Chapter 12: A Daughters Love
"You're just the same little girl, Serena. Hiding behind her brothers like a scared little lamb." Her voice echoed in my head. Katherine stood in front of me as the moon light illuminated the dark street with it's pale white glow. I felt frozen as the vampire's energy swirled and dominated the air around me. I was trapped. "Poor girl. You'll forever be too weak to protect yourself. No one will save you. No one can."
I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to fight back, but I couldn't get my lips to move apart, or my arms to lift from my sides. I was like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. I knew it was going to hit me, but I just couldn't will myself to get out of the way. The sound of my blood rushing through my ears was deafening as I watched Katherines face twist into a snarl. Grey veins sprouted from her eyes as they changed from their normal brown, to a deep and terrifying red. My stomach dropped. I was going to die.
No. No, please. I don't want to die. Not here, not like this. I chanted my pleas in my head as the vampire opened her mouth and a set of sharp fangs gleamed in the moonlight. A scream became trapped in my throat when Katherine moved and I was suddenly able to raise my arms as I hopelessly tried to block her attack.
I sat up in my bed as my lungs desperately tried to suck in as much air as they could. My skin felt clammy with a light layer of sweat that was instantly cooling as the air in my room caressed me. It was a nightmare. It was only a nightmare.
I couldn't even remember the last time I had a proper nightmare that wasn't based on a memory from my past. While last night had been real, and I had seen Katherine as she stood before me in the street, she did not attack me. Although, she definitely left her mark.
Seeing Katherine had reopened the wound in my mind that was partially healed. The vampire was my own personal boogie man and I hated the fear I felt when I looked at her. The memories of her cunning smiles and the way she used Damon and Stefan haunted me. The sad fact of the matter was that it wasn't just Katherine in these memories, it was Elena. The fact that my own sister shared a face with the monster who haunted my memories, was heartbreaking. I know that Elenas is nothing like Katherine and that they are two different people, but sometimes, and it's even worse now, I can't see the differences.
My heart was still thundering away in my chest as I slowly began to regain my breath and come back to my senses. I couldn't let Katherine get to me. I couldn't allow her to burrow into my head and make me that same scared little girl I was over a hundred years ago. There was no one for me to hide behind this time. I wasn't going to use my brothers as shields, not in this lifetime.
The buzzing sound of my phone ringing pulled me from the darkness that my mind found itself sinking further and further into. My hand was shaking as I answered the phone and placed the device to my ear. "Hello?" The greeting came out in a croak and I quickly cleared my throat before repeating the greeting. "Hello?"
"Oh good, you're awake." Carolines voice came through from the other end of the phone and I choked back a scoff at the awake comment as I pushed myself to sit up. "I need you to come down to the park for the picnic today. I need some extra hands and I have a feeling my mothers going to bail at some point. So I'm calling you in as back up."
I let out a sigh and flopped back onto my bed in an act of dramatic flare. Caroline took my sigh as a sound of defeat and giggled at my pain. "Alright fine, I'll be there. But you owe me one." The new vampire agreed to the deal and I hung up the phone and pulled myself out of the warm comfort of my bed to get ready for the day. The picnic in the park was being put on by the Historical Society for the opening of the new public park, all put together because of one hefty donation by the Fells. It wasn't something I had planned on attending today, but like always, I found myself giving in to Caroline far too easily, and I needed the distraction.
The second I stepped foot in the park Caroline found me and put me to work helping set up the food booths by getting them the supplies they needed. I found myself going back and forth between the food and drink booths. I was stacking paper cups for the lemonade booth when the air shifted around me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and the air in my lungs got caught in my throat. I recognized the energy from the school carnival and could guess right away who it was standing behind me.
"Hey there, need some help with that?" I swallowed down the lump in my throat and turned around to come face to face with the broad chest of Mason Lockwood. I jumped slightly at his close proximity and knocked into the stack of cups on the table behind me. Mason was quick to help and caught most of the cups before they could hit the ground. "Whoa, careful there."
