Turning Point - Part 1
Damon sprang forward, like a big cat, with rage in his heart. His vampire features flew to the surface and he grabbed Bonnie hard, tight. Squeezing. He heard her scream, maybe, before he ducked his head down and sunk his fangs into her neck. Her blood immediately came into his throat and he sucked hard, strong. He was sloppy with it; he wanted there to be as much pain as physically possible. He couldn't punish Emily, she was already gone. But Emily had broken her deal with Damon, which meant that he could break his.
He was intending to kill the little witch.
He heard someone scream behind him. Elena. The little girl was crying out in fear, and Damon ignored her, focusing on the task at hand.
Damon was suddenly ripped away from Bonnie, his fangs popping out of her neck as two sets of strong arms grabbed his shoulders, torso, and arms. Damon let out a hiss of anger as he was torn from his prey. He saw red. He wanted death. He wanted pain. He wanted someone to pay for what was done to him. To his Mama Bear. He struggled against the arms as Stefan and Elena appeared in his line of sight, making a beeline for Bonnie, who was now collapsed on the ground. Her blood was oozing out of the jagged bite mark on her shoulder and Damon inhaled the delicious scent of blood.
"She's alive, but barely. I can save her," Stefan was saying to Elena, and Damon let out a crazed laugh. He had been so close. So close to finishing her off. For making Emily pay!
"Vee-Bee, please don't be dead," he heard Lexi murmur off to the side. That meant that Lee and Zach were the ones holding him back. He stilled his fighting just a bit, enough that he wouldn't be louder than Lexi's words. There was the audible sound of ripping fabric, and then Damon could hear Lexi's fingers working to take the gag off of Victoria's mouth. He heard her sigh, and was that with relief? "She's still breathing! She's okay!"
"D-Damon...?"
Damon's fighting spirit roared back to life with that one word. He slammed his elbow backwards, hitting Lee in the ribs. The younger vampire wheezed in pain and staggered backwards, letting go of Damon's arm. Damon used that momentum to spring his now free arm forward, punching Zach right across the face. His great-nephew let out a curse as he was caught by surprise and he too staggered off.
Damon turned towards where Lexi and was there on the ground beside Victoria's body in an instant. He shoved Lexi back with one hand while he used the other to lift Victoria up. He sidled underneath her body so she was propped up in his hold. He held tightly to her body and he brought a hand up to her cheek, his thumb brushing the marks by her lips where her gag had been tightened. Victoria's eyelids fluttered and she let out a little pained whimper.
Damon shushed her gently, feeling all of his rage rush away. "Hey, hey, it's okay. You're okay now, Mama Bear. I got you."
"D-Damon...?"
"Yeah, it's me, I'm right here," Damon cooed, brushing her hair out and away from her face. He shifted on the ground, trying to get comfortable with her propped up in his lap and she let out another whimper. "I'm sorry, Mama Bear. It's okay, you're okay."
Victoria's eyelids fluttered open and the smile of relief that came to her face when she saw that it was him nearly broke him. He tightened his grip on Victoria and held her close to his chest. There were sparkling tears in her eyes and Damon could hear her about ready to cry again. "I-I tried to stop her. I really did, b-but I couldn't -" She sucked in a sharp breath and her shoulders started to shake. Damon's next breath was shaky as Victoria started to cry, "- I-I was so s-scared."
"You did so good, Mama Bear," Damon whispered, closing his eyes momentarily. Had she been close to death again? Why did Emily need her blood? What had she done to Victoria? "You did good. Don't ever doubt that."
"D-Did she...?"
"She did," Damon said painfully, and Victoria made another whimpering noise. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault."
"M-My arm..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Damon muttered. He shifted Victoria around in his grip until she was sitting in his lap with her back against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her stomach and brought his other wrist up to his mouth. He bit into his wrist, recoiling from the taste of his own blood. He brought the bloody wrist around to Victoria's mouth and leaned forward, whispering tentatively into her ear, "Drink up."
Victoria's hands came up to steady Damon's wrists, and he had to hold his breath. The smell of Victoria's blood was overwhelming his senses, and since he was already trying to push down his bloodlust from attacking Bonnie, it was even harder to keep his wits about him. Victoria drank his body quickly, not leaving her mouth on his skin for longer than necessary. She withdrew her mouth from Damon's wrist, wincing as she did so. Her voice, which sounded stronger already, was clear as she said, "I will never get used to that."
