The Turning Point - Part 2

"Damon, I am standing in front of what appears to be a creepy, old, run-down abandoned warehouse in the beginning of December when it is freaking cold outside in jeans, a flimsy t-shirt, and a jacket I stole from Zach," Victoria huffed, squeezing her arms closer to her sides in a poor attempt to keep her body heat from leaving. She shifted her hold on her phone in her right hand and Jonathan Gilbert's compass in the other. "I'm getting irritated."

"Just wait. I'll be there in a minute."

"Can you hurry up?" Victoria pleaded, squeaking as she shivered against the cold. "I'm freezing."

A hand dropped onto her shoulder and Victoria let out a louder, more indignant squeak and bounced away. She only relaxed when she realized it was just Damon, who was looking at her with a distinctly amused smirk. She held up a finger and glared at him. "Not a word."

"Pass that here," he said, making "gimmie" fingers towards the Gilbert compass. Victoria passed it over and hung up on him, putting her phone back into her pocket. Now that her arms were free, she wrapped them around her middle and pulled Zach's jacket tighter around her body. "You are here for a purpose, Mama Bear."

"I know I am," Victoria retorted. "You interfere with the signal because you're a vampire. I'm a human, which means I can do it. I'm also one of the only, if not the only, human that you like in this town so here I am."

"That's not true," Damon commented as he stared up at the warehouse. "I like your mom."

"Don't say that," Victoria groaned, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "That just sounds weird."

"I mean, she is single, isn't she -?"

"- Please, stop -"

"- I'm asking for a friend -"

"- I will literally throw up."

"Can't have that," Damon hummed, narrowing his eyes at the warehouse as he dropped the compass into his leather jacket's pocket. "Now, I'm assuming you know who's in that building. So tell me -"

"- Spoiler," Victoria answered, looking at him matter-of-factly. "I don't know what information will break the space-time continuum so we're being reserved in our revelations." She paused, then added softly, "Hint: you've met them before."

"I've been alive for one hundred and sixty-nine years, Mama Bear," Damon retorted. "I've met a lot of people."

Victoria shrugged, not able to give him a better answer. He rolled his eyes but signaled for her to stay close to him. Victoria fell in line behind him, making sure to keep a respectable distance between the two of them. After all, she knew what was about to happen and he didn't. She hoped that he wouldn't be too pissed.

The two of them headed towards the entrance of the warehouse, and Damon got there first, pushing the door open and sticking his head in. He paused momentarily, sniffing the air and stilling his body for three seconds before flashing Victoria a thumbs-up. She responded with a weak smile and he stepped into the warehouse. Victoria followed suit and paused once inside to let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. Oh goodness graciousness, why am I here? Victoria gulped to herself, hugging herself tighter as she tiptoed next to Damon. She did her best to keep her heart from racing too badly. Compared to Damon's dead heartbeat, her alive one would sound like music to an ever-thirsty baby vampire. Especially one who was a creep like Logan Fell. She had only met him when he had tried staking Stefan, and then later, herself, so her first impression of him hadn't been good.

Damon turned the corner to walk down another aisle in the warehouse, and Victoria stepped forward, her hand grabbing the back of his jacket. He paused and gave her the "what now?" look. She held a finger up to her lips and gestured for him to take a step closer to her. He rolled his eyes, but did so anyways. Now that he was closer to her, he would be able to read her lips better. She mouthed to him, "Over there. Wooden bullets. Be careful." Victoria gestured down the aisle, where Damon had been headed, and his eyes widened in acknowledgement. He reached forward and patted the top of Victoria's head before flipping around to stalk down the aisle. She stood there, momentarily dazed. Did he just...pat her? Like a dog?

It wasn't that bad, to be honest. It was kind of...nice. Victoria was glad that Damon wasn't there to notice the faint blush that was gracing her cheeks.

A gunshot rang throughout the warehouse, followed by Damon's growls of pain, and Victoria was brought back to reality in an instant. She dashed down the aisle, noticing with trepidation that Damon was on his knees, his hands cradling his stomach. Victoria skidded to a stop as she saw Logan Fell walk down the large center aisle of the warehouse, a gun held tightly in his hands. She ducked down, falling into a crouch and prayed that Damon would distract Logan from hearing her rapid heartbeat.

"I have tons of these wood bullets, so nothing funky," Logan growled, staggering forward. He seemed paler, sweatier, sick. Vampires couldn't get sick though, but if they could, they would look exactly like Logan. He did not seem to be taking to the transition very well. If he had been nicer to Victoria, she would have felt sorry for him, but he had tried to stake her, so no sympathies were given.

