Vampire Diaries
Chapter 27
Founder's Day
"Damon . . . ?" I whispered, my eyes closed as I laid there on my bed, Damon's hand running lightly through my hair.
When he didn't respond, I glanced up at him, reaching my hand up and clasping his own. It halted his movement, his eyes trailing down to my own for a short moment. He didn't say anything though, merely staring at me as he paused in his reading.
"Say something?" I asked, curling my thumb into his palm. "Please?"
He hadn't really said much of anything since the other day, merely staying with me, but remaining quiet. At this point, I was starting to get tired of it, the silence wearing away at my nerves. Other than being here with me, it was as though he were ignoring my existence.
"Damon?" I breathed out, slowly pushing myself up. "Say something?" I asked once more.
"Why?" he sighed, turning back to his book.
He flipped to the next page, eyes trailing over the printed texted. He was acting as though I hadn't even said anything to him.
"Stop that," I ordered, reaching out and snatching the book away from him.
I could hear him grumble under his breath, his eyes moving over to the other side of the room in an attempt to avoid me. I didn't understand it.
"Damon!" I snapped, grabbing his attention. "What is with you?"
"I don't always have to explain myself," he replied, shutting his eyes.
"If you're going to be like this, then get out," I told him.
"What?" he asked, seeming taken back by my words.
"You heard me, I said, get out," I repeated. "I'm tired of this shit, Damon. This back and forth crap that you like doing at times, it drives me nuts."
"So, you want me to leave then?" he asked slowly, raising an eyebrow in question, making sure that he'd heard me properly.
"If you're going to keep acting like this, then yes, get out," I nodded. "Maybe Stefan will put up with you, but I'm not in the mood to anymore at the moment."
It was quiet for a moment, before I heard him snort, a sour look on his face.
"Fine, if that's how you want it, then I'll leave," he growled lightly, slipping off of the bed and grabbing his shoes.
I barely even had time to move as he put his shoes on, standing, and grabbing his jacket. He threw it on as he stepped toward the door, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Within seconds, he was gone, leaving me there by myself as I set on the bed.
"Damon . . ." I sighed.
T
"Kali!"
Quickly, I turned around, finding Alaric making his way toward me. He looked tired, almost out of place as he caught up to me. No doubt the whole Isobel thing had taken its toll on him.
"Alaric," I breathed out, an eyebrow raised in question at his sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Same as you I suppose," he assumed. "How are you anyway?" he asked.
"You're awfully curious today," I voiced, moving down the sidewalk as I gazed at today's festivities being set up.
Today was the parade, everyone getting ready and dressed up for the event. Even Matt was getting ready, his arm in a cast from the other day. He had always been a trooper, that's for sure. Jeremy was dressed up as well in soldier attire, along with Tyler and other students. I knew that Elena and Caroline were also doing the same at the moment. After all, they'd take a bit longer since they had to get into their dresses and get their hair done.
"Well, after everything happened, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," he told me.
"I'm fine," I sighed, rolling my shoulders for a moment, before adjusting my jacket.
It was chilly out at the moment and I didn't like being cold, so I pulled the leather closer, until I remembered that it had been Damon's. His scent still embodied it, making me scowl for a moment.
"You sure?" he asked, his tone telling me that he didn't really believe me.
"I'd be better if Damon would get his head out of his ass and actually talk to me," I muttered, walking down the side walk as I looked around at everything.
Carol was going around making sure that everything was in order, telling the students where to be and what to do. She wanted everything to be perfect.
"What do you mean?" Alaric asked, brows furrowed slightly.
"What do I mean?" I questioned. "He's barely said a damn word to me since everything happened," I told him in irritation. "Not only that, but he's basically been ignoring me."
I watched as Alaric's face turned to one of confusion. He couldn't understand how Damon would go around acting in such a way all of a sudden. Especially, given everything that had happened.
"That's . . . unusual," Alaric mused, scratching his chin for a moment. "He's not really the silent type."
"No, he's more along the lines of the maddening type," I replied, wiping at my eye after a moment.