"Hopefully you won't have to," Damon agreed, waiting for his wrist's bite wound to close up. Once it was, he wrapped his free arm around Victoria and pulled her closer to him. Her arms rested on his, her thumbs rubbing his forearms soothingly, and Damon hid his face away in the crook of her neck.
Victoria was safe. She was alive and well.
Victoria sucked in a sharp breath when she felt Damon nuzzling her neck. She was grateful that they were all hidden away in the darkness, besides the moonlight. No one would be able to see the blush that was coming to her cheeks.
She looked up towards the rest of the group and tried to see where everyone was at. Elena was helping a shaking and panicking Bonnie up, who was looking everywhere and at everyone. Lexi was standing by Lee, holding the man in her arms as he stood shaking. Zach was crouched on the ground, his hands folded in front of him and pressed tightly against his face. He almost looked like he was praying. And Stefan...
Stefan was looking towards Victoria with a mix of emotions; she couldn't tell what he was thinking. There was some guilt, some relief, and...confusion? Victoria wasn't the best at reading emotions, so she didn't know for sure.
Damon's voice cut through the silence, aside from Bonnie's panicked breathing. "Katherine never compelled me. I knew everything. Every step of the way. It was real for me." Stefan gritted his teeth and looked away. Damon took a shaky breath and tightened his hold on Victoria. "I'll leave now."
Victoria knew that that wasn't true, but the mere thought of Damon and Stefan leaving Mystic Falls made her heart hurt. Bad. Because if Stefan and Damon left, where would that leave Zach, Lexi, and Lee? Would they leave too? Would Noble have to leave her? Her hands gripped Damon's forearms tighter in response to his statement. He tightened his grip even more, only making it slightly difficult for her to breathe.
Lexi patted Lee gently on his head before stepping away from the vampire. Lee seemed to hurt at the loss of connection, but he held his tongue and watched as Lexi approached Victoria. Damon hummed a growl which grew louder the closer Lexi got to Victoria. Lexi paused when she was mere steps from them and knelt down. She kept her hands in front where Victoria and Damon could see them. "Vee-Bee, do you want to go home?"
Victoria nodded her head hurriedly. She just wanted the night to be over.
"What are you going to tell her mother?" Elena asked, pulling Bonnie closely to her side. "She was supposed to be spending the night at my house."
"She'll just have to come back to the boarding house with us then," Lexi decided. She pushed herself back up to her feet and looked past Victoria's head towards Damon, who still had his head buried in her neck. "Damon."
Cue annoyed growl here.
"You're in charge of taking Victoria back to the boarding house with Zach," Lexi said, gesturing for Zach to come close to them. Zach was up and striding towards them before Lexi had even finished. "Bonnie, go with Elena. She'll take care of you. Stefan, see them off then meet us back at the boarding house. Lee and I are going to grab my stuff and Victoria's stuff from Elena's house then go by Caroline's house to try and explain what happened tonight."
"Don't compel her, please," Victoria pleaded, looking up at Lexi worriedly.
Lexi's gaze softened and she nodded gently. "I won't, don't worry." She looked past Victoria towards Damon again. "Get her out of here."
The next second, Victoria found herself in Damon's arms in a bridal carriage with the wind speeding past them. Victoria curled tightly into his grip, and he didn't seem to mind. They came to a skidding stop when they hit the driveway to the boarding house. Victoria wiggled a little, waiting to see if Damon would put her down, but he didn't seem ready to let her go. Victoria patted Damon's shoulder once Zach came skidding to a halt behind them. "Damon, you can let me down now."
He held her closer as a response. Victoria rolled her eyes but didn't continue to struggle. It seemed that Damon needed her close to him, and to be honest, she needed the warmth too. She rested her head wearily on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his neck. Damon's chest rumbled and the only thing Victoria could say was that it reminded her of a cat.
The vampires were much more animalistic than the TV show had portrayed them as. Story-wise, it made sense. There were the enemies of werewolves, and werewolves were definitely part animal. Wait? Could they have chocolate or would that be considered bad because of their part-dog side?
"Victoria, would you like something to eat?" Zach asked, coming up behind Damon.
She sat up a little straighter in Damon's arms and placed her chin on his shoulder so she could Zach more clearly. He seemed shaken and his fingers were twitching, as if they were itching for something to do. She smiled softly and whispered, "Yes, please."
"Would you like some breakfast foods?"
"Waffles?"
"Of course."
Once they were inside, Zach peeled off and headed towards the kitchen while Damon walked him and Victoria towards the stairs. They went up the stairs in silence, Damon pausing once to adjust his grip on Victoria. Damon brought her up into his room and over to his bed. He set her down gently on the bed and went straight over to his closet.