He was close, far too close. But I forced myself to send him a small smile. "Thanks. Uh, sorry about that, I wasn't expecting you to be that close." Mason sent me a charming smile, one that would have any girl my age wooing at the sight of it, but in my eyes, that smile had too many teeth. His smile reminded me of a predator, one that could just as easily charm and rip my throat out.
"Serena, you alright?" I relaxed a little at the sound of Stefans voice and turned to face the vampire.
"Yeah, I'm okay." I answered back as Mason's gaze traveled from me to Stefan.
"Damons somewhere over by the food booths, why don't you go find him." Translation, get out of the crossfire. I listened to Stefans words and I went to leave, but Mason held out the rest of my cup tower.
"Don't want to forget these." Mason sent me another smile and I returned it with a much smaller one that didn't quite reach my eyes. I took the cups in my other hand and walked away from the two supernatural beings about to have a "talk."
I handed off the cups to the lemonade booth and went in search of Damon. I found the irritable looking vampire over by the food booths, exactly where Stefan said he would be, and approached him. Our eyes caught before he glanced back toward Stefan and nodded his head in his brother's direction.
"So, what did our resident werewolf have to say to you, little sister?" Damon asked as he tossed an arm over my shoulders and moved the two of us so we had a better view of Stefan talking to Mason.
"Nothing. Just wanted to be helpful, I guess." I answered as we watched as Stefan and Mason shook hands. "Looks like they came to some sort of agreement." Damon let out a noise of distaste and dropped his arm from around my shoulder before stalking off after Stefan. I followed close behind him to make sure he didn't start a scene of any kind in the middle of the very human populated area.
"What are you doing?" Damon growled at the younger Salvatore brother.
Stefan sent his brother a glare and rolled his eyes. "Negotiating peace on your behalf." He argued back and I glanced between the two with a raised brow.
"Negotiating peace? Why would you need to negotiate peace?" I asked and Stefan sent our older brother a look. "What did you do?"
Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "I may or may not have stabbed him with a silver butter knife." I sent Damon a wide eyed look and he turned his attention back to Stefan.
Before he could even open his mouth I interrupted him. "You stabbed him?" I asked in disbelief before shaking my head in frustration. "Damon, you can't just go around stabbing people." I scolded the vampire and Damon only sent me an annoyed look before looking back at Stefan and ignoring my comments.
"Listen, I don't want peace." Damon snapped at the two of us and I rolled my eyes at his childish words. He just didn't know when to quit and now we no doubt had an angry werewolf on our hands that we were going to have to deal with.
"Consider it opposite day." Stefan declared.
"Stefan, please tell me you don't seriously think a hand shake just solved our problem." Damon grounded out.
"No, actually I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart and then through mine." Stefan argued. "All because you took it upon yourself to try and kill him. So thank you, because we don't have enough problems."
Damon glared at Stefans retreating form as the younger Salvatore brother walked away. I took hold of Damon's jacket sleeve to grab his attention. "Hey, Stefans just trying to keep everyone safe, including you. So maybe don't go around actually stabbing people anymore, okay." With that said I left the vampire standing there as I went off to complete some more of Carolines earlier demands.
I spent some time going between the booths making sure they had what they needed, like paper plates, cups, and napkins. After completing my given tasks I went in search of Caroline to ask for my next project and found both her and Damon peeking out around the veranda Caroline was meant to be painting.
"Hey, what's going on with those two?" I asked as I took notice of them watching Stefan and Elena arguing. Both of them ignored me and I rolled my eyes. "Hello, I don't have vampire super hearing, mind filling me in?" I asked the two vampires I was now standing between.
Caroline shushed me and focused back on the couple. "They're breaking up." She answered in disbelief.
"What? Why?" I asked as the couple separated and walked away from each other. "I don't understand. Why would they do that?"
Damon placed a hand on my shoulder. "Relationships are all about communication, little sister." Damons words made me frown but I turned away from the couple. Something was up. Why break up somewhere everyone could see you and know your business? That was out of character for the both of them.
