The Night Of The Comet - Part 3
Today is the day that Damon Salvatore dies.
No, really.
I'm going to murder him. Maybe not for the reasons you're thinking, but some rather good reasons in my own opinion.
Such as, when I woke up this morning after a riveting small hangout with Stefan and my mom, I could barely speak. My throat was so swollen that even breathing hurt. When I looked into the mirror, the bruises that were an ugly purple and green and brown from two days before were now black.
Black.
No amount of foundation, powder, and concealer covered it. And I'm talking I layered myself up so much that I looked like a cake covered with frosting. Like that weird trend during 2020 of "Is It Cake Or Not?". And yet, despite turning my neck into a pastry, it still showed terribly. Kelly walked in on me while I was trying to fix it and had a downright panic about it. Now, naturally, I can't tell her that Kitchen Damon is the same guy as Assault Guy, so when she demanded to know how my neck had somehow gotten worse, I decided to tell her a partial truth: the Assault Guy had found me again at the hospital in between leaving Matt and Vicki and seeing the girls. I called Security on him and he got pissed and tried choking me. I said he had been arrested and wasn't allowed visitors, to deter her from marching down there and ripping him a new one.
That didn't seem to satisfy her, though, because she stole my phone right out of my hands and proceeded to call every. single. person. on my contact list, telling them the story and ordering them to not leave me alone. There was never supposed to be a moment at school when I was left alone. I was to be escorted to each class by somebody. Caroline agreed wholeheartedly to be my chauffer, which means that I have about five more minutes before she gets here, and I want my breakfast toast (even if it'll be a bitch to swallow).
But anyways: back on track. Tonight should be good. I shouldn't honestly have that many problems. The comet was coming out tonight, which meant a few things:
1) Stefan & Elena: the two of them were going to fight and then makeup with a kiss. That should be some good daytime drama level crap. Very entertaining.
2) Vicki, Stefan, & Damon: Because of the agreement between me and Damon, Vicki should be in the clear, which is such a freaking relief because I have grown emotionally attached to the sweetheart and should anyone hurt her, I will hurt them. Still, it would be better to keep a close eye on Vicki. Better safe than sorry.
3) Caroline & Damon: Caroline now knows to run from Damon should she ever see him, which should be good in keeping the two of them apart. Again, should keep a close eye on her nonetheless. I don't want any mistakes to happen.
Yeah, yeah, I know this entry is rather short and sweet, but really, I want that toast, so anything else I have to say will have to wait. Here's hoping all goes well!
Spoiler Alert: Everything did not go well.
The first week of high school at Mystic Falls High School had been the worst week in Victoria's entire life, and that was saying something considering the company she used to keep with her parents back home. Going from a "bad day" to "good-ish day" to "I honestly don't know how to qualify this day" to the day of the comet, it seemed the trend continued as Victoria had a crappy day. Her throat made it nearly impossible for her to speak, so she had to regulate herself to being a side character for most of the conversations. Not that the conversations were all that interesting. They all were talking about the comet that was supposed to appear that night, which Victoria was well aware of.
To add onto the stress, Victoria had been approached by two random ladies who she didn't recognize. Caroline, who was her self-appointed bodyguard since Stefan seemed to be missing from school, explained that they were Ms. Cortez, the school's choir and music teacher, and Mrs. Richards, the dance instructor. Apparently, while the two of them had been made aware of Victoria's "condition", they were insistent that she attend the practices she had signed up for. Never mind the fact that Victoria could barely speak with her throat and move with her injuries from the car accident and coma. So, after being forced to attend all the classes she really didn't want to (thankfully Mrs. Landstrom was still ignoring her), she was forced to sit in on a choir practice where she was the lead soloist for a song that hadn't been popular since she was nine. Then, she was immediately ushered to the gymnasium where she had to watch girls dance in synch while giving feedback that none of them appreciated. On top of that all, Caroline wasn't allowed inside the classrooms, since "she was not a part of the activity and all electives' activities were to be kept secret until the performances".
To make things even worse (if that was even possible), Mrs. Richards made it very clear that Victoria had signed up to choreograph a contemporary piece for the school's Halloween dance that was coming up in a month. And "if she didn't do the dance, the school board was going to be really disappointed as everyone loved to watch Victoria dance". Because guilt-tripping was really an effective form of torture.
