A/N: Okay so, The Murder Of One: writing the dream sequence was really tricky because I couldn't figure out if Damon *knew* he was dreaming, *thought* he was dreaming, or was just plain dreaming. In the end I let him take over and write it his way and this is how it turned out so if you disagree with it, blame Damon. Not me. I take *no* responsibility. That being said read on and (hopefully) enjoy!
Break On Through & The Murder Of One
Meredith Fell, Damon, Elena and Stefan figure out that Ric is the killer; he has an alter-ego intent on murdering vampires and their aider and abettors.
Elena confronts Damon about the previous night's bloody-escapades and Damon tries to explain that he is helping Stefan gain control of his nature. "Stefan has built himself a delusional wagon which he has repeatedly fallen off of" but Elena doesn't seem overly willing to listen.
Elena calls Bonnie for help with Ric because it was a Bennett witch who created the 'come back to life rings' and Ric tells Meredith that it was him who killed her cousin, Logan Fell.
Damon finds Stefan binge-drinking and continues his lessons in Vampire Academy; "you're a vampire, get over it. Own it. Live it. Love it. Stop being ashamed of who you are."
Damon's friend Sage turns up looking for her long-lost lover suicidal Finn and she comes up with a plan to help Damon get the information he needs out of Rebekah; a sex party. Damon shows off his divine dancing skills before seducing Rebekah into his bed. Once she's sufficiently worn out Sage comes and enters her mind to extract information before showing Damon. In the shower.
Damon learns that there was another White Oak tree and that the wood was used to build the Wickery Bridge. He then realises Sage is gone and rushes to the bridge where he finds her and Rebekah burning the wood. He still has the restored sign though so they have a weapon that can kill the Originals.
Bonnie lets Elena know that there is a spell that can be cast on Alaric and Elena runs into Stefan at Alaric's apartment. Abby attacks Jamie and Bonnie brain-whammy's her to get her to stop. When Bonnie leaves to help Elena, Abby runs away again despite an invigorating lecture from Caroline.
Ric's alter-ego takes over and attacks Meredith, stabbing her with a kitchen knife and chasing her around the house. At home Elena realises that something is wrong with Ric and Stefan knocks him out before keeping himself in control for long enough to heal Meredith.
Bonnie casts the spell on Alaric and Damon comes to look after him. Elena and Bonnie share an emotional moment where Elena begs for forgiveness which Bonnie gladly provides.
"Just having a little toast...to control"
The Murder Of One
"All your love, is just a dream, dream, dream"
Man it is gonna be a good day! I know, I know, Ric's a serial killer. Sorta. Elena's still not speaking to me. Much. And Stefan's probably one bad haircut away from a relapse but I am an eternal optimist and as such I refuse to let these things bring me down.
We finally have a chance to take out the Originals and I am determined to see this through to the bitter end. Their time has come. To an end.
"Morning sunshine" I open Ric's front door to Numero Uno on my problems list. Elena Gilbert. Really need to work on getting back in her good books.
"Hey. How's Alaric?" she asks as she tries to come inside. "Indecent, but fine" I tell her, moving slightly so she can't. "Why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?" uh 'cause I am and you know me really well? "well maybe because you're being all, paranoid and control-freaky."
I grab the bag she's holding out of her hand before she can continue her line of questioning, "What'd you bring me? Oooh chocolate muffins. You know what they say; the way to a psycho killer's heart is through his stomach" – "They're not for you."
Oh really? Even thoughshe knows that I love chocolate muffins. Uh-huh, I believe ya' 'Lena.
"Fine, keep convincing yourself you're still mad at me but sadly Ric's gonna have to miss Elena-time today" yep, sucks to be him. "You know lockdown and all" – "Just take it and give it to him and tell him I miss him okay?" she asks thrusting the muffins back at me.
Well I will, but she knows for sure I'm stealing one of them. Otherwise she wouldn't have brought two. Poor Stef, no muffins for him, maybe Ric'll share his. "With pleasure. Have a good day, thanks for coming by" I say as I close the door on her.
I hear her exasperated little huff on the other side of the door, "walking down the stairs, opening front door aaand...she's gone" and we are back in business. Ric, Stef and I are making stakes out of the Wickery Bridge sign. Mrs. Mayor's probably not gonna be happy to find out that it's conveniently disappeared but she can suck it.
"This needs to have a sharper point" Bossy-Pants Stefan says handing me one of the stakes back, "got it" – "We finally have enough stakes to kill an Original. I'm not gonna miss 'cause you can't whittle" right crazy, I said I got it. And I can whittle, you're just being all controlling.