He swooped it open and yanked out a black button down shirt, tossing it over to her. Victoria caught it, and looked at Damon with confusion. "What is this for?"
"Your clothes are bloody, Mama Bear. You're not going to bed in what you're wearing."
"Can you steal some sweatpants from Lexi then?" Victoria yawned, rubbing one of her eyes wearily. "I'm not just wearing your shirt. Buy me some dinner first, you pervert."
Damon didn't laugh at her joke like she thought he would, but he disappeared and appeared a moment later with some comfy looking sweatpants in his hands. He passed it over to her; Victoria took the sweatpants gratefully and moved to the bathroom. Right before she entered, she noticed Damon walking out of the room, probably to go see how Zach's food was coming along. Victoria quickly changed once inside the bathroom, making sure to wash off the leftover blood that had already dried on her arm.
She buttoned Damon's shirt up, chuckling when it went down to her mid-thighs. Victoria shook her head and looked up into the mirror and froze.
Inside the mirror, where her reflection should have been, was Emily Bennett. Victoria couldn't move, she couldn't open her mouth to scream, and she couldn't look away. It was like she had no control of her body.
"I bind thee's blood to this sacred ground. Let it be so. Prevent the demons from coming through," Emily murmured through the mirror. A painful shiver raced down her spine and Victoria's eyes watered at the memory. Those words. Emily had said those words to her right before she threw the necklace into the air. When the necklace exploded, Victoria remembered the searing pain that raced through her body, up from the ground and into her heart. It had burned. It felt as though her entire body had been lit aflame.
Words spilled out of Victoria's mouth, and it took a minute for her to realize that she could speak again. Her voice came out in a quiet whisper, one that was filled with grief, sadness, and despair. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"You have sided with him," Emily answered. There was no flicker of emotion on her face, no regret, no remorse. She was cold. "He needed to be taught a lesson."
"Preventing Damon from seeing the woman he loves is not 'teaching him a lesson'," Victoria argued, her body shuddering as she struggled to take a deep breath. "He's in love with her."
"What happened to Damon was unfortunate, but he made his choices," Emily replied. "He was willing to threaten the safety of this town, of you, to get Katherine. Would you be so willing to lay down your life so that Damon may be happy?"
Victoria didn't know how to answer that. She snapped her mouth shut and just focused on trying not to fall into the panic. Her heart felt like it was about to explode and she bit her lower lip as her body started to rock.
"You must not blindly follow those you don't truly know," Emily continued, either not noticing Victoria's rising panic or not caring about her rising panic. Victoria was willing to bet it was the latter. "You do not know what he stands for. What he is willing to risk and destroy to get what he wants. He is obsessed; if you continue to associate with him, you will die."
"Is that a threat?" Victoria gasped. She looked at Emily in disbelief. Okay, now she was really panicking and her breathing was starting to pick up.
"It is not a threat, young one. It is a guarantee," Emily stated.
"Damon isn't like that, Emily."
"I was not referring to Damon."
In the blink of an eye, Emily was gone and Victoria fell backwards onto the ground, her body suddenly able to move again. She scrambled back until her back hit the wall.
What in the freaking hell was that?
The days separating the night Emily destroyed Katherine's necklace to the morning of the career fair at school were long, ridiculously, and frankly, overwhelming. Emily made no more appearances to Victoria, blessedly. But that wasn't the thing Victoria had to worry about or deal with.
Oh no.
Two words: Clingy Damon.
If Victoria had thought that Damon was clingy back when he was babysitting her after the Raphael/Crucifix disaster, it was nothing compared to how he was acting now. When Victoria had emerged from the bathroom, shaking and teary-eyed from her encounter with Emily, he had sat her on the bed and hand-fed her waffles. As if she couldn't feed herself waffles. Then, when she was ready for bed, he cuddled up to her side, spooning her from behind as if she was a little teddy bear to him. It was...comfortable, so Victoria didn't try to fight against it too hard, but still, it was really out of character for Damon.
Victoria had started to notice that as her time in Mystic Falls progressed. Damon was starting to become way out of his season one character; how he was acting was reminding Victoria of how he was in later seasons. But there was no reason why he would be acting like that so early into the show. And of course, there was the whole Lexi, Lee, and Zach thing.
Zach and Lexi: two characters who were not supposed to live and yet through Victoria's interventions (with a little help from Stefan and Damon, respectively), they survived. Victoria hadn't told Stefan or Damon about those little facts. The facts that stated Zach was supposed to be killed by Damon and that Lexi was also supposed to be killed by Damon were kept hidden for safety purposes.