"You don't wanna do this," Damon wheezed, his fingers moving towards one of the bullet wounds. There was a squelching noise and Victoria bit her lower lip. He was trying to dig out one of the bullets. She felt sick to her stomach. "Trust me."

Victoria flinched and her hands moved to cover her mouth as Logan shot Damon again, the bullet piercing his shoulder this time around. Damon let out a pained scream, but didn't fall backwards. His breathing labored and he gritted his teeth against the pain.

"That's what you get," snarled Logan.

"For what?" Damon hissed out.

Logan dropped to a crouch in front of Damon and Victoria didn't dare to move. Any sudden movements and she knew that Logan would see her and if he already thought she had been a vampire when he had tried to kill Stefan, who knows what he would do now that he was a vampire. "You made me like this."

"I killed you. I didn't turn you," Damon snapped back. He reached up to his shoulder and quickly pried out the bullet. Victoria sucked in a sharp, quiet breath through her mouth as Damon tossed the bullet down onto the ground in front of him. It landed with a wet, plopping noise that churned Victoria's stomach.

Logan brought out a wooden bullet from his pocket and twirled it around in his fingers. "See, I know what you, your brother, and that twirly little friend of yours are. I've been watching the three of you. I knew you'd show up here and I'm glad you did, because I have some questions."

Damon pried out another bullet and flicked it away from his body. "Me first. Who the hell is this twirly friend?"

"Victoria LeBlanc, obviously," Logan snorted. Damon squinted at Logan as if he had lost his mind, which triggered Logan for an explanation. "She was there that night at the old cemetery. She defended your brother, even after seeing him take a bullet and remain alive. She moved faster than an average person. You can't tell me I'm crazy."

"You're crazy, man," Damon grunted, shaking his head. "Mama Bear's as human as they come. Shock does crazy things to people and she's a dancer; of course she's faster than the average person. Now, next question: who turned you?"

Logan tilted his head to one side as he silently observed Damon. "How should I know? Last thing I remember is, I'm about to stake Victoria LeBlanc and then you yanked me off of her. That's it! Until, of course, I wake up in the ground behind a used car dealership on Highway 4. Somebody buried me."

"It happens," Damon snapped as his fingers searched his leg's bullet wound for the offending object. He found it with a wince and brought it out. "Ow."

"You bit me."

"Damn it," Damon muttered to himself as he looked at the wooden bullet in his hand.

Logan kept going, ignoring Damon's ignoring. "It had to be you."

"You have to have vampire blood in your system when you die," Damon growled. "I didn't do that. Some other vampire found you, gave you their blood."

Damon swung his feet around and plopped down onto the ground, groaning as he did so. Victoria glanced over towards Logan. His attention was wrapped up solely in Damon. Ever so tenderly, Victoria readjusted her position on the ground so she would be ready to sprint if attacked. In either direction: towards Damon or towards the entrance to the warehouse. She wouldn't be able to outrun a vampire, no sir, but she might be able to distract said vampire from chasing her long enough for her to get out into the sun.

"Who?" Logan demanded, referring to who was the vampire who turned him.

"That's what I wanna know," Damon snorted.

"Dude, it's not like the welcome wagon was waiting with a bundt cake and a handbook," Logan insisted, waving his hands around frantically. "It's been a learn-as-you-go process. You know, one minute, I'm a small-town-on-the-rise-news guy and the next thing I know, I can't get into my house, because my foot won't go through the door!"

Victoria couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Logan. He hadn't asked to be turned, and with no mentor to guide him, he was definitely floundering around like a fish out of water. Almost like Vicki had been. Except Vicki had had a mentor (two, if you could even count Damon as a mentor-like figure) and she still drowned in the sensations of vampirism. Logan wasn't a drug addict like Vicki, but he was too obsessed with Jenna Sommers to be stable. Speaking of which, Victoria made a mental note to text Kelly and to tell her to keep a close watch on Jenna at the career fair. Her mother wouldn't let Logan "Scum" Fell fifty feet of Jenna if she knew he was back in town.

Damon yanked out another bullet and Victoria wanted to shut off her hearing so she didn't have to hear the sounds of his muscles and blood veins pushing away to give room for his fingers. "You have to be invited in."

"I know. I live alone."

