A/N: Okay, so I know it's been forever and that is unforgivable, but I think I'm finally starting to overcome my writer's block with this story. It just took me a while with the way things were going on the show to figure out where my head was when I started it. So, hopefully I'll continue to update, but they might be a little slow at first. Again, so, so sorry! But I would like to thank everyone that reviewed so far!
Chapter 4: Dire Consequences
Stefan was instantly aware of a searing pain in the back of his head. Something sharp was poking onto his back and when he opened his eyes, everything was blurry. What happened?
He thought back through the last several hours. He remembered going to the lake under Wickery Bridge with Bonnie and Abby. They'd preformed a spell to retrieve a necklace… Elena's mother's necklace. But what happened next? Stefan racked his brain but kept coming up blank. Slowly, his eyes came into focus and he recognized the familiar cave walls.
The coffin!
They were trying to open the coffin. He remembered the walls shaking… rocks raining down on his head… an explosion?
No, not an explosion. He was sure in the instant he was knocked off his feet that the coffin opened. That memory had him rising unsteadily to his feet. He was right; the coffin stood open before him in the cave he couldn't enter. And lying on the ground beside it was Bonnie and Abby.
"Bonnie! Bonnie, can you hear me," he shouted.
No movement. His eyes scanned the coffin, realizing it was empty!
An enraged growl left his throat and he slammed his fist into the cave wall hard enough to cause them to shake. How could the weapon he'd been banking his hopes on be gone?
"Bonnie! Wake up! Bonnie!"
Finally, Bonnie's hand twitched and her eyelids fluttered.
"St… Stefan? What happened?"
"It's gone," was his only reply.
"What do you mean?" Bonnie propped herself up on an elbow and surveyed the open coffin curiously, until her eyes landed on her mom.
"Abby," she called, crawling to her and shaking her arm.
"Abby? Abby, wake up!"
But she never moved and Stefan extended his senses, trying to pick up her heartbeat, but could only hear Bonnie's.
"Abby! Mom! Wake up!"
"She's gone Bonnie," Stefan explained, surprised by the softness of his voice. Hadn't he left all his emotions behind?
"No! She can't be dead. I just got her back. Wake up, Mom!"
"Bonnie…"
Stefan watched the tears streak down his former friend's face, a familiar pain creeping into his chest. No, he didn't want to feel! He had to focus on his mission! Killing Klaus was all that mattered now. After taking a deep breath to reorganize his thoughts, he strode out of the cave, leaving the grieving Bonnie behind.
~TVD~
Elena didn't know how long Damon had sat staring at the fire crackling before them, the bottle of scotch beside him almost drained. She'd seen him upset before and had expected him to act out in some way, but she'd never expected this.
Damon was never one to be silent and he hadn't spoken a word since coming out of that dream. The rampage she'd expected had also never came and if he didn't make a move other than bringing the drink to his lips, she felt she would scream.
"Damon, please talk to me."
More silence. He didn't even look at her.
Changing tactics, she moved to stand in front of him, dropping to her knees so her face was level with his. Gently, her hands cupped his cheeks and she ducked down to look him in the eyes, which held a dead look, as if he was trying hard not to let any emotion in at all.
"Damon, I know this is hard. What can I do?"
"There's nothing to do."
Even his voice was only a shell of what he was. After everything she'd seen Damon do since they'd met, this scared her the most. When he was mad and acted out, she would show him reason; when he sad, she was there to comfort him. But this… she didn't know what emotions he was feeling, so how could she help him? At the moment, she sort of guessed that maybe he'd felt so many emotions all at once that his brain was fried.
Maybe that was it… he was brain dead. So maybe she should wake him up.
"I'm sorry about this," she apologized, and just as the confusion came into his eyes, she slapped him hard across the face, though she knew it probably hadn't hurt him as much as it had her hand.
"Ow… what was that for!"
"Good, you're angry. At least that's something I can work with. Now talk to me, please!"
"He lied," Damon yelled. "My dad lied to me, all this time! I had the right to know how she died!"
"I know."
"I can't believe I was supposed to be some stuck-up witch. That's why he never let us be around my mother's family."
Elena took his hand, gently rubbing circles on it with her thumb. All she wanted was to make that look of pain leave his beautiful face, but what could she do? She couldn't change the past.
"Damon, I know this hurts… but we need to make sure nobody opens that coffin. If that man is inside… the one that killed your mother, I don't think we should just set him free."
"Why not? She only locked him up because Klaus blackmailed her. Maybe we should let him out! And once he kills Klaus, I'll kill him myself!"
Damon was suddenly on his feet, a crazy look in his eyes. It was a look that terrified Elena. He could do anything in this state of mind.
"No, Damon. We don't know who this man is or what he's capable of. We need more information before–"
"I don't care, Elena. If he can kill Klaus, we need him. After that, we can get all the information we need, including why he killed my mother." Damon's voice was low and deadly and he was swiftly walking through the room towards the door.
Elena hurried after him, hoping to bring some reason into his mind before they made it to the cave. She'd had a bad feeling about this man since her first dream. There was just something so evil in his eyes; she shivered now at the memory.
But before they made it to the door, the walls around them started to shake.
"What's happening," Elena gasped.
"What… you've never experienced an earthquake before," Damon deadpanned, still too emotionless for real humor.
