Thank you for the reviews and messages. Any constructive feedback welcomed, and it is lovely to hear your thoughts on the story. This chapter is slightly shorter, because the next part calls for it. I hope you enjoy!
x-x-x-x
Damon knew that holding the Gilbert boy by his neck against the wall wasn't the wisest idea- the kid was wearing vervain and possibly ingesting it- but in the moment he didn't care. Elena was missing again, and so was Jeremy's new girlfriend. Anna.
"Where does your new girlfriend stay, Jeremy?"
"Woah, dude, I don't, I don't know." Jeremy spluttered in response. Damon had to give him credit, he wasn't scared and speaking at all with the pressure he was putting on his voice box was impressive.
"Tell me everything you know about her." He eased the pressure and let him down slightly. He could feel himself starting to calm, every fibre in his muscles had been on fire but now they were embers, waiting to be reignited if the need came.
"I dunno, she's hot. She is homeschooled, she likes history and folklore. She believes in vampires and shit. Dude, I don't know her much, yet. We've only hung out a few times."
So, this Anna believed in vampires and liked history. The jigsaw was beginning to click into place for Damon but there were still gaps.
"Did you tell her about the Gilbert journal?" Damon asked, trying to fill in the missing pieces.
Jeremy only nodded, rubbing his throat where it was red. Damon had finally placed him back on the ground and was now pacing the hallway. Jeremy didn't look scared of him, the kid was looking at him with awe. Damon smirked in response, feeling confident enough that he'd solved the puzzle to allow a bit of humour.
"Eat plenty of Spinach and Weetabix, kid, you'll be able to do that too." He kept his face completely stoic, with just one eyebrow bent, as he reached into his pocked for his cell. The number he needed was on speed-dial.
"Bree. I need you here. Yesterday." He hung up without waiting for the witch's response. She knew where to come, and he trusted she would arrive.
Giving Jeremy Gilbert a quick salute, he strolled out of the house onto the front porch and out to his car. Let the games begin, he was about to get his girl.
x-x-x-x
The sun was creeping through a crack in the curtains and landing on her face. As Elena rolled over, something felt wrong. The pillow was rough against her hair and her trousers were digging in at the waistband which was odd as her pyjama bottoms never did. The smells were strange, stale tobacco and cheap body spray lingered in the air. Where was she?
Panicked, she sat up quickly and surveyed her surroundings. This was clearly a motel room, with two twin beds and not much space. The curtains at the window were drawn but there were a few slits of sunlight getting through. Opposite her bed, sprawled on the desk chair, was a sleeping man. Leaning forward, Elena recognised him. This was Ben, the bartended from the grill. Elena remembered watching him play football, she'd just joined the cheerleading squad when he brought home the state championship. Wait, Bonnie was going on a date with him last night. What the hell?
Elena carefully rose out of the bed, moving one leg at a time to not wake him. She made it out of the bed, then to the door. The chain on the door could make noise so she held her breath as she unhooked it, then reached for the handle.
He spun her around and his eyes widened as they made contact with hers.
"Don't try to escape. Don't even move." He was trying to compel her, Elena realised. Ben was a vampire. Shit. Shit. Shit. Thinking quickly, she pretended to be compelled, thanking the Salvatore brothers for her vervain jewellery.
Moments later, he gave her an opportunity. As he turned his back, she ran out the door, knowing the sunlight would prevent him from chasing her. Unfortunately, she hit another obstacle. This one was shorter than her, but stronger, and not damaged by the sun. This girl looked to be younger than Elena, and whilst she appeared pretty, and slight; Elena had felt her strength as the girl had picked her up and placed her back on the bed. All Elena had chance to do was ask her "Who are you? What do you want?" before she was tossed into the motel bathroom.
Turning on the light and checking her surroundings, Elena's heart stopped dead for a beat. Bonnie was in the bathtub. Her Bonnie, laid awkwardly, arms hanging out the sides, in the bathtub. Elena didn't have time to panic, she just knelt by her friend- she checked for a pulse whilst trying to rouse her. She had to be alive, Elena couldn't lose anyone else.
x-x-x-x
Damon pulled up at the high school early and waited, propped against his car. Watching the teenagers go in, he wondered what Stefan's long-term plan would have been, if Lexi hasn't have made him see the light. Would he seriously have kept going to high school? It seemed so dull; mundane and petty. There was literally a gaggle of girls arguing about whether you should text back or not. He chuckled to himself; they always texted him back.
