Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Sienna Salvatore – Danielle Campbell.
River Fell – Meaghan Martin.
Luna Lockwood – Isabeli Fontana.
Stone Fell – Alexander Ludwig.
Chapter 5:
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Stefan in concern. "If you want I can just tell him it was all me."
Sienna stubbornly shook her head crossing her arms, "No, Stefan. Thank you. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I have to do this."
"That will then put you on his radar. He won't play nice with you anymore," said Stefan looking worried.
"He went after Caroline after I specifically told him not to. After I helped him," growled Sienna, adamantly shaking her head. "No, Stefan, I have to show him that I don't do idle threats. He purposely went after my best friend. I need to show him that I'm not playing his game and I mean business. So let's go."
Stefan let out a defeated sigh and followed Sienna down to the basement where they were currently holding Damon in the cellar for three days now.
"Hello Damon," Sienna started; he didn't look so good. He was weak and his skin had lost its luster, and his electric blue eyes now looked dull and filmy.
"Si-ienna," Damon coughed, his voice was raspy and hoarse. "You got to help me, there's a latch over there."
Sienna rolled her eyes, a smirk fixed on her face, "Now, why would I want to do that, when I helped put you here." Stefan shook his head; he didn't like how she was aggravating him. Stefan was scared that if Damon ever managed to escape, that he'd kill or harm Sienna, but he knew that he had to trust her.
"What?" Damon gasped and Sienna couldn't help but stare in outrage at the genuine look of confusion on Damon's face; Seriously? How much of a moron is this vampire? "But, why? I thought we were getting along fine."
"Are you really that retarded? Why?!" Sienna screamed, edging forward slightly, but not too close to be within reaching distance. "You broke one of my rules! You purposely compelled Caroline after I gave you a different approach to take! Now, do you know why?!"
"So the vervain was all you?"
"Actually, Stefan and I worked together on that. You know … family bonding time," using the same mocking tone Damon had the other day when he witnessed her and Stefan having a heart to heart. "I was already planning on giving my friends vervain; didn't expect you to beat me to the punch and backstab me. Thanks uncle," she sneered.
Damon chuckled humorlessly, "Ah, good ol' Stefan. Always playing the hero. You gonna talk brother, or are you going to let your niece do all the talking?"
Stefan stepped forward, his figure looming over him, and stood next to Sienna, "Damon," he acknowledged.
"Where's my ring?" demanded Damon after another coughing fit.
"Won't be needing it anymore," Stefan stated, not deeming to give him a rightful answer.
"How long have I been here?"
"Three days," said Sienna perkily, giving him a smug smile. Stefan gave her a warning side-glance telling her not to test him. No one knew what Damon was capable of, especially when provoked.
"What are you doing?"
"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment. They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them," said Stefan solemnly.
"You know what will happen if I don't … feed on blood," Damon's voice took on a pleading note.
"You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever," answered Stefan forlornly.
"So what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?" Damon snapped.
"Uh, kinda the point you idiot. What? Did you actually think we'd let you roam around town, sucking the life out of everyone? Literally," scoffed Sienna.
"We've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate," Stefan informed him.
Damon glared at the two Salvatores, "I'm stronger than you think."
"You always have been. But you're not stronger than vervain. And we both know it. I'm sorry. Didn't have to be this way," Stefan turned to leave when he noticed Sienna still stood, staring down at Damon, "Sienna?"
"You know Damon. I actually, genuinely liked you. I thought we were getting along, and ya know, maybe become some sort of dysfunctional family. It's your fault that you're in here. I told you, I specifically told you that my friends were off limits, and you just had to go and test the waters. Your betrayal really hurt me Damon. Goodbye."
"Sienna! Sienna!" Damon shouted after her, but Sienna ignored him and left the basement, Stefan hot on her heals.
"You okay?" asked Stefan concernedly. Sienna nodded, wiping a few tears, "Just hormones, it's nothing."
"You're in denial," Stefan stated.
Sienna rolled her eyes and threw her arms in the air, "Ugh, fine! So Damon's betrayal hurt me, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Stefan gave her a soft smile. They both turned around when they heard Zach approaching them.
"He's awake. He's weak, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon. I'm not sure how dangerous he still might be," Stefan warned Zach, who nodded and in turn went to look at Sienna.
"I don't want you going down there, Sienna. It's dangerous. You have to think of your babies, okay?"
Sienna grumbled and grudgingly nodded, "Okay."
"You're going to school?" Zach stared incredulously at Stefan.
"Came here to live a life. It's about time I get back to that. And Elena, if she's still speaking to me."
