Chapter 24

"Isn't it a bit early to be drinking, Damon?" Matt asked from behind the bar.

"I've been up all night looking for Elena, and there's no sign of her. So no, it isn't too early." He replied flatly. Matt shrugged and poured the bourbon.

"Did she leave town?"

"Maybe, but she seemed pretty set on staying here yesterday. More likely she's just sick of everyone trying to fix her."

"Is she dangerous?"

"We're all dangerous. You should know that by now." Damon sipped his drink and rested his head on the bar.

"No, she isn't dangerous." Rebekah piped up from somewhere behind him. "Because if she shows her face here, I'll break her neck."

"Remind me why you're here?" Damon didn't open his eyes.

"I work here now. Keeps me busy."

"You're an Original vampire waiting tables. And you have no ulterior motive? Don't be transparent, Rebekah."

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Damon."

"You're ruining the atmosphere of my favourite haunt." He looked at Matt and raised his eyebrows. "You should fire her before she drives off all your customers."

"Claws in, both of you." Matt said. "How's Caroline?"

"She was pretty harmless at first, but as usual Klaus and Stefan are well on their way to driving her to a blood binge. We all do it eventually." Matt's eyes flicked to somewhere over Damon's shoulder, narrowing slightly in apprehension. "Hello Klaus." Damon said without looking.

"Good morning to you too, Damon. You're busy talking behind my back?"

"Technically you're behind me. Besides, it's true. Caroline's getting restless."

"Which is exactly as it should be. Killing leads to guilt, and guilt is an emotion." Said Klaus.

"And how do you know she won't leave town the second she walks out the door? Tracking a rogue vampire across the country can be tiring business. Assuming she actually stays in the country."

"What do you suggest, in that case?"

"Just kill her now." Rebekah said. "Save yourself the trouble later."

"I didn't ask you, sister." Klaus said coolly. "Damon?"

"Help her. Enjoy it with her. Show her how to revel it. That's emotional too. And don't let her out of your sight, or she'll run like Elena."

"Having no luck finding your lost girlfriend?"

"She's nowhere. She was enjoying torturing us all before this. I don't know why she'd suddenly decide to go into hiding."

"And you're sure she's hiding, not running?"

"Well…yes and no. It's hard to be sure of anything at the point."

"Well then," Klaus smiled amiably. "I'll leave you to it then. Goodbye Rebekah." His face became mocking and his sister returned a sour look.

"I'd better get going as well." Damon emptied his glass and stood.

"At last." Rebekah sighed theatrically. Damon contemplated stabbing her with a plastic stirrer, but several men chose that moment to walk in and call for their own morning drinks. Another time perhaps.

"Stefan, give me my ring."

"No."

"I wasn't asking." Caroline's voice was cold. Katherine contained her grin. She'd never seen Caroline look menacing before. Angry; yes. Annoyed; yes. Even dangerous, but never outright menacing.

"You can have it when you stop being stubborn." Stefan stood firm.

"You're the one being stubborn. You have no right to keep me here."

"All of the previous times we've had a dangerous vampire, they've been locked up. Damon, Elena, myself. You haven't even been tied up, Care."

"Give me my ring."

"Why don't you just give it to her?" Katherine said, sick of the argument. "How much damage can Blondie do?"

"That's what we thought about Elena." Stefan shook his head.

"Why didn't you just leave last night?" Katherine looked at Caroline, who stood with her arms crossed next to a bookshelf.

"Because then I'd have had to come right back when the sun rose. And because Klaus is out there."

"Klaus is out there?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you scared of him?"

"No, unlike you I'm not terrified out of my wits by Klaus. But he will insist on trying to fix me, and it's tiresome."

"Your little gang is so cute." Katherine said to Stefan. "The way you all help and support each other and weep together in shared grief."

"It's called friendship." He replied.

"Do you have a secret handshake too?"

"I thought you were nice when your emotions were on." He sighed and Katherine laughed.

"No, I'm not. I know plenty of people with emotions who are horrible. Besides, it's just a joke. Lighten up."

"You sound like Damon."

"I'm deeply offended. So what's your club's motto?"

"It goes: Give me back my fucking ring!" Caroline shouted, pulling a book from the shelf. A hefty copy of Catch-22.

"Stop this, Caroline." Stefan warned, rising from the couch as Katherine did the same. Caroline ignored them, and threw the book at him with the speed of a small aircraft. He managed to dodge sideways, but the book collided with the window behind him, shattering the glass and landing outside.

"Where did you hide it?" She hissed. Stefan rushed at her, but she sped across the room to the table beside the broken window and picked up a letter opener.