Damon let out a weak chuckle and Victoria even cracked a smile. While unfortunate, it was extremely humorous. "Ah. That sucks."

"So now, I am at the Ramada," Victoria made another mental note to ask Damon if that was some motel or hotel in town, "watching pay-per-view all day, eating everything in sight, including housekeeping!"

"It could be worse," Damon tried to suggest, but Logan wasn't having it.

"All I can think about is blood and killing people," Logan hissed. A manic smile came to his face. "I can't stop killing people. I keep killing people," cue evil, maniacal laugh that chilled Victoria down to the bone and ripped the smile right off of her face, "and I like it. I'm conflicted."

"Welcome to the club," Damon huffed.

Logan jumped to his feet and started to pace. Victoria froze again, not wanting to draw his attention to her. He must have been really dazed and not all quite there if he hadn't picked up on her scent and heartbeat yet.

"Wait a minute," Damon interrupted Logan's pacing, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Cops only found one body."

Daphne, Victoria thought sadly, biting her lower lip behind her hand. The woman who was played evidently by the same actress who played that teenage werewolf's mom in that other popular CW show. Teenage Wolf, maybe? Victoria hadn't watched it with great dedication; The Vampire Diaries had been more of her cup of tea.

"I left one," Logan rambled, his pacing never stopping. "But I've been hiding the rest of the bodies. They're right back there." Logan gestured nonchalantly over his shoulder and Victoria turned to peek through the shelves.

Horrible decision.

A terrible, rotten decision.

There was a large pile of bodies, ranging in all ages and all genders. Victoria bit down harshly on her lower lip, her eyes immediately watering up and her hands moving to cover her mouth in a desperate attempt to keep herself from crying out. They laid there, some with their eyes closed and looking peaceful in death. Others...others had their eyes open and their mouths opened in terrified screams. Bodies rotting, left abandoned in a warehouse while their loved ones were left to wonder what had happened to them...

Her lip pinched painfully between her teeth and she stopped biting it. Her blood went cold when she tasted copper. Her blood. Which was supposedly delicious smelling.

Shit.

"And who do we have here?"

Victoria whipped around, falling out of the crouch and onto the floor. Logan looked down at her with a crazed hunger, and his tongue darted out to lick his lips. A shiver raced down Victoria's spine at the sight and she tried scrambling backwards, away from Logan. He reached down and grabbed the collar of Zach's jacket, yanking her up. Victoria let out a gasp at the sudden change of position and she tried to struggle out of his grip. She froze when she felt something cold, sharp, and hard against her temple. On the other side of her head, she felt Logan's warm breath against her ear as he hissed, "Now walk."

Victoria withheld the shiver of disgust that threatened to hit her body at the sensation of having him so close. She walked forward cautiously, not wanting to go too fast in case she startled him. Damon watched her in silence, but given the tension in his body and the way his eyes darkened murderously at the sight of the gun pressed up against Victoria's head, there was one thing that Victoria knew for certain.

Logan Fell was going to die.

Logan yanked her around Damon, keeping her well out of Damon's reach, and moved the two of them until they were standing directly in front of Damon. Damon's eyes latched onto her lips and his frown deepened. In a gravely, growling voice, low and filled with righteous anger, "I will rip your throat out with my teeth."

"Ooh, isn't that sweet? Your boyfriend threatening me," Logan hissed into Victoria's ear. She tried to shy away from him, not liking how close she was to him, but Logan snaked an arm around her stomach, keeping her close to him. "Tell the class how that makes you feel, Victoria." He drew out her name longer than necessary, and Victoria tried not to gag.

"Screw you, Scum Fell," Victoria retorted, gritting her teeth. She tried to pull away again, but froze when the gun pressed harder against her temple.

"You want to try that again?" Logan growled, his arm tightening around her stomach. It wasn't like Damon. Damon, while usually annoying her half to death (sometimes closer to death than just a half), had a way of bringing her comfort even when things looked bleak. It was a new trait that had only started recently, ever since Vicki's death. Logan...Logan's touch made her feel violated, used. It was unsettling and Victoria just wanted to get out of there. She should have just stayed in the car. "I promise you: you won't like the end results."

"Let her go, Fell. She has nothing you want," Damon interrupted, panting as he struggled to claw out more of the wooden bullets. There were only a handful of them left in his body, but it was clear to see that they were taking a toll on him. "Hey, hey, hey! Look at me, Fell. Let Victoria go."

