Aaaaand, here I am again^^.
A bit shorter than the last two chapters, but I really wanted to end this chapter right were I did…it fit perfectly for it *lol*.
Thank you my dear Avecia (OH, and GO and read her oneshot "Better than love". It's a few into Damons mind, and really great work!), for you incredible beta work, and thanks, my sweet readers and reviewers, because you always make my day!
Now, I don't own anything about the VD, but it's fun messing with them nonetheless *gg*.
On with it!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
"Run the hell faster damn it!"
Jeremy just rolled his eyes and flipped Tyler his middle finger – whilst simultaneously trying to run faster.
But it's not as if he got chased by a bunch of pissed off vampires every day.
"Well, lend me a few of those handy little werewolf genes and I'll see what I….."
He wasn't able to complete his sentence, as the vampires finally got tired of their 'hunt down a midnight-snack' game.
One of them appeared in front of him, lifting him up by the lapels of his jacket, and another got Tyler in a chokehold as he tried to come to his aid.
"A human and a little wolf…how curious. So, which of the two of you is the pet?"
This got quite a laugh out of his companions and, widening his grin, he showed his fangs.
"Anyway. I have enough of this; better – prettier – things to do and kill tonight. Let's get this over with."
Cute… lived through vengeful tomb-vamps and crazy biological mothers, and get killed as a random snack…was all Jeremy could think, before he clamped his eyes shut.
He might have panicked more, if there wasn't still way too much adrenaline (and admittedly quite a bit alcohol) running through his veins.
As it was, he just waited for the pain of teeth ripping into his throat, and the lightheaded feeling of his blood leaving him.
But it never came.
Instead the hold on his jacked slackened before it was gone entirely.
The next thing he knew, there was a dull thud on the ground directly in front of him. And then all hell broke loose.
The vampire restraining Tyler fell to the floor – his head landed a few feet away from the rest of his body.
The others that were hunting him and the werewolf looked confused into the dark. They hadn't heard anyone, nor had they seen the attacker.
The predator became the prey. An amused laugh made them – all of them – snap their heads straight ahead.
Jeremy couldn't see a damn thing through the thick underbrush, but he was certain that he could feel something strange coming from there.
"You know, you should have seen your faces boys. It's always so much better to get you when you're unaware. The one moment when the mask slips, and I can see the fear that there is something more dangerous out there than you are…"
Finally a dark shape began to separate from… well, all the other dark shapes, till there was a woman standing on the clearing.
Dark hair falling down to her shoulders, black leather jacket, black jeans and… oh yeah, black high heels.
No wonder that he hadn't seen her – perfectly camouflaged for a night trip into the woods (well, despite, maybe, for the heels – how the hell could that woman walk in them on this uneven ground?).
But… there was something eerily familiar about her.
One hand on he hip she strutted forward, as if walking on a catwalk, lips drawn into a cold grin.
"You see, normally I don't make it my business to get in the way of a hunting party between vampires and werewolves.
But there is a human here, too. And I can hardly allow you to make a bloodbath here. Because this? This is my playground. My town. Don't think for a moment that you can come here, make trouble and leave unscathed."
With that she blurred forward, plunging a wooden stake into the chest of one and a branch into another.
Soon there were five dead – well, deader than usual – vampires lying on the ground, a sixth cowering on the floor in front of the woman.
"Now listen closely buddy. You got lucky tonight. I need you to tell your mistress to pack her things and leave. If she won't do it, I'll hunt her down and send her back were she came from. And this time, there won't be a chance for her to play blind passenger and come back. Got it?"
The vampire just nodded, looking like he might faint at any moment.
He didn't know if vampires can even faint. Without getting too much vervain into their system first, that is…huh…
As she stepped back from him, the vampire lost no more time, but jumped up and blurred away.
Leaving him and Tyler alone with a crazy-ass, vampire-killing chick in black.
Great.
"So… you alright boys? Nothing important chewed off? Tyler? Jer?"
Tyler blinked a few times, narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. And sniffed the air, for good measure.
"Do I know you? You certainly smell familiar."
She just turned around to face them, pushing her hair out of her face and gave them a mischievous grin.
In that moment something clicked inside of Jeremy's brain. Her walk was a bit more confident and her voice was a bit deeper. The hair was shorter, and her face had matured – showing a woman, instead of a teenager not quite there.
But the eyes were the same, as was the way she was bothered by the hair tangling into her face.
"Elena…" And really, the name was everything he could get his mouth bring to say out loud.