Jeremy Gilbert gave him an awkward wave as he arrived at school. Dammit, did the kid think they were friends now? Damon did like him, but he would be leaving very soon, probably, and didn't want anyone missing him and wondering where he had gone. Opening that can of worms would make the town council interested, again.
He noticed when Caroline Forbes arrived, dressed to impress as always. The stunning blonde didn't avoid him as he expected, but instead greeted him. "Good morning, Damon. I hope you're not here to date more teenagers because you can't get a girl your own age." She turned on her heels and left before he could respond. She was right, finding a girl his own age could be tricky- especially if he wanted a dinner date.
The bell started ringing and his target still hadn't arrived. Where was Bonnie? Anna had obviously taken Elena for leverage. If she had the journal, she must have the grimoire. All she would need is a Bennet witch. How better to coerce one than to kidnap her best friend? It made perfect sense. He knew, as it was his back-up plan for if Bonnie wouldn't work with him when the time came.
If he wanted in the tomb, he needed to control the witch. Let Anna have the grimoire, they'd just have to work together. Damon didn't really give a fuck if Pearl got out too. If anything, he'd be happy Katherine had her best friend. It must really have sucked for Anna these past years, there weren't many vampires who looked that young- and with good reason. Trying to start over new lives when you looked like you could still be in middle school, that had to suck. Especially with his recently acquired knowledge of schoolgirl chatter.
Bonnie not showing up at school though, that was worrying. He flicked his cell open.
"Bree, how far away are you? We might need to perform a locator spell first."
x-x-x-x
Elena sat on one bed and Bonnie on the other. For most of the past hour, they had held hands across the divide. At one point, Bonnie had almost managed to escape, using water to burn Ben. The plan had failed when she hadn't dared to run and leave Elena alone to his whims. Elena would have happily sacrificed for Bonnie's freedom. Bonnie could have brought Damon whilst Elena stalled for time- now they were just stuck here.
When the female vampire returned, she was more willing to talk. "You really are Katherine's doppelganger," she said. "You must have the Salvatore brothers reeling. You certainly put Noah's knickers in a twist."
"Who are you?" Elena asked. This vampire knew Katherine. She knew Elena's attacker. She knew Stefan and Damon. She must want to get into the tomb too. "Why do you want Katherine?"
The young girl laughed, "I'm Anna. I'm surprised Jeremy hasn't introduced us." Before Elena could display even an ounce of shock from the realisation that this was her brother's girlfriend, the young vampire continued. "Trust me, I don't want to see that girl again. There are many vampires in that tomb." Now that did worry Elena, did she want to free them all?
"I'm not going to open that tomb." Bonnie stated, her jaw set squarely. "Not if there's more than one. It's not safe."
"You will." Anna said, peeking through the window. Her voice didn't betray any doubt. "Your friend is my leverage."
Well, that explained why she was there. "Who are you here for?" Elena asked. Did this innocent looking girl really want to unleash a tomb full of vampires on the town?
Anna met her eyes, then Bonnie's, before going back to staring out the window. "My mother. Katherine couldn't help herself. She just had to toy around with half the boys in the town. When she got caught, so did my mother. I watched Jonathan Gilbert take her away."
"I'm sorry." Elena said. Losing your mother was one thing, but knowing your mother was in pain and trapped, for over a century? There was no healing from that, just waiting. Excruciating, painful waiting. She'd felt sympathy for Damon, separated from his girl, but to feel that loss for a parent? She couldn't begin to comprehend. She glanced at Bonnie, letting the pain and pleading in her eyes show.
Anna looked at her quizzically, "You really mean that, don't you?"
Both girls nodded in response, but it was Bonnie who spoke. "If you promise to only release your mother, I will help you."
Elena quickly added, "and Katherine. For Damon. He needs her."