"Not until you've answered my questions," Logan retorted. "And until all my questions are answered, your twirly friend is going to be sidled up next to me." He turned to look at Victoria; she could see him doing it out of the corner of her eye. She kept her gaze trained forward on Damon, not wanting to even glance at Logan. She gritted her teeth and her breathing increased when she felt the tip of Logan's nose graze her neck. "Why does she smell so damn good?"

"Perfume," Damon lied, raising an eyebrow sarcastically. "She always smells like roses."

Victoria blinked once, then twice, and despite the fact that she was being pressed up to a creep, she couldn't help but think, I do? Huh.

"No, no, no, no," Logan muttered under his breath. He inhaled deeply and Victoria let out a squeak of discomfort. "There's something else. Something much more...delectable."

Victoria's eyes widened in distress when the feeling of his nose was replaced by the feeling of his lips, brushing just barely against her throat. Tears sprung to her eyes and she took a shaky breath, biting her lower lip again as she struggled not to cry. Damon's expression was murderous now, and he sprang to his feet, wobbling dangerously as he staggered towards the two of them. "Get your lips off of her or I swear I will -"

"- You'll what, Damon?" Logan snapped, drawing his head back. There was a loud click that echoed throughout the warehouse and Victoria and Damon froze. Victoria felt her blood run cold at the sound of the hammer being pulled back on Logan's gun. "You'll kill me? You may be fast but you've got at least three more wood bullets stuck in your body. That puts you on equal playing field as me. I have just the right amount of reaction time to pull this trigger, killing Victoria, before you even touch me. So back off."

Damon looked at Victoria, whose hands were clenched into fists in a poor attempt to stop them from shaking so badly. He hissed and took a step back, visibly backing down from Logan. Victoria didn't need to see Logan to see the look of satisfaction on his face. "Good boy. Now, why am I so overly emotional? All I can think about is my ex-girlfriend. I wanna be with her and bite her and stuff."

"You take one step towards Jenna and I will personally rip your heart out," Victoria hissed, the hairs on the back of her neck spiking in rage.

"Shut it, twirly girl, you're starting to irritate me."

"Well, you probably love her," Damon antagonized, rolling his eyes. "Anything you felt before will be magnified now. You're gonna have to learn how to control that."

"What about walking in the sun?" Logan demanded. "I'm a morning person. You can walk in the sun which, by the way, is pretty cool."

Damon's hand, the one with the daylight ring, flexed and he quickly moved to hide it with the other hand. Victoria was pretty sure that she was the only one to notice it, considering she knew he would do it. Logan seemed obliviously, as he kept talking, "The council will never suspect you. That's not in the journals."

"The journals?" Damon questioned, looking towards Victoria for an answer.

Logan spoke for her, not realizing that Damon was looking at her. "Yeah, the founding fathers, they passed down journals to their kids." Victoria gave Damon the subtlest of nods to let him know that what Logan was saying was true. Logan steamrolled on. "Come on man, you gotta tell me. How can you walk around in the sun?"

"Who turned you?" Damon insisted.

"How do you walk in the sun?"

"Who turned you?"

"You know, I've been really nice so far but I will kill her," Logan interrupted, pressing the barrel harder against Victoria's skull. A terrified noise tore from her mouth and the tears that seemed to have disappeared reappeared and started to trickle down her cheeks. Her whole body shook as she tried to keep herself still. Damon's body tensed and his vampire features rose to the surface. Logan chuckled at Damon's face, not at all scared. "There's that big bad vampire that I was supposed to be hunting."

"You kill her, you will never know," Damon spat, jabbing a finger towards him. "You're not answering my question."

"You first!" Logan yelled and Victoria flinched. If there was ever a time that she needed Noble to jump out of nowhere to save her, now would be the time. Or Lee. Seriously, she'd take anybody at this point, even Katherine Pierce, who'd most likely kill her herself.

Damon gave a nonchalant shrug and mused, "It seems we're at a bit of an impasse then, doesn't it? I want to know who turned you, you want to know how to walk in the sun. You'll kill Victoria if I get too close, but I'll make sure you scream to your death if you hurt her anymore."

"You really love this little mama bear a lot, don't you?"

"You do not get to use that nickname," Damon hissed, his dark veins darkening even more.

Logan shrugged. "I have things to do, people to kill. Guess I'll be needing a little head start."

