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Man on Fire

"Breakfast, Professor Salvatore?" I asked, holding out a bagel for Stefan to take. He studied it just like he studied the textbook in his lap, as I had asked my regular study-buddy to help me with school.

"Oh, no, no, no. I see what you're doing," he accused me. I held my hands up innocently.

"I'm not doing anything! I was simply bringing you a breakfast bagel, but if you don't want it…" I leaned forward and grabbed the bagel that I had brought for him and sat back in my chair. "It's mine now." Before I was able to bite into it, Stefan snatched the bagel up right from my hand and I interjected, "Hey! That was mine! You had your chance!"

"Distraction tactics," he scolded me, pointing at me while grabbing the textbook and flashcards I'd made in my hands. "Stay focused. You're a brunette again. Have to maintain your stereotype."

I sighed as I twirled my back-to-normal brunette hair around my fingertip unconsciously. After that weird hallucination I'd had in my dorm room, I was making it a point to try and return to normal again. It was hard, though, staying away from Damon…trying to be normal again. I hated it, really. Truth was, I wasn't normal. I was slowly losing my mind. But as much as Audrey, Stefan, Elena, and Caroline had asked, I did not once tell them that I was seeing a hallucination of myself caked in dirt. That wouldn't take well with them.

Stefan held up a flashcard and read aloud: "Psychology, sociology, and anthropology share the assumption that…?"

He waited for me to finish, which I did instantly—verbatim. "Scientific methods can be used to understand human behavior."

Stefan hummed. "Very good. As in…verbatim." Again, he pointed at me. "Which means that I need to ask you more difficult questions."

I shrugged. "Bring it on, Stef. I memorized everything in that textbook. Only took me an hour," I said proudly, giving him a smile. Stefan gave me one in return, but when he wasn't looking, my smile dropped. "Thanks, Stefan."

Stefan looked up at me from studying a notecard. "For what?"

"Helping me study," I clarified. "I mean…not that I need it or anything, but…" I chuckled softly. "Speaking of distraction tactics." My voice was nothing but a murmur.

Stefan sighed. "Look, it's not a big deal. Once we get rid of the Travelers, you'll be safe and you and Damon can go back to normal."

I looked up at him, frowning. "With black blood?"

"Well, there's always a hiccup in every relationship…" Stefan trailed off in a trying tone. "But, trust me. Everything will work out in the end. It has to." He gave me a smile, and I couldn't help but give him one in return.

"That Liv witch is a real bitch," someone muttered to us, and Stefan and I looked up to see Audrey coming towards us with a cup of coffee in her hand. Audrey looked inside of her cup. "I'm kind of worried that she spit in my drink…"

"Here." Stefan grabbed the cup from her and she sat down on the edge of his chair. He held his nose up to it so that he could smell the contents, and then he shook his head. "Nope. You're clear."

"Thank you," Audrey said happily, taking back the drink from Stefan's hands. As far as I was aware, there was something still off about them, but they acted like nothing was wrong. Although I'm ninety-nine percent positive Audrey was still pissed over the vision-dreams that Stefan and Elena were having. Honestly, I didn't blame her one bit. I love my sister, but she's already committed adultery with my boyfriend. Considering the history between Stefan and Elena and this doppelgänger curse, I would be concerned, too.

"Sorry we're late," Bonnie and Elena said as they rushed into the library to join us.

"What'd we miss?" Elena asked, sitting down in the chair across from Stefan and beside Bonnie.

I shrugged. "Nothing much. Just that Stefan will never beat me when it comes to studying. I will forever be the master."

Stefan leaned forward. "Uh-uh. No, I will find a question that you don't know the answer to."

I looked over at him. "Bring it on, old man," I taunted, and Stefan gave a mocking smile towards me. Bonnie was flipping through her textbook trying to get to where she needed to be, and I tried to approach the next topic with caution. "Are you…are you sure you want to be studying today?" I asked her, earning her to look up at me.

She knotted her eyebrows. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I sighed. "Well, when you compare Psych one-oh-one to the Other Side falling apart…I would much rather throw in the towel right there," I admitted, shrugging. Bonnie just gave an exhausted sigh and leaned back in her chair. At this, Elena spoke.

"She's in denial."

"So I see," Stefan answered, nodding.

"I'm not in denial," Bonnie countered, looking all around the loft area we were in. "The Other Side is disintegrating. As the anchor to the Other Side, I'm only alive as long as there is an Other Side. I'm…perfectly aware of the threat of my impending death. There's nothing I can do about it."

"That's…um…" I trailed off, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. "Dark…"

"It's called acceptance. Fifth stage of grief," Bonnie continued and threw a glance to Stefan. "Look it up, tutor guy."

Stefan shook his head. "Definitely in denial."

"Look, Bonnie," Elena began, and she closed her book angrily. Wow. Someone was pissed. "I've already lost you once. We're not doing this again. It's not an option, okay? Not to mention what's going to happen to Alaric, your Grams, and…everyone else that's over there."

"Like Lexi," I added, throwing a glance towards Stefan. Stefan nodded his head slowly, and the corners of his mouth twitch. "Yeah, suddenly studying seems way too unimportant right now. We should try and find a way to stop the Other Side from disintegrating."

Bonnie sighed. "If you all stop hovering, I'll ask Liv if she has any witchy ideas."

Audrey scoffed. "Well, tell the witch bitch that I'm keeping an eye out for her." Bonnie looked over at her, confused. "What? She's mean! And she's got this…stare, like she's gonna kill me or something. It's ridiculous."