Elena watched as Anna's face flickered with expressions, first relief, then amusement, then determination. Elena wasn't sure what Anna had found briefly humorous, but at least it was agreed by the vampire's nod. They would save Anna's mother and Katherine.
"We do it tonight." Bonnie said, "But I need my Grams."
"You'll need this too." Anna said, retrieving an old leather journal from her bag. "The Bennet Grimoire. Sorry about the dirt, I had to dig it up."
Bonnie visibly shivered as she touched it, and Elena tried to avoid thinking about where Anna may have dug it up from.
"You can go speak to your Grams, but Elena is staying with me until tonight." Anna glanced in Elena's directions. "I'm sorry, I hope you understand."
Elena reassured Bonnie she would be fine and lent back on the bed. Anna commanded Ben to guard her and then disappeared herself.
So, tonight Damon would get Katherine back and probably leave. Anna would leave. She might even take Ben with her. That only left Noah in the Salvatore's basement, but surely either Damon or Anna would deal with him before leaving?
By the end of tonight, all the vampires would be gone and she could do on living her normal life. She might rejoin cheerleading, or volunteer at the hospital for her college applications. Elena tried to imagine everything she could do, but instead she kept picturing whizzing past the fields on the way back from Georgia. She pictured Damon laughing with Jeremy on the sofa or letting him throw and spin her around the dancefloor at the dance. One or twice, she even pictured sitting and talking with Stefan. Elena's stomach was tied in knots, but all she could do was wait and hope.
x-x-x-x
Laughing at the latest joke one of the squad had made, Caroline risked a quick glance across at the pool table. The grill was busy today, she herself had come for a bit to eat with her fellow cheerleaders, but many of the local teenagers were there. Unfortunately, that included Matt who appeared to be half working and half playing pool with Tyler Lockwood.
She'd have to either leave soon, with her friends, or be brave and go over there to speak to him. They hadn't spoken since the night of the dance when Caroline had put her foot in her mouth. He looked so good though, with a t-shirt a size too small that accentuated his muscles and a dishcloth thrown over his shoulder. She could have drooled.
Wandering over, contemplating what to say, Caroline almost stumbled into Jeremy Gilbert who was sat on a stool hunched over a book of some sort.
"Woah there." He greeted her. She must have looked as nervous as she felt, biting her lip, as he asked, "Not got the courage to ask?"
Caroline shook her head. "Nope. I said something stupid and now I'm worried if I try to fix it, I might say something more stupid."
Jeremy looked at her. Elena's little brother actually looked wise for once, which made a change from looking stoned like he usually did. He was also sketching again, Caroline realised, which made her smile instantly. Elena had been so worried when he had stopped drawing, he had been doodling since before he could walk. "Just ask him out. If he says no, no biggie. He's still mad about whatever you said, you do out and show him what he is missing."
"But what if he says yes?" Caroline whispered, letting her nerves show through. Who cared if Jeremy saw she was feeling insecure? He was only her friend's little brother anyway.
"Isn't that what you want?" Jeremy looked her in the eye and Caroline contemplated the question seriously. She wanted to be a girlfriend. She wanted to be wanted, needed. Matt was a really, really nice guy. Not like Damon Salvatore. He wouldn't hurt her, he'd look after her and always be there for her. He was perfect boyfriend material and she wanted to be a girlfriend.
But did she really want Matt, for Matt? Could it be any other boy in here and she would feel the same? Hell, could she get the same from Tyler Lockwood.
"I don't know." She replied, "I want to hang out but I don't feel that draw, you know? That need to be with someone, I don't miss him when he's not here. He's a good friend, a really good friend, and I just want to see, you know?"
"I know." Jeremy nodded. "That's what Elena used to say."
Well that helped Caroline decide. She couldn't do to Matt what Elena had already done. He deserved someone who wanted him with passion, who desired every bone in his body. Not someone who just needed comfort and a shoulder to cry on.
"Have you ever felt it, Jeremy? That pull that you can't avoid, the magnetism. I think I've only read about it."