Logan whipped the gun away from Victoria's temple and pointed it at Damon, firing it three times. Victoria screamed in a mixture of shock and pain as the blast from the gun blew out her eardrums. Damon went down with a pained cry, blood pooling onto his already black and sticky shirt. Logan tightened his grip onto Victoria even more, making it much more difficult to breathe, and Victoria remembered reaching for Damon, screaming his name, before Logan raced the two of them out of the warehouse.

Victoria gripped onto the armrests of Logan's passenger seat with white knuckles, breathing shallowly as Logan sped through the streets of Mystic Falls, heading straight towards the school. Where Caroline was. Where Bonnie was. Where Elena and Stefan were. Where Zach was. Where Jenna was. Oh hell, was Kelly there too? Too many people that she knew and cared about were there. What if Lexi and Lee were there too? They'd be safe from Logan; Logan didn't know about them. But hell, what if Alaric figured out that everyone living in the Salvatore boarding house were vampires and killed them prematurely (or post-maturely, in some cases)?

"Why won't you leave Jenna alone?" Victoria blurted out, and immediately hated the fact that she had spoken.

Logan looked over at her slowly, still driving way too fast and taking corners much faster than Victoria's liking. "She's my ex-girlfriend."

"The term 'ex-girlfriend' usually implies that you two are no longer together and that she wants nothing to do with you," Victoria squeaked, flinching hard as Logan sped straight through a red light. "Can you please slow down?"

He turned his head to look back at the road. "Just because we've had a couple of spats in the past doesn't mean that she hates my guts -"

"- Trust me, Logan, if she was a vampire hunter, she would be the one staking you."

"I've heard stories about you during the time I was just a baby vampire," Logan commented, whipping the wheel to one side as he brought them onto the road that led directly to the school. "That druggie Donovan chick kidnapped you and apparently it was bad enough that you were brought to the hospital and then the police wanted you to press charges, but you declined." He glanced over at Victoria briefly. "Can't press charges against a dead girl."

Victoria flinched. "How the hell do you know that? No one knows about Vicki."

"I'm a reporter, twirly girl; it's literally my job to find stories."

"Was your job," Victoria corrected him as they pulled into the high school's parking lot. As expected, it was packed with cars of teenagers and parents, all there for the career fair. Now, Victoria just needed a moment to get away from Logan so she could contact Stefan or even Zach. Either one would be able to help her take down Logan. And if push came to shove, then Alaric. "If you haven't figured out yet, you're dead."

Logan drove them into a parking spot and slammed on the brakes, making Victoria fly against the seatbelt. She let out a hiss as the emergency stop activated and stopped her from hitting the dashboard. The seatbelt cut into her side and she whimpered as her collarbone throbbed. Logan flipped around to face her and hissed, "My entire life was ruined by those two. I intend on making them my bitches."

Victoria, despite the fear and the terror and the pain that was pressing down on her from all sides, managed to chuckle in shock. "Worse men then you will try. Spoiler: they didn't succeed either."

"Take off your necklace," Logan demanded and Victoria paled. She hadn't expected that as a response. She tried to move farther away from him in her seat. He reached out and nimbly grabbed her wrist, bringing it up so it was only a hair away from his mouth. His vampire features flew to his face and he dragged his canines down her wrist to her pulse point. A shiver of disgust raced down her body. "I will drain you of your blood. If you want any hope of getting out of here tonight, take off your necklace. I know it has vervain."

Victoria wanted to resist, but the idea of being close to death, again, didn't please her. She wrapped her hands around the beautiful chain and yanked hard; it was the only way to get the necklace off with one hand. She heard the clasp snap and the necklace's chains fell off her neck and around her hands. Logan pointed to the dash and Victoria reached out, tossing the necklace onto the dash.

At least she was still safe from compulsion. She still had her -

"- Take off your anklet now too."

Shit.

"You wanted the necklace, and it's off," Victoria pleaded, trying not to sound too desperate. "The anklet was a gift from my mom. I haven't taken it off since I've gotten it. If I do, people will start to suspect that something is wrong."

"We're not going to be here that long," Logan hissed. He pressed Victoria's wrist harder against his teeth and Victoria couldn't help the whimper that came out of her mouth. "I won't ask again."

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Victoria had no choice but to reach down and to grab her anklet. She unwrapped it as gingerly as she could with one hand. Once it was free from her body, she brought it back up, showed it to Logan, then placed it down on the dash next to her necklace.

