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Chapter 017

AllWill Be Right in My World

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Saturday, October 30, 2010; around 8:15 p.m.

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My newly improved family rescued Stefan from Klaus the last weekend of August, mere days before school started. Now it's the end of October and Stefan has been attending school for the last five weeks. It's the day before Halloween and even I'm enjoying the festivities. Right now, we're at the Haunted House Carnival they hold at the high school every year. So far this year is going much better than this event went for us last year, what with Stefan having to stake Vicki and all.

Stefan and I are walking through the booths with Bonnie, Lexi, Matt, Beks, and Briseis. Stefan's shoulders and posture over all is relaxed and he doesn't seem to be noticing the mad crush of warm bodies all around us. Honestly all the Vampires in our not so little family have taken to leaving glasses of blood around the house. At first, Stefan could hardly focus on anything other than the glass, but except for the first two times we did it he hasn't lost control and those two times the compulsions I placed on him worked exactly as we planned them to.

Now he notices the blood, obviously since he's a Vampire and that's what we do, but he can hold conversations and not really pay any attention to the glass.

He's started feeding from Humans occasionally too to teach himself how to do it properly, though he says he's not ready to do it unsupervised so one of the older Vampires in our family usually accompanies him out to hunt. He hasn't killed a single meal and he only had to be stopped once.

All things considered, he's doing remarkably well and we all feel like the worst has passed. He's still cautious, which I suppose is the smart bet, but none of us are worried about Stefan hurting anyone anymore.

Still when the scent of blood, a lot of it, reaches my nose, I tense and despite his senses not being as strong as mine, a minute later Stefan is mirroring me. Bonnie notices first and asks, "What's up?"

Stefan quietly says through clenched teeth, "Blood, a lot of it, maybe multiple people's worth."

Rebekah who has also tensed at the smell frowns and asks, "Do you need to leave?"

He shakes his head and tells her, "No."

I frown as I look at him and say, "We need to investigate because I hear struggling."

He nods and as Bonnie calls the others, we go in search of the source of blood. We find it back behind the dumpsters in the form of seven bodies with their throats ripped out.

Stefan's eyes briefly change when they land on the bodies sprawled out all over the ground, but I take deep satisfied breaths when a minute later his eyes return to normal and his fangs don't even make a showing.

Ric and Balthazaar show up then with the rest of our family. The back of the school is blocking us from the view of all the other Humans, so no one sees us or the seven Vampires who are approaching us.

The one who addresses me has a large wart on her nose and pock marks all over her face, "Drago, imagine our surprise when we discovered you were hiding in this rat hole. What's the matter? Were you afraid of how we'd receive you after your shameful time as a Human?"

I laugh, "None of us are hiding, Sekhmet, this is our home. And I have to tell you I'm not happy to find you hunting in our town."

She smiles with bloody teeth and turns to feed from the Human her brother is holding. If I pull her off the girl, Sekhmet would likely tear the girl's throat out in the process, so I watch helplessly as she kills the struggling girl who can't be much older than Jeremy. Bahram drops the girl to our feet when Sekhmet finishes feeding then she looks at me and with a cruel smile on her face asks, "Oh yeah what are you going to do abo—"

I move faster than anyone can see and have her heart ripped out before the words finish crossing her lips. Everyone, including the remaining six younger Pervonachalnyue, freezes as I drop her heart to the ground then as if everyone snaps out of their shock all at once a fight ensues between us and them.

I turn to the next one, an ancient named Sophiya. I duck as she swings at me and throw a punch of my own that lands on her chin. She lunges and I reach out and shove my hand into her chest. Her eyes go wide and she says, "Please, don't…"

I ignore the plea and tear her heart out a second later. Then I turn to see who might need help. Rebekah swings and ducks, trying to find an opening to reach into the chest of the one she's fighting, a Persian named Bahram, but he's much stronger and faster than her and I know her and her brothers and the Humans in our group are all just keeping them occupied until our Pervonachalnyue can rip their hearts out.