I found myself wandering around the park with Damon after witnessing Elena and Stefans break up. It was obvious he knew something, but the vampire was keeping quiet on the matter. Damon seemed to be trapped in his own thoughts, but before I could question him about what he was thinking, he suddenly tensed up beside me. I noticed his eyes narrow in on something, or more like someone, in the distance. That someone just so happened to be Mystic Falls' new resident werewolf. Mason was standing near the lemonade booth and before I could stop him, Damon was walking with a purpose towards the man. I followed close behind the vampire and hoped to god he didn't do anything stupid.
"Well, Mason. Working hard?" Damon asked the werewolf and the air between the two clashed. It was like the feeling one gets before lightning strikes the earth, a thick dense feeling filled with electricity.
"Doing my part." The Lockwood wolf answered. He glanced over at me and I unintentionally shrank back from his gaze. I couldn't help but feel weary of the man. The energy he gave off wasn't something I could remember feeling before, but for some reason it was making me itch with a sense of familiarness.
"I heard you talked to Stefan." Damon brought up.
"Nice guy." Mason commented back. While all this looked like a friendly exchange between buddies to the naked eye, that wasn't the truth of the matter. If anyone took the time to actually look at the two they would probably see the tension rolling off the two men as they stared each other down.
Damon shrugged. "Yeah, a lot nicer than me." I rolled my eyes at Damons words and crossed my arms over my chest as I stood slightly back from the two supernatural creatures exchanging pleasantries.
"Nice is overrated." Mason said with a shrug.
"That's what I thought, huh!" Damons grin grew at the werewolves' words.
"You have a good day, Damon." Mason left the conversation and the two of us watched him walk away. The conversation looked like it went nowhere, but I had a sinking feeling Mason was up to something.
"Should you really be pushing his buttons, Damon?" I asked as I turned my eyes back to the vampire still watching Mason walk away.
Damon shrugged his shoulders. "May not be my best idea, but I can't really say I care." He smirked down at me and I rolled my eyes at him.
Stefan was quick to arrive only moments later after Mason walked away. "Please tell me that you were just bonding."
"I think you already know the answer to that." I mumbled out as the three of us stood in front of the lemonade booth. I glanced around the park and took notice of the amount of people now occupying the area. It was starting to get crowded as the morning ended and the park was ready to be officially opened.
Damon ignored my comment and focused his attention on his brother. "So what's up with the faux drama in your relationship?" My brows raised up and I glanced up at Stefan to gauge his reaction to Damons words.
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked and narrowed his eyes on his older brother. I looked between the two and found myself wanting to ask my own questions as to why Elena and Stefan would want to fake a break up.
"Oh come on, Stefan. You and Elena don't fight, especially not over me." Damon pointed out to his brother.
"Drop it, Damon." Stefan growled out.
Damon shrugged his shoulders. "With pleasure."
I held my tongue on the matter. Whatever was going on, I wasn't going to stick my nose in it. I had a feeling that the break up was something they were doing to keep each other safe, and I also had a feeling it was all because of a certain look-a-like vampire wandering around town causing problems for all of us.
"Would you like some lemonade?" The girl running the booth we were standing in front of held out a paper cup filled with lemonade to Damon and he shot the girl a charming smile and took the cup from her hand.
"Thank you, sweetie." Damon said before taking a drink from the paper cup. The vampire suddenly let out a harsh cough as he spit the liquid out and dropped the cup. Both Stefan and I hovered close to him as he coughed up the drink.
"Damon, what's wrong?" I asked in concern as Damon hunched over.
"Vervain!" He rasped out between coughs. Oh no. Damon's drink had been spiked with vervain and I had a gut feeling as to who had done it, and clearly so did Damon. After rinsing his mouth out with water the vampire's eyes narrowed on Mason Lockwood.
"I'm gonna kill him." Damon hissed out and Stefan had to physically restrain him from going after the werewolf in the middle of the growing crowd.