I looked around. "I still think this study group is vastly unimportant."

"Says the scholar," Audrey said pointedly, to which I just rolled my eyes and drank the coffee in my own hand.

Bonnie, however, agreed with me. "Wait a second, shouldn't we really be worried about all the Travelers trying to take over Mystic Falls?"

"Oh, no. Damon's already on that," Stefan said suddenly, causing me to turn my head back and raise an eyebrow.

"Wait, he is?"

Stefan seemed to realize his mistake in bringing up Damon. "Did I say Damon? What I meant to say was…um…"

"George," Audrey finished for him, nodding slowly. "Yep. George is on that. Oh, George." Audrey chuckled, but it eventually dwindled down at the end. I sighed and shifted in my seat uncomfortably, waiting for Bonnie to ask the dreaded question.

"Wait, what happened with Damon?"

I sighed. "Let's just say that there's a reason the number one rule of being a Pure Blood is to not have sex."

Bonnie widened her eyes at me. "You and Damon had sex?" I nodded at her. "No one tells me anything!"

"Hush!" Audrey snapped at Bonnie, waving her head. "Let's not go there, okay? Because what Madeline didn't tell you is that he told her that they can't see each other right now because if they do he'll—"

I held up my hand to stop her. "Stop…acting like I'm not here." I turned to Bonnie sharply. "Damon thinks that if we're around each other, we won't be able to control ourselves, and the consequence of that is my blood will eventually turn black, giving the Travelers what they need to activate Stefan and Elena's blood for this spell they need to do." Bonnie tilted her head down, almost astounded at my words. "Yeah. I guess we're both in denial."

We had all spent a good amount of time studying before our first break—Bonnie and Elena went to talk to Liv, Audrey went to the restroom, and Stefan and I were left at the table as we relaxed for a few minutes before resuming. I was kicking everyone's ass when it came to memorizing things. Once or twice, Stefan had to shut me out of the answering game because I answered too quickly. He was determined to find a question that I didn't know the answer to, but I had a lonely childhood. Lonely childhood equals a lot of spare time.

It was when Stefan looked up from what he was doing that I grew concerned. I was focused on reading the textbook to brush up on it, though, so my eyes were a little slow to pull up.

"What are you doing here?" I heard Stefan ask, and then I looked up to see Enzo standing in front of me. I let out a frustrated sigh.

"I can't join my friends for a cup of tea?" Enzo asked sweetly, but Stefan wasn't taking it. He leaned forward on his knees and spoke.

"Damon, your friend—uh, singular—isn't here and we're…a little busy right now."

Enzo didn't listen to him, but instead, walked over to me. I raised my eyebrows and watched as his hand moved out and he swept a piece of my brown hair off of my shoulder. "Hmm. I see you took my advice."

"Enzo," I growled, "If you touch me again, you will lose that hand. Got it?" I asked, looking up at him with hard eyes. He just softly chuckled and then sat down in the chair beside me, which earned a confusing glance from Stefan.

"But by all means, she totally meant have a seat." I could just imagine Stefan rolling his eyes, but he was actually just staring at the vampire before us incredulously.

"No need to be rude, I've come here for a chat." Enzo turned his head at me. "You remember Maggie, correct?" Enzo's eyes flickered to Stefan and I looked at the Salvatore before back at the other vampire beside me.

"Uh…yeah. Your girlfriend from the Augustine days."

Enzo nodded and his eyes focused in on Stefan. "Maggie worked there as an observer, taking notes on my behavior. She never got too close, never took off her vervain bracelet, but we spent hours and hours talking, and we developed an attachment. Now she left in nineteen-fifty," Enzo sighed, "I imagined her one day teaching at one of these fancy universities. Starting a family, living her life to the fullest. I'm sure you two can appreciate that."

I stared at Enzo blankly. "Is…there a point to this story or did you just feel like coming all the way over here to tell us this?"

"Hey," Audrey said as she came back from the bathroom, obviously confused as to why Enzo was sitting right beside me. "Uh…what's going on?" Stefan shook his head at her, confused himself, and we watched as Enzo pulled something out of his jacket pocket.

"That Traveler girl, Sloan, gave me this yesterday." He waved it for us to see. "Making good on a promise. From the Augustine files left behind by our good Doctor Wes." Enzo tossed the piece of paper down on the table and I picked it up in my hands, unfolding it to see a gruesome black-and-white picture of a girl with her head torn off and blood surrounding her corpse. I sighed, realizing, and I passed the picture to Stefan, trying not to puke. It was evident that this was the victim of a Ripper—and who better to blame than Stefan?

"Yes. Imagine how I felt when I saw it," Enzo continued, his eyes roaming over me and then back to Stefan, probably to see his reaction. "Turns out Maggie died in nineteen-sixty. In Mystic Falls. Someone tore her head right off her body."

Audrey turned to Stefan after peering at the picture. She gave an alarmed expression. "In nineteen-sixty, were you—?"

"A Ripper?" Enzo finished for her without removing his eyes from Stefan. "Clearly."

Stefan shook his head. "I wasn't a Ripper then," he said truthfully and tossed the picture on the table. "I'm really sorry about your friend, but I had nothing to do with it."

Enzo's expression remained unmoving, and I began to grow worried as to what he might do. "Ah, I thought you might say that." He got up out of his chair and shouted, "Liv! A little service here, please!"

