She refused to look at him despite his attempts to lure her into doing it. She could easily feel his eyes burning into her skin, penetrating her to the very core. He had to talk to her about something important, that much was more than obvious, but she had no interest in speaking with him at the current moment. She wanted to enjoy the beautiful glaze that were the fireworks and than make her departure, still annoyed with their earlier conversation. She had told him that she had no intention of continuing the discussion today and was increasingly becoming annoyed. She wasn't looking at him for a reason. Did he not get the hint that she was not in the mood to speak?
"Elena," She heard him mutter from the side, his voice soft and calm.
She shook her head almost immediately, "No."
"He threatened your brother," He said quietly to her.
Almost instantly her head turned and her eyes stared incredulously at him, "What?"
"I don't know the details of what happened. He wouldn't tell me but he had Jeremy but the arm and was threatening to knock him unconscious."
Elena furrowed her eyebrows at the statements, her brain turning into over drive as she attempted to figure out just what could have happened that resulted in Damon reacting in a way that required the use of physical restraint. She thought hard, her mind rewinding the through the day as she tried to find a time period in where the two were together. The only one she could come up with was when she confronted her brother about making things right. Damon had been standing right behind her and with his sensitive hearing she was positive that he had heard every word that was spoken, including the ones that her brother professed at the end of her small speech.
Jeremy had left, she had watched him walk out of the door, and than her eyes had caught Damon's. Now that she thought about it his eyes had been a tad darker than before and his face had an almost angry look to it. He had sent her a charming smirk and wink before departing himself, his pace rather fast. It hadn't occurred to her that he would take the initiative and speak to her brother on her behalf or that he would be mad by the response Jeremy had given her.
She wasn't sure what Damon said to him but she was going to find out. She would ask him what happened before jumping to conclusions and when she got the whole story she would figure out how she should feel about it all. Than she would tell her brother that provoking a 'murderous psychopath' was most defiantly not one of his smarter moments.
Before she could tell him about what could have caused Damon's reaction a frantic looking Anna appeared before her. She jumped in surprised at her sudden appearance, her hand going over her heart before she furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why she was paler than usual.
"We have a problem."
It only took those four words to bring a sense of foreboding into Elena, the sinking feeling that she had been having in her gut all week returning full force. Something told her tonight would either make or break her, that no matter what she attempted someone would die. She just didn't know who.
It took two minutes for Anna to bring them up to date on the situation and it took another five seconds for Stefan to plan a course of action.
"When do the fireworks start?"
Elena glanced down at the watch attached to her wrist. 9:53 p.m. She opened her mouth to tell him seven minutes when an explosion interrupted her. All of a sudden more sounded, making her head snap up to the night sky. Blazing colors and bright lights assaulted the sky. They were starting early. Her eyes quickly whirled to look at Stefan, whose face had contorted into a emotionless façade.
"Go protect Jeremy," Elena found herself saying almost immediately, "Once he's safe meet us at the Hall."
So concerned with getting to one of the Salvatore brother's Anna had not thought of finding Jeremy. With wide eyes she nodded and quickly ran off, forgetting to do what Damon had requested.
"Come on," Stefan told her, grabbing her hand and dragging her away from the fireworks.
He was more tense than she had ever seen him and his face held a hint of worry in it despite his best efforts to hide it. His eyes were always moving, whirling from side to side and watching keenly for any signs of the impending danger. She nearly had to jog to keep up with his fast pace. The moment he found them far enough away from people he let her hand go and faced her.
"I need you to do something for me."
She frowned immediately at the statement, her eyes narrowing. She had a feeling of what was to come.
"Call Bonnie and find out where she is. As of this moment she is the safest person to be around in town. While she's still getting a hold of her powers she'll be able to keep any vampires that attack you at bay. I need you to go with her to your house and stay there," He told her, his hands on her shoulders as he stared deeply into her eyes.
She shook her head immediately, "No, Stefan. This is my fight just as much as it is yours. I'm not going to hide while your out there risking your life to protect this town."
His grip tightened on her shoulders, "Elena, please. Please just this once listen to me, okay? I can't fight if I know your in danger. My mind won't be fully focused, alright? I need you to be safe."
"Stefan…," She said rebelliously, ready to defend her purpose of being present at the battle that was about to commence.
