CHAPTER 14 – THE HIKE

„Uuugh, god just kill me," Rhiannon pleaded when Elena showed up in her room at the Salvatore boarding house way too early for her hangover to subside.

„No can do," Elena chirped handing her the largest cup of steaming hot coffee she managed to find. "I was wondering if you'd like to go on a hike to Smoky Mountains today."

"Honestly that's the last thing I would wanna do right now but I'm sensing this isn't just about the fresh air, am I right?" Rhiannon mumbled sipping on her coffee and praying for a quick death.

"Yea, Stefan called me last night," Elena started making Rhiannon instantly more awake. "Last night after I got home from the party. He didn't say anything but I asked Sheriff Forbes to track the origin of the phone call. It came from Tennessee. So I talked to Alaric and he told me Klaus's been tracking werewolves all summer long and Tyler helped me figure out where in Tennessee they would most likely gather on the full moon so—"

"Wooaah, hold on," Rhiannon cut her off. "So you're thinking about tracking down a pack of werewolves on the full moon? Is that what you're saying?"

"C'mon, we'll be out of there before the moon is full," Elena pleaded making Rhiannon want to shake her back into sensibility.

"Elena, do you hear yourself right now?" she started. "I understand you want to find Stefan, but this is way too dangerous. And I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about you. It almost near to impossible to outrun one werewolf and we're talking about the entire freakin' pack! Not to mention freaky lunatic hybrid and his side kick who went off the rails and murdered Damon's girlfriend last night."

"Fine, you don't wanna go? It'll be just me and Alaric," Elena deadpanned storming out of her room.

"God, why me?!" Rhiannon whined heading for a quick shower. This was going to be one hell of a long day. After she showered, she got dressed in black jean shorts, white wife-beater and black and green flannel shirt. She paired it with her hiking boots and put her hair in a high messy bun, then headed out the door to tell Damon about Elena's latest adventure.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Damon yelled out in frustration and for a moment she thought he was gonna bite her head off.

"Yea, I'm hungover as fuck and all I desire is to trudge through a freakin' forest in this heat," Rhiannon deadpanned.

"Just let's go before Elena gets herself and Rick killed," Damon muttered as his phone rang. It was Rick telling him what was going on.

"So you really think Stefan's off the rails for good?" Rhiannon asked Damon sipping some more coffee from her travel mug as they drove in an insane speed to catch up with Elena and Alaric.

"Yep," Damon retorted. "Saw it happen before. It took him decades to get back on track and this is way worse than it was in 1920's."

"Oh wow, I mean I get that Elena doesn't want to give up on him, but what she's doing today is just stupid and reckless," she added.

"Yea, you didn't have to come with me though, I could've handle this on my own," Damon said.

"I know you could, but you're going to a mountain range full of werewolves on the full moon. You need all the help you can get," she countered.

"True, but what about you? I mean you're a werewolf too, you'll we wolfing out with the rest of them," Damon said worryingly.

"Not exactly," she retorted making Damon look at her surprised. "This necklace… Elijah gave it to me on my birthday, the night before the sacrifice. It's spelled so I don't have to turn unless I want to. Guess I forgot to tell you before."

"Yea, well that's handy," Damon retorted. "Wait it was your birthday two months ago? Why didn't you tell anybody?"

"I didn't feel like that was important given everything that was going on at the time," Rhiannon said looking out the window. "Hey, I know Elena's gonna get sacrificed on the altar of fire, but it's my birthday today, jello shot?"

Damon didn't say anything to that, just snickered under his breath. "Well happy belated birthday then."

"Thanks."

"Damon?!" Elena yelled from the river, dripping wet. "How are you even here?!"

"Well try and guess!" Rhiannon called out to her coming from behind Damon.

"You sold me out?!" Elena cried incredulously.

"You think I'd let you go to a mountain range full of werewolves on full moon only with Alaric?" Rhiannon asked incredulously. "No offense Rick."

"None taken," he muttered.

"Get out of the water Elena," Damon said dispassionately.

"If I get out of the water you're gonna make me go home," Elena retorted crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yea because I'm not an idiot, like you," Damon bit back.

"Right now you're both acting like idiots," Alaric chimed in.

"You gave up on him Damon," Elena muttered.

"I didn't give up on him Elena," Damon countered. "I face reality. Now get out of the water!"

"No!"

"What's your big plan Elena?!" Damon asked, clearly pissed, and started down the river bank. "You're gonna walk through a camp site full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow and wait for Stefan to stop by?!"

"My plan is to find him and help him," Elena pleaded backing up further into the water. "Damon this is the closest we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home!"

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse," Damon reasoned. "That makes you safe. This? This is not safe!"

"I'm not leaving before we find him," Elena insisted.

"It's a full moon tonight Elena!"

"Then we find him before then!" Elena wasn't giving up. "Damon please!"

"He's gonna back down isn't he," Rhiannon muttered leaning on the tree watching the exchange between the two.

"Yep," Alaric muttered grabbing water from his backpack.

"So they're both out of their minds," she sighed.

"So it would seem," Rick agreed.

"Sun's about to set," Damon toned nervously.