Suddenly, Liv was beside me, and her hand was pointed towards Stefan, who cringed in pain and cried for help. Liv was chanting under her breath, and both Audrey and I immediately jumped up. She shouted at Liv, but Liv said nothing, and I moved over to Enzo.

"Enzo! Come on, he said he didn't do it!" I snapped. "Knock it off."

Enzo shook his head at me. "Damon would have my head if I hurt you, so I won't. Much, anyway," he added, and then reached out, grabbed both of my wrists, pinned them behind my back with one hand, and spun me so that I faced Stefan, Audrey, Liv, the new presence of Bonnie beside the ruthless witch, and the terrible sight of my sister faced with Liv's magic as she knelt on the floor, writhing in as much pain as Stefan from Liv's chanting.

"Liv, what are you doing?" Bonnie demanded. "Stop!"

"I can't stop. I'm sorry," apologized Liv.

Audrey growled, "Like hell!"

"That's my fault, really," Enzo mumbled right in my ear. "Where's Luke?" he shouted, and in the back of the library in came Luke and two rugby players on his arms. "See, I compelled a few blokes from the rugby team to keep her brother's life in jeopardy so that should the witch disobey, he will die. There's a good soldier." Liv looked at him, pissed off to the max. I didn't blame her. I tried to get out of Enzo's hold, but just his one hand was enough to restrain me for hours. Damn vampires.

Enzo nodded to Liv, and she stopped chanting long enough for Enzo to ask Stefan, "Okay, Stefan. Are you ready to talk about what you did to the love of my life?"

Enzo had tied both Audrey and me up with regular ropes and kept Stefan and Elena restrained with vervain-soaked ropes. He was ruthless—vindictive. This was a side of Enzo that I hated to see. He already tortured me once, though, this was no different.

Enzo barked for Luke to leave, and Liv was not happy about this. She fought with him just barely, but Luke was taken out because Enzo felt unsafe with two witches under one roof. It was pathetic, actually, but what I found more pathetic was that I couldn't get out of this mess. Enzo was overreacting—honestly. Stefan already told him he didn't kill Maggie, and I believe him. Stefan has a giveaway when he's lying—he's so shady about it. That's what happened back when he was working with Klaus behind our backs to get the Cure for Elena. And he shuts down without giving another word to the topic.

Stefan was openly saying that he didn't kill Maggie, and to me, this proved that he was innocent.

"That vervain water is gonna hurt even worse if you struggle against those knots," Enzo warned Stefan and Elena as they were given the special treatment of vervain-soaked ropes. "Chap's in the sailing club."

Elena growled, "How did you compel everyone here?"

Enzo shrugged. "Place opens at eight. Madeline and Stefan got here at nine. Do the math, college girl," Enzo snarled, wiping his hand across Elena's cheek, causing her to just wince away from him. Stefan's eyes were locked on Audrey's, I noticed, but she struggled against the ropes angrily, trying to get out of them. Audrey Forbes was not one to sit by and watch as some dickhead tortured us. Unlike Stefan, Elena, and me she was placed on the couch behind Enzo. "I'll gladly release your little girlfriend once you admit you killed Maggie."

"I would love to, except I have absolutely no idea who she is," Stefan retorted, looking up at Enzo with hard eyes. Enzo held a book in his hand, now, I realized, and now, he looked down at it.

"That's what this is for," he pointed out, holding the book so that Stefan could see it clearly. "Police found it on her body at the crime scene." Opening it, he read, "'June tenth, nineteen fifty-one, I found a job at a preschool. I love the kids, but still I feel lost, listless.'" He flipped the page. "'March, nineteen fifty-three, while my girlfriends have all found love, for some reason I can't seem to connect with anyone. It's as if part of my soul is missing or dead. My sister said there are more men in the city, maybe I'll move.'"

Enzo was quiet for a moment before continuing on with Maggie's story. "Now, it turns out, she did move to the city in nineteen fifty-eight, and in the move, she uncovered a box that she hadn't touched in years—medical journals from nineteen-fifty. Covered in notes about a special vampire patient named 12144."

"Let me guess," I muttered, gaining Enzo's attention. "That was you." My voice was so uninterested and lifeless.

"Right you are, Madeline," Enzo almost sung, turning his head to face me with a bitter smile. I just gave an annoyed glance at him and watched as he continued. "Of course, when she came back, Whitmore House had burned, and it was concluded that I had perished in the fire." Enzo turned back at Stefan and, without tearing his eyes away, set Maggie's journal down and gestured to Stefan. "You're a journal man, aren't you, Stefan?"

"This is ridiculous. In nineteen-sixty, I was cleaned up. I was barely feeding on people—let alone killing them," Stefan tried, but Enzo wouldn't listen. Behind me, I heard the noise of someone texting, and I quickly realized that it was Bonnie. How dumb did she have to be to text with the volume on? I didn't even want to go to that level right now.

Enzo flashed over to her, hearing the sound as well, and I heard him speak dreaded words to me. "Good idea. Let's call Damon." Of course.

I could not hear Damon answer the phone, but I'm sure he did in a sarcastic manner. I didn't know how he was doing and…to be honest, if we couldn't be together, I didn't want to know. He didn't want to see me anymore; that was evident from his speech to me.

