**Chapter thirty**

The interrogation

*Hailey*

Damon heaved Nathan over his shoulder, and started to walk over to Elena's car. I frowned at him. "Aren't you going to kill him?" I asked, following him.

"Trust me, I'd like nothing better than to shove a stake into your boy toy's heart, but I figured you and the other Power Rangers would like to try and get some answers out of him first." Damon said, and my frown increased.

"He's not-" then I realized why Damon was saying this. He was jealous.

I wasn't stupid enough to believe that this meant that he had romantic feelings for me, only that he was a little possessive over me. Damon slept with me first, and now he's jealous that some other guy might've. Still, it'd be fun to mess with his head.

"He's not what?" Damon asked, turning around to face me.

"I was going to say 'not my boy toy,' but then I remembered today after Gym, so I had to stop myself." I said, smiling innocently up at him.

When I saw Damon's expression I wish I had a camera. I had to bite my lip hard to stop from laughing. His gorgeous eyes turned to ice, and I could practically see steam coming from his ears. But then as soon as it'd begun, it was over, and Damon had on the mask of indifference that he wore every day.

He turned away, and threw Nathan into the backseat of Elena's car, slamming him much harder than necessary against the seat. I had to cover my mouth to hide my smirk.

~LMF~

We reached the boarding house ten minutes later. Damon didn't talk to me the whole ride, but that was okay, because I was too busy trying to hide my laughter. Damon walked ahead of me, Nathan's unconscious body thrown carelessly over his shoulder. I noticed that Damon didn't try to prevent his head slamming into the door.

Elena and Stefan were talking on the couch, which stopped as soon as they saw Damon, Nathan and I enter the house.

"What the-?" Elena asked, looking from me to Nathan to Damon. I smiled wryly at her.

"Long story short, I sensed that Nathan was a vamp when he asked me out this morning. I asked Damon to follow us on the date, so that Nathan wouldn't kill me. Now we're going to try and get some answers out of him." I told both of them.

Damon tossed Nathan on the couch, and ran out of the room, only appearing seconds later with a chair, a tarp, a stake, some weird plants, and bucket full of what seemed like water.

"If you thought he was a vampire, then why'd you agree to go on the date with him?' Elena asked, eyes widening at my story.

"Two reasons: one, I could've been wrong. Two, if I wasn't, we have a chance to kill a tomb vamp." I explained, as Damon disappeared for a second time, and returned with rope.

"Are you sure this is safe, Hailey?" Elena asked me "What if he gets away?"

"Even if that did happen, he wouldn't stand a chance." Damon said, draping the tarp in the center of the room, and then setting the chair in the middle of it. "He's only been a vamp for 10 years- at the most. Stefan could take him on and win easily. Besides, he's so hopped up on vervain; you could probably take him on and win, Elena."

Elena rolled her eyes at Damon, while I hid a laugh with a cough. I perched on the arm of a couch as I watched Damon drag Nathan onto the chair.

"Why do you have a bucket of water?" I asked, as Damon soaked the ropes in it before tying Nathan to the chair. I watched in horror as the ropes burned his skin.

"Vervain is in it." he explained. "It's also what the plant is."

I nodded, as Elena and Stefan walked up next to me, as Damon took a stake and shoved it into Nathan's stomach. I flinched as Nathan let out a groan of pain and woke up.

"Morning, sunshine." Damon said sarcastically.

Nathan glared at him. "I'm not going to tell you anything. Either way, you're gonna kill Me." he hissed.

I jumped off the couch and went to stand next to Damon. "Well, yeah. That's a given. But you should be less worried about dying, and more worried about what happens beforeyou die." I said with a smirk.

Nathan's glare faltered, before it turned into a mask of determination. "I'm not scared of any of you." he said.

"Well, that's very stupid of you." Damon said, before taking the bucket and pouring some of the water on him.

Nathan's screams echoed throughout the house, as I closed my eyes against the sight of his burned and bubbly skin. I heard Elena gasp, and heard Stefan pull her away from the disgusting sight. Damon did nothing.

"This isn't the first time you've tortured vampires, is it?' I asked him.