I move towards Rebekah the same time I hear Balthazaar cry out Katherine's name. I see Asya step behind Bahram as 'Bekah grapples with him before Asya surprises him by pulling his heart out from the back. Satisfied that Asya and Beks are safe, I turn to look and see what's happening with everyone else. All the younger Pervonachalnyue appear to be dead and then my eyes land on Katherine.

I distractedly hear Rebekah say, "Thanks Asya."

Her response sounds like it's being spoken in a wind tunnel as I hear her say, "My pleasure," she pauses and then says, "No seriously, Bahram has always been a sanctimonious asshole. In fact, I've wanted to do that to him for more than 402,000 years but Lilith always talked us out of killing them all despite the messes they always make, like this one here. I think we're going to need to call my mom and show her the Vampire bodies too, so she knows the threat is gone."

The wind tunnel effect is because all I really seem to be able to focus on is Katherine laying on the ground with her heart ripped out. Asya stops talking when her eyes land on the other Vampire, and she lets out a cry and rushes to her side. We all look at Lexi who's hovering over Katherine. She has tears streaming down her face and blood on her throat and clothes from a torn wound on her neck. "She pulled him off me" She points at the Japanese Sai Kim whose heart has also been ripped out, "And he tore her heart out."

Balthazaar leans down and picks up Katherine's heart and struggles to put it back inside her body and get her ribs to lie the way they should. When he's done he picks her up and turns to me, "Brother, I think her death counted, so I'm going to take her back to the boarding house to wait for her to wake while you stay behind and clean up this mess. I'll call as soon as she wakes."

Everyone nods. I don't think all of us are as sure that her death counts as Lexi isn't one of the people I'd guess Katherine secretly cares for but I cross my fingers, as 'Lena is so fond of saying, that she really does secretly love Lexi, and therefore her death counts towards breaking the spell.

Stefan looks confused and heartbroken at her possible death though also happy that Lexi is still alive, so I walk over to him as he quietly feeds Lexi some of his blood to heal her wound and ask him, "Do you understand?"

He nods, "She's one of the six who had the spell placed on her, and Balthazaar thinks her sacrificing herself for Lexi counts towards breaking the spell."

I nod and wrap an arm around him and Lexi whom he's holding onto tightly now that her throat is healed. He's not reacting to the blood all over her at all, as he looks at me and asks, "Who's the sixth?"

I laugh, "Those who know have been sworn to secrecy as the sixth knowing would possibly risk breaking the spell not happening."

He nods and I know Bonnie's spell to keep Stefan and Katherine in the dark despite all the clues floating around them is still holding strong, and he has no clue that he's the last of them to break the spell.

I squeeze his shoulders then let go and start flipping bodies looking and counting. After a minute, I finish looking at all the bodies and turn to look at my family as I ask, "Asya, Briseis, I only count six younger Pervonachalnyue and I'm not finding Valdis. Anyone see where she went?"

They all shake their heads as I watch Stefan walk Lexi towards the parking lot after he tells us all, "We're heading home."

We all nod at him and I tell him, "We'll catch up when this mess is cleaned up."

He nods and they disappear around the corner of the building as Briseis follows after them, "Hey, wait up, I'll drive."

A minute later we all run in the direction they went when we hear Stefan shout, "Lexi!"

When we arrive, we find Briseis standing over the heartless body of Valdis, the last younger Pervonachalnyui. Lexi is cradling an equally heartless Stefan in her arms as she cries.

I rush to my brother's side and as I crouch beside the pair I ask in a whisper, "Lexi, are you hurt, what happened?"

"N-no I'm okay, He got in her way when she made a grab for me. He died protecting me, we-we need to get him back to the house before anyone notices he's down."

I nod and pick up Stefan's heart and push it back into his chest and then push the ribs back into some semblance of where they should be before picking my brother up and placing him into the back of the SUV we're standing behind.