"No," Stefan immediately said, shaking his head rapidly, "Your not coming. I can't protect you, Elena. I…"
"Alright, alright, I'll do it," She yielded, unable to take the look of worry and concern he was sending her.
One of his arms wrapped tightly around her waist while the other lightly stroked her hair, soothing her frantic nerves and rapid heartbeat. She quickly wrapped her arms around him in response, burying her head into his chest and grasping his shirt tightly. They stayed like that for a moment, her just listening to his breathing while he was listening to the thumping of her heart. He pulled away first, placing a kiss on her forehead before untangling himself from her body.
He turned to go but was pulled back by his arm. Almost immediately her arms were around his neck as her lips pressed against his. Almost urgently he pressed back, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. He moved back for a second before diving in once more, his tongue sweeping against her moisten lips lightly. They kissed passionately, both attempting to show one another their feelings of love, knowing that tonight might be the last night that they could do it. Reluctantly he pulled away and sadly smiled at her. Than in the blink of an eye he was gone.
She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she pulled out her phone. She pressed four and waited until it started calling Bonnie's number before pressing it to her ear.
At the fourth ring she picked up, "Hello?"
"Where are you?"
There was a hesitation before she heard her voice say, "Why?"
"Because the town is in trouble and we need all the help we can get."
"What? What's going on?"
"Meet me at Founder's Hall as soon as you can. I'll tell you when I get there."
"Alright, I'll be right there," Bonnie told her before hanging up.
Elena put her phone away, feeling slightly guilty about lying to Stefan about what she was going to do, but he had to have known that she wasn't going to stay put like he wanted her to. Since when did she ever stay put when a fight occurred and his life was in jeopardy? She had even more of a reason to be there now that Damon was going, too. He was her friend and she would be damned if she lost yet another person tonight. With determination she set off towards the Mystic Grill, knowing her Aunt had taken the car. She had every intention of getting to the Hall as soon as humanly possible.
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She ran as fast as she could towards where Jeremy's scent was strongest, her legs going into hyper drive at the anxiety that lingered around his scent. She hoped that he was okay, that nobody had harmed a single hair on his head because if that was the case than somebody was in for a whole lot of pain. She didn't realize where his scent was taking her until she came in view of the place and her eyes widened. Founder's Hall. Jeremy was in the hall, but she could think of no reason for it. Swiftly she inspected the house, finding the place where his scent was drifting from. A pacing figure caught her attention through the closed curtains of a window and she ascended to the second floor, peeking her eyes in. Jeremy was waking back and forth through the room, an angered yet annoyed look on his face. Immediately she slid open the window and stepped in.
"Jeremy," She called low to him, feeling other presences in the house.
He quickly whirled around and faced her, a look of surprise on his face, "Anna?"
She threw herself into his arms and he held her tightly in an embrace, lightly rubbing her back as she buried her face into his chest. They just stood like that for a couple of moments, each reveling in the other's presences.
Jeremy was the first to pull back, "You shouldn't be here, Anna. It's not safe."
"Neither should you, than. How'd you get here in the first place?"
Jeremy scowled, "The Mayor had me locked in this room. I was walking towards the house when someone hit me on the back of the head."
"We have to get you out of here. This place is about to be a war zone," Anna told him quietly.
"What?"
"There are over twenty vampires on the way to destroy the people in this place."
His eyes widened at the information and he ran a hand through his hair, "What should we do?"
She bit her lower lip and avoided looking in his eyes as she spoke, "I could turn you. The vampires would leave you alone if you were one of them."
He blinked and stared at her before his thoughts began to rev into the future, thinking about the possibilities. He could be with Anna for the rest of eternity if he was a vampire and he could do anything that he wanted to. He would never die, never age, never be in a position like this again, but despite the pros there were still cons. He would have to leave his family. How could he stay with them if he was always tempted into draining them of blood?
He opened his mouth to says something when the door busted open and his Uncle John came strolling into the room.
"That will not be happening," John stated sternly before pointing the pocket watch at her.
Almost immediately a loud persisting ring exploded through her brain, followed by the sharp pain of thousands of needles being poked into her head. She placed her hands around her ears on instinct, screaming as the unbearable pain pulsated through her mind. She dropped down to her knees, tightly gripping her head.
"Stop!" Jeremy yelled before lunging at his Uncle, trying to get the device away from him.
