Author's note: Hi everyone! :D
Sorry if I was a bit unclear in the last chapter, but Damon's humanity is not back on yet. :D It was close, for sure (Elena had the right idea), but the Twin Flame spell wasn't done with him yet – or her, for that matter. All four of our main quartet of vampires are now without their respective humanities (thanks to the beams of light produced by the Twin Flame spell). With that said, the only direction for the switches to go is back on at this point, right?
Stefan and Caroline walked through the frustratingly empty streets of Mystic Falls – at least from their perspective. Both were profoundly annoyed, albeit for different reasons.
Stefan was irritated that all his delightfully bloody-gushy flesh-bags were now gone – the paint with which he embossed the palette that would create his art. Distractedly, he wondered why he never took up any actual painting or sculpture or any of the visual arts when his humanity was on. Klaus did it, and seemed to enjoy that kind of expression quite a lot.
They were both artists, Stefan silently admitted. While Niklaus Mikaelson chose oils and acrylics and watercolors as his instruments of choice, Stefan preferred entrails and skin. Different strokes for different folks, he shrugged.
Caroline, on the other hand, was annoyed that – once again – Stefan seemed distracted by something. If it wasn't tormenting Elena, it's murder and mayhem. Now it looked like those two witches diverted his attention, as well. What did a girl have to do to get a ripper to look at her around here?
"All this smoke is messing with my sense of smell," Stefan complained with pronounced aggravation. "I can't track them," he pouted.
"Maybe not track them," Caroline responded with narrowed eyes, using her supernatural vision to see two silhouettes hiding behind the stairs of a porch amid the smoke. Silently, she tapped Stefan's shoulder and pointed in their direction, moving her index finger to her lips to indicate a command to quiet. She pantomimed with her hands to show them walking slowly, silently behind them, to give them a false sense of security, then pounce when they least expected it – like they fabulous predators they both were.
Instead, Stefan merely grinned with a profoundly disturbing sense of joy and raced for the two figures head on. "Seriously!?" Caroline groaned in exasperation, when she saw him double over to clutch his head. With both witches attacking him at once, after having gotten a few minutes' rest, the pain must have magnified. Why didn't anyone listen to her? Correction: why couldn't everyone always listen to her?
If everyone just did everything Caroline said, at all times, everything would be perfect! Why couldn't anyone else see it?
Running over to her idiotic would-be beau, she helped him stand, realizing that the aneurysm headache was released. Shoot. They were gone. No matter. They had to be around here somewhere.
"I'm hungry," Stefan pouted.
"What else is new?" Caroline replied, rolling her eyes. "Have you ever considered that this need to keep your predatory nature so violently and strictly in check is exactly what's making you fall off the wagon?" Caroline asked, deciding to pass the time in a manner that was at least mildly entertaining and challenging to her. Watching and lisening to Stefan whine was the exact opposite of that.
"That's what Damon always says," Stefan replied sulkily. He wasn't thrilled about the notion of his brother being right – about anything, really.
"Well, you remember what he ironically said about broken clocks earlier tonight," Caroline prodded cheerfully, picking up on the source of his lack of enthusiasm.
Damon spun the now humanity-free Elena once more for good measure, both vampires now bearing their fangs in quiet celebration of their forfeiture of empathy.
Quiet for now – but certainly not for long. It had been so close. His humanity was on the verge of returning – he felt it – when they nearly kissed. Luckily, Damon thought, the same beam of magical light engulfed Elena and switched hers off, as well. Now they were finally on the same page.
This was perfect. This was exactly what he wanted. Soon, they'd stalk some humans, go on a hunt – days and nights filled with nothing but blood, murder, and sex. His dreams were coming true. And the best part was that this Elena would have absolutely no interest in bringing his humanity back, so even that was safe.
He was free.
Free from that pesky empathy that led to him making the stupidest decisions and the pain they wrought – free from his ability to love.
Laughing gleefully, they zoomed and blurred and sped through the clearing, taking full advantage of their predatory speed.
They spent what felt like a few hours walking before Damon fell into what Elena quickly surmised was one of his favorite topics ever.
"And that's the difference between me and baby bro," Damon continued importantly about his favorite subject – differentiating himself from his brother and pointing out all the ways in which he was actually better, and funnier, and more dashing, and cooler, and sexier, and –he struggled to think of more adjectives in the present moment, but resolved that he absolutely embodied all of the attractive ones. "The most horrifying thing to him was you hating him; while the most horrifying thing to me was you dying. Emphasis on was."