"Hunt going poorly, then?" Enzo asked, and then there was a silence as he listened to Damon over the line. "I take it you don't have Stefan's diaries handy? I need you to check his journal for an entry on November eighth, nineteen-sixty. Well, just trying to settle a little debate. No matter. I'm right." Enzo's gaze drifted to me, and I said nothing. Enzo smirked to himself before inhaling and speaking clearly. "How you hanging in there, man? I heard you exiled your girlfriend out of your eye line in fear that you might go too far."

I closed my eyes. When I got out of these ropes, Enzo had another thing coming to him—a.k.a., my fist to his face. Enzo sauntered forward. "Not for long. I reckon Stefan's little girlfriend will be dead soon—eye for an eye and all that. Well, the problem, if you must know, is that my girl, Maggie, the one who got away—turns out she didn't get away for long. Your ripper of a brother took a big bite out of her neck membrane in the sixties." Though it was faint, I could hear Damon arguing with Enzo on the other side of the line and then eventually get cut off by the mad vampire before us. "Got to jet, mate. Nothing personal, just a bit of revenge, you understand?"

Once Enzo was off the phone, he turned around and shouted to all of his hostages, "Any History majors in the house?" No one answered him. "Ah, trick question. I compelled them all not to speak or react. Never mind, we'll use this." He held up the phone and began to type. "Nineteen-sixty…let's see, Ford Thunderbirds, Lincoln Continentals, unseasonably cold that year…Tuesday, November eighth." He looked up at Stefan as if to jog his memory. "John F. Kennedy was running for president."

"Election night," Stefan said, his voice as if he was being sucked back into a memory. He spilled out what had happened—he met a woman who asked about his brother and said that she wanted to kill Damon.

"That was Maggie?" Elena asked, confused. Enzo was pleased with this memory.

"Now we're getting somewhere," the dark-haired vampire approved.

"I didn't kill her. I was just trying to scare her into leaving town," Stefan explained, but Enzo was not sure of the fact that Stefan was the one that killed her.

"Ah, so it was the other Ripper in Mystic Falls, then?" Enzo turned around and sauntered towards Audrey who sat with Bonnie at the table, though her hands were restrained.

"I have no reason to lie to you, Enzo," Stefan said, but really, he had all the reason in the world. Enzo yanked Audrey out of her chair and she hissed at him as he caught her and held her by the throat. Stefan tried to move in his chair, but hissed himself at the vervain restraints on him.

"Enzo, let her go!" I shouted to him, but Enzo wouldn't listen to me. I didn't expect him to.

"Are your lies worth your girlfriend's life?" Enzo snapped, showcasing Audrey for Stefan to see how easy it was to snap her neck. "After all, you did kill the love of my life. Here's a quick question, though: who would you consider to be the love of yours? This girl right here or that one?" Enzo gestured to Elena, who sat on the other side of Stefan. "Come on, Stefan! Tell me! Which one would it be, huh? Audrey or Elena?"

"Enzo, I swear to God—" Stefan started, snarling, but Enzo didn't listen to him. Instead, he jerked Audrey to the side and hissed in her ear, her exposed neck at the right angle for his fangs.

"Aren't you a little curious as to who he'd choose, love?" Enzo whisper-shouted in her ear, loud enough for us to hear even though we were a little ways away from him. "After all, I seem to remember you telling me a little story about how you're still uncertain when it comes to Stefan and Elena's friendship. Makes you think how faithful he is to you like Damon was to Madeline back when he slept with her sister."

"Enzo!" I snapped, earning his attention and his hard glare. "That was too far," I warned him, and I think he realized this. But, Audrey didn't seem to think so, because she just snapped her neck to the side so that she was able to kick Enzo's leg in and bash her head with his, and I didn't even notice the ropes slip off of her hands. Damn.

But her victory was short-lived—Enzo bounced back quickly and Audrey braced, ready to fight him. She had no chance, though; in a mere instant, he was at her throat again, and he tilted his head back to bite into her. Before his fangs were able to pierce her skin, though, I heard the cold, hard voice of a Salvatore beside me.

"Stop!" Stefan shouted, earning Enzo's undivided attention. All fighting and struggling ceased as Enzo kept a firm hold on Audrey and waited. "You're right. I killed Maggie," Stefan lied, but it was the reason of his confession that had Audrey take out a breath of guilt—of disbelief. Audrey might've thought she could handle Enzo, but Stefan wasn't willing to take that chance. "I tore out her throat and I ripped her head off. I completely forgot about her until now. That's the truth." He looked at Audrey, and their eyes locked for a second. I felt a wave of guilt and sorrow crash over me, seeing Stefan do this for her. He was admitting to something that I knew he didn't do. It was in his voice, it was in his expression. Stefan was lying, plain and simple. "Now let her go."

Enzo stopped for a second, and beside him, Bonnie rose from her chair. "Enzo, you heard him. Let. Her. Go," Bonnie growled. Enzo didn't remove his hands from Audrey, and instead, he beckoned Liv forward and gestured to the witch beside him.

"Take her upstairs," Enzo ordered, and Liv took Bonnie's arm and dragged her upstairs unwillingly. Looking down at Audrey, Enzo pursed his lips and then slowly released her, still keeping a hold on her hands. Without hesitation, some of the compelled hostages were up, and they took Audrey from Enzo and immediately tied her with ropes that just looked like they were cutting into her skin. At least I had some breathing room in mine. Enzo went soft on me, of course. Because if he didn't, Damon would have his head. I distinctly remember that part.