"Listen to me! Sit! Sit!" Stefan commanded his brother. I watched as Mason walked off toward the tree line and glanced back at us for a split second. Something wasn't right. Mason already knew Damon and Stefan were vampires, why try and poison Damon with vervain when it was only going to piss the vampire off? What was the point?
"I'm not listening to anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap. He's dead!" The air around the enraged vampire flexed with anger and I winced at the feeling. Damon was losing his patience and was no doubt about ready to boil over.
"Okay. I don't like it." Stefan admitted. "He's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down." I looked up at Stefan with worried eyes and he looked back at me. He was worried, I could see it clearly in his eyes, but he was also right. Mason was a threat.
"Alright. Let's do it." Damon stood and headed for the woods where he saw Mason Lockwood walk off towards. I stood to follow after him but Stefan placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me.
"Stay here." Was all he said as he went after his brother, but I ignored the command and followed after the two vampire brothers.
"Not likely." I muttered. I wasn't staying behind while they got themselves into trouble. I had a bad feeling about all of this, and the last thing I wanted was to be right.
The trees cleared and we found Mason standing on the other side of a small clearing, just out of the view of the park.
"Don't look so surprised." Damon started. "You knew this was inevitable. Go ahead, run. I'll give you a head start." But Mason didn't run. No, instead he smirked at the three of us. I felt my body go tense at the look. This wasn't good.
Mason bent down to tie his shoes and all of a sudden the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire. Both Damon and Stefan went down and before a scream could escape my mouth, I felt a searing pain bloom through my shoulder and I found myself falling to the ground in shock.
"Stop, hold your fire." I recognized Sheriff Forbes' voice and peeled open my eyes to see her standing above me with a look of worry on her face.
"Take her with you." Mason spoke up. "Whatever she is, it's not human."
I squeezed my eyes closed as pain bloomed from my shoulder. Why did I have to be right about this not ending well? I let out a hiss in pain as Mason leaned down and lifted me up onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Pain pulsed from the wound and I winced in discomfort as my arms fell past my head as I was held upside down. Getting shot was now on my list of least favorite things to happen to me.
"It's down the stairs to the left." Mason spoke up when we came across what looked like the ruins of an old brick building. The werewolf shifted and his shoulder dug into my stomach, making me grunt out in pain as he walked down the steps into an underground cavern.
"Careful. The wooden bullets and vervain won't keep them down for long." The Sheriff reminded her deputies as we came into a large stone room. "What is this place?"
I let out a groan of pain as Mason dumped me against the wall. "Old slave quarters from the original Lockwood house." He answered.
I clutched at my shoulder and put pressure against the bullet wound. They made getting shot look so simple in all the movies, but in reality, it really fucking hurt. My blood felt warm against my hand as I pushed against the wound. The fear of bleeding out made my stomach twist, but I did well not to panic.
The deputies dumped Damon and Stefan in the middle of the stone cavern and as their seemingly lifeless bodies hit the floor, I felt the weight of the situation slap me in the face. "Stop! Don't do this, please, you're making a mistake." I looked at Sheriff Forbes as tears threatened to spill from my eyes. The Sheriff frowned as she held my gaze, but made no sound. Instead she sent one of her deputies a look and the man walked over to me. I tried to shuffle away from him, but the movement caused my shoulder to flare as pain raced down my arm from where I felt the bullet.
The deputy took hold of the flannel I was wearing over my tank top and ripped a good inch off the bottom of it. He used the ripped fabric as a gag and tied it around the back of my head. I shook my head but couldn't stop the man from silencing me. He then reached back and pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his belt. With a snap one handcuff was attached to the chain hanging near my head. He then reached down and took my wrist and clicked the other handcuff in place. A muffled groan escaped from my throat as my injured arm was lifted and set at an awkward angle.
I watched the deputy walk away and heard the Sheriff's voice through the pain filled fog my mind was forced to endure. "Thank you, Mason." Sheriff Forbes started. "I appreciate all you've done. We got it from here."
"You're gonna kill them, right?" Mason asked as he looked at the Sheriff. I let out a muffled cry and shook my head at Mason's question, but the movement only made me woozy. I was losing blood.