By the time she had gotten out of the dance practice, she was already ready for a nap and a lot of pain medication. Her feet were screaming at her to just elevate them. Caroline offered to take her to the park, where she, Elena, and Bonnie were handing out pamphlets for the night of the comet. Victoria agreed, knowing that if there weren't any benches for her to lounge around, she could always just take a nap in the grass.
Which is where she was currently, sprawled out on a large picnic blanket that Caroline just so happened to have in the back of her car. That girl was prepared for anything and everything. Caroline was off on the other side of the park, handing out pamphlets to unsuspecting college students who were visiting the small town. Victoria was stationed close to where Bonnie and Elena were, close enough that Kelly would be satisfied with her positioning. Also, close enough that she could hear the two girls' conversation.
"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asked, looking at Elena with a disappointed smile.
"Or text," Elena grumbled, offering a pamphlet to what Victoria thought was a soccer mom. "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."
Victoria's phone burned in her pocket as she fiddled with pieces of grass. She and Stefan had exchanged numbers, albeit for a completely different reason than Elena and Stefan would exchange numbers, but it still made her feel awful. She would have offered Elena Stefan's number, but she could imagine the look of betrayal she would receive from the teen at the thought of Victoria having Stefan's number before her. Victoria didn't want to risk that situation blowing up.
"That's an important milestone in any relationship," Bonnie continued, not noticing Victoria's inner turmoil.
"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway."
"When is it ever right?"
"I'm not ready, Bonnie," Elena insisted, stopping to turn and look at her friend intently. Victoria watched the whole exchange with a thoughtful look. She knew where the exchange would lead: Bonnie would argue that Elena was only making excuses for herself rather than putting herself out there. Elena would use her parents' deaths as a reason why it was better to keep things closer to her chest.
The ground beside Victoria shuddered as a large body dropped to the ground. Victoria flinched and froze in fear when she saw Damon Salvatore lounging down on the blanket beside her. She opened her mouth, preferably to scream for someone (Bonnie, Elena, Caroline, Stefan, hell, anyone who would help her just draw attention to the man so he would leave her alone), but Damon held up a hand. "I'm here to make love, not war, Mama Bear. Keep those pretty vocal cords of yours to yourself."
Victoria glared at Damon, seeing as that was pretty much all she could do because of him. He raised an eyebrow skeptically at her. "What?"
"I hate you," Victoria spat, but it came out low, gravelly, and every word hurt. She swallowed, not even bothering to hide the large amount of pain she was in. Because of him.
"Is this because of your throat? Why don't you just ask your little boy-toy to fix it up for you? Seeing as you're 'all-knowing', you would know that vampire blood heals," Damon snorted, rolling his eyes at Victoria.
Victoria chose to ignore the creative nickname that Damon had given Stefan and instead replied painfully, "Don't want."
"You'd be out of pain."
"Vampire."
"Yeah, well, is that a risk worth taking?" When Victoria continued to glare at him, Damon just shrugged. "Alright. It's your life, your choice."
"Why here?" Victoria rasped. As embarrassing as it was to be having a conversation with not-really sentences, her throat literally couldn't stomach long sentences. If it was longer than three words, she would regret it.
"Stefan seems to have it stuck in his mind that since you're a Seer -" "- Not Seer -" "- that I should be getting on your good side rather than your bad side. After all, you could make my life a living hell by making things harder on me." With that, he turned and gave her a sharp glare. "Not that you would, would you, Mama Bear? You like me much too much for that."
"Stake in heart," was Victoria's reply. Her intention had been to say "Given the opportunity, I will stake you in the heart", but her throat made that a little hard. But Damon seemed to get the gist of what she wanted to say.
"Oooh, such a charmer you are."
"Not convinced."
"You're not convinced that I'm trying to get on your good side?" Damon asked incredulously. Victoria nodded her head in confirmation. Damon scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, fair enough. I did try to choke you out a couple of times. What do I need to do in order to convince you that I am trying to be on Santa Victoria's nice list?"
"One favor," Victoria answered, resisting the urge to smirk. Damon's eyebrow shot up in disbelief and Victoria nodded her head, cementing her decision. "Favor."
"I owe you one favor? That's what will get me off the naughty list?"
"Anything ask. You do."
Damon's eyes narrowed slightly and the familiar sparkle was there as he growled, "You will forget this conversation ever happened."
Victoria looked at him amusedly as she sassed, "No compel."