Then, of course, one had to consider Lee. He only appeared in the episode Bloodlines before completely disappearing off of the map. Victoria didn't know what was going to change within the Vampire Diaries universe now that he was in Mystic Falls. And now, he was also apparently working with Noble, who Victoria was almost positive wasn't a character in the original TV show.
Already in the chilly month of December, it was getting hard to explain her absences from school and the house to her mother. Victoria had to tell Kelly that she was spending the night at the boarding house as a "Welcome, Lexi, to Mystic Falls" bash and her mother seemed a little skeptical at that, but she didn't question anything. Victoria hated lying to Kelly, but it was safer that way.
A great example would be that exact moment: Victoria was supposed to be in school. Supposed to be being the key phrase. Damon told her to skip and when Victoria tried to sneak out of the house, Damon had threatened to tie the two of them together at the wrist to prevent her from going anywhere. Obsessive was just one word to describe his behavior.
"You do realize that I need to get a high school education, right?" Victoria asked him, looking at him from the couch. He stood in front of the window, staring out of it in silence. Had been for the last couple of minutes.
"You already got one," he commented absentmindedly.
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Not in this world I haven't. Plus, my mom doesn't know that and if I keep on skipping school, I might have to redo a year."
Damon gave her a nonchalant shrug as if he didn't care. Victoria rolled her eyes. Cabin fever was starting to get to her terribly.
"Is D-Man being an ass to you again, sugar?" Lee questioned, strolling into the room with his hands in his pockets. Today his outfit consisted of a brown leather jacket with a green t-shirt and some jeans. He brushed off the shoulders of his jacket and then pretended to crack his knuckles. "I can beat some sense into him if that'll help you."
"One, don't call me D-Man again, and two, I'm forty-seven years older than you and can take you down in a heartbeat," Damon drawled, obviously not pleased with Lee's sudden appearance. The two's relationship had taken a turn for the worse when Lee and Lexi arrived home that night and Lee insisted on seeing Victoria. Damon refused and the two had ended up throwing punches until Lexi separated them. Ever since then, Lee seemed like another younger brother that insisted on pushing all of Damon's buttons.
"And then I would take you down," sniffed Lexi, strolling in behind Lee. She folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at Damon. "You really want to risk that?"
"You're looking cute," Victoria interjected, wanting to steer the conversation away from something that wouldn't end up with a broken wall. Lexi did look cute: she was wearing a white sundress with a half-length black blazer and some Spartan sandals. Victoria narrowed her eyes slightly. Those were the sandals that she had borrowed for Stefan's birthday party. "Why are you looking cute?"
"My dear Lexington has gotten it into her head that if we are going to be forced to dwell in this town due to this Crucifix thing and my natural concern for you, then we should be trying to act as human as possible," Lee monologued, impressively ignoring the elbow in his stomach he received from Lexi at the saying of her nickname. "These," he gestured up and down at his and Lexi's outfits, "are interview outfits."
"You guys have interviews? Where?" Victoria asked incredulously, sitting up a little straighter.
"I'm trying to get this job at this cute little antiquity store downtown, right across from the Mystic Grill on the other side of the square," Lexi explained as she snatched up her purse which had been lying on the far side of the coffee table. "Lee has this interview for the role of a librarian at the library a few blocks away from the antiquity shop."
Victoria raised an eyebrow in curiosity at Lee and he scoffed, blushing slightly as he explained, "I happen to like books. Sue me."
"Well, good luck to you both," Victoria told them earnestly, nodding her head once to each of them. "Any idea where Zach is?"
"He mentioned something about reaching out to old friends of his; said it might take him all day," Lee supplied as he offered an arm out to Lexi. She took it gratefully and the two started towards the front door. "Said that Ms. Watson was free to join him at any time."
Victoria smirked and giggled. That must be code for the fact that he was going to be researching more about vervain and its applications, such as if it was able to be forged with a lapis-lazuli stone to make refillings a thing of the past. "Got it. Enjoy your time out, you two!"
Lexi and Lee waved goodbye to Victoria and shut the door behind them quietly. A moment later, Victoria heard footsteps behind her and turned. Stefan was casually entering, his hands in his pockets. He didn't pay attention to Victoria, but instead asked Damon, "So, any idea of where you'll go?"
"I don't know. London, maybe," Damon commented, and Victoria hummed appreciatively. She had always wanted to go to London. "See some friends."