As I shut the door and ask Briseis to take Stefan and Lexi home, Liz shows up. She's obviously still nervous around me after she almost shot Jeremy trying to kill me, but after the good long chat we had once I woke up from dying I think she's coming to grips with the fact that I am still her friend just like she always thought. I'm not sure she's completely sold yet that we're not all monsters but I think I made some headway in getting her to see that just as not all Humans are good and pure not all Vampires are evil. I nod as she asks, "Damon, what happened? I got reports of screaming."

I try to explain with as little detail as possible and a well-placed lie since I don't quite trust her to keep our secrets, "Some very old Vampires from our past, who were hell bent on killing the members of our family, created a diversion to distract us and then attacked. Elena killed this one here, probably a result of both the physical training Ric's been doing with her and a very lucky shot to the heart since ordinarily I'd say a Human couldn't rip a Vamps heart out. There are eight dead Humans and besides this one six other Vampire bodies and hearts out by the dumpsters behind the school that need to be burned post haste."

She gasps and asks, "Shit Damon, eight victims?"

I sigh and feel my frown deepen as I tell her, "I know Liz, but there's nothing we can do about it now, except clean this mess up. The good news is there shouldn't be anyone one else stupid or cocky enough to try to harm anyone in this town while we live here, especially when the rest of the Vampire world finds out what happened here tonight, and make no mistake we'll make sure everyone who needs to know finds out as quickly as possible. I have a few contacts that like to talk everyone's ears off so I'll slip them the information."

She's frowning deeply so I tell her, "What happened here tonight will solidify in everyone's minds that Mystic Falls is off limits. Especially since these seven Vampires were the only ones even close to strong enough to take us out. Everyone in the Supe world knows that, so this should be the last of the wild animal attacks until we need to leave because we're not aging."

Her brow furrows as she asks, "So what you're saying is so long as you and your family are here the town should be safe?"

Her lips are pressed into a fine line, and she's shaking her head at me, but I nod and tell her, "That's what I'm saying. Though I'm sure someone else will decide to show up and stir up trouble eventually, but we can easily end anyone who tries, and we have people listening to the talkers so we should know in advance if anyone is headed our way."

She frowns deeper still and she cocks her hip out as she crosses her arms over her chest and asks, "Then why didn't you know about them?" she finishes by sweeping her arm towards the dumpsters.

I frown back, "Honestly, we knew it was only a matter of time before they showed up, but you have to understand, everyone in the Supernatural world is scared of my family, but they knew we were temporarily weaker, or at least they thought we were. So they were more scared of the seven we just killed, therefore, no one wanted to talk to us about their plans for fear we'd lose and they'd be made to pay for the betrayal."

I look her in the eyes and tell her, "Now no one else will think twice about giving us information in the hopes of staying on our good side. So we should have a decent heads up the next time someone else decides to come to our town and fuck with the citizens. Okay?"

Her posture relaxes slightly as she nods and my eyes pop open wide when she says, "Okay, I don't know why but despite what you are I still find myself trusting you and your judgment. If you say it shouldn't be an issue anymore and that you think the town is actually safer after tonight, then I'll trust you on that until you give me a reason not to."

We all smile and nod as I tell her, "Oh rest assured your daughter would have something to say if we didn't do everything we can to defend this town. So would the Human members of our family and while I know you think it's the Vampires with the power, it's really the Humans in our family who hold the power. We just do what they tell us to, well most of the time, I draw the line at watching romantic comedies."

I laugh as does the rest of our family and I smile slightly as Liz joins in. After a minute, 'Bekah speaks up, "Damon, why don't I pull my SUV around back and I'll start loading the bodies into the back." She turns her face slightly towards Liz and asks, "Are we taking the Humans too or do you think, Sheriff, that this town can handle eight more Humans being attacked by yet another wild animal?"

Liz frowns and looks long and hard at me then shakes her head, "Damon I hate to leave the families wondering and never knowing but there have been too many animal attacks to stand up to much more scrutiny. I think the Humans need to just disappear too."