"I'm gonna call the Sheriff, wanna turn myself in" say what now? No. What's with all the crazy goin' on today? "No you don't" – "I have a homicidal alter-ego, unlike some people in this room I would like to take responsibility for the people I've killed" well there ya' go, you just did.
"If you wanted to turn yourself in you wouldn't be saying it out loud" no, you're just another person affected by all the, well, crazy, and confused about where to draw the lines between right and wrong. Welcome to the club man. Pull up a chair.
"Listen of all people you cannot psychoanalyse me. I killed Caroline's father, I nearly killed Meredith. Everything's changed" Pah! Nothing has changed. Except Bill 'torture' Forbes is dead and good riddance I say.
"Look you're not turning yourself in" my brother joins in the debate. "Bonnie's herbs are working and we have Originals to kill" that's right Mr. Vampire Slayer. Get slayin'.
"His morals get very questionably when he has revenge on the brain" I explain to Ric on my brother's behalf.
"Klaus has to die, we finally have a chance to kill him so you are not turning yourself in" case in point. And I concur.
I stand up and hold out Ric's ring "put it on" – "that ring is the reason I've killed people" yeah, but it's also the reason you're still standing. "You're going vampire hunting Ric. Wear it" he takes the ring and we send a group message telling the rest of the gang to meet us in the woods.
"Where's Bonnie? I texted her too" – "Uh, Bonnie's mom bailed on her" again? Huh, clearly vampirism did nothing to improve her parenting skills then.
"What are we doing here?" ooh allow me to explain that one please, "we found some more White Oak. Long story, wait for the movie" on second thought that is one story I most probably don't wanna share with Elena.
"Hang on, White Oak? You have a weapon that can kill Klaus?" nope. We have lots of weapons. Plenty to go around. We put into motion a little training session just in case someone manages to catch an Original off guard.
"Scenario number one" I take Elena by the shoulders and pull her over to stand between Stefan and me, "you get to play Klaus" but she shrugs me off and gives me a look. What, no touching allowed anymore either? Sucks.
"We need to keep Klaus separate and occupied: Caroline" – "Why do I always have to be Klaus bait?" well because he's clearly in love with you for whatever reason. It really does work well for us though.
I tell Matt to keep Rebekah distracted, "how?" – "act interested, she's lonely, desperate" – "Clearly she slept with you" seriously Elena? Is there anyone you haven't told about that? And screw you Blondie. Oh wait! I already did.
I grab Caroline's arms and pin them behind her back to demonstrate our plan of action but I do it with a little more force than is strictly necessary as payback for the 'desperate' comment.
"No last minute attacks of pity for any of them" yes Elena, I'm talking to you. "Don't worry about me, not after what happened to Bonnie's mom" great, the gang's all on board. Stefan hands Elena a crossbow and we continue our training session.
After a couple more exercises we all grab our stakes and head our separate ways. Back at the house I'm putting my stake in the firewood bucket when Ric arrives.
"I mean, did you learn nothing from the moonstone in the soap-dish?" oh god don't remind me. Most of the time, the most obvious place is the dead last place people think to look. Unless you're Katherine Pierce. Obviously.
"Where'd you put yours?" before Ric replies there's a disturbing noise from downstairs that I know is not Stefan 'cause he was going a-hunting. "What the hell was that?" I head down the stairs and then "Ric?" huh? Ric came flying down the stairs. At least he's not dea-"Oh!" fuck. "Hello lover" Barbie Klaus. And then. Kidnap.
Yep. She stole me. Fuck my life. She manacles my wrists to bear traps. "I found them in the shed. What kind of monster would trap a poor defenceless animal?" well you. Clearly. But fuck it hurts.
"Gotta admit, even for me it's a little kinky" – "You pretended to be interested in me, and then you slept with me so your trampy little friend Sage could steal my thoughts" that I did. Have I mentioned that I might not be the nicest guy in the world? 'Cause I kinda thought it was implied.
"I've decided to bleed the vervain from your system" she rips open my shirt and slices into my chest. Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally adverse to a little pain, in the bedroom. But generally speaking I like to get some gratification in return. Somehow though I don't really think that's what Blondie Bex has planned for this afternoon's fun.
"You wanna compel me to be your boyfriend?" god that would be bad. "Actually I'd rather compel you to kill your brother. Or Elena" shit. Yeah that's, not good. No. She'll have to rip my eyelids off first. Ew! Gross.
But seriously, just. No. I think though, that if she did, I think I could resist it. For my brother? For Elena? I would fight it, so fucking hard. Or I'd kill myself trying. Rebekah slices her fancy knife into my carotid artery and it sti-ngs! Payback is a bitch.