Damon groaned and flopped over onto the blanket. "Yeah, Mama Bear, I'm pretty sure I got that. It didn't hurt to try, at least." He pushed himself up onto his elbows and was silent for a moment as he studied Victoria's face. Though his intense stare sent terrifying shivers down her spine, Victoria kept her cool and returned Damon's stare with a blank one of her own. After a minute or two of silence between them, Damon smirked. "Alright, Mama Bear, you got yourself a deal. To get back onto your nice list and to repay for the last two times I choked you, I owe you one favor that I have to do."
"Forget? Stake heart."
"And if I don't do whatever favor you ask of me, you can try to stake me in the heart," Damon added, and Victoria shook her head.
"No try. Stake."
"You seem rather confident in your abilities," Damon commented, tilting his head curiously at her. "Aren't you just some socialite from California who lived in a world with no vampires? Forgive me if I'm not quivering in my boots with fear."
Victoria rolled her eyes and made a shooing motion with her hands as she noticed Bonnie and Elena getting closer to her blanket. "Go. Friends close."
"One of these days, you'll have to introduce us," Damon mentioned as he rose to his feet. Victoria just shrugged in response. Damon didn't seem fazed by it and disappeared within the next moment, as if he had never been there in the first place.
Victoria licked her lips and rubbed her throat once more. The bruises were beginning to ache and her throat felt like someone had tried to sandpaper the inside of it. She swallowed heavily, whimpering quietly under her breath as the pain spiked. She would need to take some more medication when she got home.
Someone plopped down beside her and Victoria verbally growled, flipping around to snap at whom she assumed was Damon.
It was not Damon.
Instead, it was a person that Victoria had never seen before. It was a man, middle-aged, with a balding spot right in the center of his head. He had a halo of hair around the bald spot, and glasses tied the whole nerd aesthetic together. His outfit was pretty typical: jeans, graphic t-shirt, and a plaid shirt underneath a thick jacket.
Victoria's skin crawled. So far, she hadn't had the best of luck with strangers.
Victoria opened her mouth to ask the man to leave, with as little words as possible, when the man cut her off. "I don't know you and you don't know me."
Victoria, taken aback, snapped her mouth shut and just blinked at the stranger with confusion. That was an odd way of opening a conversation.
"That being said, the two of us have a mutual acquaintance, one who is very interested in your well-being," the stranger continued, glancing around the two of them. Victoria followed his wandering gaze with her own. There wasn't anybody paying attention to the two of them, which made Victoria feel relieved and nerve-wracked all at the same time. Victoria looked back to the man and in his hands he held a small little box, one that appeared similar to that of a jewelry case. "For your throat. Not vampire blood, I promise."
Victoria's eyes widened in disbelief and she leaned in, hissing, "How you know?"
"I'm not allowed to tell you that."
Victoria sniffed, not totally convinced by the stranger's words, but she held her hands out anyways. The stranger placed the box into her hands and she held it close to her chest. She studied the stranger silently, trying to work out many questions in her head. Who was this acquaintance? The only two people of the supernatural community that Victoria knew were Damon and Stefan (seeing as she had not met Shelia Bennett just yet); it could be a future character in the series, but that didn't narrow anything down.
"Who is acquaintance?"
"I'm not allowed to tell you that."
"Who are you?"
"I'm not allowed to tell you that either."
Victoria gave a frustrated huff and glared at the man, who only returned the look with a small, apologetic smile. She had to ask, "Compel?"
"If you're asking if I'm compelled, then I have to say -"
"- Not allowed tell."
"Yeah, sorry about that, Ms. LeBlanc."
Victoria's eyes widened in disbelief and she pointed a finger accusingly at the man. "Now know name!"
"As I said earlier, our mutual acquaintance is very interested in your well-being," the stranger said. He brushed his hands and pushed himself onto his feet, leaving Victoria sitting down on the blanket confused. "I have done my task. Please, stay safe and enjoy the gift. Again, it is not vampire blood. Our acquaintance seems to know you have a...distaste for such things."
And just like that, he was gone.
And he left Victoria with more questions then answers.
The rest of the day had passed by Victoria in a blur. Kelly had spent most of the day on her laptop, frantically trying to work on the term paper she and Jenna had chained their lives to. Stefan wasn't answering any texts, Elena seemed too moody, Caroline was busy being ignored by her mother, and Bonnie seemed to be hanging out at her grandmother's place. That left Victoria by herself to get ready for the Night of the Comet, throwing on a pair of low-rise jeans, a thick-strapped blue-gray tank top, and a blue plaid shirt with a jean jacket thrown over top. She found a cute pair of black boots that she paired with the outfit too and narrowly remembered to grab a gray plaid scarf to cover up her neck.