"You don't have any friends, Damon," Stefan retorted and Victoria scoffed. Just because Damon was a bit of a bitch and dick at times, they didn't mean that people found it impossible to like him. She and Enzo were proof of that.
"You're right, Stefan," Damon mimicked. "I only have you." He turned around from the window and he had a frown on his face. "And Victoria. And Zach. So, where are we going?"
"We are not going anywhere," Stefan huffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm gonna live my life as far away from you as possible."
"But we're a team!" Damon whined. "We could travel the world together. Oooh! We could try out for 'The Amazing Race'."
"Not an entirely bad idea," Victoria added, and Stefan gave her a flat look. She held her hands up defensively. "What?"
"Mmm, that's funny," Stefan deadpanned. To Damon, he continued, asking, "Seriously, where are you going? Because we are not staying in this town."
Damon was cut off from saying anything by the doorbell. The trio in the living room all caught each other's eyes and Victoria rose to her feet, saying, "I've got it."
She skipped out of the living room and to the door. She wrapped her hand around the doorknob and started to pull it open. It was only when the door was mostly open that Victoria realized who was standing behind the door. And what that would mean for her.
"Hi Sheriff," Victoria said kind of breathily, giving Caroline's mom an uneasy smile. The Sheriff raised an eyebrow in disbelief. It technically was school time. And Victoria was at the Salvatore boarding house with the Salvatores. An odd situation. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing good, Victoria, how are you?" Caroline's mom asked, still looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "And why are you not in school?"
"It's actually a funny story," Victoria chuckled weakly, her brain racing to come up with a reasonable excuse that wouldn't have the Sheriff's internal lie detector buzzing at the sound of it. "Because you see -"
"- Victoria's been helping my uncle with some forest and fauna research," Damon interjected, sidling up behind Victoria. He placed a hand gently on her shoulder and she relaxed marginally. "Zach's going to the career fair tonight as the wildlife ranger of Mystic Falls, and Victoria offered to help him get some of his supplies and poster boards ready. Don't worry; she got permission from her teachers and they've all agreed to it. They think it'll be beneficial for her studies."
"I see," the Sheriff replied, nodding her head slightly. "Actually, I stopped by today to see you and your uncle, Damon. We need to talk, it's very urgent."
"Of course," Damon said. Victoria felt him squeeze her shoulder and she looked up at him. "Do you mind grabbing Zach and asking him to meet us on the back patio?"
"Sure thing. He's in the library, right?"
"Were you not just with him?" the Sheriff asked in confusion, looking hesitantly between Damon and Victoria.
Damn, the lie that Victoria had already forgotten about. She quickly hurried to amend that. "Of course, but sometimes in his research, Zach bounces from place to place. Damon's really good at knowing where his next bounce will take him. I was out getting some water for the two of us, Zach and I, that is, when I heard you ringing the bell."
Victoria quickly ducked out of there, not wanting to stay long enough for the Sheriff to start picking apart her lie again. She ran/skipped her way down the hallway, and around the corner, following the path that Lexi had led her down on Stefan's birthday until she got to the double doors. She knocked on them three times and waited to enter until she heard Zach call out from within, "Come on in!"
Victoria pushed the door open and stuck her head in, noting Zach's position on the floor with his phone pressed between his ear and shoulder and dozens of books scattered across the floor. "Hey, Sherlock. The Sheriff's here to see you and Damon."
Zach gave her a confused look and Victoria added, "Hint: There's been another body drained of blood."
Zach's eyes widened comically and he murmured to the person on the phone, "I'll have to call you back." He slid the phone off of his shoulder and hit the 'end call' button before leaping to his feet. Victoria stepped back and held the door open for him so he could exit easily. She fell into line with Zach as he began to stride down the hallway. "Anything else to comment?"
"She doesn't know that I know, so make sure you don't mention me," Victoria told him. "Oh, and I'm helping you with a research project that will tie into you at the career fair tonight with forest and fauna, which is why I'm here and not at school. Damon's idea."
Zach let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, grumbling angrily, "I wasn't planning on going to that tonight. Guess that is what I'll be doing this afternoon."
"Enjoy," Victoria snickered as they rounded the corner. She let Zach meet up with Damon and the Sheriff and she turned to walk back into the living room, where Stefan was sitting on one of the couches. "What are you up to, Stefan?"
Stefan was silent as he watched Damon, Zach, and Caroline's mom pass through the living room to the patio out back. It was only when the door was closed that he spoke to Victoria. "Trying to listen in to their conversation to see what's going on."