Without breaking his stare on Stefan, Enzo bent down and ripped off a wooden bar on one of the chairs and threw it straight at the vampire beside me—the wooden stake landing in Stefan's torso, just beside his heart. Both Elena and I gasped at the sudden movement, and Stefan yelled out in pain.

Beside me, Enzo played with a lighter while he drank a bottle of alcohol—something clearly unsafe to be doing. I just kept my head straight and said nothing. Stefan was obviously writhing in pain at the stake in his chest, but he did not scream anymore. I could see Audrey's clearly angered and hurt face from all the way across the room, but Enzo wasn't nearly done with him yet. I was beginning to worry—now that Stefan admitted to something he didn't do, Enzo would need revenge. That revenge would be my best friend.

"Where were we, then?" Enzo began, putting down the lighter and the alcohol bottle as he made his way around me and then came in front of Stefan. His hand reached out and he twisted the stake in Stefan's stomach, making Stefan now cry out in pain once more. This torture was agonizing and it made both me and Elena flinch beside Stefan.

Elena's voice was angry and cold. "Stop! You made your point!"

"Sorry, what was that?" Enzo touched his ear. "I couldn't hear you over all the—"

"Argh!" Stefan grunted when Enzo thrust the stake into him further, and behind Enzo, Audrey screamed.

"Let him go already, Enzo! He already admitted to killing her, what else do you want?"

"You know what I want, Red?" Enzo spun around fast on his heel, ripping out the stake with him, causing Stefan to scream again. She winced. "What I want is revenge, but I won't get it until I snap your neck in half. But, first, I need to make sure Stefan suffers just as much as I have before I kill you."

"You won't hurt her," I retorted, causing Enzo to turn back around at me, raising an eyebrow. "You won't hurt her, Enzo."

"Oh, yes I will, Miss Madeline," he almost sung, and it made me sick to my stomach. "You don't know what it's like to lose the love of your life."

I scoffed, "You'd think, for someone who keeps mentioning my boyfriend's infidelity, that he'd learn by now!" I snapped, causing Enzo to stare while I clarified. "What Damon did was just like me losing him. But it was worse, even in just those ten seconds I spent before I was sent away by Silas." Enzo stared, and I could see his eyes water up, but they'd already been watering ever since Stefan had admitted to guilt. "I know what it feels like, Enzo, but you can't do this. Even if Stefan did kill Maggie, what good would it do to kill him? To kill Audrey? You'd just lose yourself. Trust me."

Enzo looked at me, as if ready to give in, but then I saw him flash, and Stefan screamed again beside me. I turned my head away and listened while Enzo murmured what it was like for him in Augustine. How he used to scream, too. How it was the fingers that were more painful—

And then I heard it. I heard him.

"Well, this is depressing."

The front door of the library opened, to reveal Damon walking inside, with his typical attire and all that—his signature black leather jacket. The sarcasm that dripped from his voice was just like I'd imagined.

Damon looked around the tavern with disgust. "Stadium seating really necessary? These people are starting to creep me out."

Enzo growled, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a veiled attempt to get me to release the damn hostages."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that veiled? Release the damn hostages!"

Enzo and Damon walked closer to each other now, and Enzo snapped, "Whose side are you on?"

"There are sides now?"

"You were there with me in Augustine!" Enzo accused him, his voice rough. "Look, don't tell me you've forgotten what it's like to cling onto the one thing that kept you from feeling pain!"

"Enzo," Damon said soothingly. "I get it. The prospect of seeing Maggie again was your safety line to the outside world—the one thing that kept you from shutting it off. But she's gone. There's probably a chapter in Madeline's psych book about it." Damon looked at me and then at Stefan, Audrey, and Elena. "What was this? A full-on study group?"

Enzo turned around at Stefan and Elena, facing away from me. I took the opportunity to mouth to Damon, "What the hell are you doing?" to which he responded with a simple shrug and a rather confused expression, himself. Enzo turned back and sighed, and I could see Damon's shoulders rise and fall, as well.

"The thing is," started Damon in a tone that I wasn't fond of, "I didn't know she was your Maggie."

The words took a moment to sink in—for all of us, I presume. But, when they did, my expression softened, and my shoulders fell limp. Oh, no.

"What are you talking about?" Enzo asked, his voice soft, as he turned back at Damon.

"She didn't tell me her name when we met." Oh, no. Damon…Shit. He killed her.

"And when, exactly, was that?"

Then he said the dreaded words that I was sure of two questions ago. "November eighth, nineteen-sixty. I'd gotten a message at the house, saying a lady wanted to buy me a drink. Naturally, I was curious. But, when I met her, she was asking all of these questions about Augustine." I couldn't see Enzo's face, but I knew it was probably recognizing by now. "She tried to inject me with vervain—a needle with the Augustine seal on it. When I saw it, I realized that she was apart of the society, so I killed her. Ripped her neck off of her body and made it look like Stefan had killed her."

Damon swallowed hard, and beside me, I could see Stefan fall limp, as well, as if he were guilty, too. "Had she gotten me with that vervain injection, things would've been very different. She didn't stand a chance against me."

"And you made it look like I did it?" Stefan asked beside me.

Damon answered, "Maggie was the hope that Enzo clung to, you were mine, and when you didn't notice that I was missing for five years, let's just say I held a grudge."

Enzo spoke this time, his voice raspy. "You killed Maggie?"