Kelly had had enough free time to take her to the town square, where the candle-lighting festivities were taking place, but as soon as Victoria was dropped off, she had to run home ("This paper isn't going to write itself, baby girl. Sorry. Stay safe, ok?"). Victoria headed off to the Grill, intent on grabbing some dinner before trying to find Stefan, Elena, or Damon. She entered the restaurant, her anxiety jumping slightly when she noticed how many people were loitering around the popular food place.
A hand grabbed her elbow and she flinched, whipping around with her fists clenched. She was so sick of people sneaking up on her. If it was Damon, Victoria swore she was going to make him see double...
Her mouth dropped open in happy surprise and she let out a croaky cheer as Vicki's smiling face appeared in front of her. "Vicki!"
Victoria launched herself at the younger girl, holding the laughing teen close to her as she squeezed her tightly. Vicki returned the hug and Victoria couldn't help the painful, but needed giggle that rose from her throat. She let go of the teen and stepped back, her hands still on Vicki's shoulders. "What are you -"
"- doing here?" Vicki finished, the smile never leaving her face. When Victoria nodded eagerly, Vicki laughed, "Fighting with Robert about my schedule. You'd think getting ripped up by a rapid animal would merit an extra sick day."
"Are you ok?" Victoria rasped, licking her lips and swallowing heavily.
Vicki nodded, but her eyes narrowed slightly at the large scarf around Victoria's neck. She reached forward and her fingers brushed up against the fabric. Victoria winced, knowing she was going to ask about what happened to her.
And ask she did. "I hurt, but you look like you went through hell. What happened to you?" Vicki's face paled suddenly and she pulled Victoria close to her so quickly that Victoria stumbled slightly. In a harsh whisper, Vicki asked sharply, "Did you get attacked by an animal too?"
Victoria took a deep breath and prepared her throat for the pain it would experience. She needed to explain to Vicki what happened, even if it meant she was going to be in more pain because of it. Her mind trailed off momentarily to the box that the stranger had given her to earlier that day; the gift from the acquaintance. Victoria had hidden it deep inside her shoe drawers, knowing that no one would go rifling for her shoes and find it. She hadn't opened it, not exactly trusting the properties of whatever was in it like the man seemed to believe.
"A guy roughed me up the night of your accident," Victoria coughed, whining slightly as she tried to swallow after speaking. "First attack wasn't so bad. Second one was worse. I-It hurts to talk for a long time."
"Oh shit! Then don't talk!" Vicki hurried, apologies spilling out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide and her fingers were moving around incessantly, like they were looking for something to do. "Damn, I'm not really doing a good job at this, am I?" Victoria opened her mouth to reassure the teen, when Vicki interrupted, "Don't answer that. You need to be on vocal rest."
Victoria gave her an exasperated look while Vicki just snorted at her. "Yeah, that look doesn't work on me like mine works on you. Why don't you go to the candle-lighting ceremony? I have to get back to work before Robert tears me a new one."
Victoria nodded, but caught Vicki's arm when she moved to step away. In a low whisper, she said, "Be careful, Vick. And please...no drugs."
A disappointed look passed by Vicki's eyes, but she nodded her head nonetheless. "I will, Blankie. Have a good night."
Victoria smiled reassuringly at the younger teen and gave the woman a quick hug goodbye before exiting out of the Grill, all thoughts of food forgotten.
When she walked out, she could see a bunch of people already mingling around in the square, lighting each other's candles and laughing in good cheer. It was dark, and Victoria had a hard time distinguishing faces she knew among the crowd, but then she noticed Stefan in the middle of the crowd. The candle in his hand was lit and the light glow helped Victoria recognize the lovely face of Elena Gilbert standing next to him.
Victoria moved stealthily through the crowd, thanking the random man who passed her an unlit candle. She got close enough to the two teenagers that she was able to catch onto the last few clippets of their conversation.
"Yesterday, that wasn't about you, ok?" Stefan was saying, the apology laced with sincerity.