Sienna rolled her eyes; if she had to hear that bitch's name one more time.
"Why haven't you called her?" asked Zach looking perplexed.
"What am I supposed to do, feed her another lie? I hate lying to her, Zach. I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something," said Stefan looking downtrodden.
"I'm sure Gilbert could suck it up not knowing something for once," Sienna huffed glaring at Stefan who gave her an exhausted look; so Stefan was getting annoyed with my vocal intense hatred of Elena Gilbert, so fucking what?
"What choice do you have? You came back here because you wanted to live as normal a life here as you could. You knew this was going to be a part of it," Zach reminded him the exact words Stefan told him when he moved back to the Boarding house.
"Wise words Uncle Zach," Sienna grinned. Zach ruffled her hair fondly and headed over to his office.
"Come on broody, let's go to school," Sienna sniggered.
"Broody? I'm not broody."
Once the two Salvatores arrived at Mystic Falls High School, Stefan made a beeline over to Elena who was with Bonnie, while Sienna grinned and walked over to Caroline, River and Luna.
"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fundraiser, for god's sake," Caroline rambled to Luna and River.
"Chill Care-Bear, we get it," Luna laughed, rolling her eyes fondly.
"I'll go, but I'm not wearing a bikini. And before you whine and say why, Care, I'm pregnant with twins and I already have a baby bump," Sienna snapped, and Caroline closed her jaw shut as she was actually going to whine.
"Pregnant women are sexy S, they have this glow about them," River smiled comfortingly.
"Uh-huh, so you're telling me, that if you three were in my position that you'd parade around in your bikini, showing your four month pregnant bump for the whole school to see?" Sienna stared skeptically at her friends who all had sheepish looks on their faces, "That's what I thought," she scoffed.
"Jeez, someone's in a mood today," grumbled Caroline.
"Yeah, well. I'm telling you, it's these damn hormones. I mean one minute I'm happy, the next I'm bawling my eyes out, and then I'd be bitchy before suddenly switching back to happy. It's killing me, I feel like a fucking mood ring," Sienna huffed in annoyance.
"I think it's hilarious," snorted Luna, always the sensitive one.
"Oh, by the way S. Where is Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do," Caroline stared at Sienna questioningly.
"Are you shitting me Care? No offense Sienna, but your cousin's an ass!" Luna growled.
"None taken. Like I said, I love my cousin, but he's messed up at the moment. I warned you Care-Bear," said Sienna; she felt guilty … it wasn't exactly Caroline's fault. She was compelled and had no choice. Sienna on the other hand, knew that Damon had his eyes on Caroline and she stupidly trusted the jackass.
If only she hadn't postponed giving her friends vervain, then none of this would have happened.
"I get it Sienna. But you still haven't answered my question. Where is he?" asked an adamant Caroline.
"Yeah, I haven't seen him around. Where is he?" River frowned, looking over at Sienna who was currently a bundle of nerves.
"He's gone," was all Sienna simply said; they have all been sisters since they were four, so she knew that her friends could tell when she wasn't being honest or when she was nervous. She hoped that giving them vague and simple answers would do the trick.
"Well, when is he coming back?" Caroline pressed.
"He's not coming back Care-Bear, so drop it," Sienna snarled.
"Woah, calm down. We didn't mean to upset you S," said River soothingly, her navy blue orbs looking at her in concern.
Sienna dragged a hand through her hair, and let out a nervous laugh, "Look, I'm sorry. It's just … Damon is a sore subject for me at the moment. I don't want to talk about him, kay?"
Luna, River and Caroline nodded obediently, though Caroline did so reluctantly. Sienna frowned at that … was this an after-effect of Damon's compulsion? Or was Caroline actually interested in Damon? She'd have to ask Stefan later when they get back to the Boarding house.
Zach knew that he shouldn't go down to the cellar, but he couldn't help himself. He needed to let everything out of his chest, everything he had always wanted to tell Damon, but was too scared to. A part of him admitted that he also wanted to gloat at Damon's predicament.
"I'm full of vervain. I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years. My blood will only make you worse," when there was no reply, Zach called out his name, worried that he had somehow escaped, "Damon?"
Damon's hoarse voice weakly sounded out, "So it was your vervain. Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep."
"We're not family, Damon. Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you. My brother left town because he knew you'd come back one day and he didn't want to run into you. The only family I have is Sienna," spat Zach getting hyped up.
"Sienna … hmmm. I don't suppose I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something? I'd settle for Stefan's diet at this point," said Damon weakly, sounding desperate.
Zach scoffed, "You know I can't do that."
"You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit, either."