Once the anklet was no longer touching her, Logan surged forward. His hand wrapped around the base of her jaw and he twisted her head so she was forced to look directly into his eyes. His pupils dilated and Victoria could physically feel the compulsion happening to her as he stated firmly, "You will remain by my side unless I tell you otherwise. You will obey my instructions. You will not mention anything that happened at the warehouse or in this car. If anyone asks what you are doing with me, you are talking with me about becoming a newscaster. You will not state anything that would directly implicate me."

Victoria could the compulsion set itself strongly within her mind. Internally, she knew that she wanted to run away badly, to scurry out of the car and into the night to find one of the "daywalkers" to keep her safe. But her body refused to move, following Logan's compulsion.

"Good," Logan hummed as he pulled himself away. "Be good, and maybe I'll compel you to not feel pain when I drain you of blood."

"I hope you burn in hell," Victoria spat.

"Get out of the car and come into the school," Logan ordered, and Victoria found herself getting out of the car, walking around so she could quickly stand beside Logan as he exited the car as well. He offered out an arm towards Victoria, in what would be a gentlemanly thing to do if it wasn't for the fact that he was a creep. She kept her arms glued firmly to her sides. "Take my arm."

Victoria's arm shot out, against her will, and looped itself in with Logan's. Logan led them away from the car and through the parking lot, taking care to avoid anyone who might recognize either of them. They moved quickly and swiftly, and Victoria was glad that she had decided to wear flats.

Once inside of the school, Logan took them closer towards the gymnasium, where the center of the career fair was. Victoria kept glancing into all the classrooms, hoping that she would spot Zach standing by. She couldn't find him in any of the rooms.

Logan led the two of them to the side of a hallway, and Logan took his arm out of hers and looked at her. "You will stay here until I come back and get you."

"Get rejected, asshole," Victoria hissed and Logan snickered before flipping around and stalking down the hallway, turning the corner and disappearing from view.

Victoria let out a sigh and quickly began to think of scenarios that would get her out of her current predicament. She knew that Damon had to be searching for her. If she could make contact with Stefan somehow, then maybe he would know that she was in danger faster than before. And shit, there was still the Caroline subject to take care of. Could Victoria keep Caroline out of Logan's car so she wasn't introduced to brain trauma?

"Victoria!"

Victoria turned and for the first time since she had arrived at the warehouse, she felt the smallest glimmer of hope. She let out a wide, relieved smile and said in a breathy, excited chuckle, "Mr. Saltzman!"

Alaric beamed at her as he strode down the hallway. He gestured towards the door behind her. "Come to look at my stand?"

"You have a stand?" Victoria laughed, and Alaric nodded.

"Not very many people have visited, but I don't feel bad," Alaric said, shrugging lightheartedly. "It's for history professors. Not a history professor personally, but a teacher, so you know, not entirely accurate, but Mrs. Lockwood didn't really care so she wrote what she wrote."

"Once she has a goal in mind, she is not easily dissuaded," Victoria giggled.

"But seriously, have you come to see if you would cut it as a history professor?" Alaric asked curiously.

An idea sparked into Victoria's mind. A glorious idea. One that would definitely alerted him that something was deeply wrong.

Victoria shook her head and proudly proclaimed, "I hate history; just like dancing and singing. Students shouldn't have to learn about past people's mistakes. What's the point? They're dead, let's just move on with our lives. I need to find a career that is more serious and reasonable, like newscasting."

Alaric's eyes widened in shock and he stood there for a solid ten seconds, gaping like a fish. He opened his mouth to say something when Logan reappeared around the corner. Logan's eyes narrowed as he saw Victoria and Alaric standing close together. Logan strolled up to them and caught Victoria's elbow. "I hope you don't mind me interrupting, but Kelly is looking for Victoria and I offered to fetch her."

"Victoria..." Alaric stated, and she tried to do her best blank stare, so he would believe that she was "vervained".

"Don't want to keep Kelly waiting, Victoria," Logan said as he tugged her away.

"Damon. Why are you calling me?" Stefan asked with his bullshit, self-righteous attitude. Damon wanted to throw a rock at his face. He didn't have time for his baby brother's BS. He needed to deal with the terrible situation at hand, right that freaking instant.

"Logan Fell is a vampire and when I find him again, I am gonna destroy him limb by limb," Damon hissed, wincing as he jarred one of his healing bullet wounds.

"What happened? Are you okay? What about Victoria?"