"Some of the Sheriff's guys found a dead body, drained of blood," Victoria explained in a hushed whisper. Stefan's eyes widened in dismay and Victoria continued, "She thinks that Raphael, I assume, turned someone else. Or multiple someones. She doesn't know for sure. They're lying to the town saying it's another animal attack, but we know otherwise obviously. The council doesn't like it. She's charging Zach, who killed Raphael, and Damon, who's a part of the council, with killing the vampire, since they're the ones who know how to do it."
Stefan glanced towards the back door, his brows knitted together in concentration. Victoria rolled her eyes. He was listening in on their conversation. She had just told them all the information he needed! What was seriously going through his head...?
She shook her head. She didn't need to dwell on that. "I'm going to go grab myself some coffee if I think I'm going to have to do what I have to do. What some with a little spicy juice?" Stefan shot her a weirded out look. "The all-animal version, I swear." Stefan's face scrunched up in confusion and Victoria rolled her eyes again and just pointed to a large vein on her arm. His eyes widened and he nodded meekly. She snorted. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Victoria turned and took one step forward when it hit her.
Pain.
Insurmountable pain.
She managed to let out a choking gasp as her legs collapsed underneath her, sending her body careening towards the ground. Victoria expected to feel the sharp impact of her head hitting the ground, but instead of faceplanting, she found herself staring up towards the ceiling. Stefan was in her peripheral vision, his mouth moving. Did he catch her? Maybe? Victoria thought he was asking if she was alright. Maybe? She couldn't really tell.
The world in front of her danced in shades of black and white. It was like ink, blobs of white and black floating throughout the air and merging with each other above her body. Each time the inky substance would move, a sharp pain would hit her in different parts of her body. Once in her leg, twice in her heart, once in her head. It came and changed as many times as she could blink in a minute. There was a sharp ringing noise that drawled underneath all the pain, and she recognized a name that was being screamed.
"Damon!"
It sounded like Stefan, maybe. Victoria couldn't tell for sure. There was a pounding sensation underneath her, as if she could sense the vibrations straight through the floor.
Then, as if by magic, the pain began to centralize. It moved sluggishly from all the different areas of her body to focus on one point: her heart. Victoria let out a shuddery gasp. Her body moved on instinct and she clawed at the fabric around her heart. She choked on her air and she thrashed around in Stefan's arms. Was she crying out in pain? Her heart was thumping at a pace that couldn't be healthy. Oh heavens, was that what a heart attack felt like?
She felt like she was dying.
Was she dying?
She didn't want to die.
Victoria was passed to somebody else, out of Stefan's hold. Whoever was holding her had a firmer grip on her body than Stefan did, so she wasn't able to move as freely as she had been with Stefan. The pain in her heart grew higher and harder and Victoria started to shake, full-body shakes. She felt like she was having a seizure and a heart attack and everything else that caused pain.
"Victory!"
Victoria gasped and sat bolt upright, her forehead knocking hard against her holder's chin. The two flinched away from each other with quiet curses and Victoria let out a hiss of pain as she brought her hand up to touch her forehead.
It was then that she noticed three things:
1. That one holding her, and rubbing his chin in pain, was Damon and Zach and the Sheriff were nowhere to be seen.
2. Her chest was aching, but a different ache than before. This was like a burning pain one got after scratching themselves. There was a faint smell of copper in the air and Damon was having a hard time looking at her eyes. She must have scratched herself so hard that she started to bleed.
3. She wasn't in pain anymore.
Victoria took a cautious breath and was relieved to find that it was easy to do so. She took a minute to just breathe and appreciate how easy it was before she tried to speak. And when she did, she directed her statement at both brothers. "What the hell was that?"
"You tell me, Mama Bear," Damon grunted, rubbing his chin. "I was outside with the Sheriff and Zach when we heard Stefan yelling my name and then you just started screaming. Zach went to compel the Sheriff away. I came inside, you were seizing, I took you from him, and the next thing I know, you were sitting up and knocking heads with me."
Victoria looked towards Stefan, whose brow was furrowed with equal levels of confusion. "But didn't you say my name?"
"Say your name?" Stefan echoed.
"Just now," Victoria said, gesturing towards herself. She looked back towards Damon, who seemed confused as well. "I guess, I mean, it wasn't exactly my name. It was more like Victory, like when you win something. B-But someone said it, and it just felt like my name even though it wasn't. That's...that's weird, isn't it?"