The shaking was minimal at first, but it quickly intensified, until the sound of glass and ceramics crashing to the ground filled the air. Elena was stunned at first, trying desperately to remember the proper protocol for the situation, when suddenly, she was flying through the air.
Damon pulled her into a doorway, shielding her body as pieces of the ceiling fell around them. Something about this seemed wrong. Elena was certain it was more than just a natural disaster and the thunder echoing in the distance seemed to back up her thoughts.
"Damon…," she stared, clinging to him tighter.
"I know. Don't worry; it'll be over soon."
Just then, the doorway above them started to give way and Damon snatched her again and rushed for the door, blurring outside. But just as they cleared the door, lightning streaked the sky illuminating the otherwise dark day and casting strange shadows on the dark purple clouds.
"What's happening," Elena asked.
Damon just continued to stare at the sky, holding her steady as the ground shook beneath them. And then, as fast as it came on, it stopped.
"I think we better call Stefan," Damon suggested in an oddly quiet voice. He only had to wait for two rings.
"Damon, we have a problem," Stefan started.
"Yeah, I guessed that. What did you do?"
"I… Bonnie and Abby opened the coffin, but… something happened. Abby's dead and… whatever was in there is gone."
~TVD~
Jeremy finished the shading on the lake monster he'd just drawn. He decided the fierce eyes would look good in yellow, contemplating the exact shade he'd use once he got back home. Technically, he was supposed to taking notes for the video they were currently watching in class, but the human genome just didn't hold much interest for him. He wondered briefly what all those stuffy scientists would think if they knew how supernatural their world really was.
The sound of footsteps alerted him to his approaching teacher and he quickly covered the sketch with his notebook, studiously jotting down a few random notes that may or may not have anything to do with the current lesson.
As Mr. Colman strolled past him, Jeremy kept his eyes focused on the TV in the front of the classroom, but something by the door caught his eye.
A flash of dark, wavy hair.
He sat up straighter, hoping it would help him see more clearly, but there was nothing there. Jeremy shook his head and rubbed his tired eyes, hoping to clear his curious mind. Surely it was just some random student passing by the door. But for a second he'd sworn it was…
"Jeremy," a voice called from behind him and he whirled around to see… nothing.
No one was there. What was wrong with him?
"Jeremy," it called again, and this time, the voice was clear enough for him to recognize.
Mr. Colman was just making his way back to his desk and Jeremy jumped up and grabbed the hall pass.
"Bathroom already, Gilbert," he asked.
"Uh, yeah."
"Make it quick."
Jeremy nodded and ducked out of the room, searching the vacant halls. And then, suddenly, she was right in front of him.
"Jeremy, you need to get back to Mystic Falls, now," Anna warned, her tone serious.
"What? What happened? I thought I'd never see you again?"
"There's no time to explain. Go now!"
She was gone as soon as the words left her mouth and without a second thought, Jeremy flew back into the classroom, grabbing his notebook and sketch pad and flinging them haphazardly into his backpack.
"Where do you think you're going, Gilbert," the teacher asked, eyeing him incredulously.
"Sorry. Emergency at home. Got to go," he yelled over his shoulder as he hurried out of the room. What could Anna mean? What had happened in Mystic Falls? Of course, the answer to that question was endless. It could be anything from a new vampire to a nuclear explosion. Hurriedly, he dialed Elena's number, only for it to go straight to voicemail. He tried someone else…
"Hello," Bonnie answered in a dead voice. At first he didn't even recognize it was her.
"Bonnie? What happened?"
Silence. Jeremy climbed in his car, romping down on the gas pedal as soon as the key was in the ignition.
"Bonnie, are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened," he asked again, the panic burning through him.
"She's dead," was all she responded in a nearly silent voice.
"What? Who… who's dead?"
Jeremy gulped down the dread that had risen to his throat at those words. Damon was with Elena; Damon would always protect Elena! She couldn't be dead!
"My… mom…"
Bonnie's sobs filled the phone and Jeremy let out a sigh of relief. Not that his heart wasn't breaking for her loss… but Elena was alive.
"I'm on my way," he explained, ending the call and heading straight for the highway.
~TVD~
Damon was speeding through the crowded streets, gunning for Elena's house. Stefan and Bonnie were meeting them there, along with Alaric.
"We should call Elijah. You said he warned you about opening the coffin; maybe he knows how to contain this… man… warlock, or whatever," Elena suggested, pulling out her phone, only to remember he probably didn't have a phone after being dead for months.
"Later. First I want to get you somewhere safe."
"Damon, I'll be fine. Maybe you were right, and this guy will actually kill Klaus."
"Yeah, and then leave us with a cranky warlock that can't be killed," Damon responded sourly. He was clearly still reeling from his recent revelation and Elena reached out to take his hand.
And then the car screeched to a dead stop.
"What the…," Elena began, but as she looked up, she saw the utter destruction in front of her.
City hall had completely collapsed, leaving rubble piled in the streets and bystanders trying frantically to pull others from the ruins. Elena only took in the scene for two seconds before launching herself from the car.
"Elena! Stop," Damon yelled after her, but she'd already ran to the first person she came to – a man attempting to lift a large piece of sheet rock from the legs a woman.
"Damon… help me," she pleaded, but he was already there, lifting the wreckage free as the sirens sounded in the distance.
A/N: So, I know with the way the show is now that it might be kind of hard to think all the way back to episode 12, so let me know what you think! Honestly!