"You didn't tell me that you had a brother." Elena's words were concise and sharp and Victoria couldn't help but wince in sympathy for Stefan. Stefan, in a way, did deserve Elena's harsh words, but at the same time, there was so much more going on that Elena didn't know about that justified Stefan's reasonings.
"We're not close. It's, uh...it's complicated."
Elena scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Always. He told me about your ex. Katherine."
Stefan noticeably tensed up as he asked cautiously, "What did he say?"
"That she broke your heart."
Stefan sighed, and Victoria's heart went out to him. Elena wasn't making things easy for him. She could see how much Stefan wanted to be honest with her, but she could also see how uneasy the entire situation made him. It wasn't easy being a one hundred and forty-five something year old vampire pretending to be a seventeen year old (what was it about being seventeen that vampires seemed to try and replicate? Did high school girls do something for them? Ew).
"That was a long time ago."
"When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt," Elena snapped back, her hands clenched tightly around her candle. She shook her head. "I know that. Victoria for sure knows that..."
Victoria stepped back, shocked at being included in the conversation. It now was beginning to feel like a conversation that she shouldn't have intruded in on, but some twisted part of her said she was a part of the conversation just as much as Stefan and Elena were now. She had to hear it out.
"Elena..."
"Did you know that it was her fault?"
And just like that, Victoria found herself staggering back, feeling like she was just sucker-punched to the gut. Tears were in her eyes and she was struggling to breathe properly. In that one instant, Victoria knew what Elena was talking about. Please, please, please, no, no, no, no, Elena, please no...
Stefan seemed to have the same reaction as Victoria as he shouted, "What the hell are you talking about, Elena?"
"Tori was on that bridge," snapped Elena. Victoria could hear the underlying rage that filled every word. Victoria slapped a hand to her mouth to prevent her sobs from crashing out. Everyone around her passed her by, like she didn't exist. Like she wasn't worth acknowledging. Like they were all silently judging and blaming her.
Please, no...
"Victoria is a victim, just like you and your parents were," Stefan insisted, shaking his head. He spoke softer, licking his lips before he added, "It was an accident, Elena. You can't go around blaming her."
"Why not?" Elena demanded. Elena's hands were clenched into fists and Victoria's free hand went to wrap itself tightly around her own stomach. The memories of that night and the insecurities she had been facing all week came cascading back into her brain. The screaming, the swerving of the car. The impact, as she wished she had just stayed home watching Vampire Diaries instead of trying to walk through the darkness to get to that damned post office. "Victoria was the one who startled my parents. They swerved and we all went into the river. And, instead of one of my parents, who had hard working jobs and children that they needed to take care of, living from that night, it was Victoria. Victoria LeBlanc, the teen sensation that could do no wrong, daughter of one of the most beloved women in all of town. The one who is so pure and lighthearted that even the sun takes notice. It should have been her! If Victoria hadn't been on that bridge that night, then we would all be here! It was her fault!"
Victoria couldn't handle it anymore. The pure sound of hatred in Elena's voice broke her heart and she was filled with the heavy need and urge to run, to get away. She couldn't control her breathing and her throat was screaming at her in pain. Victoria dropped her candle and broke out into a run, heading in the opposite direction from Stefan and Elena.
Victoria didn't care where she ran and she didn't care how long she ran; she just had to escape from the town square. Her tears fell freely on her face and she didn't try to hide her sobs or her frantic breaths.
Elena blamed her. She was the reason that the Gilberts were dead. Dead, dead, dead. Victoria had been on that bridge and she had killed the Gilberts. Mrs. Landstrom had been right and Kelly had been wrong.
It should have been her!
It should have been her!
It should have been her!
It should have...
Victoria collapsed to the ground on her hands and knees, suddenly lightheaded and her heart pounding hard against her chest. She let loose her sobs and fell to the ground, curling up in the fetal position. She didn't register the cool ground underneath her body, the scent of trees and pine needles. Victoria clung to herself, her fingernails digging into her arms, rocking herself lightly as her cries became more and more violent.
It was her fault. She was the one who should've died. Miranda or Grayson Gilbert could have lived. It was her fault.
All her fault, all her fault.
"You were never meant to leave this family. You just don't cut it."
The voice of MacKenzie Vanacore intruded into her thoughts and Victoria's hands moved to pull at her hair. She let out an enraged, pained scream, one that echoed throughout the foresty-area around her. MacKenzie's and Elena's voices intermingled with each other as Victoria's vision began to blur.
"You were going to fail."