"Considering you were just trying to claw out your heart and now you're acting like nothing is wrong, yeah, it is," Damon stated firmly, looking towards his brother in confirmation. Stefan nodded his head in agreement. "Damn, you don't do anything normal, do you, Mama Bear?"
"I do have a life outside of the supernatural if only you would let me return to it," Victoria grunted, wincing as her headache spike momentarily. "Shit, that hurts. Maybe it was a panic attack? I don't know." Eager to change the subject onto something that wouldn't involve the two brothers looking at her like she was about to fall apart, Victoria asked, "What did the Sheriff have to say?"
"A, I know for a fact that you already know and that Stefan was listening in on our conversation," Damon retorted, glaring at Stefan. "B, It's rude to eavesdrop, Stefan. I thought we taught you better than that. C, there's another vampire in town."
"That's impossible," Stefan said immediately, as if it was a knee-jerk reaction.
"Oh, it's not," Damon snorted. "We already have us three Salvatores, then you add Lee and Lexi to the bunch, and this Noble guy, and that's six vampires that either live here or frequent enough to be noticeable. And I know five of you are righteous enough to not turn an idiot into a vampire and I've been busy, so it wasn't me either."
"Then who could it be?"
"You said we're leaving anyways, so who cares?" Damon hummed, shrugging his shoulders.
Stefan was stammering a defense in an instant. "No, I can't leave now and you know that. We can't leave everyone in the town defenseless. So, how are we supposed to find this person?"
"Let me handle this, Stefan," Damon replied, standing up. He held a hand out to Victoria, and she took it semi-cautiously. "I'm going to need to steal Mama Bear for this one. Don't worry," he called out as he laced their fingers together and started to drag Victoria towards the front door, "I know the rules: home before midnight, no drugs, no alcohol, no partying. We'll have a great time!"
"Uh, bye?" Victoria managed to squeak to Stefan before they were outside and the front door was shut in front of her eyes.
A/N: The ending is not what I had envisioned and I definitely don't like it. It was better than what I had originally wrote, but it could have been better. I really wanted to post this chapter on Friday, but unfortunately my work schedule interrupted me, so here we go for Monday! Whoo! We get Protective!Damon and some MomFriend!Lexi and something strange has happened to Victoria. What was it? Does it have impact? Does it not? How will the rest of the episode turn out?
Btw, auditions for my musical are this upcoming weekend, so don't expect a chapter until Monday, because I will not be focusing on anything except prep for these auditions. I'll let you know how things turn out :). Hopefully everything goes great!
THE SHIPPING WARS! (feel free to keep on voting (you can vote for more than one ship!); 1 full point for if you choose one ship, two half points for two separate ships, more than 2, smaller decimals. Anything that is not a full point will be italicized. This will not decide the final pairing; I already know who Victoria will end up with, I just want you all to be able to guess):
ROMANTIC:
Team Stetoria {Victoria/Stefan} (16): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Elyse1821, Lime, herewegoagain, K, Yukihino-Sama, emma, just another guest, BookwormStrawberry, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6), Guest (9), guest (1), theappleseed
Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (17): Sciave, Guest, ArganRose, CrystalAris, Marine76, Assenavira, CarlaPA, Guest (1), Maistryia, emma, just another guest, Freeshavacahdoh, Guest (3), Guest (4), Guest (6), sabrinaannpierson, Guest (7), Guest (8), Guest (9), guest (1), hfgfgfrdr
Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (22.5): guest, Guest, SoraLover987142, insert name here XD, sammyleann, Orange keys 25, LoyalElijahFangirl, Hinata Megumi, A. G Herz, Aryabloodlust, ferallahey, AngelColdHeart, BlueDragibus, dreamwalkerlisa, Guest, Stachelbeere, Guest (1), jocillyria, Guest (2), BookwormStrawberry, Ieviheichu, Teghan-Potter1370, karenc0r, Hachiko33200
Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (2): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9)
Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar
PLATONIC:
Vinn {Victoria/Finn) (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Varcel {Victoria/Marcel) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, jocillyria
Zinn {Zach/Finn} (.9): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Jol {Jenna/Kol} (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Lime, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Kelas {Silas/Kelly L.} (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (.2): Orange keys 25
Kennett {Kol/Bonnie} (.5): Lime
Autoria {Aurora/Victoria} (1.2): LoyalElijahFangirl, hfgfgfrdr
Vonnie {Victoria/Bonnie} (1): bpopa7110
Vibekah {Victoria/Rebekah} (1): BookwormStrawberry
New Followers!: Kaylala-BooksandCandy, MoonPixies, pokemonaora, tsukoleelane, celinamariefreak, MarlinAce, sampaiovitoria2222, Seara'sComicalShelf, AshlynV
New Favoriters!: MoonPixies, pokemonaora, tsukoleelane, theappleseed, lylooo99, samipaiovitoria2222, charlievini, Seara'sComicalShelf, jazica, Tom122000
Welcome to the squad y'all!