"But you don't come to visit, Damon," snapped Zach angrily. "You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here. Hell that you're permitting me and now Sienna to live."
"Someone had to mow the lawn," chuckled Damon without humor; it was true. Damon would appear every few decades to make sure there was a living relative so that they could invite him into the Boarding house. If they died before being invited then he wouldn't ever be able to enter again.
Zach spared Damon one last look as he turned to leave, "I came to say goodbye, Damon." All of a sudden, he felt a hand on his neck, choking him near the cellar bar.
"Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach," Damon snarled through gritted teeth; he was so weak and he was already expending what little energy he saved up. He needed Zach to open the door; his only other chance was Caroline, but it wasn't a strong connection, since he had barely fed on her.
Stefan flashed down and grabbed Damon's hand, twisting it hard enough to hear the bones crack. Stefan threw Damon back into the cell, "Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expend, the faster you'll go."
"Oh, lookie there. Miss Prissy Gilbert is playing pool with her ex-boyfriend," Luna sneered. "What Matt sees in Elena is totally beyond my comprehension."
"Well, he's your brother's best friend … you should know," River smirked.
Luna grumbled, "Beats me, Riv. What about you, S? Why is your cousin so infatuated with Bitchy Gilbert?"
Caroline usually either kept quiet or feigned deafness whenever her best friends spoke about Elena, but this time she was actually curious; why did Stefan want Elena the second he moved into Mystic Falls?
Sienna rolled her eyes, "She looks really similar to his ex-girlfriend." Which was true … Elena was Katherine's doppelganger, but it wasn't like she could just go right out and say it.
"Seriously?" River gaped. Her attention drifted elsewhere for a second and she muttered quickly, "Speaking of which, she is coming over."
"What does that cow want now?" growled Luna.
"Hey girls, Caroline," Elena smiled. She then focused her chocolate orbs on Sienna, "Um, Sienna can we talk for a sec?"
"Sure, speak," drawled Sienna, staring at Elena with annoyance.
"Uh, I meant privately," Elena shifted uncomfortably.
Sienna stared at Elena for a minute, before shaking her head, "Yeah, no! Whatever you want to say, say it! Otherwise leave, your presence is suffocating."
"Stefan was supposed to meet me here, but he's hitting the hour-mark. He disappeared on me for three days, and was … very cryptic. Can you tell me where he was and what's happening with Damon?"
Sienna, Luna and River gaped at Elena in shock; seriously? Can the idiot girl take a freaking hint? Caroline was even staring at Elena in bewilderment.
"You did not seriously just ask me that?" snapped Sienna glaring daggers at Elena. "First of all, my family is none of your business; don't you go snooping around through our private affairs. Second of all, I'm not your friend, and I already made it extremely clear to you that I don't like you, so don't come to me for girl talk and understanding. And third of all; what? You cannot stand to be apart from your boyfriend for three days? What are you … some high-maintenance chick? Stefan's not a dog; you can't tie him up with a leash!" Sienna snarled.
"Why are you so bitchy to me? I haven't done anything to you. Unlike the rest of the town, I haven't once called you a whore 'cause you got knocked up," said Elena snootily.
Luna, River and Caroline gasped. Sienna's olive green eyes began darkening into jade green – a sign that meant she was out for blood.
"You did not just say that Elena," Caroline stared wide-eyed at her friend.
Luna growled and stood up, "You better take that back you bitch!"
"No! I will not," snapped Elena, not understanding that she had just crossed the danger zone. "Sienna whored around and got knocked up and she has the nerve to call me names?!"
Anyone who knew about vampires would think that Sienna was one of them with how fast she had just moved. Sienna lunged at Elena, her hand slapping Elena across the face, putting all her strength into the hit, that a resounding smack reverberated around the now silent Mystic Grill, and Elena staggered backwards, nearly falling down on her ass.
"You little bitch! Don't talk about things you don't know. I'll fucking kill you-"Sienna went to lunge at Elena again, but fortunately for Elena, Stefan appeared at that exact moment and held Sienna off in his arms.
"Sienna, Sienna. Breathe, come on, it's not good for the babies. Relax, calm down," said Stefan rapidly in soothing tones; Sienna struggled in his arms, "Just get your girlfriend out of my face Stefan, or I won't be held accountable for her death. GET HER OUT OF MY FACE, NOW!"
Stone left his friends and began making his way over to the girls; everyone in the grill was staring wide-eyed at the pregnant Salvatore kicking the perfect, sweet Elena frickin Gilbert in shock and surprise … and some were even looking on in amusement.
"Stefan!" Luna called out abruptly, coming over and taking a still-struggling Sienna into her arms, "Take that bitch out of here; otherwise you'll have to tackle three girls and your pregnant cousin."
