I want to say a massive thank you to Scarlet2112 for giving me a shout out and to CosmicAdventurer for being there every step of the way with this story. Both are fantastic writers with multiple fics that I've read before and can highly recommend, check them out!
Also thank you to everyone who has been in touch in any way, shape or form. It is might first time trying writing and whilst I would be enjoying it immensely even if no-one else ever read it, it really does warm my heart to hear other people are also enjoying my ideas.
This is the chapter I've been excited to write ever since I started. I hope you enjoy.
x-x-x-x
She stood by the bonfire, sipping her beer from her red solo cup as she scanned the surroundings. Bonnie was a no show. Typical. Trust Bonnie to get a boyfriend and then suddenly disappear from social activities. Caroline wouldn't do that to her friends, she thought. She'd make time for boys, friends, cheerleading and everything else. Who needed sleep? There were much more fun activities to participate in.
Speaking of fun activities, Matt was here. He'd arrived at Duke's, which was really just a spot in the woods that the youth of Mystic Falls gathered in a few times a year, with Tyler Lockwood and both were drinking heavily. She'd kept catching Matt's eye and smiling seductively, doing her best 'come hither' eyes. Unfortunately, no success. He hadn't left the big group of jocks at all.
Not only had Bonnie pulled a no show, but Elena was also late. At least she had had the curtesy to text. Apparently, she was bringing Damon and his friend. Caroline didn't know Damon had friends, she'd certainly not been introduced to any when they were hanging out. Not that they'd spent all that much time outside the bedroom. Spotting Damon across the crowd and taking in his friend, Caroline immediately thought that was a shame. His friend was hot. Older, but hot. Caroline wouldn't have minded meeting her in the bedroom, if Damon had decided to introduce the pair.
Surely the best part of being young was the ability to experiment.
Elena had spotted her because the trio were walking over to greet her.
"Hey Care. Good night? I'd like you to meet Bree, she's a friend of Damon's" Elena made the introductions and Caroline used it as an opportunity to get a proper look at Bree. She was definitely older, older than Damon even. Her curves were there, but she was clearly in good shape and her make-up and hair were styled perfectly. She was wearing black leather, matching Damon almost perfectly. They looked like a couple from the cover of a magazine stood next to each other, and when Bree stepped back after shaking her hand Caroline noticed Damon's arm sneak around her waist possessively. He'd clearly moved on.
"Yeah, erm excuse me. I think I see someone near the keg waving me over! It's probably cheerleading business; you know how this time of the year gets!" Caroline made her excuses. The last thing she needed tonight was to watch her hot, asshole ex with his hot new woman. Unfortunately, the cheerleading squad didn't actually have anything to discuss or organise at the moment so she had to find another person to speak to. Jeremy! He was stood by the keg himself. He also looked like he needed a distraction.
"You look like you need another drink." She quipped, tilting her head to his full cup.
"Yeah, erm, rough night." He was staring at a figure in the distance, walking the same way Damon, Elena and Bree were departing. The silhouette seemed familiar to Caroline, petite with long black hair. It was the girl from his drawing!
"Girl trouble? Want to talk about it?" She couldn't believe the only person she could find to chat to at the party was Elena's little brother, but Caroline was used to spending almost all of her time with Bonnie and Elena. They were both clearly not so fussed about her right now. Again.
"Nah." He gulped. "Maybe. I told her tonight how much she meant to me. After seeing Stefan lose Elena and watching you all puppy-dog eyed over Matt, I decided not to wait around to get what I wanted."
"It didn't go well?" Caroline asked, rubbing his arm affectionately.
"It did. She was thrilled. She kissed me." Jeremy grinned at her. His lopsided cheeky smile was cute, Caroline thought. If he were only a few years older. Caroline wouldn't be caught dead dating anyone younger than her, and definitely not her best friend's brother.
"So? Why so miserable?"
"She's leaving. Her mum wants to move away." Jeremy winced. "If I'd have never said anything, I could have moved on when she went- no bother. But now I know, and I just want her to stay. More than anything, I want her to stay."
Caroline titled her head to let it rest against his shoulder. "That sucks."
"Yep".
x-x-x-x
Damon was struggling to keep human pace from the party to the site of the old Fell church. It wasn't far and they had plenty of time, but he was impatient. He was going to see her, tonight.
Elena had insisted on coming, to make sure Bonnie was safe or just out of morbid curiosity he wasn't sure. She had argued the former, he was sure it was the latter and they had argued briefly before Bree had put him down with a killer headache and backed Elena up. He knew there was a reason he didn't ever date witches for long. It was good to have the reminder, Bree had dressed the part of bad-ass tonight and he was struggling to keep his eyes off her. Katherine wouldn't like that, but once he saw her he was sure no witch, not even one in designer leather, could distract him from her.
He'd been planning this forever. Originally, he was going to bring a human sacrifice, but modern times allowed modern measures and he had a blood bag in his pocket. His bedroom back at the boarding house was all prepared. He would feed her enough to help her move, to take some of the pain away, then he would carry her there. There was more blood ready, she'd appreciate a hot candlelit bath and the comfy bed. He was ready. This was it.