"Do you don't care anymore? If I live or die?" Elena asked with an almost obnoxious degree of dubiousness written very clearly on her face.
He looked at her condescendingly. "That's the whole point of a humanity switch, honey."
She smiled wickedly and looked around. The Sun in their section of the forest was on its way out. Staring him down in an obvious challenge, Elena removed her daylight ring, and dropped it to her feet, with a giggle. "Oops!" she cried, her dark, almond eyes widening in mock-sincerity, as her palm covered her mouth in jest.
Within a fraction of a second, a blur of motion placed the ring was back on her finger, and a scowling Damon caught her gaze. "You can feel free to off yourself to your heart's content when we get out of here, but until then, I might need you. Lack of humanity doesn't translate to lack of strategy," he explained tersely, then narrowed his eyes to scrutinize her, a smirk forming on his lips. "Then again, considering that all your strategies came down to dramatic suicide attempts..." he trailed off, noticing a festival taking place in he woods, in front of the Boarding House, apparently.
"When did anyone have time to set this up?" Damon frowned, finding all of this peculiar. There certainly didn't seem to be any signs of festival arrangement when he left the house all those hours ago.
"Who cares?" Elena dismissed, nearing all the tasty mortals with her fangs extended.
"Please don't tell me that all that time spent with Sir Broods-alot and his Forehead of Frowning left you without any sense of style or substance," Damon snarked. "Something's going on," he observed with narrowed eyes. Having once been caught by a group of anti-vampire enthusiasts and mad scientists – the Augustine Society – he'd learned the value of investigating for a trap anytime a situation looked suspicious. Even without his humanity, he still shivered at the memories that those five years of their torture imbedded into his brain.
"What happened to killing them all and taking their smart phones to hide the evidence? Then use a rich kid's connections to orchestrate a heist to piss your dead father off?" she asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow.
"Listen smarty-pants," he replied in a tone almost bordering on affection, but not quite. "While a gathering of that size in Mystic Falls is definitely weird, it sounded like it was happening all over the town. You heard the police radios in the distance. My guess is there's some witchy-woo in the air," he explained.
"And why's this any different? Couldn't it be a part of the same witchy-woo?" Elena inquired, crossing her arms over her chest, eager to get into her bloodlust.
"All those gatherings looked chaotic – spur of the moment," Damon said, shifting to examine the humans assembling outside of his house. "This looks organized – coordinated. Something's different here. Could be a trap."
She grinned, baring her fangs, approaching him with an almost predatory gait that Damon found both attractive and profoundly not at the same time – strange. "And you said I worry too much," she purred soft as a whisper, fully aware that he'd be able to hear her. "You really think these blood bags have room left for a brain and thoughts with all their pesky humanity weighing them down?"
He smirked. The last time Elena had her humanity off, he hadn't enjoyed it – nor had he found it even remotely attractive, much to his surprise. Would he feel differently now – now that he was devoid of empathy, as well? Wasn't that his plan? She checked out all the boxes that he normally found hot – ruthless, lethal, conniving, seductive. She certainly didn't lose that playfulness that only seemed to come out around him anymore. In fact, unhindered by the guilt she felt only a little while ago, it seemed almost magnified.
So, what was the problem, exactly?
He studied her for a few whole lingering seconds, enjoying her clearly uncomfortable look under his scrutinizing glance. Oh, he could still manipulate with the best of them – especially against a baby vampire in the first few months of her un-life.
"What?" she asked impatiently, trying to mask her discomfort with rudeness.
He only smiled magnificently, taking joy in messing with her mind. "Nothing," he replied innocently. "Go compel that couple over there standing alone, and tell them to come here. They're separated from the herd, and no one will immediately notice them missing.
Elena narrowed her eyes, not at all pleased at being told what to do, and defiantly crossed her arms over her chest again. "Go do it yourself."
Rolling his eyes, Damon didn't see the appeal in arguing with a stubborn baby vamp who probably sucked at subtle compulsion, anyway, and brought his selected humans over. Some well-chosen questions revealed that they were gathering for a comet celebration. Comet!? Damon found that very peculiar. The comet that brought him back to Mystic Falls in the first place? From years ago?