I had this annoying itch and it wouldn't go away. Knowing my luck though, I probably had an eyelash in my eye that was causing me all this strife. Although after rubbing it, I had to do a double take, glancing out in from of me. Caroline had come walking out of nowhere, a bright smile on her face as she ran around in her dress, twirling it. I had to admit that she looked beautiful, her blonde hair falling in delicately crafted ringlets around her face. She no longer looked like the little girl that I used to know, even the student I was used to seeing daily. Although, the amount of yellow was definitely overwhelming, but she had this look of innocence about her at the moment.
"Caroline!" I called out, catching her attention.
"Kali!" she grinned, running toward me. "What do you think?" she asked, twirling around in excitement.
"I think that it's very becoming," I replied, looking her over.
Although, when she turned around again, I stopped her.
"Hold still," I said firmly, taking hold of the string that had been tied in the back.
It was starting to come undone and I was sure that Caroline wouldn't want anything of the sort. So, winding it in my hand, I began tightening it.
"I'm so glad that you noticed it," she told me, trying to turn around.
"I said stay still," I told her, quickly turning her back around so that I could finish tightening everything up.
"Sorry," she sighed. "Anyway, why isn't Damon with you?" Caroline asked, turning her head to look over her shoulder at me.
"Because he's being an ass," I said bluntly, before giving the strings a final tug. "There."
Smiling, Caroline turned around, eagerly wrapping me in a hug.
"Oh, you poor thing!" she said dramatically, making me roll my eyes.
"Can we please get off the subject of me for now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in question as she finally let go.
"Of course. Let's talk about the parade instead," she grinned. "I want you to take a picture of me and Matt."
"Wait, what?"
T
"Let's give a big hand to the Mystic Fall's high school marching band!" Carol exclaimed.
Everyone clapped and cheered as the students went by. The band was playing and the cheerleaders were doing their thing just as they'd practiced. Behind them, the floats moved forward, the participates poised and ready.
"And for a little local history, Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek," Carol announced.
Jeremy and Tyler smiled as they waved to the crowd from the float, easily showing off their costumes as they pretended to shoot at each other. Jeremy ended up being the 'victim' though, slowly slumping against the make shift shed that was on the float, and hanging his head to the side.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts."
The crowd grew even louder at this, cheering as they waved in return. As a result, the group waved back, Caroline waving like a maniac while Matt tried to keep her under control. Everyone knew that Caroline was hard to handle at times. The day of the parade was no exception, merely making it tougher.
"You do realize that if you keep it up, your arm is going to fall off, right?" Matt asked jokingly, a smile on his face as Caroline elbowed him in the stomach. "Ouch!" he whined.
"You would think that he would have learned by now," Stefan chuckled, waving to the crowd as he stood with Elena.
"This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls!" Carol announced. "Aren't they beautiful?"
T
With a sigh, I walked across the street, eyeing one of the booths that was set up. It had all sorts of trinkets that had been especially made for the event. There were even necklaces, some resembling coinage from the 1800's or even hairpieces.
"Huh."
I shook my head for a moment, a faint smile on my face. Seeing such things made me wonder what life was like back then. These thoughts also led me back to Damon, a small frown forming on my face.
"Damon . . ." I sighed.
There were just some things that I would never understand about the man. I would never understand why at times he was so smart mouthed about things or why he had such a problem letting me in when there were serious issues at hand. When it had to do with certain parts of his past, he wouldn't so much as budge unless he'd had a few to drink.
"I don't know if I'll ever understand you," I muttered, turning around only to bump into someone. "I'm sorry, I . . ." I stopped upon seeing Jeremy, my brows furrowing together. "Jeremy?"
He looked upset for some reason, a scowl on his face. I had no clue what could have brought it on.
"Jeremy, what's wrong?" I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
It shocked me when he pulled away from me, acting as if I'd burned him or something.
"Like you don't know," he spat, glaring at me.
"Jeremy, what on earth."
Before he could walk off, I grabbed him firmly by the arm, turning him around to face me. I couldn't seem to recollect a time when he'd been hostile toward me. This in itself was new and disturbing at the same time.
"Jeremy, look at me," I ordered.
"You're not my mother, so stop ordering me around," he said.
"Excuse me, but I never implied to being your mother," I told him, brows furrowed in confusion. "Now, why don't you tell me what's going on."
"Oh, you want to know what going on?" he narrowed. "You guys are a bunch of liars!"
"What?"
No I was truly confused. I hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on with him, but it disturbed me greatly.