Onto reviews!:
DBZFAN45: Perfect! The exact response I wanted from reviewers! I know, I feel like such an idiot that I didn't realize sooner XD. I'm not a Dragon Ball Z fan but I've heard of it so many times that I can recognize the abbreviation. I know, I love how Tori is like "I won't be your therapist" and then becomes their therapist. Good times. Those Elena Blinders are pretty thick. I have not thought about how weird Noble's relationship is with Victoria until you mentioned the grooming, but trust me: whatever happens between them will be with consent, if anything happens at all. I will make sure that we don't fall into any sexual grooming methods, cuz that's bad. Oh, I never mentioned an avenue to you, I was just wanting you to pick Lee or Damon for a specific event with you having no context to what specific event that was. Don't stress about it! Everything's all good and you didn't miss anything!
Ievilheichu: Hello! Thank you. Oh my word, it is Tom and Jerry, Tom being Damon and Jerry totally being Victoria. Elena's a hard character to like, she's unintentionally self-centered and unaware of how self-centered she is. I think fanfic writers pick up on that and so they write her in accordingly because it makes sense. Usually I've noticed people who are Elena-dislikers tend to favor Klaroline or Steroline more. Food for thought. And no, my name isn't from Queen Taylor Swift, but she is a queen! I created it because I needed to learn to be more fearless in my own life, and so it's to represent me learning to become more fearless. Does that make sense? XD. Also, totally Divergent related.
Guest: I used to not be a huge Damon fan, but through writing this fanfic I'm becoming more and more of one. He does deserve to be put first. Surprisingly, he, Klaus, and Caroline all have that in common. Your vote has been added and you are Guest (7).
Guest: Your vote has been added, and you are Guest (8) if you ever want to change your vote!
Guest: Your vote has been added, and you are Guest (9) if you ever want to change your vote!
guest: Your votes had been added! You are guest (1).
theappleseed: Sorry, Fanfiction wouldn't let me write your name with the periods in between for some reason or another (And congrats! You were the 250th review). Let's do this. Does the anklet have vervain? That's what Sherlock Salvatore and Ms. Victoria Watson are looking into! Thank you! I really hope I write the characters accurately and I'm not making Victoria a Mary-Sue. Thanks, I love her relationship with the Salvatores too! Elena is not the perfect do-gooder that everyone holds her up to be and she deserves to be shown that way. The moral of this story is TRAUMA and Trauma Recovery. A lot of people assume Noble is Elijah, though the true answer has not been revealed yet. Yay! Surprises for everyone! Zach's a vampire, whoo! Your votes have been added! Yay! Yay again! There will be no angels or demons written into this story unless they are already in the TV show. Thank you! The Crucifix plotline is very important in this story, so you'll be seeing it a lot.
Lime: There's a difference between a 7k long chapter and an 11k long chapter XD. I write huge Author's Notes though, so there's that. I really do like the Elijah/Damon friendship they have; it makes for good humor between the two. I also just watched a clippet of when Elijah stabs Damon in the neck with a pencil and realized I wrote Victoria doing that to Damon as well in earlier chapters XD. No middle name just yet. Feel free to submit middle name suggestions! Tangled is so much better than Frozen and no one can change my mind. Damon's definitely getting possessive over his sweet little Mama Bear. Reminiscent of his relationship with Bonnie in the later seasons. You're right, witches can't be compelled, so I wonder what that means? Hehe. Oh yeah, we're extending the family even more. Imagine the family reunions. Tori will get her moments of relaxation, they just might be few and far between. How dare your parfait betray you like that. I hope you got your revenge.
Ebee: Hello! Thank you so much, that means so much to me! It is a long story so I admire your dedication. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
hfgfgfrdr: Your votes have been switched and added!
Seara'sComicalShelf: Yeah, they sort of have this vibe going on right now that reminds me of "friends with extreme sexual tension that they will never act upon" while Stefan and Victoria (and Stefan and Lexi) more have the vibe of "if we're not married to other people by 30, we're marrying each other".
AngelColdHeart: Thank you!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please leave a comment, question, concern, or conspiracy theory about what you think just happened to Victoria at the end of this chapter.
(Also, over 30k+ views! Yay!)
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F