"Argh!" Katherine gasped as the tiny silver knife buried itself in her stomach. Without hesitation, she pulled it free and aimed back at Caroline. The blonde vampire tripped when the letter opener stabbed her thigh, tumbling over a couch and breaking one of the small end tables.

"Stop, Care!" Stefan roared, leaping towards her while she was still down, only to fly back through the air when her boot connected with his chest. He hit a bookshelf, which toppled precariously until Katherine steadied it with one hand and helped Stefan to his feet with the other.

Caroline was already running from the room, and before Stefan or Katherine could react, she'd disappeared down the stairs towards the cell. Even as Katherine ran down the stairs after her she heard the heavy door being ripped off its hinges.

"Out you come, Tatia." Caroline said before turning to face Katherine. "Why are you helping him? Since when do you help anyone other than yourself? "

"I've been running from Klaus for my entire life, but he's given me a grace period because he's trying to protect you, so I'm here to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"Like kill myself?"

"Exactly."

"You don't get to make those kinds of decisions for me." Caroline sneered, stepping towards the cooler and pulling out several blood bags.

"I'm warning you, Caroline." Katherine said, but felt the air leave her lungs as the younger vampire charged into her. She stuck out a foot, and Caroline would have crashed to the floor if her shoulder hadn't hit the wall first. Stumbling slightly, she leapt the stairs three at a time back to the main floor of the boarding house. Katherine quickly followed.

"No chain! No iron! No cold! Burn, Katerina! Burn! " Tatia screamed shrilly, running up the stairs behind her, her hysteria only adding to the sense of chaos. Katherine ignored the pest.

"What are you trying to achieve, Caroline?" She asked as she hurried into the entrance hall, finding Stefan blocking off Caroline's escape out the front door. "You'll burn out there."

"Give it to me, Stefan! Where did you hide my ring?" She held up the blood bags threateningly. Behind Katherine, Tatia went skidding past into the living room. At least she's not trying to get out the front door.

"Katherine's right, Caroline. You can't leave. Just calm down and let's talk."

"Talk about what?" Caroline snarled. "My emotions? No." She gripped the blood bags and tossed them at Stefan. Two hit him and exploded, drenching him and staining his clothes red. The rest split open against the opposite wall, leaving dripping marks there as well. Instantly the entire hallway was flooded with the scent of blood. Caroline made a mad dash for the door, but Katherine was too quick.

"Oh no you don't." She said angrily, yanking her back and snapping her neck before she could even turn to see who had stopped her. Her limp form collapsed like a bag of sand, landing in a scarlet puddle. Immediately Katherine turned to face Stefan, who was standing frozen amidst all of the blood. He looked absolutely terrified.

"No sign at all? No bodies?" Damon scratched his chin in thought.

"I'm telling you, Damon." Liz Forbes replied. "If Elena's still in town, she's being very careful. There haven't even been any disappearances."

"It doesn't make sense. Elena's gone off the rails. She should be killing and drinking with impunity." He leaned back in the comfortable chair in front of her desk, which she'd covered with deputies'
reports. Reports which all had absolutely nothing to report.

"Could she have turned her emotions back on? Maybe she's hiding while she deals with the grief."

"We can hope so, but it's probably safer to assume not."

"Maybe she's healing her victims right away."

"That's possible, but time consuming. It doesn't fit. Which leaves us with three possibilities."

"Which are?"

"She might be crying her eyes out somewhere because of the guilt. Or she's left town and is terrorising the rest of the country."

"And the third?"

"She's here, and she's biding her time. She knows that she can't kill anyone yet, but she's sure it won't be long until she can."

"So she's plotting?"

"Exactly. And whatever she's doing is to give herself some room to manoeuvre."

"That could be anything." Liz crossed her arms and frowned. "And I can't do anything until I know where she is."

"Just keep an ear close to the ground. Especially at night and in the woods. She wouldn't risk being recognised in town by anyone who'll know her."

"What do I tell the Council? They've been growing more and more restless. Carol had them under control regarding those kids that you hurt-"

"Which I'm sorry for." He smiled apologetically.

"-but her death confirmed a lot of suspicions. They've been on the lookout ever since Alaric almost exposed us."

"Show them all these empty reports." Damon replied. "I'm sure it'll set them at ease."

"And when Elena makes her move?"

"It'll be my problem. I'll deal with it. Have you got the Council off vervain yet?"

"Not completely, but I'm making progress."

"Perfect. Once Elena's been found and the Council's been compelled, everything will be rosy."