A figure stepped in front of John and grabbed Jeremy by the neck before throwing him to the ground. Jeremy hit the ground hard, his head bouncing off the wooden floor. He blinked at the pain and groggily attempted to sit up. His head met with the blunt end of a wooden stake and almost immediately his world went to darkness.
"Hurting him was not necessary," John told the Mayor with a glare, "Bring him to the shed and lock the door. He's not apart of this."
"I don't know why you refuse to allow him to help us. He'd be a big asset considering his obvious connection to the vampires," The Mayor scoffed as he picked up the boy, throwing him over his shoulder.
John was about to retort when the compass began to whirl, telling him of the arrival of another guest. He smirked, hoping it was the guests of honor before whirling around and walking straight out the door, leaving a crippled Anna screaming on the floor.
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He rolled his eyes at the history teacher, becoming rather annoyed by the human's weakness and lack of gratitude for his attempt to save the town that Alaric was currently comfortably situated in. He shouldn't be complaining about a minor stomach ache due to the intense speeds that he had just been traveling at. While Damon knew that he was not used to it, the teacher had much more things to worry about than a temporary problem.
"Are you done?" Damon questioned impatiently to the man who was currently moaning on the floor.
Alaric wiped his mouth clean before glaring at the vampire, "I hate you."
Damon rolled his eyes, "Yes, we already established this. Now can we go?"
Alaric shuffled to his feet, slightly swaying due to the intense dizziness swirling in his head. He shook it from side to side, hoping to regain his composure and was glad that less than a minute later the feelings subsided. Apparently heaving had helped a little bit. Feeling stronger he stood up straighter and began to walk towards the Hall, not bothering to glanced back at Damon.
Damon looked less than pleased at the lack of attention and quickly caught up to the man. They had wasted precious minutes just now. Perhaps taking a car would have been slightly better. At least than he wouldn't have the disgusting smell of bile and alcohol mixed with other edible items in his nose. He scrunched his nose up, knowing the smell was not going to leave anytime soon and focused his attention on the surrounding area. He could tell that people were already in the place and sighed, having a feeling that this was not going to be as easy as he first assumed.
He pushed open the door slowly upon reaching the porch to the building and immediately noticed the figure of Uncle John strolling down the wooden steps. He stepped inside with Alaric, who closed the door right after them.
"Hello, Damon, Alaric," John said nodding his head to each man before pointing the device at Damon.
Damon crossed his arms over his chest, a bored look on his face, "Your threatening with a pocket watch? Do you have any sense of intelligence?"
"You know what this is Damon and what it can do," John replied in response.
Damon scoffed, "It doesn't work. We made sure of that before we gave it to you."
John smiled widely at him, "Perhaps you should have tested it."
A button was pressed and all Damon felt was mind numbing pain spread through his head. His eyes widened as he groaned, blinking and holding his head as his knees gave out. His body began to shake and his fingers tightened around his skull as he attempted to get rid of the intense pain.
His last thoughts before the pain took over were those of rage, 'I'm going to murder that witch.'
"What are you doing? He's here to help us. There are vampires on the way," Alaric quickly said as he knelt next to Damon.
John smiled maliciously, "I know. They won't be leaving this house alive."
Alaric went to question him on his statement when a sharp pain hit the back of his head. Almost immediately he feel unconscious.
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He had arrived as soon as possible to the house, stopping for nothing and scanning for no one. Despite the current feud with his brother he had no wish to see him hurt. While he knew that Damon was more than capable of taking care of himself, the fact remained that over twenty vampires were to appear tonight. Not even his stubborn headed brother could take on that many. The teacher would help but there was only so much the man could do before the vampires ripped his ring off. Upon reaching the house and smelling Damon's scent he busted through the door, flinging it to the opposite side of the room. He stalked his way to the living room where he sense Elena's father.
"Where's my brother?" Stefan demanded immediately.
John just smirked in response, "It's over for Damon."
"Where is he?" Stefan repeated, ignoring the sinking feeling that apprehended his stomach.
"Don't worry, Stefan," Uncle John said soothingly, "You'll be joining him soon."
When Uncle John moved his hand Stefan's eyes zeroed in on the pocket watch and his eyes widened. Realization hit him hard and the sense of betrayal nearly made his knees give out. The thumping and pulsating that soon busted through his head made him drop to the floor, gritting his teeth as he attempted to deal with the pain.