Stefan nodded solemnly and took a sobbing, wide doe-eyed Elena by her hand. Sienna's still jade orbs glared at Elena's back who now stood with Stefan and some old man.
"Is everything okay here?" Stone stood next to River; River groaned and looked up at her brother, "Yeah, Stone, not exactly the right time. You should leave."
"What? Come to watch the show?" Sienna spat at Stone; it was his entire fault. It was his fault that Elena had something over her, and it was his fault she was in this position – pregnant and single, leaving the mass of Mystic Falls to call her a whore and her children, bastards.
"S, let me take you home, come on," Caroline got up and took Sienna into her arms, leaving Luna and River with a confused and shocked Stone.
Unknown to the girls, Logan and Jenna watched the whole scene take place and since they were sitting two tables away from them, they heard the whole conversation down to every last word.
"I cannot believe Elena said that to Sienna," Jenna looked horrified; yes, what Sienna told her niece was mean and harsh, but she liked Sienna, Luna, River and Caroline, and even though she didn't like it, she respected the fact that they were honest to her face and wasn't showering her with fake friendship and words.
"Look, Jenna, I like you … a lot, and you know that. But Sienna is like a niece to me; she's carrying my great-niece or great-nephew and stress isn't good for her or the babies," Logan looked seriously at Jenna, for once there was no charming smile on his face and he was very solemn.
"Babies? She's having twins?" Jenna gasped feeling sympathetic to the seventeen year old mother-to-be.
"Yes. Which means she has a higher risk of losing the babies due to stress. Please just keep your niece away from Sienna. From what we have just listened in on, Sienna already told her countless of times to stay away from her."
Jenna nodded and gave Logan a smile, "I'll talk to Elena when I get home." Jenna never knew there was a caring and fatherly side to Logan and she found herself liking it; maybe this time their relationship could work.
The next day, the girls went over to the sexy suds car wash dressed in their sexiest bikinis; Sienna however, was wearing jeans mini-shorts and a loose one-shoulder top. Caroline left the girls to explain the rules to Elena.
"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not."
"No, we are not," Elena bobbed her head.
Caroline then scorned Elena and Stefan about their clothes, looking them up and down, "The event is called sexy suds, you know." And with those parting words, she went back to Sienna, Luna and River.
"That was way bitchy Care. I liked it," Luna smirked.
"Why were you being mean to Stefan, though? I thought you guys liked him," Sienna's brows crinkled in confusion.
Caroline rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Last night Stefan cooked a romantic dinner for Elena at her house. … I mean seriously, his girlfriend just called his cousin a whore in public and he makes her a romantic dinner as an apology."
"Your cousin needs to straighten out his priorities, S," River tut-tutted.
Sienna felt as though she had just been slapped and hurt olive green orbs traveled over to forest green ones, knowing that with Stefan's super-hearing, he heard every single word. Stefan looked apologetic and was about to come over and talk to her, but she shook her head and turned her back on him, not wanting Stefan to see the tears in her eyes.
"Oh my god, S. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Caroline engulfed Sienna in a hug and Luna and River joined in.
"No, no. I'm glad you told me," she chuckled wetly. "It's Elena Gilbert after all. Let's just, let's just enjoy the day, m'kay?"
"Okay," Luna, River and Caroline chorused.
The girls actually did have fun; however, when Elena went over to Caroline later informing her that they were out of towels and those shimmy things, Caroline went to get some from the school and that was the last they saw of her.
Caroline Forbes traveled in a trance-like state to the Boarding House and only became lucid once she had reached the cellar were Damon was waiting for her to free him.
"Damon? Damon? Damon? Oh, my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?" Caroline rambled out, completely freaked.
"Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly," he groaned and got up slowly onto his feet, "Let me out of here, please."
"You bit me!" said Caroline accusingly, staring at him angrily.
"You liked it. Remember," Damon smirked.
Caroline shook her head, her fingers massaging her temples and confused baby blue orbs stared questioningly at Damon, "Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?"
"You remember what I want you to remember. And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do," Damon snarled, his hands clinging onto the metal bar to hold his weight.
"What am I about to do?" asked Caroline looking slightly dazed.
"You're gonna open the door," Damon smiled, his eyes dilating, pushing the compulsion, "you're going to open the door."
Caroline moved forward in a trance and began unlatching the door when Zach stormed into the cellar, "No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" Caroline screamed and began running up the stairs just as Damon broke the door open and snapped Zach's head, his eyes trained on Caroline and he went to grab her foot. Caroline kicked his hand away, and Damon still being weak from all the vervain in his system, fell backwards. Caroline ran out of the house and into the welcoming sunlight; it seemed that Caroline had forgotten her phone in her car and she never knew that her three best friends had been repeatedly calling her non-stop.