"You and Elena both," he told me. "You what?" he started, staring at me for a moment. "I wish you never would have come back!"
With that, he pulled away from me, leaving me standing there in shock. It didn't take long though before tears started forming, my lip trembling ever so slightly.
"Jeremy . . ." I whispered, my hand slowly moving to cover my mouth.
T
Damon had seen and heard everything from his spot in the thinning crowd, his lips turning into a frown. He'd heard the way that Jeremy had spoken to Kali, cutting her deep as she tried to hide the hurt. He couldn't understand why Jeremy had taken things out on her. In fact, he could technically understand that fact that he'd just got done doing it to Elena, but Kali was different.
Once Jeremy had gotten far enough away from Kali and out of sight, Damon snuck up behind him, grabbing him by the arm.
"Hey, Punk," Damon said, grabbing the kid's attention.
"Get off of me you dick!" Jeremy narrowed, trying to pull his arm free.
"You know what?" Damon started, tugging Jeremy closer. "You don't get to talk to me like that. I'm not your sister."
"You really think I care?" Jeremy, before trying to kick at Damon.
Damon merely blew it off, getting back to where he had started.
"I don't want you talking to your sister like that either or Kali for that matter," Damon told him.
"So, what, you're going to kill me now for hurting their feelings?" Jeremy mocked, narrowing his eyes at Damon.
"Why don't you try giving them a break," Damon told him.
"Elena erased my memories!" Jeremy hissed. "Kali's no better."
"No, I erased your memories!" Damon shot back. "Your sister was only trying to protect you."
"Ha! The only thing that she did was shut me out further!" the kid told him. "In fact, I bet if I found Kali's journal and read it, I'd find the same stuff that I found in Elena's."
"Man, you aren't much of one for privacy, are you?" Damon asked. "Actually, you know what, you're going to go and apologize right now. To both of them," he added, tugging Jeremy back the other way.
"I said get off of me you freak!" he hissed, kicking Damon in the back of the knee with his foot.
"You know what, I've had about enough of your attitude kid," Damon told him, getting up in his face. "I can understand you going at it with Elena, but Kali?"
Damon shook his head for a moment, before turning back to Jeremy.
"The woman had nothing to do with this kid. In fact, that little girlfriend of yours, Vicki? She nearly killed Kali," Damon informed him. "Heck, if it weren't for me, Kali would be six feet under right now," he sneered, daring Jeremy to argue with him.
"Damon."
At the sound of his name, Damon turned to look over his shoulder, finding his brother standing there.
"Let him go," Stefan stated, folding his arms over his chest.
Begrudgingly, Damon let the boy go, shoving him away from himself.
"There, happy now?" Damon muttered, narrowing his eyes at his little brother.
Stefan merely ignored his brother's comment, instead, carefully taking hold of Jeremy's arm and looking it over. He wanted to make sure that it wasn't red or bruising from Damon's normally iron like grip.
"Are you alright?" Stefan asked, carefully prodding the boy's arm.
"Yeah," Jeremy nodded.
"I think what my brother is trying to say is, don't blame Elena for this. Or Kali for that matter," Stefan told him, earning a slight nod from his brother. "Damon turned Vicki, but I killed her," he admitted before continuing. "She was a threat to you, you're sister, even Kali. I'm truly sorry that it had to happen."
"Shouldn't have made me forget . . ." Jeremy muttered, before walking off, leaving the two brothers to themselves.
"Good cop, bad cop, I like it," Damon smirked.
"Damon, what are you doing?" Stefan sighed.
"He was being a punk," Damon pointed out in irritation.
"Elena's relationship with her brother is none of your business so stay out of it," Stefan told him.
"What? You really think that's the only reason why I caught up with that kid?" Damon snorted. "I get that he's mad at Elena, but he's got no reason to be taking it out on Kali," he pointed out.
"Damon, it's still none of your business," Stefan pointed out.
"The hell its not!"
T
Later that night, I found myself wandering around town, hands stuffed in my pockets. I was still mulling over everything that Jeremy had told me, my lips pulling back into a thin line. I couldn't believe that things had finally come down to this. Apparently, I was the bad guy now.
Slowly, I allowed myself to finger the necklace around my neck, smoothing my thumb over the surface. Even though I was still mad at Damon, I hadn't taken it off. Sadly though, it reminded me of the qualities that I loved so much.