I looked at my brothers and felt frustration and fear well up in my chest. Both laid unmoving on the ground as the sheriff and her deputies stood over them. I needed to do something, I had to do something. But what could I do? Growing a bunch of flowers was useless and I had no real idea what I was actually capable of and with the amount of blood my shoulder was currently leaking, I was losing hope. Not to mention, this was Caroline's mother, I didn't want to hurt her.
The Sheriff only nodded her head at Mason's question and I let out another muffled cry. "You should go. Here it's the Council, not the law. You can't be a party to this. It's for your own protection."
"Listen, I don't care about that." Mason started to argue. "What about her?" He nodded his head toward me and I sent a glare his way. I needed to do something, anything.
"Go, Mason." Was all the Sheriff said.
"Don't take any chances." Mason took one last look at Damon before leaving the underground room.
I kicked out and tried to get the Sheriff's attention, but she was ignoring me. She refused to look at me. I was running out of time. But what could I do? What could I do that would save Damon and Stefan from being killed by someone we all trusted? I had to focus, I had to do something. I grunted in discomfort as I shifted and sat myself up as straight as I could. I could no longer feel my blood seeping from between my fingers and was hoping that was a good sign.
"This is how it's gonna work." Sheriff Forbes' voice pierced through the haze my mind was slowly falling into. "Answer me and you don't get shot, understand? How many of you are there?"
"Liz, please, just let her go." Damon muttered as he started to come to. Another muffled groan left my throat as I pulled helplessly at the handcuff attached to my wrist. I was starting to lose focus and I knew the amount of blood I was losing was going to be life threatening if something didn't happen soon.
The Sheriff ignored Damons plea and pulled out her gun. The shot rang out around the underground cavern. The sound made my body flinch and tears flood my eyes. "How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?" Sheriff Forbes asked as Damon rolled over and let out a pained groan.
Damon held his tongue and out of frustration the Sheriff took aim at Stefan who was still passed out. I couldn't stop the scream that bubbled up in my throat as the Sheriff shot Stefans unmoving body. Fear for the lives of my brothers washed through me as adrenaline filled my veins and my heart pounded in my chest. I forced the pain I felt in my shoulder to the back of my mind. I needed to focus.
"I will drag this out painfully." The Sheriff was gritting her teeth by now.
"But you're my friend." Damon ground out.
"Our friendship was a lie. Answer me and I'll kill you fast." Damon said nothing and the Sheriff let out a frustrated breath. "He's not gonna tell us anything. Kill them both."
I took a deep breath through my nose and closed my eyes, I was running out of time. No more holding back, I had to do something now. My blood started to heat up and I focused on the earth around us. I had never tried anything like this before. But something inside me told me I could. I just had to reach out. The earth was a part of me, nature was a part of me. I could do this.
I could feel it. The pulsing of roots in the dirt, the worms and bugs who crawled through the soil, and the very earth itself. It was all there. I just needed to grab it and make it do what I wanted. But as my blood boiled under my skin, I felt something else.
"Let's do this. Each with a stake in the heart, then burn them both." Sheriff Forbes announced.
Don't lose focus. Don't lose focus. Everything hurts. I took in another deep breath and focused on whatever it was I had felt. It was familiar. The sound of something metallic scraping against the stone floor caught the Sheriffs and her deputies' attention. My eyes snapped open and my body sagged in relief. I knew this feeling, it was my sister, and she brought help.
Elena rushed into the cavern and placed herself protectively in front of the two vampires still laying on the floor. "Elena! What are you doing?" Sheriff Forbes stared at my sister in shock.
"You can't kill them. I'm not gonna let you." My sister stood tall between the two vampires as she stood up to the Sheriff. There was a sound in the distance and the Sheriff looked around in concern before looking back at my sister.
"Who else is with you?" The Sheriff asked.