"No, I am not okay," Damon shouted as he tore his ruined black shirt off of his body. With it gone, through the mirror he could see all the pink spots where Logan's wooden bullets had hit him. They were healing nicely, but not quick enough. Not fast enough for him to sprint of the warehouse to try and follow Logan and Victoria, not fast enough for him to stop Logan from touching Victoria. From putting his lips on her neck. His hands tightened so hard that they were turning his knuckles white. He heard his phone creak and he released the tension. He didn't want to ruin his phone in the meantime. "We were ambushed. I was shot, and Logan Fell took Victoria. Now, I'm vengeful. Just got to find him so I can make good on my promise."

I will tear your throat out with my teeth.

Oh, and he had so much more devious things planned for Logan Fell now. The audacity he had to call Victoria by his nickname. That just wouldn't do.

He was bloodthirsty.

"Well, there's no need. He's here at the school."

Damon froze, halfway through putting on his new shirt and he blinked. What? He finished putting his shirt on and said into the phone in slight disbelief, "You're kidding me. Why the hell is he there?"

"He's working the crowd. Tried to talk with Jenna, but Kelly LeBlanc was there and quickly told him to his face what she thought of him. I don't think his ego liked that a lot."

"Have you seen Victoria?"

"No. Kelly's been looking for her, but she is a no-go as well. I'll have Elena ask the rest of her friends...wait one second, Elena's here." Damon rolled his eyes, and willed himself to remain patient while he listened to Elena say something urgently to Stefan. He couldn't care less what the two "will we, won't we?" couple had to say to each other. "Damon, I got something."

"Don't leave me in suspense, little bro. Lay it on me."

"Alaric Saltzman, our new history teacher, came up to Elena and her aunt tonight, talking about Victoria. Said that something seemed off about her. She told him outright that she hated history, and singing and dancing, and then Logan appeared the next minute and took her away."

Damon's eyes widened and a satisfied smirk came to his lips. That's my Mama Bear. "Victoria was trying to signal that she was in distress. If Logan took her anklet and necklace off and vervained her from saying something to incriminate him directly, she'd have to get our attention another way."

"I'll get Zach to call Lexi and Lee and tell them to get their asses down here, pronto."

"I'll be right there. Find him, Stefan. Don't let him leave the school."

Damon hung up and his fingers tapped onto his phone, scrolling down until he came upon a number in his contact list that he hadn't named. Technically, he wasn't even supposed to have it, but he knew that there would come a day when the contact would be needed and Victoria wouldn't be available to contact them. Damon clicked the call button and brought the phone up to his ear. He turned and marched his way out of his room towards the front of the boarding house.

The phone clicked, so he knew that someone had picked up, but there was no speaking on the other end of the phone. Damon could only hear the telltale sign of breathing.

"We're going to make this simple," Damon stated as he walked. "You can't speak, so I'll do all the talking. This is Damon Salvatore, by the way, if you ever want to repay me with some sort of generous gift because I'm a nice guy. Get your ass back to Mystic Falls. Victoria's in trouble and I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse from here."

The phone clicked again and Damon was greeted by the call lost signal tone. Damon hung up on his end of the line and slipped his phone into his pocket.

If that didn't get him Brownie Points with Noble, he didn't know what would.

A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for your patience with this chapter. I had auditions this weekend and they were crazy. I got a lead, though (not the one I expected, but I'm excited nonetheless!). Lemme know if this chapter should include a trigger warning for Logan being an absolute creep and the sexual harassment. (Also, low-key can't believe that Datoria fans have beaten out Stetoria fans in the Shipping Wars. Meanwhile, Vilijah fans are coming in clutch!)

I will not reveal what will happen next; however...I will reveal to you some songs in my Immortalis playlist in order of events that are to come up soon. I'll let you guys try and figure out what that means. Don't take the words so seriously for all of these songs; some of these moments are based off of the feel and rhythm of the songs.

- "Girls Like Us" by Zoe Wees

- "I Think I'm In Love Again" (slowed) by Kat Dahlia

- "Hold Me Like You Used To" by Zoe Wees

- "Alive" by Sia

- "Lovely" by Lauren Babic and Seraphim

- "The Show Must Go On" by Solence

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} (19): 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, lillen20, Yolo

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} (5): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9), Mythology216 the Beard King, thisIsNotATest, Guest (10)

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!: KarmaBites, jkjkjkjkjk, Suzy87, mactho, xXDevilzXx, charlievini, senataateka, Dark Angels and Light Angels, XxHerefor NowxX, xXallegedangelXx

New Favoriters!: jkjkjkjkjk, DBZSUPERGT, Francianae, senataateka, Dark Angels and Light Angels, XxHerefor NowxX, xXallegedangelXx

Onto reviews!:

Guest: It does kind of seem like a Damon/OC slow-burn, doesn't it? It is a slow-burn, that I can confirm, but I can't confirm who she'll end up with. And yeah, I getchu. It would be weird if you were able to punch me through your electronic-device-of-choice's screen, wouldn't it?