Noticing that scores of humans entered the Boarding House, the two vampires followed suit, albeit silently, stealthily – subtly. There, they found a long hallway that didn't exist in their version of the mansion – lined with heavy doors. Entering the first one, they walked in on a Town Council meeting, and promptly walked out, electing to examine the rest.
Entering the second one, they found Family Night, in the Gilbert household, on the evening of the fateful car accident.
The third led them to a basement in Whitmore Hall, prompting Damon to quickly usher them both out before Elena had a chance to look around and truly examine the space.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Damon exclaimed, profoundly irritated that it took him so long to figure out what this place was. "Damn it. Of course, that's what it is. What else would I expect from a Mikaelson witch?"
"What is it? Where are we?" Elena asked in growing consternation.
"We're in a Chambre de Chasse," groaned, not even bothering to hide his enormous annoyance.
Ah, finally, Bonnie thought. Some peace and quiet. Luckily, Freya stepped out yet again when Rebekah expressed a sudden craving to join the festivities – such an extrovert. The Mikaelson sisters and Marcel had been gone for nearly an hour at this point, and would likely stay out half the night, if the Twin Flame spell's legendary chaos had anything to do with it. More than likely, they'd find themselves in hot water of some sort soon enough.
She lit the candles once more, looking to communicate with her ancestor Qetsiyah to learn an ancient secret – a boon the likes of which she was sure Rebekah would appreciate. But this was a surprise, after all, and Freya had to have been one of the most inquisitive busybodies she'd ever met – perhaps even rivaling Caroline.
She sat in the center of the salt circle, allowing her eyes to un-focus yet again, prepared to receive the visions.
The cauldron in the center was lit.
Bonnie was ready. This was it.
Suddenly, two very familiar bodies decided to make themselves known right on her altar. One of them was inconsiderate enough to have a thick twig penetrating his stomach.
"This is a joke, right?! Again?" Bonnie growled, losing her concentration once more, just as the flames roared to life. What a fantastic time to finally make the connection, Bonnie thought with a tremendous amount of annoyance.
"No, this is not a sacrifice," Bonnie answered the question that suddenly – wordlessly – popped in her head. Qetsiyah probably finally made contact, she guessed. Bonnie pulled the twig out from Damon's stomach, carefully rolling away both of her friends, while trying to hide their identities from the prehistoric witch.
"No one important," she groaned, pushing the dead weight. "To you, anyway," she amended, hoping that her frankly crazy and stalkerish ancestor wouldn't sense her falsehood. Two thousand years was probably enough time to get over her ex and properly move on without being a thorn in everyone else's side, Bonnie flippantly surmised, in what she hoped was a very secret conversation with herself.
Before either the Bennett witch or her ancestor could raise another question, the door was unceremoniously opened, with a cheerful Enzo standing on the other side. "Bonnie!"
"What!?" Bonnie turned, once again expecting someone else, before his voice caught up to her. She flushed. "Oh, hi Enzo."
"We have to stop meeting like this," he grinned, stepping inside. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to contact a Bennett ancestor to help me make a wedding present for Rebekah, but I keep getting interrupted," she said to Enzo pointedly with a lift of her eyebrows.
For those who haven't seen The Originals, a Chambre de Chasse is a psychic space, where occupants must be able to solve a puzzle in order to escape – usually it involves them learning some kind of lesson. During this time, their physical bodies are unconscious elsewhere.
Maybe the third time will be the charm for Bonnie and her endeavor? :D
Just as a small reminder, I treat the humanity switch as an empathy switch, rather than have it turn off all emotions in general. First of all, the vampires on TVD clearly showed emotions with their humanities off – some of them even became funnier – so the idea of their emotions being missing entirely is a ridiculous one to me, despite what they claimed, I sincerely feel - not the best writing. Secondly, a muted emotional response is a sign of depression. If they really had muted/nonexistent emotions, they'd be listless and in bed all day, not seeking mayhem. Psychopathy (or a very severe form of Antisocial Personality Disorder) is marked by a lack of empathy, which is a lot more reflective of a vampire without humanity, so that's what I'm going with, because I think it's a lot more logical.
Thank you for being absolutely delightful. Hugs and love to all
Please be sure to leave a review. I love to learn all about your speculations and feelings. :)