I felt her before anyone could even see her. She moved like the wind before showing up behind one of the deputies and biting into his neck and draining him of his blood. The other deputy took aim and shot at her, but he only managed to put his partner down as the wooden bullets left his gun. Caroline rushed the second deputy after he emptied his gun and was able to knock him unconscious. Then it was only the Sheriff left standing as her daughter stood in front of her.
"Hi Mom." Caroline stood before her mother. The blond girl's back was to me, but I could clearly make out the look of confused horror on her mother's face. While I knew this was going to be a turning point for Caroline and her mother. I couldn't help but let my body slump knowing that help came just in time. The short period of time where adrenaline rushed through my body, was now fading away as the pain in my shoulder came back to the forefront of my mind.
"Serena! Serena, hold on." Caroline appeared in my vision and she quickly tore the fabric from my mouth and used her vampire strength to break the handcuff holding my wrist up. My arm fell with a limp and I couldn't stop the groan from escaping my lips at the flare of pain. "Here, let me see."
"Stop." I pulled away slightly from Caroline and closed my eyes for a moment and regained my breath before reopening them. "Get Stefan and Damon up first. I'll be fine." Even though I was in pain, I needed to know Damon and Stefan were going to be okay. Caroline frowned at my words, but compiled and went to check on Damon while Elena tended to Stefan. I slumped back against the dirt wall behind me. I was beyond exhausted; all I could feel was the pulsing pain in my shoulder as I did my best to keep as much pressure on the wound as I could.
"Hey there little sister. Let me take a look at that." Damons sudden appearance had a smile coming to my lips as the vampire assed the damage done to my shoulder. I let out hiss in discomfort as he probed the bullet wound. "Well, would you look at that?" I raised a brow at his words as he continued to poke at my shoulder. "It's being pushed out. Slowly, but it's happening. Look away little sister."
I gasped as Damon plunged his finger into the bloody hole in my shoulder and dug the wooden bullet out. My eyes were clenched closed as he worked the bullet out. He offered me soft words of encouragement that did little soothe me as pain raced through my body.
"There we go." My eyelids unclenched and I settled my blurry vision on the bloodied bullet Damon held between his fingers.
"Ow." Was all I could say and Damon sent me a smirk. He dropped the bullet and held his wrist up to his mouth before sinking his fangs into his own flesh. Damon held his bloody appendage up to my mouth and offered me his blood. I couldn't help but twist my nose up at the action, but I still pulled his wrist closer to my lips and drank the coppery tasting liquid. The second I pulled my mouth away from his now healed wrist, I felt the pain vanish from my body as my own wound sealed itself up.
With my shoulder now healed, Damon helped me off the dirt floor before turning away and setting his eyes on the Sheriff. My stomach tightened slightly at the sight of Damon circling the woman. "What am I gonna do with you?" Damon taunted.
"You won't tell anyone, will you? Mom? Mom? Please." Caroline begged the woman. "Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me, but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right. Mom, please. He will kill you."
"Then kill me." The Sheriff answered and I felt my heart break at her words. Caroline didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve this kind of heart break, but I could see the despair in the older woman's eyes as she looked at her daughter and the man she had once called her friend.
"No!" Caroline shouted in disbelief.
"I can't take this. Kill me now." Sheriff Forbes pleaded as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully." Damon argued back with a snarl.
Caroline shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no!"
"Damon." My voice cracked as I got my brother's attention. I pleaded with my eyes for him not to take her life. Caroline didn't deserve to lose her mother.
"Relax. No one is killing anybody." Damon waved them off. "You're my friend." He looked the Sheriff in her eyes before looking away at the two dead bodies. "We've got to clean this up."
The hot water felt like heaven as I stood under the spray of Damons fancy shower. While the water helped relax my muscles, it was my mind that was now stiff with thought. The bullet wound in my shoulder was completely healed, there wasn't even a scar. Now I had to deal with the fact that Caroline's mom was going to be taking up residency in the cell under the boarding house while the vervain worked its way out of her system. It would take about three days for the vervain to leave her body, and then she can be compelled to forget. Forget that her daughter is a vampire, forget about Damon being a vampire; forget it all.
