing," Elena muttered and dug around for her cell in her purse. Then she started the car and began the drive over to Klaus'. "Damon? What's wrong?"
"Stephanie's run off. I'm going to look for her. Did you figure out how to break the Curse?"
"Oh God." Elena looked fearfully to the sky, even though it was only midnight. They had to find Steph before the sun came up. Then Damon's question registered and she explained the process to him.
"Okay. Get Jeremy a vampire to kill, and then join me in looking for Steph," Damon instructed and hung up the phone.
"Well?" Jeremy asked.
"We need to get to Klaus'," was all Elena said on the matter.
.
.
.
You killed me. You killed your mother. You killed your father. You've killed hundreds. You're a monster. A ripper. Heartless. Monstermonstermonstermonstermonster. You're the monster parents tell their children about at night. You like it. You relish in the kill you enjoy their pain you're sick you're useless. Why don't you just end it? You deserve to die.
Shut up!
"All of you just shut up!" Stephanie begged and she blinked her tearstained eyes to look around her. "Fell's Church," She muttered. "Where it all started." She pulled off the chain around her neck that harbored her ring and tossed it into the woods. She sank to the ground and sat in the ruins of her old family home, curling up her body. She rocked.
A large, warm hand brushed the hair off her forehead. A whisper. "You're doing the right thing, angel. You're saving so many lives." Giuseppe sat on her left.
"My daughter," Her mother said and stroked her back. She sat on her right. "It's okay, sweetie. Thank you. This is what you're supposed to do."
"Will it hurt?" Stephanie whispered.
"Yes," Lexi said and she kneeled in front of her. "But it's only what you deserve, Steph. You hurt so many."
"It's what I deserve," Stephanie said slowly, tasting the words in her mouth. "It's what I deserve," She said again, stronger.
"Yes," Lexi said again.
"The sun will come up and this will all be over," Her mother said softly and she cradled Steph's head in her lap. "This is the right thing."
"Because I'm a monster." She'd known it all along, really. "What about Damon?" She asked suddenly.
"If he was truly good, he'd be doing the same, princess," Giuseppe consoled. "One day, he'll realize too what a monster he is."
"But Damon's not . . ." But maybe he was. Stephanie was, and so was Klaus and Rebekah. Caroline had killed someone. Only Elena hadn't, but she would one day. It was their nature.
"Stephanie." She blinked and her ghosts disappeared. Instead, there was Damon, once again there to rescue her. It left a bitter taste in her mouth this time.
"Damon. How did you find me?"
"Well, last time it was the quarry, and I figured you'd want a change of scenery this time," He drawled, but then squatted down next to her. He sat. "But really. This place meant a lot to us."
"Vampires kill people," She said suddenly and squinted at him. "You've always been right about that. I tried to deny it for a while, but it doesn't work. I'm a vampire. I kill things. That's all."
"Look at you, looking at the glass half empty. Let's talk about this first, okay?" Damon's voice was warm. Kind. But there was an underlying urgency in it.
"The sun is almost up," Connor said and Damon was gone. "Almost over."
"Good," Stephanie said through stiff lips.
"'Good'? Steph?" Damon was back. Connor was there too. But so was Honoria Fell and Jonathan Gilbert. Too many voices in one head. Stephanie put her hands to her ears again to block them all out. They were too loud. "Stephanie."
"Sh," She murmured. "Too many voices," She told them all. Go away. Go awaygoawaygoaway. I'm ending it so you can all go away now. I'm ending it so you can all go away now. I'mendingitsoyoucanallgoawaynow.
"There's only me here," Damon said quietly. "No one else."
"Stop lying," Stephanie said.
"I'm not lying," Damon said, affronted. "I never lie."
"Liar."
"Maybe a little bit," Damon admitted, "but not this time. Pinky swear." He looked up to the sky and Steph was relieved to see it was lightening. Almost time to go. "No, it's not almost time to go," Damon said and glowered. "You're staying right here." His eyes narrowed. "Where's your ring?"
"I threw it away," Stephanie said and made a vague motion in the wrong direction.
"You what?" Damon asked with deadly calm.
"I threw it away," Stephanie repeated, "because they all told me to kill myself and I realized they were right. I was born a killer, Damon. I killed Mom. And then I killed Dad. Honoria Fell. Jonathan Gilbert. The Lockwood's. The Forbes. The –"
Damon clapped a hand over her mouth. "We don't have time to argue right now. You don't deserve to die and you were not born a killer. I'm going to find your ring." He stood and pulled a listless Stephanie along with him.
.
.
.