He gave me a smirk. "Would it surprise you if I said no?"

"Not even the slightest." I answered, before turning my attention back to Nathan.

"Who are you planning to kill?" I asked him.

"Go to hell." he hissed.

I smiled at him. "I already do. It's called 'high school.'" I said, and then repeated my question.

"I don't know." he tried, but I saw through his lie easily.

"Liar." Damon said, seeing it too. Then he raised the bloody stake.

"Wait, I want to try something." I told him. He paused, and watched me curiously.

I raised my hand, and focused on his arm. Then with a sharp twist, his arm bended at a dangerous angle. He shrieked with pain. I dropped my hand, and his arm started to heal.

"And you know what's great?" I asked in a sugary-sweet voice. "You're gonna keep healing, so I'm just gonna have to keep breaking your arm again, and again, and again." as if to prove my point, I twisted my hand again, and his arm broke.

"When you'd learn to do that?" Damon asked me.

"A few seconds ago. I had an idea, so I tested it." I said, giving him a half smile.

I pushed my hair back, and then turned to walk to the kitchen. "Don't kill him without me." I called over my shoulder.

I walked to liquor cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, and opened it. Taking a long swig, and walked back, and sat down on the couch arm next to Elena.

"This is completely disturbing." she told me, as I started rubbing my temples, a small headache forming.

'Maybe, but it's kind of fun." I said, giving her a wry smile as she took the bottle from me, and took a long sip.

"You are so disturbed." she told me, and I smirked at her.

"Never said I wasn't."

My headache was increasing as I watched Damon and Stefan interrogate Nathan. Every now and then, I'd break an arm of a leg, sometimes his neck or spine. But it didn't help, he wasn't telling us anything. Suddenly, the headache became so intense, that I was clutching my head, my eyes closed. Then Elena said something that should've been obvious half an hour ago.

"Hailey, are you having a vision?"

I mentally cursed myself, before I nodded. "I'll be right back." I said, forcing my eyes open, and walking up the stairs quickly.

I didn't know where my feet were leading me to, until I opened the door to a familiar room. I sat down on Damon's bed, and curled up in a ball, as the vision hit me hard. I let out a gasp of pain, and then it all melted away to reveal a small kitchen.

Three people were arguing at a small table, a piece of paper in front of them. They were Nicolai, Candace, and Markus.

"…I told you she was too smart to fall for that horrible excuse for a vampire!" Nicolai said proudly, and Candace glared at him.

"I wouldn't be too sure, Nico. She looks like the type of girl who'll fall easily for a pretty face. Look at her and Damon Salvatore! I've watched just one of their conversations, and I know she'd bend over backwards for him!" she argued.

Nikolai's face turned hard when she mentioned Damon, but he didn't say anything.

"If Nathan's not back soon, we'll send people to check on him." Markus agreed. "I'm truly getting tired of dealing with Hailey Ellis and the Salvatore brothers. Not to mention Elena Gilbert. She's connected with all three of them, and she's also becoming a nuisance."

"Which is why I'm saying we should just kill her druggie brother Jeremy. It would be much easier." Candace said.

"No! She was specific that we kill four people: Hailey, Elena, and both of the Salvatores." Markus insisted.

Suddenly, Nicolai pulled the list of names closer to him, revealing them.

Carly Fell X

Avery Forbes X

Matthew Lockwood

Hailey Ellis

Elena Gilbert

Stefan Salvatore

Damon Salvatore

Suddenly, I opened my eyes to look up at Damon's anxious face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as I pushed myself off his bed.

I nodded, and smiled at him, before practically running down the stairs to where Stefan and Elena were dealing with Nathan. Damon hurried to keep up with me. I stopped in front of Nathan, who looked seriously beat up.

"Who's in charge of the tomb vamps?" I asked without a preamble, raising my hand threateningly.

Nathan flinched. "Candace, Nikolai, and Marcus, though Marcus is the main leader." he mumbled, not taking his eyes off my hand.

"I know that." I said annoyed. "Who's in charge of them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nathan mumbled, not looking at me.