Climbing down into the cellar, they met the witches who were already preparing and Elena made the introductions. Damon couldn't help but keep checking his watch, could they not get on with it already. Bonnie Bennett was surprisingly calm as she laid out the plan as it stood.
Once Anna arrived, they would begin the spell to open the door. This would allow anyone to enter, but nobody would be able to exit at first, that part of the spell was trickier.
All three witches would be strained with the second part of the spell. They went over it a few times, together before Bree assured him it would work. They could lift the seal and allow anyone out of the tomb. Sheila didn't look happy with this, but both Bonnie and Bree were sending her daggers, their looks hotter than the torches they'd brought. Damon could trust Bree, he would have to. Katherine was worth the risk.
Once Pearl and Katherine had been retrieved, Sheila was going to send fire into the tomb burning the remaining vampires. That was the Bennet witches' pre-condition, they would not release all the tomb vampires.
Damon just shrugged, he only cared about one.
Where was Anna? They were ready to begin, all the witchy woo-hah circles and salt and candles and shit were ready. Where was she? He couldn't stop himself pacing again. He noted both Elena and Bree were looking at him with concerning, gesturing for him to go sit on a rock, wait patiently. They didn't understand. He had waited long enough.
As soon as Anna appeared, he clapped his hands together. "Showtime!"
The younger Bennett explained the whole she-bang to Anna. He rolled his eyes. Seriously, stop wasting time! He wanted to threaten them, to scream and shout and hurl stones until they let him to her. He just paced. He kept pacing.
The chanting started and the circle of flames rose around the three witches. It was like a scene out of Macbeth, Damon mused to himself. Then he heard it, the tomb door opened.
He didn't have chance to think about the two steps to the spell, he just ran to her.
x-x-x-x
Elena screamed Damon's name, stepping forward to grab him. Of course, she didn't have a chance to catch him, and he was beyond the tomb's entrance. The idiot. The absolute and utter idiot. Didn't he listen to Bonnie? The first step only opened to tomb's entrance, he would be trapped inside and they didn't know if the second step was going to work yet.
She could feel the tears on her cheeks, and feel the heat of the flames, but her eyes wouldn't leave the tomb door. She was waiting, hoping he would step out any moment.
The pitch of the chanting changed, but Elena didn't look away. She needed him to be okay, to come back out. She felt it in her gut, in her heart. Somehow, Damon had gone from her boyfriends dickhead brother to a friend she needed and counted on. Elena wasn't ready to lose him, just like she wasn't ready to lose Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, Jenna or Jeremy. The realisation hit her as her heart raced. She needed Damon.
A gush of air caused her to stumble on her feet, but her eyes still didn't part from the tomb.
"It's done, but I don't know how long we can hold it. You need to be fast."
Elena felt herself rushed towards the dark, her body slamming painfully into the stone at the entrance. Anna had a tight grip of Elena's neck, holding her against the entrance before turning to the witches.
"She is my guarantee. If I don't get out, she doesn't get out."
It was cold and musty, Elena thought as she was dragged roughly through the tomb.
"I vowed to myself that Gilbert blood would wake my mother. My initial plan had been Jeremy but…" Anna tapered off, getting distracted by a lump on the floor of an alcove. Elena didn't want to think about what, or who, the lump was. "But, you're a much better solution."
Elena gulped, Anna was going to feed her to Pearl. It took mere milliseconds for Anna to yank her to her knees next to the lump on the floor and slice a cut in her wrist.
All Elena could do was scream.
x-x-x-x
He didn't know where he was going, he just ran. He must have missed a dozen alcoves or branches of the caves because he didn't find her on the first round. He tried calling to her, but of course she wouldn't answer. Not this far gone.
He'd have to be systematic, he reasoned, bending down to really inspect the nearest corpse. He felt, just knew, he would be drawn to Katherine when he first saw her. But, just in case, he checked the desiccated vampire with long dark hair. She was too young, barely 16. He recognised her, she was the younger daughter of one of the new families that had arrived in town not long before the massacre at Fell's church. She had tried to gain Stefan's affections, Damon remembered. Instead she earned a century and half of misery and a fiery death. Damon paused for a second, bending down to stroke the hair out of the girl's eye. He considered saving her. He could feed her the blood, it would be no issue carrying Katherine home without feeding her first, after all. He'd brought the blood so he wouldn't have to spend an extra moment without her. Would the witches mind another young life, one barely lived so far?
A scream echoed off the chambers of the cave, pulling him from his thoughts and rooting him back in the here and now. The warren of tunnels and alcoves didn't seem like such an obstacle now, he found her on the first attempt, easily throwing the weakened vampire off her arm and gathering her up in his.
"Elena," he whispered, resting his hands on either side of her face and checking her eyes were still bright. She was there. She was okay.
He whipped the blood bag out of his jacket and tossed it at Anna, who was gathering up her mother. "Some of us came prepared." He quipped, before snarling at her.
Anna must have sensed his anger for she merely nodded and assisted her mother to pass by him, presumable out of the tomb.