"Damn it . . ." I sighed.
T
Scratching the back of his head, Damon continued looking around. He'd been trying to find Kali for the past half hour, but hadn't found her. He was hoping to talk to her, maybe make up for how he'd been acting the past couple of days. In fact, he'd even bought her a little bracelet from one of the booths in hopes of using it as a peace offering of sorts.
"Damon!"
Quickly, Damon turned around, surprised when he found Anna standing in front of him.
"What are you still doing here?" he asked, brows furrowing together in confusion.
"Now's not the time," she told time, looking around quickly. "There's something you need to know. The vampires from the tomb are planning an attack tonight."
"And how do you know this?" Damon asked skeptically as he rose a brow in question.
"I went to them," she told them. "They think I'm with them, but I'm not. They want the founding families dead," she explained.
"When is this supposed to happen?"
"When the fireworks start," she replied.
Damon stood there for a moment, thinking of what he was going to do. The device had been deactivated. There was no way that they could take on that many vampires. For all he knew, thing could end up turning out to be a blood bath.
"John Gilbert wants to use that invention on them," Damon told her.
"Then we can't be here!" she exclaimed.
"It doesn't work though. It's been deactivated," he explained.
"Well, then a lot of people are going to die," she pointed out.
"Where are they right now?" he inquired, looking around for a moment.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Anna looked up at the other vampire, locking eyes with him.
"They're already here."
T
Out in front of a building, a group of people were gathered, their pale skin shinning in the light of the street lamps.
"Remember, we don't know which of them have ingested vervain," the leader spoke, looking out at the members of his crew. "It's not about the feed, it's about the kill," he told them. "You know what to do."
With that, the crowd dispersed, slowly making themselves invisible as they mingled with the towns people. Each of them had memorized the faces of their kill. The Forbes family, the Lockwood family, the Gilbert family, the Fell family, even the Salvatore brothers. Heck, a few were even assigned a look out for Kaliandra Henderson, the Damon Salvatore's 'girlfriend'. The reason for this was revenge against the Salvatores.
T
Hurrying through the crowd, Damon catches up with Alaric, quickly calling out to him.
"Rick!"
"Yeah?" he asked, turning to face the elder Salvatore.
"You keep those nifty little vampire darts in your car?" Damon asked, coming to stand beside the man.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Alaric questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"Because this square is crawling with tomb vampires," Damon said simply, watching the look of shock that appeared on Alaric's face. "I think we might need a stake or two."
"Got it," Alaric nodded, quickly making his way to the car.
After that, Damon looked around. Kali was nowhere in sight, putting him on edge. He had a feeling that she would be in just as much danger as the founding families, just for the mere fact of being associated with him. Instead though, he spotted Elena and Stefan, quickly making his way over to the two and slipping his arm around Elena's shoulders.
"What are you doing?" Elena asked warily, glancing over at Stefan for a moment.
"Saving your life," Damon replied, before continuing. "Fifteen words or less. Tomb vamps are here, Founding Families are their target."
Damon then turned to his brother, sliding his arm from Elena's shoulder and pushing her into the youngest arms.
"Get her out of here, now!"
With that, Damon turned around to leave, determined on finding Kali before the fireworks started and all hell broke loose.
"Wait, where are you going?" Stefan called after him, keeping Elena enclosed within his arms.
"That's more than fifteen words Stefan!" Damon shot back, before running off.
T
Inside the Grill, Tyler stood at the pool table, lining up a shot. Matt and Caroline were seated at a table, watching as Tyler got the ball in the pocket, a grin on his face as he did so.
"Ha!" he exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
"So, there was this time, freshman year, when Bonnie and I were in a fight and we swore that we would never talk again," Caroline started, trying to get Matt to say something.
"Caroline, give it a rest," Matt sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stood up and took the pool stick from Tyler's hands.
"Hey!" Tyler whined, trying to make a grab for it.
At the same time, Tyler's dad walked in, making his way up to their table.
"What are you doing here?" the mayor asked. "I told you to go home," he said pointedly.
"I decided not to," Tyler replied simply, grabbing the stick back from Matt and ducking down to take another shot.