Klaus was furious – beyond furious, he was on the warpath and out for blood. It was only too bad that he couldn't wring little Jeremy Gilbert's neck, seeing as he was nearest human. Although . . . "Chris!" He roared and the Gilberts in front of him flinched. They'd confessed about Damon, who was searching for Stephanie, and how they knew what to do to stop the hallucinations. Klaus knew just the vampire they'd start with.
Chris arrived. His eyes spotted the Gilberts and Klaus could smell the precise moment the younger hybrid knew he was about to die. "Come here."
"Klaus-" Elena started, but Klaus growled at her. She stopped talking.
"Chris, stand here," Klaus commanded.
"No," Chris said, voice wobbly. "I won't die for you."
"You are. Your existence is to please me, to serve me." Klaus corrected and forcibly man handled Chris into place. "Now, Jeremy, it's time for you to kill your first vampire."
"But he helped us," Jeremy said. "I can't kill him."
Klaus snapped, "Do it or I'll do it myself and find you a new vampire. Then his death will have been for nothing besides his betrayal towards me and I don't think that'll sit any better with you."
Jeremy swallowed and then stepped forward with a stake.
.
.
.
"Found it!" Damon crowed victoriously.
"Don't let him change your mind, princess," Giuseppe whispered. "You're doing the right thing here. Damon's not."
"Listen to your father, Stephanie," Victoire Salvatore rubbed her shoulder. "Listen to him," She repeated. Damon had found Stephanie necklace and ring several meters into the woods, searching with one hand to the ground and the other tugging Steph along.
"Don't, Damon," Steph said and began to struggle in earnest. "I have to die."
"No, no you really don't," Damon argued. "Damn it, Stephanie. Listen to me." They all wanted her to listen to them. There was too much noise - Monstermonstermonstermonstermonster. You're the monster parents tell their children about at night. You like it. You relish in the kill you enjoy their pain you're sick you're useless. Why don't you just end it? You deserve to die!
Silence.
Stephanie blinked and straightened. "Damon?"
He was wary. "Steph?"
She tried for a smiled, but settled for a sigh of relief. "They've stopped talking."
Damon grinned and jammed her necklace back into her hands. "Good. Now put that damn thing back on and let's go home."
.
.
.
"Tyler," Caroline greeted quietly.
"It's just us. Paying our respects to Chris," Tyler said. He motioned toward Hayley asleep on the couch.
"We didn't have a choice, Tyler," Caroline said softly. "We had to help our friend."
"By handing over another friend?" Tyler took a swig. "That's great, Care. Just wonderful. All he wanted to was to be unsired to that dick." He turned and tossed one of his bottles of alcohol into the wall. Caroline flinched and Hayley woke from her drunken slumber.
"What's the matter?" She asked sleepily and in that moment, Caroline hated her.
"Nothing. Just mourning the loss of one of our pack." Tyler turned away from Caroline.
Caroline wondered when it had stopped being Hayley's pack, and become their pack.
.
.
.
Damon did not want to deal with jockstrap that morning, really. His girlfriend and his sister were at their house, doing girly things, and Jeremy was giving up his masculinity by being there with them doing God knew what like painting their toe nails or something or journaling or whatever. So he'd gone to the Mystic Grill where Matt Donovan worked and got some bourbon. Mistake.
"What do you want, kid?" He snapped and rubbed his eyes. "I had a long night. I'm getting a drink and then going home, snatching my girlfriend away from my sister, and going to bed."
"I looked into the Young house fire," Matt said softly.
"That's still a thing?" Damon wondered. He was too tired to deal with this stuff and his mind was scattered.
"Yes," Matt said, annoyed. "I need someone to tell."
"Shoot."
"April mentioned knowing that Professor Shane guy, which wouldn't be creepy but he knew stuff about the Hunters. And we live in a town where people who know stuff are not to be trusted."
"You're on the verge of impressing me. Drive it home," Damon commanded.
"I got the Sheriff to look up the Pastor's phone records. He made a phone call to the same number every day for the last month he was alive. And the day that his farmhouse got blown up? He called it like ten times," Matt explained.
"Let me guess," Damon sighed and fought the urge to punch someone in the face. "Shane."
Kol Mikaelson plopped down between the boys, surprising them both. "I knew he was up to something. Bonnie talked to the bloke today and texted me about it."
"Congrats. You have a BFF," Damon said and rolled his eyes. "Get to the point, dick."
"He said to bring our new Hunter to him as soon as the mark was completed," Kol revealed and stole a sip of Damon's bourbon. "Now, how's that for a mystery?"
"Well, damn."