My heart ached for Caroline. She never wanted this.
Once finished with my shower, I stole one of Damons shirts and a pair of sweats that could be cinched at the waist. With my own clothes ruined by my own blood I had very little choice in dress code. To think not even two hours ago I had been shot with a wooden bullet. Things in Mystic Falls never seem to slow down.
I left Damon's room and made my way down stairs. Caroline was the only one in the main sitting room. She sat on the couch with her eyes downcast and her mind no doubt swirling with today's events. I sat in the empty space beside her and let the silence fill the air between us.
"I'm sorry." She whispered out. Her eyes continued to gaze downward and I took the hand closest to me and held it tightly in my own.
"There is nothing for you to be sorry about." I assured her, and it was true. Her mother's actions were not hers to be sorry for. "Have you spoken to her?"
The blond sitting beside me shook her head. "She hates me."
"No, she's just afraid." I told her. I didn't want to believe that a mother could hate her own daughter, no matter how different Caroline was now. I had seen it in the woman's eyes when Caroline had shown up. The Sheriff had been afraid of her. Caroline leaned into me and I held the girl close to my side. Life could be cruel, but to make a mother despise her own daughter, well, I guess I could say I knew how she felt. In a past life I had also faced the hate a mother could feel for her daughter.
I let Caroline lay her head in my lap and ran my fingers through her hair as she fell asleep. "Hey, are you staying here for the night?" I looked up at Damon.
"Yeah. I don't want to leave her." I looked down at the heart broken teen. I wanted to be here for her. She deserves someone to lean on. Damon nodded his head. Life wasn't going to be getting any easier, but I wasn't going to leave her side, not if I could help it.
I settled Caroline in one of the boarding houses' many guest rooms and stayed with her until she fell back asleep. I then went to one of the other rooms and collapsed into bed. I was exhausted and sleep was all I could think about as I closed my eyes.
I wanted to believe that this day would never come. That my loved ones would always be there, right beside me forever. But I knew that wasn't realistic. There was a balance to keep, and one day we would all return to the earth. Just as it was meant to be. But that didn't make this any easier. That didn't make losing them any less painful.
My mother, my father. The two of them laid side by side before the home my father built for us. My father, my strong and fierce father, laid beside her. His wounds had proved to be too much for him to heal from. Long claw marks ran down his chest and bite marks tore away at the flesh on his arms. But my mother, she looked to be simply sleeping as she laid beside him on the cold ground. Her grey skin and cold lifelessness made my stomach turn in pain. They were gone.
"My love." His voice was soft and deep as he kneeled down beside me. "Serena. Look at me, my love." I listened to his command and looked away from my parents' body. His long hair was tied back in a low ponytail and those hazel eyes stared at me with such love and devotion. I felt my heartbreak knowing that that was the same look my father gave my mother. The same look they would never share with one another again.
Tears came to my eyes and I leapt into his arms. "Finn, take her home." It was the man with those deep brown eyes who spoke up. I recognized his voice but couldn't remember his name. My vision was blurry with tears and I held on tightly to the man, Finn, as he stood from the ground with me in his arms.
"We'll take care of them, love." Nik, I remember blue eyes and a dimpled smile as he spoke up, reassuring me. "Kol, go with them."
Finn started walking away from the place my parents laid, before our home. The home I was born in, grew up in, and was loved in. A hand gripped my own as it hung limply on Finn's shoulder. I opened my eyes to see a boy no older than me grasping my hand. His hair was long and shaggy and he had similar brown eyes to the familiar stranger.
"Don't worry, darling, we'll take care of you." His voice was a comfort and I closed my eyes and relaxed in Finn's arms while gripping the other boy's hand. I believed his words and I trusted him.
A/N: I'll be honest, I've redone this chapter a few times and have come to the conclusion that its just a necessary filler chapter. I'm not super happy with it, but its done and I'm happy enough with it to post it. So thank you for reading!
Thank you for the reviews and thank you to all the new followers. Post days as always are on Monday.
Stay safe everyone, now more then ever.