There were so many thoughts, so many questions running around his head…
"I'm dead, right? This vampire sucked me dry, and I'm dead… are you the… welcoming committee or something? Shit… Jenna will be so pissed…. My god… Elena…"
And no longer caring about how pissed his aunt would be about loosing her last living relative, or if he was dead, he ran forward, wrapping his sister into a bone-crushing hug.
She was startled at first, but then shrugged and patted her brother on the shoulder, before pushing her hand against them, to get him to back off.
He did so, albeit hesitantly. It had felt so damn good to hug her again. Dead, hallucination or whatever-the-hell else, this was his sister.
"Right… No, you're not dead and yes, I'm Elena. Now, help me to pile these idiots here up."
She said those two sentences with such a commanding, sure tone, that the both of them –even Tyler with his wolf DNA – did what they were told.
Soon the vampires were neatly stacked; just to burst into flames from one second to the next.
Jeremy looked at his sister, wondering what the hell was going on here.
The alcohol was out of his system by now – nearly being killed could do that to a person – and besides his sheer joy, he wasn't sure what to feel.
Soon there was nothing but ashes left of his would-have-been killers, and the fire died down.
"Come on you two. My car is parked just a few minutes from here. I'll drive you to the boarding house."
Tyler eyed her suspiciously. He had felt a twinge as he had heard the news of her death a few years back, but they were never actually friends. So there was no overwhelming rapture and a desperate want to believe that it really was her.
Sighing she stopped in her tracks, turning around to look at him.
"Listen, Tyler. It's good not to believe everything your eyes – or strange women in the woods – tell you, but you can cut it out. You reek of distrust, and I just saved your ass. If I want you dead, all I had to do was let those vamps have their fun.
Now, you're going to follow me to my car, and I will drive you to the boarding house. Jeremy, you send a messenger to… all the important persons, and tell them to get their asses over there, too. It's… kind of an emergency."
Then she turned around again, and marched on. Tyler and Jeremy looked at each other, swallowed, and did what they were told.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Damon stood in front of the fireplace, one hand holding a tumbler filled nearly to the brim with whiskey, and the other massaging his temple. He had nothing against a little company every now and then, but this was just ridiculous.
Jenna, Alaric, Bonnie, Stefan, Caroline and Matt.
He could live with the aunt and the teacher. Had nothing against the witch and his brother… but the other two? Just because Blondie played defender for the supernatural beings in front of the founder's council, didn't mean that he had to like her. And her husband was even worse.
Too bad that Caroline had started to remember… things… as she began to drink vervain once she became a member of the council.
At least Bonnie got her to listen to reason, and now they had someone to hold those phobics back whenever they tried to go on a damn witch (or werewolf, vampire…) hunt.
Right now though, he would like to throw all of them out of his house.
Every single one of them talking, swearing and making a general ruckus – his head began to hurt already.
That wasn't a problem when he still was a vampire. No pulse to hammer too loud in his ears, or behind his eyes.
And it was all the fault of the little Gilbert.
What had the boy (he never had stopped thinking of him as a boy. Just like he never stopped to think of his brother as one – even now, as he was way over 150 years old.) been thinking, writing such a text message?
Come to the boarding house. ASAP. Emergency. Jeremy.
Surefire way to drive everyone insane, in this town.
As he heard a car pulling over in front of the house, he put the tumbler on a side table and cracked his knuckles, ready to give him a piece of his mind.
But then there were three people entering the living room.
First Jeremy, then the wolf and then…
He recognized her the moment he got a glimpse of her – no mistaking these eyes and lips, and the scent that was so unmistakably hers.
Elena.
And, considering the shocked faces all around him, he wasn't the only one recognizing her.
Jenna looked about ready to faint and Alaric's mouth hung about as wide open as his eyes.
Caroline was close to breaking Matts hand with her death grip – but he returned the favor right back.
His brother simply sat down, stopped his usual human habit of breathing and instead made a enviable imitation as a statue.
Bonnie looked only mildly surprised – but that might be because she already knew that Elena was alive, all this time.
A grin began to appear on his face, before he couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed out loud.
Simultaneously everyone turned to look at him. He got his bearings back pretty fast, though. "So… how was Milan?"
And just like that, he rang the starting bell to the inquisition from hell.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Sooo… I know, it's a bit of a cliffhanger, but I guess it could be worse… at least, this time I hadn't killed anyone *lol*
Let me know what you think – you just have to click on the little button below.
Reviews are Love, people!
So long,
Zora