Damon refused to look at Enzo straight in the eyes. His gaze was focused on the floor as he spoke, "I didn't even bat an eye. My switch was off, Enzo; I did a lot of terrible things. But I didn't do it to make your life miserable from every angle; I did it because I didn't care! Just do whatever it is you've gotta do—you wanna kill me, you wanna hate me, do it. But this is between us."

I expected Enzo to do something drastic—to take Damon up on his offer, but instead, I heard Enzo's voice break. "That's the problem, Damon. I don't want to hate you. Because if I hate you, then I have nothing left." He sounded like he was going to break down, and I could see Damon's expression change at Enzo's sudden outburst. But, then, Enzo spoke in a normal tone. "But there is another option."

"Another option?" I muttered, confused, but Enzo inhaled sharply, straightened, and I couldn't see anything else beside that. It took me a moment to finally realize, and it took everyone the same amount of time to realize what Enzo had done. Damon suddenly flashed up to his best friend, holding him by the collar. A look of painful realization crossed his face.

"Don't you dare! Hey! Enzo!"

Damon stopped shaking him when I guess Enzo opened his eyes, and Enzo's voice was lighter and…definitely not what I was expecting.

"There we are," he almost sung, and then he clapped a hand on Damon's arm. "You're right! I don't have a care in the world! "

Enzo poured himself a drink at the bar that was in the this library/restaurant that our campus unusually, though fortunately, had for us college students. He was off the rails now, completely crossed over to the dark side.

The sound of a broken glass behind me made me jump in my spot, causing Enzo to tilt his head towards me and apologize, though it was sarcastic. "Sorry, love. Didn't mean to scare you." I said nothing, and merely just listened as Enzo's voice practically stretched into a smile. "This is fun, not caring!" He threw an empty bottle of alcohol up in the air, made a whistling sound, and I involuntarily jumped again when glass splattered all over the floor beside me—the equivalent to a game according to Enzo.

"Yep," Damon sung. "Emotion-free. Bye-bye humanity." I watched as Enzo walked around Stefan and Elena and went back behind the bar again. The sound of a swishing bottle and his no-emotions high making a dreaded sound behind us with his additional words.

"To Maggie James! For whom I feel absolute and blissful detachment."

"What do you say we get out of here?" Damon asked him, and I looked up at Damon, alarmed. He didn't look over at me. "Where is it that you wanted to go? Cape Town?"

"Cape Horn." Cape Horn? I thought to myself, immediately panicking. Was Damon really going to leave again?

"Even better," Damon mumbled, and he reached behind me, grabbing a shard of glass. I expected him to pass it to me, but instead, he passed it to Stefan, whom…I guess made more sense. After all, he was the vampire. While Stefan began to work on his ropes, Enzo sighed and turned around.

"All right!" Enzo clapped his hands together. "Everyone's free to go! Show's over! Don't worry, I compelled you all to think you spent the day studying like the good little students you are." All of us watched as the other students fled from the facility without even the slightest fear or slightest idea of what had happened.

"Except for you," Enzo said suddenly, and I realized quickly that it was most likely Liv. "Stay. I want to test something." Fearfully, I turned my head, and sure enough, Enzo was feeding off of Liv brutally, the sound of Bonnie's screams in everyone's ears. Enzo finally pulled away and threw out his hands. "Look at that. I don't feel obliged to say thank you."

All of a sudden, I looked beside me and Damon was not there anymore. It all happened fast, but I saw most of it—Enzo had slammed Damon with a shard of glass in the neck and Stefan had broken free of his ropes, passing the shard to Elena and flashing over to help his brother. Audrey desperately worked on getting her ropes off with help of the centerpiece that was on the table with her, but I had no such leverage. I tried to let my hands slip out of the ropes—to twist and turn them to the right angle, but it was no use. Damn it.

And, then, when I was moving around in my seat, I felt myself lift, and suddenly, I was outside, being manhandled by Enzo with my ropes still intact. He paid no attention to my human frame, but merely dragged me with him across the campus. I realized quickly that the tables had turned now—Enzo did not care whether or not I lived or died. He wanted revenge on Damon, and I was the way to get to him now.

"Stop it, Enzo," I snapped at him as he dragged me through the grass, his hands rough against my arm. I felt like it was going to snap, the pressure he put on me. "You don't need revenge. You don't need to turn it all off, if you don't want to hate Damon, you don't need to hate Damon—"

"Yeah? I'm surprised that you don't hate him, Miss Madeline. Seems to me like you've got all the reason to." His laugh was bitter, and I cringed. "I mean, after all, he just can't learn to keep control around you."

"You have no idea what it's like with us," I snapped, my voice harder than before. Now I was getting angry. "You have no idea what it's like to be in a relationship like ours, it's complicated. I'd never hate him."

Enzo spun me around just as we reached the Whitmore College sign. "Really? Because it seems to me like this is a one-sided relationship." I swallowed hard as Enzo's words pierced my skin. "I mean, come on. After all, he did sleep with your sister. He lost control around you—yeah, told me about that one. Some pageant that you went to. Nearly ripped your throat out, huh? What a fantastic boyfriend. But what bothers me about all of this is that…" Enzo leaned forward, and I held down the bile in my mouth. He smelled like toxic alcohol and fire—a bad combination for my taste and safety. "…if you two are meant to be with each other, why was he so unfaithful? Makes me think that he wasn't meant to fall as hard as you did."