"It's her fault."
"You are just not cut out for that world."
"It should have been her."
"It should have been her."
The edges around Victoria's vision darkened and Victoria found her cries dying down as hyperventilation took over. Her gaze moved skyward. The stars were out in full ensemble, each sparkling like a million suns. The trees opened up just enough that Victoria could see one particular star stand out among the rest. It arched across the sky, a tail of burning ice trailing behind it. The comet.
Her vision blacked out before she could notice the person approaching her, their startling blue eyes breaking through the dark night.
This was not a part of Damon's plan.
And yes, to the skeptics, he did have a plan for finding Katherine.
Walking through the woods, looking for some unsuspecting campers he could take a nibble out of only to wander upon the "I'm-not-a-Seer" Mama Bear lying on the ground, passed out with tears staining her cheeks and blood soaking her arms from fingernail claw marks, was not a part of his plan. Neither was resisting the strong (and he did mean strong) urge to eat her, thus ignoring her wishes and his agreement to grant her one favor. To add more insult to injury, Damon hadn't anticipated gathering the teenager up in his arms and walking back to his home. He went in through the back door, not wanting to have to deal with an emotional Stefan who was busy making out with Katherine's look-alike on the front porch. It would be a stupid conversation to have with the two of them; why on Earth did he have Elena's friend in his arms, especially when she was very bloodied up?
Yeah, Damon was a dick but even he had his limits.
Instead, he headed upstairs, walking quietly enough to not disturb his great-great-something or other nephew Zach, a human who seemed to have more opinions about their lives then the two Salvatore brothers put together. He skipped the guest rooms (he didn't want either Zach or Stefan walking in on the girl), and knew that Stefan's room was out of the question as well. He brought her into his own room, setting her down on one side of his ginormous bed.
Her scent of blood was strong and was rather alluring. The scent was something hard to describe, but it could be dumbed down to one word: delicious. Damon couldn't resist just a taste. But he was a gentleman (despite what Stefan might say), so he used his fingers to trace one of her cuts on her arm, bringing the small bead of blood he gathered up to his lips. His tongue flicked out and he licked the blood up, prepared for the overwhelming aroma of her blood to be paired with the mouth-watering taste of her blood.
He wasn't prepared for how nasty it would be.
Damon staggered back, desperately trying to spit out the blood from his mouth. He even resorted to licking the back of his hand repeatedly to try and eradicate the taste of her blood from his mouth.
Damon never thought he would say this in his entire life, but he had lost all of his craving for blood in that moment. He glared at the unconscious Victoria, who laid in a jumble of limbs on his bed. Damn it all, but she had been right that night the two of them met. She did intrigue him, even more so after last night, when she revealed the reason she had been overly shifty with the two brothers. A person from a universe that was so similar to their own with only a few key differences. One where his whole life was detailed into the script of a television show. He would never admit it out loud, but the whole idea boggled his mind.
He had been ready to scratch Victoria off as just another loon when she brought it up, but that way of thinking got destroyed as soon as she mentioned Lexi. Lexi and Damon didn't get along, to say the least. He had done excellently in avoiding her for the past few decades and hoped to continue on that trend. But as far as he was aware, Lexi had done an outstanding job of staying out of the history books. There was no feasible way that Victoria would know about the female vampire unless what she was saying was true.
There was a knock on the door and Damon huffed, rolling his eyes. Stefan really couldn't mind his own business, could he? The older vampire straightened out his leather jacket and marched to the door, opening it up with a cool smirk on his face. "Why, hello baby brother. Are you done smacking lips with your ex's look-alike?"
"Why are there two heartbeats?" Stefan demanded, his eyes hard and his forehead crinkled in hidden worry. Well, it wasn't all that hidden since Damon was able to spot it easily. "Who's here, Damon?"
"Maybe I found a puppy," Damon suggested, folding his arms across his chest. He leaned against the doorframe, utterly blocking Stefan from entering his room. "Small, cute, fluffy. I think I'll name him Cuddles."
"Heart's too slow for a dog."
"He's asleep," Damon shot back.
"Damon -"
"- I don't have to do anything you want me to do, Stefan," Damon interrupted, his eyes narrowing slightly to give Stefan a hard look. Stefan opened his mouth to argue back, but Damon held up a finger, silencing him before he could start. "However, just this once, and don't get any bright ideas from this, I seem to be in a bit of a conundrum."