I just really hope that when Ric inevitably tells my brother what happened that Stef sticks with the plan. See Original – Kill Original. He can come in on his white horse and rescue me when they're all dead. Ooh yeah, that means any compulsion won't stick either.
I can handle the pain and my brother knows this, fortunately he's also well and truly in revenge mode and I wasn't lying earlier when I said his morals get questionable, so I'm almost certain he'll stick with the plan. Just a shame I won't be there to see them all fall down.
Klaus comes through and makes some suggestions to Rebekah but I only really hear something about hanging me upside down which I really hope she doesn't decide to do. "Go and manage your witch" huh? Witch? Bonnie? Where?
Never mind. Rebekah comes back and start cutting into me again and it's all very nostalgia inducing. At least this time it's only my blood I'm losing instead of actual organs and whatnot. Yeah. I can stand the pain. No problems over here.
Elena. No. Not good. "What are you doing? Rebekah will kill you" she is suicidal! Why would Stefan let her come here?
"Hurry up and tell me what to do" oh but relief from the pain in my wrists does sound so appealing. "Open. Carefully" Elena opens the traps and I collapse on her.
She smells funny. I don't mean...I mean she smells different. Not...like Elena. Oh god I'm not making any sense. She starts to drag me out but it's painful an-"come on, come on we have to keep going" but I can't. Which makes no sense. God but I'm confused, what's wrong with me?
I survived for 5 years on one measly ration of blood a day and I managed to walk away alone; and now I can't move unaided? Something feels wrong.
"I need a minute" but Elena is here, she came after me and she's touching me. "Look at me. Look at me" no I can't, because if I look at you then you might not be real. And I want you to be real.
"Don't be an idiot Elena" she grabs my face "I am not going to leave you. Damon, no" she puts her wrist to my mouth and I'm almost certain that this isn't real now. Can't be real. I must have passed out. Must be dreaming. Because Elena only ever offers me her blood willingly in my very best dreams.
But I figure I may as well make the most of it while I can, "hey drink" god I like this dream. I got the taste wrong though. That's unusual too.
And then I wake up.
And that's when I get it. It was a dream. But it wasn't mine. Rebekah planted it.
"Bitch" well at least that explains why Elena didn't smell or taste right.
"It's not fun when someone messes with your thoughts is it?" – "Actually I was having a pretty good time in there" could ya maybe send me back? My dreams are much better though. At the very least they involve much less torture and much less clothing.
"Oh come on, I couldn'ta hurt you that bad. You didn't think I really had a thing for you did ya?" 'cause if you did then you have not been paying attention. I'm a one-woman man. Kinda. At the very least I'm a love one-woman man. Everyone else is either entertainment of distraction. Or, in Rebekah's case, a fact-finding mission.
She stabs me right in the side which fucking hurts but as long as she's talking and stabbing she's not compelling which works for me, because if she can get in my dreams then it means the vervain is gone so she could compel me anytime.
Bonnie. Bonnie is here. What did she do?
"Go on, help him. Save the man who turned your mother into a vampire" yeah, let's go ahead and add that to my list of things that are never gonna happen. We'll slot it right in between 'going back in a cell' and 'Elena ever being mine'.
Why aren't the cavalry here yet? I feel like I've been here for-fucking-ever and surely they should have caught an Original by now? The place is crawling with them!
Ah, brother, good new – what's he got?
"Huh, this was much different in my head" – "Klaus! I'm here. Let's do this" do what now? What's going on? Have I mentioned how much I hate not knowing things?
"What do you want?" Stefan throws a bag at Klaus's feet. What's in the bag brother? 'cause it looks suspiciously like the bag with the stakes.
"Stefan what are you doin'?" – "Eight stakes made of White oak. The part of Wickery Bridge that you forgot to burn" huh? No! Wait...eight? That's not right. We have more than that! Clever Stefan!
"Finn's dead" really? How the fuck are they still – Bonnie! Dammit all to hell! That's what the witch was doing here.
Shit Klaus is walking over towards me. "Leave" he demands."No" – "I said: go home" he compels.
Well okay then. Guess I'll be leaving now. I fucking hate being compelled. It's like trying to breathe underwater. You want to fight it. You want to struggle against it. You want to breathe but you simply can't. And it fucking hurts, trying to leave I mean.
I can't follow that line of thought too closely though because I am a fucking vampire and I have to compel and have compelled hundreds of people. I don't know if that's how the humans feel and I don't want to know. 'Course I don't usually compel people to try and escape bear traps. I'm all about the no fear.
Finally he lets me stop, which is great because I was about to try and chew my wrists off. Unfortunately I know what's coming next and I think I might have preferred the pain.