DBZFAN45: We are just having a crap ton of Datoria scenes. Totally unintentional, but it's coming up XD. That's good, I was really worried about that for last chapter. Damon's one-liners are probably the easiest thing to write, but I didn't want him to seem to OOC just because Victoria is in the midst. I will admit I am a low-key Bamon shipper, though I ship Bonenzo waaaaay more. I can say that the Victory attack of last chapter is very significant. Don't let that little bit of information slip away. And nope! Caroline's still oblivious to vampires this chapter. She'll start to suspect more as chapters move on. And ohhhhhhh, yeah that makes much more sense in regards to your Noble comment. Like, sort-of mentoring, kind-of grooming. Like getting a prince or princess ready to become a King or Queen. The idea of "consenual age" becomes difficult because mentally, Victoria is 21, but her body in Mystic Falls is 17, so then what would we do there? Thank you! Lee will have the special moment; it'll honestly be in the next chapter, I believe. I did not know that about Damon! I haven't read the books just yet, but my sibling has, so they've been good to let me know some interesting factoids as well. Mhmm, Victoria will have an influence on Ripper Stefan, I can confirm. What kind of influence, who knows except me? ;) Thanks for the fic recommendations!

lillen20: I took this review as a vote (if it's not, lemme know). Victoria, Klaus, Damon, and Caroline are four characters who never deserved 2nd place, and it seems like they are always being put that way. Don't worry; they'll all get their happy endings.

Yolo: I also took this review as a vote (if it's not, lemme know). They definitely too. I've been focusing on their relationship a lot, and I need to spread things out so we can have some Zatoria (Zach/Victoria), Vixi (Victoria/Lexi), Letoria (Lee/Victoria), Stetoria (Stefan/Victoria), and Toriline (Victoria/Caroline) moments (not all of these may be romantic, mind you).

Mythology216 the Beard King: Your username is majestic. Your vote has been added!

thisIsNotATest: I'm glad it's not a test; I haven't studied. Your vote has been added (and thank you for using manners)!

Guest: Your vote has been added (and he really does). You are Guest (10) if you ever want to change your vote.

Saiyanprincess1511: Victoria's got a bit of a darker side that doesn't come out very much, but when it does, Katherine Pierce would be proud. Aww, I'm glad you found my story as well!

theappleseed: Oh just you wait. It's gonna get more intense.

Lime: Damon and Elijah are just such a vibe. Ah yes, Damon does not get along with the Mikaelsons, which is such a bummer because if Elena wasn't in the mix, he'd probably get along with them very well. Take your time with the middle name. Something over the top or dead stupid simple would be preferable. Tangled does, although I might have to argue on the Hans side of things, because I honestly didn't see that coming. It struck me out of the blue and I was so shocked. It doesn't hurt that Gothel has her own song; if they'd given Hans his own song too, it'd help him a lot. It did in the musical version of Frozen. Can you imagine at the end of this story once everyone's been paired off and has kids (whether biological or adopted)? They'll need to rent out an entire town just to get together XD. Yes, that does count as revenge. That's such a good idea, I'm totally going to use it. Liz is not going to win any Parent of the Year awards, especially in the first few seasons, but she gets better, and she's insanely better than most (if not all) of the other parents in the series (minus Jenna and Alaric, who I count). Writing vague!Emily is so much fun, because I love confusing the heck out of you all! As I mentioned to an earlier reviewer, the Victory moment last chapter is super important. Keep that in mind with you. Thank you! Auditions went well, callbacks were alright, and I ended up casted as one of the leads (not one I had auditioned much for until the end of callbacks, but hey!), so there's that.

XxHerefor NowxX: You know what? Nobody has suggested that before, but that would make for a really interesting plot idea. I can't confirm or deny what you've stated for secrecy purposes, but know that that is an insanely good guess. I really like that. I love Henrik and he'll be mentioned a lot more in this story than in most other fanfictions.

I'm so glad y'all are enjoying this story. You guys make my heart soar. It's awesome.

I love you all, so here's your chapter early! Enjoy!

Stay healthy and stay safe!

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