Damon stood up from the doorway and took a step back, sweeping a hand out to invite Stefan into his room. Damon recognized the moment that Stefan saw Victoria lying on his bed. Stefan's face paled, his eyes alight with worry, before it shifted into rage and Damon took a step to the side, narrowly avoiding Stefan's anger-filled lunge.
"Now, take a deep breath, Brother," Damon huffed, stepping around Stefan to dodge a punch that the younger Salvatore threw at him. "I wasn't the one to harm her."
"And why should I believe you? You! The guy who tried to kill her only yesterday!" Stefan shouted, his shoulders tight with tension.
Damon rolled his eyes. "As much as I would like to hash this out again with you today in the span of twenty-four hours, this is not the time. For once." He gestured towards the passed out teen. "Since you're the one who's friends with her, maybe you can tell me why I found her passed out in the middle of the woods behind our house, with tears on her face and blood on her arms."
Stefan's eyes widened in alarm and he stumbled backwards, heading towards the door to Damon's room. Damon reached forward and caught his brother's arm before he could completely disappear. "At ease. I had a little taste and trust me when I say even you won't be tempted."
"You drank from her?" Stefan growled, black veins beginning to become noticeable against his paler skin.
"She has cuts on her arm. I just got a little drop," Damon corrected, rolling his eyes. "And again, it's nothing to swoon for. To be honest, I've never tasted anything worse, as a human or a vampire."
"And you brought her here?" Stefan demanded, his forehead crinkled with confusion. "Why didn't you just bring her to her house?"
"It hurts my heart to admit it, but it's not like me and Mama Bear's mother are the best of friends. Unlike the way she is with you," Damon snapped back. "I didn't want to risk having to navigate her house. Plus, I didn't want to walk that far. Here seemed simpler."
"Does she have her phone on her?"
"You tell me," grunted Damon, stepping to the side.
Stefan glanced at Victoria with slight trepidation before he approached her. Damon could see the tentative way that Stefan moved beside the girl. He had stopped breathing around Victoria; a smart move, as he wouldn't be able to smell her blood. Damon would mentally applaud his brother for that. The younger Salvatore gently searched Victoria's coat's pockets, pulling out her phone triumphantly. Stefan pressed a few buttons before he pulled the phone up to his ear. Damon raised an eyebrow at Stefan, and Stefan pressed a finger to his lips, telling his brother to be silent.
"Victoria! Where the hell have you been, young lady? Do you even realize the kind of stress you've put me under? I have been getting frantic calls from your friends all evening saying that you never showed up at the ceremony in town square. Do you have any idea -"
"Ms. LeBlanc, this is Stefan."
Silence came from the other line and Victoria's mother came back on a moment later, her voice cracking, "S-Stefan? Why are you answering my daughter's phone? Again?"
"Again?" Damon mouthed to his brother and Stefan waved him off.
"Ms. LeBlanc, my brother found Victoria tonight passed out in the woods behind our house. She's in one of our guest rooms right now. No, before you panic, she doesn't look like she was attacked." At this, Stefan gave Damon a hard glare that Damon replied with an eyeroll. "Something happened, though, because she looks like she's been crying for a long time. She looks like she scratched herself pretty hard too."
"Where do you live? I'm coming right now to pick her up."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Stefan asked, moving to pace around the room. Every once and a while, he would pause and look at Victoria. There was an emotion in his brother's eyes that Damon didn't recognize immediately, and it was gone before the answer came to Damon's head. "If she's had a hard night, then waking her up might be worse."
"Well then, Stefan Salvatore, I am coming over. No room for discussion. Now, tell me where your address is or I will wake up everyone in this damn town until I find your house."
Stefan winced and rattled off the address to Victoria's mother before the woman abruptly hung up on him.
"She sounds like she's a happy camper," Damon snorted, moving to take a seat on the side of the bed that Victoria wasn't occupying. "How long do you think it'll be before she gets here?"
Evidently, not that long.
Damon heard the impressive Kelly LeBlanc stomp up the front steps of their house first. Stefan raced to catch her before she could knock on the door and interrupt Zach's light sleeping. Damon was impressed that he was even sleeping through Damon's and Stefan's conversation.
The door to his bedroom opened a moment later, revealing a frazzled Kelly LeBlanc, her black hair piled up on her head. She was wearing what looked like pajamas and the moment she saw Victoria on Damon's bed, lying down next to Damon, her eyes went wide with fear and anger.