"Minus the stake that's in my brother, how many more stakes are out there that can kill me?" god dammit where's Bill Forbes when you need him? Never mind, forget I asked that.
"Eleven" – "Eleven, really? So not eight then" Stefan says he'll get the rest so does that mean I get to come down now? No, apparently not, seems they want to shout at each other some first.
"What is wrong with you? Do you really have no appreciation for me? I have given you someone to hate, to loathe. A target for all of your anger so you don't have to turn it on yourself, I have given your life purpose as your friend. I mean, I really think you should be thanking me"
God why can't this party just be over already? Stefan rushes for Klaus with one of the stakes when he finishes his little speech but he'll never be able to take him alone.
And then, sweet, blissful relief, Rebekah comes and unshackles me and I fall to my knees. My hands fucking hurt and I need blood. Help a brother out Stef? Please?
Stefan helps me home where I get some much needed replenishment for my poor battered body and I get filled in on the latest unfortunate development in our Original drama. Apparently, when you kill an Original every vampire that they ever turned and so on and so forth also dies. So, I'm gonna go ahead and say it was a good thing we stopped Esther's plan then.
Now though, it means that we not only need to find another way to kill them, we also need to figure out who not to kill to ensure that we also, do not simply cease to exist. Two more problems to add to my rapidly increasing list of them.
Personally I'm beginning to question the sanity of staying in this town. Maybe we should reconsider my previous suggestion to pack up shop and find a deserted island to live on instead.
I leave Stef in the house with Elena and come to track down Ric's stake so we can hand the rest over to Klaus.
"Need your stake" I tell him when he answers the door. He hid it in a bookshelf? Weird.
"Where the hell is it?" – "Ha-ha look harder Ric" it's not there. God. Dammit.
"Who else did you tell Ric?" – "I didn't tell anybody Damon I'm the only...I'm the only one who knew about it Damon" ah crap.
"Are you telling me that your vampire hating alter-ego has a stake that can kill an entire line of vampires; possibly mine?" – "That's exactly what I'm telling you."
Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be? Yeah. Make that three new problems.
I want to go back to dreamland.
Dear Diary,
So I think I'm beginning to believe that we should just give up on our ideas to kill Klaus. It never works, we fail every time and I should probably just resign myself to being his personal blood-bag for the rest of my life. I am so tired of failing!
I know Damon and Stefan will never give up though, they'll keep trying to kill him even if it means them dying in the process because they're doing it to protect me. Rebekah took Damon today, stole him right out of the house! I'm not exactly sure what went on because Damon didn't say that much about it but she definitely hurt him because when he got home he was covered in blood and he didn't look so good. I don't really feel bad for daggering her anymore now.
When I found out that Rebekah took him I wanted to go after him, I told Stefan that we should but he refused to listen to me. I wanted to go myself, but I knew that walking into that house would be suicide so I had to stick with the plan. We did kill one of the Originals, Finn, but by that time Klaus had had Bonnie unlink them all so the others are all still alive.
We found out that when an Original dies every vampire from their bloodline dies along with them and I thought about what happened with Bonnie's mom. When Esther was doing her spell, if I had known then what I know now? Would I have been so upset with Damon for turning Abby? If I had known that killing all of the Originals would have killed Damon and Stefan too?
It scares me that there is a part of me that would sacrifice almost anyone to save the Salvatores. That would give up almost everything...anyone, to save them. But that part of me does exist, and I can't deny that. Though I'll probably never say it out loud.
Stefan and I talked tonight, he's been much more, himself recently and I think it's because Damon is helping him, he's teaching him how to control the bloodlust and learn moderation.
Stefan said that he lost me in the process of trying to destroy Klaus and I couldn't answer him because I don't really know if that's true or not. I told him that I still love him, that I never stopped loving him, but I don't know whether we can go back or not yet. I still have to work that part out.
And then, then he said that I'm in love with Damon too. I tried to deny it but then Stefan said that he loves me, that he will always love me but he just wanted me to tell him that I didn't feel anything for Damon.
I tried to, I really did but I couldn't say anything for a really long time. The silence went on for what felt like hours until eventually all I could say was that I don't know what I feel.
But if even Stefan thinks I'm in love with his brother, then I guess that maybe I need to at least start considering the fact that I might be. I am really confused about my feelings and I feel like I talk myself in circles over and over about Damon but the only way I'm going to figure it out is if I try to figure it out.
So to that end, Damon and I are going to go and get Jeremy from Denver. It's equally as dangerous for him to be in Denver as it is for him to be in Mystic Falls now that we know Klaus knows where he is and we're hoping he can help us contact Rose who will be able to tell us who sired her, and more than anything else, I just miss my brother. I want him to come home.
Elena