"If I tell you to do something, you do it!" the mayor yelled, quickly grabbing Tyler by the arm and pulling the boy up to his face.
"Let go of me!" Tyler cried out, trying to pry his arm from his father's grip.
It only succeeded though once Matt came forward, grabbing hold of the mayor and pulling him off.
"What the heck is going on?" Matt asked, Caroline standing behind him confused as ever.
Biting his lip, the mayor looked at the teens, taking them in. Tyler was his son, Matt was his son's friend, and Caroline was the Sheriff's daughter. He knew he had to get them away before things started. He didn't want his family to be at risk or anyone else's.
"Please, Tyler, I need you to go home, now," the Mayor told him. "Take your friends with you."
"Why? What's going on?" Matt asked, a look of confusion written across his face.
"I can't explain," he said, shaking his head. "All of you need to get home, now. Please," he begged.
"Yeah, okay," Tyler said, nodding slowly as he watched his dad reach into his pocket.
"Here, take my car, it's out back," the Mayor said, placing the keys in his son's hand. "Caroline, Matt, go with him."
The Mayor didn't say anything else as he left, hurrying back to his wife.
T
Standing by one of the trees, Kali watched as the Mayor began his speech up on stage, Carol standing next to him. Kali had no clue that someone was sneaking up behind her, their hands clenched at their sides, and eyes gleaming in the light.
". . . fifty years, Mystic Falls has become the kind of town that everyone wants to call home. . ."
T
"Get in position," John announces, ordering the deputy out of his brother's office as he made his way over to the device.
Any moment now, the signal would come and the device would end it.
T
"Enjoy the show!" the Mayor announced.
Moments later, the sky was lit with a bang, sparks flying through the night sky. Red, blue, green, yellow, and orange. Pink, purple, white, teal. Everything was a lit and the crowd was alive.
T
Smirking, John stood over the device, the sound of fireworks telling him that it was time to put his plan into action. It was momentarily delayed though as he heard the front door of the office open, trying to find Damon standing there with a scowl on his face. John wasn't exactly sure why Damon was there, but he smiled regardless, knowing that it just made his job so much easier.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Damon asked, taking a step forward.
"As a matter of fact, I do," John smirked, dropping the necessary piece in place.
Before Damon could react, he found himself on the floor, clutching his head in pain. The device had sent a low level sound through the air, its pitch high, but unable to be heard by humans. It left vampires wreathing in pain, their eardrums nearly exploding.
"Ah!" Damon cried out, rolling onto his back as he tried to some how save his ears from the noise.
T
"Stefan? Stefan, what's wrong? What's happening?" Elena asked, her voice in a panic as Stefan began clutching at his head.
"My head!" he managed to choke out, his eyes scrunched together in pain.
T
My eyes widened as I heard a thump behind me. Turning around, I found a man laying there screaming in pain.
"Over here!" I heard someone yell, one of the Sheriff's deputy coming over.
They knelt down quickly, stabbing a needle into the man's neck.
"W-what's going on?" I asked, brows furrowing together in confusion.
From where I stood, I could see more cops running around to different areas, picking people up off of the ground. It was then that I realized what was going on, my eyes widening in fear.
"Damon . . ." I whispered.
T
Screams fill the night air, but go unheard against the booming fireworks.
T
"Stefan! Elena!" I called out, running forward as I spotted them. "Where's Damon?" I asked quickly, looking around, but finding him nowhere in sight.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him since before this started," Stefan told me.
I looked to Elena, but she shook her head, not knowing either.
T
Frantically, Carol made her way to Liz's office, pushing open the door. She was met with a surprised though when she found the woman handcuffed to the radiator.
"Liz, are you okay?" Carol asked, kneeling down beside the blond as she touched the handcuffs for a moment.
"There's a key on my . . ." she started.
"What's going on?!" Carol shouted.
"There's a key in my belt, I need you to get it," Liz finished, blinking a few times as she tried to block the pain in her head.
She was going to strangle John and lock him in a cell when she found him. Assaulting an officer as not something that she was going to let slide, especially, given the fact that the officer was herself.
"I've been looking everywhere for you, something happened to Richard," Carol told her, grabbing the key from Liz's belt. "They took him."
"Who took him?" Liz asked in confusion, shifting the cuffs as Carol tried to get the key in, her hand shaking as she did so.