The sun went down, and a figure could be seen escaping the Boarding House, going in the direction of the cemetery where all the drugged up high-schoolers hung out on a nightly basis.
"You think Care is all right?" Sienna looked worriedly at Luna. River had already left with Stone, and Luna was dropping Sienna off to the Boarding house. Sienna could drive herself, but every odd day, her friends liked treating her as an invalid.
"I'm sure she hooked up with some guy, or maybe she ditched us and went home; whatever the reason is, we'll go over to her place tomorrow. Now stop worrying! It isn't good for the babies," Luna scolded her.
"Oh my god. One more time someone tells me something along the lines of 'it's not good for the babies', I'm gonna scream," Sienna groaned, deciding to ignore Luna's satisfied smirk.
Sienna frowned when she saw Stefan pacing worriedly in front of the Boarding house, his face was all panicky, and the second he locked eyes with Sienna, his face morphed into relief and sorrow.
"Stefan? What's wrong? Why are you pacing outside?" Sienna demanded in a worried tone. Luna stared at the cousins in perplexity and concern.
And then, Stefan said four words that changed everything for Sienna Salvatore. Four words that brought her world crashing down. Four words that had tears run down from her eyes. Four words that made her heart ache in indescribable pain.
"I can't get in."
Sienna shook her head frantically, "No, no, no, no, no, no. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Luna jumped out of her car and ran over to Sienna's side, but she pushed her away and stalked towards Stefan. "Stefan, no! Please, don't say it!"
"I need you to invite me in, Sienna. I need to protect you," Stefan's face was filled with sadness and grief and his eyes stared at the pregnant teen in pity.
"Come in," she whispered, and together, Sienna and Stefan ran into the house, making their way down to the cellar. The two Salvatores either didn't notice, or didn't care that a flummoxed Luna was following them.
"Uncle Zach? Uncle Zach? Uncle Zach? Uncle Zach? Nooo! Uncle Zach! Uncle Zach!" she ran over to the still body of her uncle who lay next to an empty cell; his eyes were blank and empty and his neck was twisted abnormally and they knew that his neck had been snapped.
"Oh my god, Sienna!" Luna breathed out in shock at seeing the dead boy of Zachary Salvatore.
Sienna ignored her, her red-rimmed eyes staring imploringly into Stefan's sorrowful ones, "Stefan, you can save him right? He's, he's, no, please don't say it, don't say it," she choked on her tears and kept shaking her head frantically in denial.
Stefan closed his eyes for a moment before looking straight into olive green orbs and said, "I'm so sorry Sienna. But Zach's dead." Sienna wailed loudly, and Stefan engulfed her in a hug, his head resting atop hers and he stared into Luna's tear-filled ones.
It took an hour for Stefan and Luna to detach Sienna from Zach's dead body, and bring her up to the living room. Her body still racked in sobs, and they were both worried about how all the stress and grief would affect the twins.
"Damon's gone. It was him! I'm going to kill him, Stefan! How the hell did he get out?" Sienna growled, trying to pull herself together and turn her grief into anger.
"It must have been Caroline. He must still have some control over her … I-I didn't know. I don't know how strong he is Sienna!" Stefan looked frustrated and she knew she couldn't blame Stefan for Zach's death.
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Luna gaped at the two Salvatores unable to believe what she was hearing. Stefan winced; he completely spaced about Luna not being in the know, but Sienna wasn't concerned.
"Sienna, we have to call his death in," Stefan murmured and Sienna nodded. Stefan took out his cellphone and stood up about to make the call, away from Sienna, when Elena burst in, marched over to Stefan and breathed out, "What are you?"
Stefan was speechless, the phone halfway lifted to his ear. Luna glared at the nerve of Gilbert just marching inside like she owned the place, but Sienna's reaction was priceless. She stood up and grabbed Elena by the hair, ignoring Stefan's protests, and she threw Elena out the front door, "Stay the fuck away from my house you bitch!"
Stefan ran out after Elena, leaving Luna and Sienna all alone. Luna went over to her best friend, who seemed to have channeled all her grief into rage, and said in as much calm as she could muster, "Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?"
A/N: Poor Zach; I couldn't save him at all, I needed Sienna to take ownership of the house … I'm sooo sorry for any of the Zachary Salvatore fans out there. Next chapter; Sienna makes the decision on whether or not she should tell Luna the truth about vampires.
R&R.