Enzo was practically holding me in his arms, keeping me upright with my bound hands behind my back. But his gaze suddenly drifted, and the topic diverted, though my heart was breaking at the thought that Enzo's words were true. Suddenly, Enzo's hand swept my hair behind my shoulder and I cringed at him. No. "Thinking about it makes me wonder what you'd taste like—dark blood and all. I guess I'll be the first to try."

"N—" That was all I got out; the first letter of my protest was all I could manage before Enzo's fangs tore at my skin, and I could feel the blood draining from me. I expected him to pull away, I expected my blood to taste as bitter as dark blood sounded, but instead, he pulled me closer, my body involuntarily folding into his. The life in my legs began to give out, and my eyes began to flutter closed. I was sinking—falling, and Enzo was following me, draining my life slowly by the second.

And then, there was nothing, and I could feel the second to last drop being drawn from the inside of my body as I shut my eyes.

"Madeline!" Damon shouted as a roar of thunder sounded in the night sky, and he saw a lifeless body lying by itself in the middle of a plain grass field by the Whitmore College sign. Sure enough, when he slid on his knees to her side, it was Madeline, a full bite mark in her neck with dry, crusted, dark blood coating the outside. She was lifeless, and Damon grew fearful that she wasn't alive. He quickly ripped open the ropes that held her hands behind her back all while muttering her name. Once the ropes were off, her turned her so that her head fell limp to the side, and he felt her pulse to find a heartbeat.

He relaxed almost instantly upon finding one—realizing that whatever amount of blood Enzo had taken from her would be regenerated. He'd almost forgotten for a second that she had that power, but it didn't change the fact that he breathed out a huge sigh of relief and muttered, "You're okay. You're okay," while his hand felt the warm skin of her face, finding comfort in the fact that she wasn't as cold as corpse would be. Realizing that he needed to get her somewhere safe before Enzo came after her again, Damon pulled her arm up from her side, latched it around his neck, and he picked her up into his arms so that her head relaxed against his shoulder and her small frame fit into his arms.

When I finally came to the very faintest of terms regarding my whereabouts, I recognized, fairly quickly, that I was not standing still. I was being carried, a hand underneath my back and holding my knees up, my head resting against someone's chest. It was when I was just being released—put down somewhere in a lying position—that I instantly recognized the scent of my boyfriend and his infamous leather jacket. I was being positioned; my legs to the side and my head against a soft pillow, and then someone had disrupted the level of my bed, making me sink down into it as a result. I felt a hand on me, but I wasn't nearly strong enough yet to force my eyes open. I kept trying and trying and trying, and it was when I felt a hand brush the side of my face that I forced my eyes open no matter what they wanted.

Damon was sitting beside me, as I had suspected, and his lips curled up into a smile seeing me wake. "Hey," he whispered.

I was barely strong enough to keep my eyes open, let alone move. I stayed in position as I spoke, knowingly feeling the dry, crusted blood around my neck where Enzo had bled me to the point where I had passed out, obviously. It was strange that I wasn't healing so quickly, but I didn't question it. Damon was here. Damon was with me, and that was all that mattered. I didn't need to be naked in a bed with him to appreciate him being with me.

"Hi," I croaked out.

He studied me, and I could see his eyes wander across my wound as his fingers slowly brushed against my cheek, trying to soothe me. I spoke to him again, trying to distract him from the wound. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

"You shouldn't have been taken in the first place." He swore to himself. "If only I could've been there earlier—"

"Shh," I hushed him, shaking my head just a fraction of an inch to stop him from continuing. "I'm fine, Damon. You couldn't have done anything about it. He wanted revenge against you and…I was it."

Damon was silent, and I could tell his throat was thick. He wanted to say something to me, so I just waited until he forced it out. "You can't imagine how hard it is staying away from you."

I gave him a sad smile.

"I know," I said quietly, because I did imagine it. I understood completely what it felt like to be away from him for all this time. I wasn't the one who wanted to stay away. Damon's hand moved from my face, and I saw a flash of guilt spread across his features. No wonder. He was afraid that he would go too far. It wasn't about the blood—it was never about the blood. It was about temptation. The more we slept together, the worse I became. I was already going through episodes of craziness, but I didn't dare mention that to him.

Damon stood up, but I stopped him before he could fully leave. The gesture was so familiar to me, and I knew it sparked a memory in him, too. My fingers lightly brushed his, stopping him from leaving.

"Wait," I protested, curling my fingers just the slightest so that they latched onto his curled ones. He looked down at me with painful eyes, and I forced out what I needed to say. "Stay with me. Please," I added.

Damon looked like he'd been kicked in the chest. I didn't want to do this to him, but I couldn't handle it. I needed him, much like any regular human needed a glass of water each day or food. I couldn't handle going without Damon. Somehow, someway, whenever he was around, I felt safe. I felt secure. I felt like it was home. And, in this college dorm room, I felt like I was living a lie. With him in it, though, I felt like I'd been here all my life.

"That's not a good idea," he whispered.

I studied him, but realized that he was right. He'd asked me to stay away from him—he'd told me that he would stay away from me. I was torturing us both by asking him to stay. With a clear of my throat, I nodded weakly, "You're right," I whispered and let go of his hand, my fingers swinging down from the bed. "I'm sorry."

"Hey," Damon said in the same volume that I'd whispered in, squatting down so he could see into my eyes at a level in which I didn't have to look up. "You know I love you."