"Tsk, tsk, I thought you learned not to lie to me." I said, before twisting my hand, and I vaguely saw his spine twist into a pretzel.

Nathan screamed before shouted, "Alright! Alright!"

I dropped my hand, and Nathan started panting, leaning back in the chair. "Hailey, what are you doing?" Elena asked me. I turned to see her, Damon, and Stefan watching me warily.

"It's part of the vision. I'll tell you after." I told them, before turning back to Nathan.

"What do you know?" I asked coldly.

"Not much, only that it's a chick. She's pretty hot and that only Markus has met her." he said quickly.

I nodded absentmindedly, before my mind turned to the list of names. "Who the hell is Matthew Lockwood?" I asked no one in particular, knowing everyone on that lost except for him.

"Tyler's cousin. He's a couple years ahead of us, and he goes to college at NYU. You beat him up in 9th grade, because he grabbed your ass." Elena said.

"Oh yeah…" I said, remembering.

"You're going kill him next, aren't you?" I asked Nathan.

He nodded. "He came home for the other two's funerals. We're working on killing him, but he's been hard to track down."

I sighed, and nodded. "Okay, I hope you enjoy hell." then I waved my hand at the wooden stake on the couch's arm, and it plunged itself into Nathan's heart.

With a nasty gurgling sound, he turned an unhealthy gray. Ignoring my friends' stares, I walked into the kitchen, and started going through drawers until I found a pad of paper and a pen.

I scribbled down all the names, and crossed off Ava's, and Carly's, just like the tomb vamp's lists. Then I returned to my confused friends.

"Here." I said, thrusting the list into Elena's hands, before plopping down on the couch, and draining the rest of the whiskey.

"These are their victims?" Stefan asked, and I saw that his eyes rested on Elena's name.

I nodded, and then I told them about my vision. "I don't know which is worse, that they're watching us, or that there's another boss person." Damon said, sitting down next to me.

I didn't say anything about what Candace said, about me willing to bend over backwards for Damon. Though I did mention the creepy thought that they were watching us.

"I think they're both bad, though the new boss complicates a lot of things." I said, and then added, "Nathan didn't give us a lot of information, mostly stuff we already knew. I think that my vision gave us more info then he did."

"He obviously wasn't very high in their ranks. Probably near the bottom; someone that they could lose without really losing." Damon said.

"I don't know whether to be relieved or insulted." I said, before running a hand through my hair.

~LMF~

I was drunk, though I think having your date almost kill you is a good enough reason. I was currently nursing a bottle of bourbon on a couch. The spot where Nathan was being tortured a few hours earlier was cleaned up, like it never happened. Stefan and Damon went to take care of the body, while Elena went home. I was waiting for Damon, drinking my bourbon like it was water.

"Hailey, what are you doing here? I thought you went home with Elena."

I sat up, and beamed at Damon. "I-I wanna talk to ya, Dahmon." I slurred, getting up with my bottle.

"You're drunk, aren't you?" he sighed, sitting down. To his surprise, I sat down in his lap.

"Just a little bit." I said, making the sign with my fingers. Then I swung an arm around Damon's neck, and made myself comfortable in his lap.

"Hailey, what are you doing?" Damon asked, his eyes wide.

"Wanna know a secret, Dahmon?" I asked him, draining the rest of my bottle.

"No, I don't think I do." He said warily.

I continued on like he didn't answer. "I reallah liked you, Dahmon. I was even-" I leaned into his ear to whisper loudly, "Falling in love with ya."

Damon stiffened, but I didn't notice. "But den Lena told me dat ya loved Katherine, and ya broke meh heart." I sighed loudly, but then grinned widely at him.

"Is okay doh, cause I forgive ya!" I cheered, throwing my arms around his neck.

Damon was stiff as I hugged him. And when I leaned in and kissed him sloppily, he pulled away. "Hailey, what are you doing?" he asked quietly, and I frowned at him.

"Kissing you, Dahmon. And den we're going to have sex," I grinned, throwing a leg over Damon's lap, and then kissing him again.

"Hailey, stop it." Damon pulled away, and I frowned again.