"Your deputies," she replied, finally unlocking the cuffs. "I just don't understand, he's not a vampire!" she cried.
Standing up, Liz rubbed her wrists, looking to Carol in thanks as she grabbed her gun from the floor and placed it in the holster.
"Let's go!"
T
I could feel myself shake as I followed after Stefan and Elena, praying to God that we would find Damon. If something were to happen to him, I don't know what I'd do. Those thoughts were set on pause though when Stefan stopped, his brows furrowing together.
"Wait, I can hear them," Stefan said, looking around for a moment. "The building is on fire."
"What?!" Elena and I exclaimed at the same time.
"The building's on fire!"
T
"No . . . Damon . . ." I whispered, eyes watering as I pushed my way through. "Damon!" I cried out, running toward the back as the smell of smoke filled my nose.
The building was on fire and Damon was inside, possibly burning away in the basement.
"Kali, wait," Stefan said, grabbing hold of my arm as I pulled the back door open, coughing as thick smoke hit my face. "You can't go in there," he told me.
My hands went to shield my face as another cough escaped me, the smoke stinging my eyes and causing them to water.
We'd left Elena to deal with John as we had run toward the back. I knew the building just as well as Elena, if not better. I knew where I had to go.
"Neither can you," I pointed out. "But at least I can be healed. Fire will kill you," I reminded him, not wanting to think about what would happen if he got caught up in it.
"And it won't kill you?" he asked in annoyance.
Granted, he had a point, but I could almost guarantee that I would last longer than him. Yes, my skin would burn and bleed, but it wouldn't kill me right away. I'd be willing to risk it if it meant getting Damon out in one piece. Even with all the words that had been said earlier that morning, I could never allow him to suffer such a fate. If he died this night, I'd never be able to forgive myself. Even with his stubbornness, he didn't deserve to be burned alive.
"Stefan, you have to let me go," I told him, before cupping his face gently between my hands. "Please, I have to do this," I whispered.
"But . . ."
"No, Stefan," I said, shaking my head. "This is something that I have to do."
I didn't stand there arguing with him much longer after that, quickly running inside and over to the basement door. I grabbed hold of the handle with the end of my sleeve, wrenching it open only to have the flames of hell spitting up at me from the stairs.
"Damon!" I yelled.
I received no reply, but I saw motion off to the side of the room, a faint trace of blue peering out under a curtain of brown and smoke.
"Damon!" I cried, searching frantically for the safest way down.
Finding none, I closed my eyes and ran down the stairs, tears welling up in my eyes as the fire licked at the skin of my legs. The heat itself cooked away at my skin, sweat already starting to seep out from my pores.
"Hold on!" I called out, pulling my jacket closer in an attempt to protect myself.
"Get out of here," I heard him groan, his face scrunching up in pain.
It was all too obvious that he'd been vervained, his body stiff and tired. This was John's doing.
"Damon," I coughed, my lungs gasping for air.
In a way, it was like being under water in a pool. If you opened your eyes, they'd sting from the chlorine in the water and your lungs would start burning as you refused to resurface. The smoke had the same affect, stinging my eyes viciously and clogging my throat as it attempted to suffocate me.
"I said, get out of here," Damon hissed, rolling his head toward me.
Even that was a challenge in itself, fighting against the vervain that was currently running rampant through his system. It slowed down every muscle in the body, straining it.
"No! I'm getting you out of here!" I cried, dropping to the ground when I could no longer see clearly and rubbing at my eyes.
"Kali!" Damon hissed, annoyance clear in his voice.
"I won't let you die here!" I yelled, crawling forward on my hands and knees as I inched my way closer, the heat of the floor burning my hands.
As I got closer, my head continued to swim, the lack of air messing with my brain. There were so many things going through my mind as I crawled closer. All the talks that we'd had, the good times and the bad, there were so many memories. I didn't want it all to end in something like this. All my life, I'd been dealing with things and so far, Damon had been a constant in my life for the most part. He'd been there for me, held me and loved me, protected me. This vampire had done so much for me and I was now left with only one option. That option was returning what he'd given me; a second chance at life.
"Kali, please," Damon begged, pleading with me.
Sadly, it was too late for that though. I was already in front of him, pulling him into my arms and holding him close.