I swallowed hard, and I began to hear the words in my head that Enzo had suggested. "Do you?" I asked painfully, causing him to become confused. "Because…I know you think that I was…programmed to love you, but…but what about you? What if you don't love me? What if you—"

"Stop," Damon hushed me, gripping my weak hand in his and enclosing our warmth. "Don't you dare. I won't let this stupid idea get into your head. No one will tell me who to love and how to do it. No one; not even the universe." I stayed silent, watching as sureness flashed across his eyes. "I fell in love with you. And I'm not going to let this ruin the future I want with you. There is no life without you, Madeline. You're it. You are my life."

All of Enzo's painful words were dead to me at this, but I still felt the pain that came with our agreement. And the pain of every single obstacle Damon and I have had to face. He didn't know how much he meant to me. Explaining that he was my life just simply wouldn't be enough. I wasn't afraid to admit that Damon Salvatore was the one thing I could not live without. He was the world to me.

It was times like these when my morals began to slip, and I began to think about what it would be like to be a vampire. To live forever with Damon. To be eternally in love with him. It was times like these when he made me forget that I hated vampires. That I hated the world I'd been pulled into.

"So you won't leave me, right?" I asked, sighing. He raised an eyebrow. "Cape Horn."

Damon scoffed. "No, Madeline. I won't leave you." His finger tangled in my hair. "I'll never leave you."

I nodded at him. "Thank you." He smiled, as if almost amused at the fact that I thanked him, and then he leaned forward. Kissing my forehead seemed to be his way of telling me that this conversation was over, and I closed my eyes as I felt the slight, familiar pressure of his lips, and then nothing at all.

When I opened my eyes, there was no one in front of me, and the window next to my bed was blowing warm air into the dorm room, and I realized that Damon's words had to keep me over until the next time I saw him, whenever that would be.

There was a knock on my door a few minutes after I'd shut my eyes and tried to rest, but I was feeling myself get stronger by each passing minute. When the knock sounded, I forced myself out of bed and walked up to the door, opening it to see Stefan standing at the threshold, perfectly intact. I let out a sigh of relief and pulled him into a hug. "Good. You're okay. Where's Audrey?" I asked, pulling away.

"She's in the car," Stefan told me as he walked into the room. "She's waiting for me so we can drive back to Mystic Falls. And Elena needed to feed…her strength was pretty messed up." He paused. "I needed to talk to you before I go back, though. Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Mmhmm. Damon brought me back, but…Enzo kind of fed on me," I said. Stefan sighed.

"Yeah, I…uh…caught him after you passed out," Stefan admitted, making me raise my eyebrows. "He was…uh…really strong, Madeline. Your blood did something to him."

I sighed and rubbed my head, which was pounding from all of these perks that come with having dark blood—not quite black, but definitely not pure. "Okay, I don't have time to ponder over that. What happened with Enzo?"

Stefan was silent for a long time before speaking. "Madeline, Enzo's dead."

I raised my eyebrows at him and watched as Stefan took a seat on Elena's bed. Then, I realized. "Wait, did you…?" Stefan nodded at me, and I inhaled sharply. "Oh, God. Does Damon know about this?"

Stefan shook his head, and that was the moment I realized that Stefan was admitting a guilt to me that I would have to lie to Damon about. "I basically just killed my brother's only friend." I stayed silent and realized the pain in my friend's voice. Well, shit. Now I had to choose between Stefan and Damon? If I should lie to Damon or betray Stefan? I wanted to slap Stefan for telling me this. It was better that I didn't know. "It's been a tough year for Damon. Don't you think it'd be easier if no-humanity Enzo just…left for parts unknown and was never heard from again?"

"Stefan," I groaned. "Why the hell did you tell me this? Now you're putting me in a position to lie."

"Madeline, I thought you would want to know. Plus, you're my friend." I let out a whimper at this. Shit. "Besides, you won't be lying. I thought you and Damon agreed to stay away from each other right now."

"Yeah, but Stefan, I don't know if I can—"

"Listen, Madeline, Damon thinks that Enzo left town. We need to keep it that way. We barely just got him back." He paused. "This would destroy him. Please," he added.

I forgot about Damon having turned off his humanity after I broke up with him under Katherine's compulsion, and that's when I realized that I had to side with Stefan on this. I loved Damon, more than life, but when it came to his judgment upon his humanity switch, sometimes even I couldn't bring him back. And this was one of those rare times that helping Stefan was something I needed to do.

"Okay," I agreed, clearing my throat. "Okay, I…I won't tell him. Who else knows?"

"Elena." I raised my eyebrows, but Stefan just shook his head. "She saw me rip his heart out, Mads. There's nothing much I can do about that. But, other than Elena, that's it. Just you," he promised.

I shook my head. "No, you need to tell Bonnie. She'll see Enzo passing through on the other side, and if that happens around someone else, they could tell Damon. Call her," I said, and Stefan nodded immediately. He did as told as I sat on my bed, chewing on my fingernail—a bad, nervous habit.

What a mess.

A little Mads and Stefan bonding in this chapter, and things will start to get more interesting during 5x20. I'm so not excited to do the finale, but...I have to. Keep in mind that I will have to go on a 3 month hiatus with this story because it obviously goes off the episodes (though I may decide to make one or two chapters AU after Season 6 begins because there's apparently a more than a few month time gap). The good news is, while we're waiting for Season 6 to start so I can continue this, you can all head over to Hurricane and read those updates so no one will have to live without Damon and Madeline for long :P

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'll update the next one as soon as I can. Please review!

Love,

BellaSalvatore1918

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