"What the hell did you do to her?" Kelly demanded, launching herself forward. The mother went to Victoria's side, her hands fluttering as she tried to take in her daughter's appearance. "What is going on?"
"We don't know," Damon said, ignoring the glare Kelly sent him. "We probably won't know what happened until she wakes up, seeing as no one saw her at the ceremony."
Kelly let out a growling sigh, but took a long deep breath in and then released it. She dragged her hands down across her face. Damon could see the tiredness deep in her skin; the worry she had held inside of herself all evening wondering where her daughter had been.
"Sorry for panicking," Kelly said in a whisper, licking her lips. She knelt down beside Victoria, grabbing one of her daughter's free hands and wrapping it up with her two own. "This week...has not been good for her, and it's scared me more than I could care to admit."
"Victoria said that she woke up from a four-month long coma just a week and a half ago?" said Damon, lightly probing the older LeBlanc. He ignored Stefan's pointed look and kept his focus on Kelly. He coughed and Kelly's eyes connected with his. He called on his compulsion and said directly, "Tell me what happened to Victoria this week that's been bad."
"She's had multiple panic attacks," Kelly said immediately, her eyes never leaving Damon's. "She's faced discrimination from her teachers because of the accident, along with blame and guilt. Many people in this town blame her for what happened to the Gilberts last spring. On top of that, she's had to start school in a place that she doesn't remember, had to deal with people who remember her but she doesn't remember them. A girl she cares for like a sister was attacked by a wild animal. That same night, Victoria was attacked by a man outside of the Grill. The next day, the same guy found her at the hospital and choked her again. She's been pressured by her dance and singing teachers to get back into the game and they expect her to succeed at the same level she had been previously." Kelly shook her head, as if clearing her thoughts, before she continued, "Victoria has talked with many of her friends after waking up, and I know they're doing their best to support her, but sometimes I feel like...I feel like it's setting her back. That they expect something from her that she can't give. She's admitted that hanging out with the girls so much kind of shocked her. It...it feels like the Victoria that's woken up after the coma is not the same Victoria that went into the coma."
"If I had to guess, I would say that a panic attack is the most likely option here," Stefan interjected, breaking the eye contact between Damon and Kelly. Damon growled in the back of his throat quietly, but allowed Stefan to continue for the sake of the conversation. "She could have hyperventilated until she passed out. Why she was running is something else, though. Something had to have set her off."
"Well, like you said, I guess we'll find out in the morning," Kelly mumbled, looking down at her daughter. Crystal tears formed in the woman's dark eyes and she weakly asked, "I-I'm going to stay with her tonight."
"We'll see you in the morning," was Stefan's reply as he grabbed Damon and yanked the older vampire out of the room.
A/N: Oh no! Victoria deals with guilt, we get a Damon POV, and who is this mysterious man who shares an acquaintance with Victoria? Who is the acquaintance?
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've noticed oddly enough that I get more reviews from Monday to Friday than Friday to Monday. No hate, no shade, just a curious observation.
And y'all, we hit 3k+ views! Woot woot! Give yourself a high-five. I'm proud of y'all.
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Onto PMs and reviews!:
AnosDT95: You're welcome! And yeah, it's not that any of the past chapters contradict it, it's that future chapters do. And yes, you have inspired me to sort-of follow along those lines where she slowly remembers what past!Victoria was doing. It will come during an intense moment in her life (I think it's going to be set in Season 1, so we have a little ways away, but it's sooner than say, Season 4). Because I'm curious, what makes you so certain she's a witch? What's your reasoning behind it? Because I'm personally not seeing it but as a writer, I could be heavily biased. As for your list of those you don't want dead...let's just say that only two survive.
mrs. morgan 35: Thank you! Here you go!
DBZFAN45: Those are two of my favorite lines too XD. Yeah, Victoria can be pretty ballsy when she wants to be. Hehe, "hero hair" XD. Yeah, there's something really raw and rare about Stefan's and Victoria's friendship, and someone pointed out in an earlier chapter (probs was you) that it's very similar to Stefan's relationship with Lexi, the whole "ride or die". Victoria totally has a savior complex (I think the official name is a hero complex) like Stefan. I'm glad this story is keeping you interested in the TVD universe!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will see you on Friday, when we get to see the first part of Friday Night Bites! Enjoy and stay safe everyone!
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