"I'm sorry," I cried, tears slowly falling from my eyes.
"Kali, you need to leave before its too late," he told me. "I'm not worth it."
"That's where you're wrong," I told him, quickly looking around for something sharp.
Within moments, I found an old piece of broken glass laying on the ground, picking it up and looking back at him. I had no choice.
"What are you doing?" he asked warily, his head resting on my chest as he laid there.
"Saving your life," I answered, before running the piece over my wrist in one quick motion.
It left me crying out in pain, but I knew that it had to be done, screwing my eyes closed and pulling him closer. The next thing that I did was tilt his head back, situating my wrist above his mouth. I then watched as the blood ran free, wincing every time I squeezed the wound. It had to be done though.
"Kali . . ." Damon groaned, his face scrunching up for a moment as his fangs began to slide into place.
It was then that I knew he was strong enough to feed on his own, quickly dropping my wrist to his cold lips. His fangs slid into my skin without hesitation, teeth clamping down on the pulsating wound.
"Just drink," I coughed, closing my eyes as I continued to hold him in my arms. "Please," I whimpered, flinching and scooting us further toward the wall at the back as the flames continued to grow near.
I knew that if we ever managed to get out of here alive, then I'd never be so mean to him again. I'd never kick him out of the apartment, I'd never snatch his book away from him as I had, I'd never shove him off of the bed. There were so many things that I was silently promising to do or never do again.
T
Elena's brows furrowed as she ran to the back of the building. She hadn't expected to see Stefan standing there. She thought that he would have already gone in to pull Damon out.
"Stefan?" Elena drawled out, stepping closer to where he stood. "I thought you . . ."
She didn't get the chance to finish though before Stefan's words broke her, his next words shaking her to the core. She couldn't even say anything at first, merely reacting with fearful eyes.
"Kali went in after him," Stefan told her
T
"Come on," I managed to choke out, helping to pull Damon to his feet.
That in itself was a challenge, my breathing becoming more labored by the second, my hand covering my mouth in an attempt to filter out the smoke.
"Kali, stop," he ordered, pulling me back toward him.
He took this time to pull a handkerchief from his pocket, folding it a few times and placing it over my mouth and nose. It was clean, the material thick, but thin enough so that it would help to filter the air that I breathed as he held me against him for a few moments.
"I may not need to breathe, but you do," he reminded me.
"Damon . . . I'm sorry," I choked out, tears welling up in my eyes, only to start drying once they left.
"What?"
His brows furrowed together as he looked down at me, brushing the hair from my face. It was sticky, but he didn't seem to care, pulling me back into his arms afterward.
"For everything," I told him, letting out another cough as I buried my face into the front of his shirt. "I'm so sorry," I choking out, my shoulders shaking terribly.
"Look, Kali, now's not the-" he was stopped as I pulled him closer, my hands pulling his head down to meet my own as I pressed my lips to his.
It was desperate, I know, but I didn't care. I know that it was stupid of me to come after him, but I couldn't let him die like this, not without knowing the truth. I'd never be able to live with myself.
"Kali . . .?"
"I love you," I choked out, lips quivering as I took in the confusion upon his face. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," I admitted, bowing my head in shame.
I'd been so afraid of his reaction that I'd never had the courage to tell him. Now, here I was, telling him when we were so close to meeting our end. It was pitiful. I actually felt angry with myself for this. I'd been so foolish, bidding my time, and for what? I was telling him this now and in the end it wouldn't matter because we'd both be dead.
"God, I'm sorry," I cried, tears falling freely from my eyes.
"Kali, I-" he was cut off as a loud crack echoed above us, eyes going wide as a burning beam came down on us.
The only thing he had time to do was push me away as it came down on top of him, knocking him to the ground.
"Damon!" I screamed, pushing myself back off of the ground after having landed on my rear.
I fell to my knees in front of him, reaching my hand out hesitantly. I brushed the hair away from his face as he let out a groan, his eyes screwing shut out of pain.
"H-hold on," I told him, quickly moving to try and lift the beam away.
I cried out in pain though as the flames burned my hands, gritting my teeth together as I pulled them away.
"Just get out of here," he told me, his hand curling into the ground.
"No!" I snapped, shaking my head frantically as I tried again.