"I can see that Damon," Elena retorted.

"Just sayin'."

"Relax, the moon doesn't reach its apex for a while," Rhiannon chimed in. "I'll tell you when's the time to really worry. I'll feel it."

"Well how convenient, we got out werewolf alarm clock set then," Damn bit back.

"That's hilarious," Rhiannon shoved him into his shoulder.

"Yep, I know," Damon smirked.

Then there was a horrid looking man, bleeding from his eyes stumbling through the thick flora towards them.

"Stay where you are," Alaric snarled pointing his crossbow at him.

The guy seemed really out of it though and he just muttered "vampire" before lunging at them. Damon was quicker though, pinning the guy against the tree. He went rabid though, not giving up on trying to bite Damon's head off so Rhiannon blurred over there to help him. Then Elena unlatched a grenade throwing it to Damon which could mean only one thing. It wasn't vervain, it was wolfsbane. Well shit. She managed to dunk away so she didn't get the full load but the grenade still burned her quite badly.

"Oh my god Rhiannon, I'm so sorry!" Elena muttered worried as she was pouring some water on her thigh to neutralize the wolfsbane.

"Ugh, don't worry about it, okay?" she muttered through her gritted teeth. "Next time a little heads up would be nice though."

They were tying the knocked out hybrid out.

"These ropes aren't gonna hold him for long," Damon stated. "What else do we have?"

"Here, Rick take these,"Elena said soaking the ropes in vervain. Damon wasn't listening and winced in pain as soon as he touched the ropes.

"I said Rick," Elena retorted making Rhiannon snicker.

"Alright, that's the last of the vervain," Rick stated. "We don't have enough stuff to hold him."

"I don't think we're gonna make that ridge before the full moon," Rhiannon said clutching her gut. She didn't have to turn but she still felt very uneasy and this uneasiness only grew bigger as the full moon set on the night sky.

"If we get him to talk, we don't have to," Elena countered.

"How? I mean, he's clearly not in his right mind," Rhiannon retorted, but Elena didn't listen and approached the hybrid. Before she could try to wake him up, he started to convulse and they heard bones cracking. He was turning.

"C'mon Elena, it's time to get the hell out of here!" Rhiannon grabbed her hand.

"But I don't understand, it's not even full moon yet!" she objected grabbing her backpack.

"Me neither! Must be a hybrid thing!" Rhiannon retorted turning around to Damon who was currently trying to hold the guy back. "Damon c'mon! We gotta go!"

"Damon we gotta get out of these mountains now!" Elena joined in, grabbing his shoulder and finally managed to peel him off the screaming werewolf.

They were running through the woods for quite some time when Elena tripped and fell but before she could get back up on her feet, she was face to face with a wolf.

"Elena don't move!" Alaric instructed.

"Well shit," Rhiannon muttered and jumped in front of Elena, barring her fangs and snarling at the wolf, her canines extending and her nails turning to claws. The beast however didn't seem to be willing to back down. Then Damon whistled and called out: "Here doggy doggy" catching its attention and vamped away, the wolf following him.

"C'mon let's keep moving!" Rick said helping her get up.

"We can't leave Damon!" she protested.

"He can handle himself. Let's move!" Rick insisted.

"No if he gets bit he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here!" Elena countered.

"I'm the reason he's out here!" Rhiannon chimed in. "Now go with Rick. I'm gonna stay and help Damon. Move!"

She was running through the woods, trailing the faint scent of the werewolf thanking god for her heightened senses when she found Damon struggling against the same guy from before, him getting closer and closer. She ran towards them but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Stefan vamp over there and rip the guy's heart from his chest.

"Fancy meeting you here," Damon jabbed dispassionately.

"What part of don't follow me anymore got lost in translation Damon?" Stefan said exasperatedly.

"You might wanna take it up with your girlfriend," Damon bit back. "If you donvt want her chasing you might wanna stop with the late-night phone calls."

"I didn't call her," Stefan muttered weakly.

"Sure you didn't," Damon retorted. "She's not gonna give up on you."

"Well she has to," Stefan said. "Because I'm never coming back. Now why don't you get her home? See if you can keep her there this time."

"We'll try our best," Rhiannon called out walking out of the shadows. "Hang in there Stefan," she added walking past him and squeezing his shoulder.

Couple hours later Rhiannon was getting out of shower again checking her now fully healed thigh in the mirror. Ever since she got back into the car she's been thinking about how Elena was willing to risk everything to get Stefan back and whether there was something she could do to get Elijah back from Klaus's grasp. She was helpless, pissed and confused, but one thing she knew for sure. She never stopped loving him and she missed him terribly.

I love you Elijah, just hold on.

Elijah's never been daggered this long before. The longest was those couple of days he spent daggered in the Salvatore cellar. It was excruciating. He was forced to relive all the horrible memories he's had over and over again. This time over it was worse. It wasn't just like watching it from afar like the time before that. This time it felt way too real and the bad moments were entwined with the good ones which made this experience all the more confusing and painful. The only way he was gonna survive this was to focus on her. Her angelic face, her warm smile and the way she felt cuddled against his body.

Rhiannon, I need you. I love you.