The smell of blood was still heavy in the air, the cut on Elena's arm was fresh and the wound was oozing. Pearl was a neat eater, even after years of drying out she hadn't mangled Elena's arm. Damon had to give her credit for that. He bit into his wrist and offered it to her, but the young girl shook her head. Instead, he ripped the lower half of his shirt and tied it around her arm.
"Come on," he whispered, taking her by the hand. "I've not found her yet."
x-x-x-x
Elena was sure they'd checked every corner, every crevice. They'd been in there longer than she was comfortable with and Damon was getting more and more volatile. He'd already punched the wall upon checking the same dark-haired dessicated hulk for the third time.
"Damon, she's not here."
He just shook his head. "She's here. She's always been here. She must have hidden from them, somewhere we hadn't looked."
Elena was worried. Bonnie had said they might not be able to hold the spell long, and he was still looking. She tried to pull on his hand, his sleeve.
"Damon, we have to go. Damon." He wouldn't budge. He kept pacing the last section of the tomb, muttering to himself. He was stroking the walls, tapping them, as if looking for hidden places.
Another pull, but he wouldn't come. She needed help.
Finding her way out in the dark was difficult at first, they were so deep, but finally she could see the fire. The three witches were still stood in a circle, hands held and chanting.
"Bree, he won't come out. He won't leave without her and we can't find her."
The witch didn't stop chanting, but glanced her way, worry in her eyes. Elena looked closer at the witches, and noticed they were all in grimacing, looks of determination on their faces. Bonnie's nose was bleeding, and Grams was unusually pale.
Elena tried to find her way back in, but in the pitch black she kept making the wrong turns. Calling to Damon she was met with no response, she could hear him shouting at the walls, screaming Katherine's name, begging for her to be there, she could hear the sobs. Time was closing in and she needed to find him.
She had an idea. It was stupid, reckless, but it might work. He'd come last time. Running back to the witches, she convinced herself it was the only option. As soon as she arrived, she met Bree's eyes.
"Don't break the spell until he's out. Whatever happens, don't stop." Bree nodded feebly.
Elena stuck her arm into the flame.
x-x-x-x
Where was she?
Where was she? Was she trapped behind a collapsed tunnel? They'd checked them all, he'd tried to budge every stone, checked for every crevice he could find. There was no sign of her.
Where was she? He'd called her name, screamed for her, but she hadn't come. There had been groans from others, hoping to be saved, but none from her.
Where was she?
He had felt Elena pulling at him, tugging at him, but he'd been unable to respond. He was replaying the conversation with Emily Bennett over and over in his mind. Emily had said she was here. All the other vampires were here. Pearl had been rescued.
Where was she?
The smell of burning flesh and the gut-wrenching sound of pain his him all at once. He didn't know how long he had missed the screams, but his instinct couldn't ignore them now. He was out, on his knees before Elena, bitten wrist dripping into his mouth. He was out of the tomb.
Where was she?
He heard it, the seal closing with a gush of wind, the torches that had burnt Elena so badly were extinguished. He saw Bonnie dropping to the floor and Bree rushing to his side. He heard Sheila's footsteps towards the tomb, saw the rush of flames that she ignited inside, the energy that ran from her into the fire. He saw her fall; he heard Bonnie's sobs.
He registered all of it and none of it.
There was only the overwhelming absence of hope. The pain of a stake to the stomach, but a thousand times over. His throat felt like he had gargled with vervain, and whilst he was aware of the sobs wracking through him as he held Elena, he didn't realise it was him crying.
This pain was unbearable.
Small arms came up around his neck, and a damp face nuzzled into his neck. She held him tightly, fiercely, her own cries mixing with his as they held each other.
Slowly, he came to notice his surroundings. They were sat on the floor outside the tomb, by the burnt-out torches. Elena was sat on his lap, holding him fiercely. She smelled of fire, burnt flesh and burnt fabric, he could see her sleeve was in tatters but her arm looked untouched by the flame. Her tears were lessening, but her face was still firmly tucked into him, as if she were hiding from what frightened her.
Bree was lent over Sheila, concern on her face as she muttered under her breath. Damon didn't know what spell she was performing, but he knew from her look it wasn't working. Bonnie was on her knees beside her, rocking herself.
They were out, they had survived.
The vampires in the tomb were dead.
Where was she?
Pearl. Pearl would know.
The smell of a century of desiccation was a unique one, and Damon could follow it with no issue through the forest, tearing after them. Anna had been slowed by Pearl's weight so he caught up with them in the woods not far from the Motel he had been at earlier that day.
"Where is she?" He demanded, blocking their way.
Pearl looked at him, seeing him for the first time this century. She didn't need to ask who, "She was never there."
Damon's heart skipped. She hadn't burnt, but then; had he really believed she had? The moment he couldn't find her, a part of him had known. That was why it hurt so much.
Anna either took pity on him in that moment, or was still threatened by him. He didn't care to know which, but she gave him the information he needed.
"Damon, the last I saw her was 1984. She was in Chicago." He growled at her. She knew the entire time and didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry Damon," the vampire whispered. Loud enough for him to hear but breaking the news softly. "She knew where you were."
Anger overwhelmed him.
x-x-x-x