This time, I tried to put the pain behind me, blocking it from my mind as I gripped at the wood of the beam. I could feel it burning away at my skin, but I didn't care. They'd be the least of my concerns if we stayed here.
"Stop it!" Damon hissed, watching as I tried to free him.
"No!" I cried, shaking my head. "I'm not letting you die here!"
With that, I pushed all the strength that I could muster into pushing the beam away, a satisfying groan coming from it as I finally managed to move it a couple inches. It gave Damon the space that he needed to free himself, quickly pulling me away from it's burning touch.
"Let me see," he said swiftly, taking my hands in his hold.
He pulled them toward his face, inspecting them carefully as he took in the burns on my hands. They were ugly things, the skin itself flaring up. They were already starting to become occupied by blisters and other parts had been melted away. At this point, my whole body felt like it was burning, my very skin stinging with a vengeance as if it were surrounded by hot coals and the stabbing of knives
"Damon! Kali!" I heard Stefan call, spotting him at the very top of the stairs.
The flames were still high, but as I took a closer look, I found them starting to dissipate slowly. It was then that I realized Bonnie must be outside. She was giving us a way out.
"Hurry!" Stefan called out, motioning for his brother to move.
It only took a second for Damon to register what was happening, quickly moving me toward the stairs and into his arms. He raced up the stairs without hesitation and within moments we were outside, staring at our rescuers.
"Oh God," I heard Elena gasp, her hand flying to her mouth and she ran toward me. "Kali," she choked out, looking me over as Damon sat me on my feet.
I fell to my knees after that though, taking in a large gulp of air, before fighting the fit of coughs that came with it.
"Give her some room," Stefan said, coming to kneel beside his brother as he too looked me over.
He placed a hand on my back, rubbing it gently with the palm of his hand. As a result, I winced in pain. Granted, it wasn't deliberate, but I couldn't help it. My entire body felt like it was on fire still, a tremor going through me as I sat there.
"She needs blood," Stefan said, looking to Damon for a moment, before receiving a nod.
Damon was still trying to catch his breath, his eyes closed as he leaned back on his hands, his own burns slowly healing. It was Stefan's turn to help, so he bit down on his wrist, tearing it open with his teeth. The blood flowed freely after that, gleaming in the light of the moon. It was almost a comfort to me as I stared at it, knowing that it would soon take away my pain.
"Drink this," Stefan instructed, carefully drawing me closer as he held his arm out, his blood dripping from the wound.
Licking my lower lip, I took in one final gulp of air, leaning forward to take hold of Stefan's hand. Again, I stared at the blood, but only for a second. The taste of metal filled my senses afterward, the coppery taste coating my tongue. Strangely enough, it still tasted different than Damon's, which I found strange. I figured that all vampire blood tasted the same, just as all regular blood would taste the same. I had been lead astray though in thinking such things. Perhaps it was due to the person's diet. Stefan drank the blood of animals, so why shouldn't it be different from Damon's. Damon was the one that drank human blood after all. Although, normally it was my own blood, but that was beside the point. I'd tasted my own blood one too many times.
Slowly, I could feel his blood taking affect. It started in my lungs, a soothing sensation washing over them as I expelled a breath of air. After that, the small break in my lip healed, traveling down the valley of my neck. It then made its way to my arms, soothing the pain that had run through them and to my hands.
My hands had been most in need of healing, the peeling skin glaring back at me for several moments longer, before slowly dispersing into something else. The blisters were even drawn back, along with the painful beginnings of scarring, saving me from staring at it for the rest of my life. By the time that it was done, my jacket peeled from my body, there wasn't a single trace of what had ailed me. It was almost as if the pain had never happened or the burns. There was no longer any physical trace that I'd been a part of this evenings gruesome events, save for the smudges of smoke stains that covered my body.
Alright everyone, chapter 27 is finally up! I truly apologize for taking so long, but college comes first. Good news though! I'm out for the summer! Anyway, please REVIEW and MESSAGE me! Since I know what everyone has been waiting so long, I expect REVIEWS for this little number. Also, if you have any ideas PLEASE MESSAGE ME OR PUT IT IN A REVIEW? Thanks everyone!
I WANT AT LEAST 10 REVIEWS BEFORE I POST THE NEXT CHAPTER. PLEASE AND THANK YOU!