Jeremy looked down at his sketchbook, the drawing was off a girl about his age with long dark hair and a cute smile. "You know what? I need to make a phone call."
x-x-x-x
Damon was pacing in the boarding house when Bree arrived. He'd tried beating Anna's location out of Noah in the basement to no success. She had been at the local guest rooms but a quick trip there informed him she had moved on the night he captured Noah.
He'd worked with enough witches in his time to know how a locator spell went down and he had everything ready the moment she walked through the door. He'd grabbed a few things from Elena's room; her hairbrush, diary, the picture of her and Stefan she still had on her mirror. Anything was worth a shot. He didn't even greet Bree as she arrived, just gestured to the table and waited.
"Your brother is in Seattle." Bree stated a few minutes into the chanting. Ah, so maybe the photo of him wasn't the best idea. When he spun around to switch the items and tell the witch to try again, he spotted she was holding hair from the hairbrush. Goddammit, he must have picked up the hero hairbrush instead of Elena's.
"Try again with the diary. We're looking for Elena Gilbert not my dumbass brother with his dumbass hair. Bree chortled and resumed her chanting. It didn't take long to locate Elena, it took even less time to drive there as Damon broke every traffic rule going.
"You going to tell me why we're risking dying in a fireball, Damon?" Bree enquired after their second close miss.
"I'm still putting the pieces together." He responded, tight-lipped. He was hoping to find Elena with the Bennett witch and the grimoire. Was that too much to hope for?
He didn't bother to knock, kicking down the only motel room door that had the curtains firmly closed. The chances a vampire had her were high, and he'd use compulsion to fix it if he were wrong. Of course, he had picked correctly. This wasn't his first rodeo. The newbie vampire in the room leapt back out of the light and Elena ran towards him. He pushed her towards the door and Bree's arms before striding towards her captor. There was no point letting this one live, he was too young to have information and Damon was pretty sure he'd figured it out anyway. Snapping a leg off the nearby desk chair, Damon plunged it into the baby vampire's heart.
A quick sweep of the room showed him what he already feared, no Bonnie and no grimoire. He had Elena though. That alone felt like a weight was lifted, he could breathe again. Bree must have noticed that to as when he stepped out the door she said, "Ah finally, we can actually have a conversation now." She gestured towards the car and Damon led the way, all 3 of them settling into the vehicle and heading to the boarding house.
Elena was the first to speak up.
"It was Anna, Jeremy's girlfriend. She knew you from before, from 1865. Her mother is in the tomb."
Damon nodded, "I figured. Let me guess, she has the grimoire and wanted you so she could bribe me into getting Bonnie the teenage witch to perform the spell?"
He glanced in the rearview mirror to see Elena shake her head. He frowned.
"No, she had Bonnie. When we heard her story we wanted to help. Bonnie had the grimoire and is getting grams. We're getting Pearl out, and Katherine too. Tonight."
Damon didn't think he'd been genuinely shocked in a century, but that did it. They wanted to help. Elena wanted to get Pearl and Katherine out, even after she had been kidnapped. Damn, that girl had a heart of gold.
"I thought you said the girl wasn't strong enough to perform the spell?" Bree questioned Damon. He'd filled her in on the details over the phone as she was driving up.
"She isn't, that's why you're here." Bree nodded in response to him.
"Her Grandma is though, even I've heard of Sheila Bennett. She used to be something in her youth." Damon laughed, he remembered the years he had spent trying to protect Sheila before she married and settled down. She had certainly been a powerful witch, but her power had waned the less she practiced, and it had been over a decade since he had heard of her practicing at all.
"She was- the trouble she used to stir was hilarious. She's non-practicing now. I don't know if she'd have the power, or what it might do to her if she tried." Damon said solemnly. Using Sheila Bennett had been another back-up plan he had up his sleeve, but one he was reluctant to give much thought to unless truly needed. The old witch probably hated vampires, him especially- most witches seemed to- but he remembered watching over her in the 60s and being fascinated by her skill and bravery wielding it. He didn't want to cause her harm if he could help it.
The car held a comfortable silence then as they drove back to the boarding house. Tonight.
Tonight, they would open the tomb.
Tonight, he would hold her.
Tonight.