I nod and Rebekah speaks up again, "Sheriff if you come over with me we can get the IDs and addresses of the victims and then we can compel the families who aren't on Vervain not to worry about their loved ones. Maybe some of them ran off to be together or something?"

I'm still nodding as I say, "That's an excellent idea Beks. Liz if you're agreeable we'll do that then at least the friends and family who aren't on Vervain can be at peace about their loved ones' disappearances."

As her features darken and her eyes narrow she takes a hard obvious swallow so I hold my hands up in a defensive manner and tell her, "Don't look at me like that Liz, I'm the first to admit it's not ideal, but it's all I feel we can really do at this point. Either the families never get closure or we compel them to have the closure they deserve. I will however defer to you on that decision, since you are the one who will have to deal with the families."

Finally, she nods as she sighs and her shoulders droop. I rest my hand on her shoulder and tell her, "I'm serious Liz; it should be over at least for a while now. You all really are safer with us here at this point and I know I speak for my entire family when I say we regret that we weren't able to prevent the deaths of these eight innocent kids. We were the target of this attack and they were used to draw us out, but I can't emphasize enough how no one else is delusional enough to think they stand a chance against us."

I smile slightly and tell her, "The town has maybe ten years until we're forced to relocate for a few decades, but I think I again speak for everyone when I say even after we leave we will come back every few decades and protect the town until we have to leave again. With the exception of Ric, Lexi, Reyna, and Carys the rest of the members of my family were born here and all of us love this town and want to keep its residents as safe as possible."

She nods and says, "I know," she turns to Rebekah and gestures for her to go get her SUV, "I'll meet you over there Rebekah."

The Original nods and gets in her car. I pick up Valdis and carry her over to the other bodies. I arrive at the bodies a moment after Rebekah does, and we make quick work of lowering the seats in the back of the SUV into the floor boards so that they lie flat and give us more room to pile the Vampires into the car, and I make sure to grab their hearts as well. Then I gently pick up the first Human and place her in back of the SUV after Liz takes note of her identity and writes down her address based on what her license says.

We make quick work of it, and when we finish I get into the front passenger seat. Before I know it, Rebekah is driving us towards the boarding house. Half way there, Balthazaar calls to tell me, "Brother, Lilith is awake. It really did count."

I smile and tell him, "That's surprising but welcome news, Brother. We'll be at the house in ten minutes so I'll come up and see her when we get there."

We hang up and when we arrive at the boarding house, we quickly move the bodies to the garden in the back of the house where I built a fire pit. Granted my plan when I added it to the garden was s'more's, which Rebekah loves, but it's big enough to burn a body or two at a time.

When we've got them all piled up, we go into the living room through the French doors that lead to the gardens. Beks grabs the lighter off the mantle and heads back out into the garden to begin burning the bodies. Before she goes out the door she says, "Damon you can go check on everyone. I'll start on the pile now since it's going to take a while to burn 15 bodies, especially the Humans."

I nod and as the rest of our family arrives, I go upstairs to check on Stefan and Katherine. Balthazaar, barely lets me enter the room before he says, "She's fine, and she remembers everything so it really did count."

Even though he already told me my eyes widen. It actually counted, will wonders never cease? My eyes widen even more when Lilith lays her hand against her breastbone and gives a heavy sigh before she says, "Drago, for what it's worth I'm sorry I forced our family to turn, and I'm even more sorry I didn't listen to you when you advised against turning the other seven."

As Drago I've always been better than most at being able to tell when she's playing someone or lying through her teeth, so I pause really looking at her and trying to see if she's playing me now. When I determine that she's serious and not giving me the line she knows I want to hear, I say, "I'm not going to say it's okay because it's not, and I hope from now on you'll take all recommendations from your family members seriously, especially the ones from those older than you."