"Why? Don't you wanna?" I asked quietly, the rejection hurting me even when I was drunk.

"You're wasted Hailey, okay? Remember, we're just friends." He reminded me, gently pushing me off of his lap.

"But I don't wanna be friends, Dahmon." I grinned, trying to kiss him again.

Damon just shook his head. "When you sober up tomorrow, and remember this, you're going to regret it, okay? I've done a lot of bad things, Hailey, but I'm not going to sleep with you while you're drunk."

"But I want you to!" I exclaimed, my eyebrows furrowed.

Damon just ignored me, and sat up. He grabbed my wrist, and dragged me towards the door. "I'm taking you to Elena's okay?" he told me.

"Why, Damon? Is it because you don't care about me?" I whispered, my eyes stinging with drunken tears.

"Hailey, if I didn't care about you, you'd be up in my bed right now. And just so you know, it's taking all my self-control to do this." He admitted, before pulling me outside to his car.

I didn't answer, not being able to understand his words, wasted. It was because Damon cared about me, that he didn't want to ruin us anymore than he already had, that he was taking me to Elena's.

"Wanna know another secret, Dahmon?" I whispered, as he put me in the passenger side of the car.

"No, not even a little bit, Hailey." He said, starting the car.

I ignored him. "I'm not over ya."

Those words caused the silent drive to Elena's house, but I fell asleep a few minutes later.

~LMF~

"Here, I think you left this at my house."

"Hi Lena!" I slurred cheerfully, despite just waking up.

Elena rubbed her eyes, frowning at Damon. "Did you get her drunk?" she asked, before pulling me into her house.

"She was like that when I found her." He said easily, walking back to his car.

"Bye Dahmon!" I called after him, waving.

"Bye Hailey." He said softly, surprising Elena.

Elena shut the door, and then sighed at me. "I'll lecture you tomorrow, okay? I'm too tired." She told me, before helping me up the stairs to her room. I got into the other side of Elena's bed, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I stood in an underground tunnel. There was a torch lit on a wall, and I could barely see the figures of two women a few yards in front of me.

I walked up to them, to recognize Victoria and Katherine. Victoria was holding that weird jewelry box again, and Katherine was setting up candles so that they could see. As soon as she was done, Victoria took a deep breath and they all simultaneously lit on fire.

Victoria looked smugly up at Katherine, and she laughed. "You are getting good at your powers, aren't you?" she asked, and Victoria nodded.

Then she focused on the ground in front of them, and suddenly dirt began flying out, and making a neat pile next to them. Soon, a deep hole was formed.

Victoria set the box carefully in the hole, then waved her hand carelessly at the pile of dirt. I watched, amazed as the dirt filled up the hole again, and it looked like there had never been one to begin with.

"Good. I glad to finally be done with this whole business." Katherine said, and she and Victoria began to walk out of the tunnel.

"Wait. Before we leave, I want to do something that's long overdue." Katherine said, before her face changed into the one I'd seen on Damon's face countless times.

Then she grabbed Victoria by the neck, and bit her.

Victoria laughed as her friend drank her blood, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the side of my neck. It was like Katherine was biting me too.

I let out a gasp of pain, as I heard someone shout at me, "HAILEY!"

I gasped again, and clutched my neck, stumbling. I looked up to see Stefan and Elena staring at me, bewildered.

"I-I was sleep walking again, wasn't I?" I mumbled. Elena nodded slowly, just as Stefan's eyes widened, and he froze.

"What?" I asked him, but I knew what. I could feel something moist on my neck.

I touched it, and then looked at my hand to see the crimson color of my blood.

I let out a small groan, before falling to the floor.

~LMF~

A/N: just so you guys know, we're about halfway through the story. I think I have this story ending at about 63 or 64 chapters, plus an epilogue. But that may change, if I hate a chapter I wrote or I get an inspiration for a chapter, or whatever.

thank you to: Chella8181, jacquline, DayDreamBabyBee, SomebodyWhoCares, and aireagle92 for reviewing!

Reviews inspire updates ;)

~Abby :D