"What about my daughter?"

"Caroline's…not killing wildly, which is definitely a plus."

"Oh thank God." Liz let out a relieved breath. "I was worried that…"

"Worried about?" Damon asked.

"I've been having these nightmares." She admitted. "That Care goes crazy and starts killing everyone. And that I…I shoot her."

"You have nothing to worry about, Sherriff." Damon assured her. "Caroline's going to be fine. We've got it under control."

"We?"

"Uh…well Klaus, really."

"Klaus Mikaelson? But he's…"

"Very eager to help. I wouldn't worry about it." He said evasively and stood to leave. She rose as well, and they left the office into the main section of the station.

"You'll keep me posted?" Liz asked.

"I will, so long as you-" Damon stopped as the sound of loud music began to play from the square outside. "What is that?"

They opened the door to the station and looked outside. Someone had put speakers on the grass in the middle of the square, and loud pumping music was pouring out. Close by, a group of people had gathered, and were dancing in unison, every move perfectly in time.

"Is this some kind of performance?" Liz asked as they walked closer. Others were also drawing near to watch. Some were even joining in.

"What is this?" Damon quickly asked a girl who was watching.

"They're dancing, silly." She giggled. "It's a flash mob."

Damon turned to Liz and shrugged. It was actually rather impressive. He noticed that the Sherriff's foot was tapping.

"Will you dance with me?" The girl he'd spoken to asked abruptly. He looked back in surprise. He'd already forgotten about her.

"Excuse me?"

"Let's dance." She grinned. Damon shrugged, and let himself be pulled along, to the great amusement of Liz. The girl was actually rather pretty. Her hair was dark, cut short and gave her the appearance of having just gotten out of bed. A tartan scarf was wrapped loosely around her neck and fluttered as she jumped and waved rhythmically. She seemed to know the moves quite well. "You're Damon Salvatore, aren't you?" She called over the din.

"You know me?"

"You're hard to forget."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Who are you?"

"Michelle."

"Do you always ask people you've never met to dance with you?"

"No." She smirked and pulled a small flask from her pocket. Damon glanced about and saw several people had done the same thing.

"So it's a choreographed drinking party in the middle of town. In the morning?"

"Drinking?" She tilted her head in confusion. "No one's drinking." She dropped the flask and it clattered to the ground. Damon bent down to pick it up.

He dropped it instantly. It wasn't a flask. It was a grenade.

Claps like thunder erupted all through the crowd as multiple grenades went off. The instantaneous burn told Damon that they were filled with vervain, like the ones Ric used to make. People screamed in panic and began to run. Chaos broke out as everyone ran in a different direction. Damon felt another blast to his left and the ground rushed up to meet him. He rolled over in agony as the vervain continued to burn.

"Damon! Damon!" He heard Liz's voice and felt hands roll him over to face the sky.

"Liz?" He coughed. At least the explosions had stopped, even if his face still felt like it was on fire.

"I'm here. What the hell happened?"

"No idea. Help me up." She gave him a hand and he got to his feet, feeling the vervain burns beginning to heal.

"Look at that." Liz said distractedly, pointing at the ground where everyone had been dancing. Someone had spray painted a single word in bold red letters.

DANCE

"Looks like Elena's made her move." Damon sighed. The music continued to blast loudly in the background.

"What is that?" Matt asked one of the men sitting at the bar.

"Wha' is wha'?" He slurred, his eyes squinted. Matt frowned. The guy hadn't even had that much to drink.

"That music."

"Oh. They's dancing, obviously." He gave Matt a sideways look. "That's why your girlfriend went to go join in."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"You should've gone 'n danced with her. That was a woman that was wanting a dance."

"I have to work. Technically, so does she."

"Work?" The drunk raised one palm. "Dance?" He raised the other, imitating a scale. "Work or Dance?"

"Work."

"Dance." The man insisted. Matt was about to reply when the sound of screaming suddenly caught his attention.

"What the hell is that?" He asked, putting down the bottle of tequila he'd been holding and straining his ears.

"That was the signal." The man said, his speech perfect all of a sudden.

"What sig-" Before he could finish, a fist smashed into his face and he collapsed backwards.

Tatia looked about wildly. The living room was a complete mess. For a second she was tempted to clean it up, but resisted. Now's the time to run, or Katerina will bring back the chains. The couch had tipped backwards and one of the tables was broken, not to mention the books lying on the floor below the bookshelf. A faint breeze tickled her cheek, and Tatia's head whipped round to see the smashed window.

Adrenaline roared through her veins as she sprinted and took a flying leap.