She moves on her bed and then says, "I'm better than I was Drago. I know as Katherine I was still a pain in the ass, but I learned the lessons I needed to learn. I will listen to all advice from my family from now on and not just because I know you and Bonnie will kill me if I do something stupid or put any of us in danger in the future, but because I've finally come to respect people other than me."

Her hand is back at her breastbone as she tells me, "I mean it when I say I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused everyone, and not just as Lilith but as Katherine too. I shouldn't have played Damon and Stefan off each other and messed with their heads and hearts. I hope someday you and Dante as well as the others can come to forgive me for the wrongs I've perpetrated as both Lilith and Katherine."

My head tilts to the side slightly, and I narrow my eyes at her, but her words seem genuine, so I'm cautiously optimistic as I tell her, "I appreciate your apology, and I'm willing to give you a chance to prove yourself. As for forgiving Katherine's actions, well that's going to take some time for the wounds not to be so fresh."

Her voice trembles and the scent of her tears perfumes the air as she says, "Thank you for the opportunity to prove myself, I won't let you down."

With a frown and furrowed brows, I tell her, "No one's perfect, so I'm sure you'll do something down the line that the rest of us won't approve of. However, just as everyone has forgiven Stefan, Damon, Elijah and the rest for our wrong doings we'll do the same for you provided you continue to be genuinely sorry for whatever mistakes you make. We're all works in progress, Lilith."

I smile as Bonnie enters Katherine's room and says, "I couldn't have said that better myself, Brother."

I laugh as I turn to look at her standing beside me, "I'm pretty sure I was just quoting you, Sister."

She laughs too as I hear Asya go out into the garden to stand beside Rebekah and offer, "'Bekah, I'll stand guard and burn them while you go check on the others."

I frown and I imagine Rebekah is frowning too as she asks, "Don't you want to be with Dante?"

I can admit I'm wondering the same thing, so I shake my head when she says, "No, I'm too nervous. I'll go up again once he's awake, but right now, I need busy work to keep my mind off his being dead and worrying that it's permanent despite my knowing he loves Lexi like a sister."

Rebekah says, "Okay, then thank you."

I hear her enter the house and then walk up the stairs and down the hall towards Stefan's room as Lexi talks with Briseis and says, "I think I've made my decision, I don't want to be the weak link anymore, and I don't want to eventually die and leave Stefan. When he died protecting me I realized I've been given a chance at a family and immortality. I won't throw that chance away."

She stops talking and a moment later Rebekah tells her from her spot in the doorway, "I have to say I'm really happy to hear you decided that way, Lexi. For one, I like you, and for two, I'm not sure how well Stefan would handle your death a second time even if it was a natural Human death after living 80 more years."

I agree with everything she just said. Stefan, even as Dante would not fare well if Lexi died again. I smile as I hear Lexi say, "I like you too 'Bekah."

I can hear her smile as she enters the room and asks, "How is he?"

Briseis answers, "He should wake any minute now."

As if on cue, he begins gasping for air. I rush down the hall and suddenly I'm beside him holding him and trying to calm him down, "It's okay, Brother, you're okay, try to breathe through your nose."

After a minute, he calms down and looks at the four of us then his eyes focus on me and he says, "I remember it all, Brother. I'm so sorry our behavior caused you and Briseis to be spelled too."

I smile and tell him with shining eyes, "Think nothing of it, Brother; I honestly believe we're all better for having been spelled. And I don't think our family would be as big or as strong if Tianna hadn't of spelled the six of us. I have no hard feelings towards her or the rest of you. Just don't piss off any more Witches, okay and I'll call us even."

Dante laughs and says, "You have yourself a deal."

I laugh back and then ask, "Are you hungry?" as I hold up a blood bag that Briseis placed on the bed side table earlier.

Dante nods and takes the bag and slowly, much slower than even Stefan would have, drinks it down, "Thank you."

I smile, as everything is mostly right in my world. I believe everything has worked out how it was intended, all that's left is for the Humans to become Vampires and then all will be right in my world.