Let The Right One In - Part 3
They turned the dining room into a war room.
They were divided into three groups: humans, witches, and vampires. Damon had no intention of ever letting any of the humans within a mile of that house, but they didn't have to know that just quite yet. Let them assume they could be helpful. Caroline would castrate him if he said that she wasn't allowed to help save her best friend. Better to tell her when he was surrounded by vampires who would stop her from hurting him. Kelly was scary, but Caroline seemed like the kind of girl who would actually go through with her threats.
All the chairs had been pushed back away from the table, each side resting against the wall closest to them. It was the most people the dining room had ever seen in nearly a hundred years, Damon would dare to assume.
There were the humans, which consisted of Caroline, Alaric, and Elena, at the far end of the table. The teenage girls were sharing a bench that they had swiped from one of the other rooms and set up. They sat close to one another, speaking softly. Damon could pick up snippets of their conversations if he tried listening hard enough, but he was trying to focus on war-planning with Zach, so he just put their conversation to the back of his mind. Alaric was standing off to the side of the two girls, eyeing the vampires warily, but not looking totally dismissive. Damon counted that as a win.
Scattered around in the middle was the largest group: the vampires. Of course, consisting of the Mystic Falls gang (read: Damon, Lexi, Zach, and Lee) and then, the little smattering of Noble's acolytes. Noble himself was hidden away in the shadows. He wore a buttoned-down gray shirt and slacks, which was odd considering their journey to the house was probably going to involve a lot of blood. Damon had just shrugged. To each their own. Noble had only managed to bring two vampires with him, not including himself. They were two twin females who looked like they stepped out of a magazine cover and a cloning machine. They introduced themselves as Nicolette and Noisette. Damon just liked to call them the Ette twins. Noble mentioned something about another vampire who was off on other business, but would join the group if he could (the name sounded like Markus, but Damon wasn't really paying attention).
At the other end of the table were the witches, which, since Bonnie was out of town, only had Kelly from Team Mystic Falls on it. There was another female, older, closer to Kelly's age, with bright blonde hair and a strong brow, who stood by her side. She was introduced as Jeanine. She was closely tied in with Lee and Noble. Damon could tell given the way she warmly greeted Lee when they first arrived, and the fact that Lee introduced her to the group.
Zach cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. They had all been discussing strategies for fifteen minutes, speaking a mile a minute (which it seemed like they had all gained the ability from Caroline through proximity-osmosis) because they wanted to get out of the boarding house as soon as possible. "Are we ready?"
"Good on the witch side," Kelly agreed, nodding her head. She was constantly tightening her hands into fists and then flexing them straighter out. Damon had noticed on occasion the electric lights flickering above them, but he hadn't said anything. He was on edge too, so he could sympathize with Kelly.
"Humans are set," Alaric announced, giving a short nod to Caroline and Elena. The two girls nodded back towards their history teacher. Caroline snuck her hand around and grabbed Elena's hand. The two clung to each other, and Damon could hear their heartbeat pick up slightly.
"And vampires are good to go," Lexi stated, folding her arms across her chest. She was standing on the other side of the table beside Lee. Zach, Damon, and Noble stood across from them, with the Ette twins standing closer to the witches' side (specifically Jeanine).
"Run through of the plan again? Make sure everyone knows what they're doing?"
"Witches on are containment," Kelly parroted, repeating what the group had decided for their job to be. "Jeanine and I are there to ensure that no tomb vampire leaves."
"Lexi, myself, Noisette, and Nicolette are on a frontal attack," Lee said, gesturing towards each vampire in turn. "We draw attention away from the back door."
"Noble, Zach, Alaric, and I sneak in through the back, hopefully with Ms. Gibbons' help if all is to be assumed correctly," Damon continued. "We find Stefan and Victoria and get them out safely."
"I'm running with you three," Alaric finished, gesturing towards Damon, and then he jerked his head towards the two girls. "Meanwhile, these two are seated in Elena's car and Lee's SUV, ready to help us bug out the moment that we have Victoria and Stefan."
"Do you have the animal blood bags ready?" Kelly asked across the table, directing her question towards Elena and Caroline.
The two girls nodded their heads, but it was Elena who spoke. "Yeah; a handful of packets in each car."
"Do you two know where you're going once we have the two of them with us?"
"The LeBlanc house," Caroline stated confidently. "None of the tomb vampires have been invited in. We'll be safe there."
"What do we do about Harper?" Kelly asked, folding her arms across her chest. "You said that he tried to help Stefan get Victoria out but he was stopped."
"Is he a good guy?" Zach asked Kelly, raising an eyebrow. It was his silent way of asking her for her Wanderer knowledge: was Harper going to betray them badly or was he a good guy?
"One of the best, honestly," Kelly admitted. "He's a good man. If he tried helping Victoria and Stefan even before Damon left, that tells me all I need to know."
"Alright then, make sure there's room for Harper as well," Damon agreed, sending a look to Caroline. She sent him a cheeky thumbs-up and he rolled his eyes, pushing down the smile the poked up on the corner of his lips.
"If that's all, then we need to get suited up and ready," Alaric commented. "I set up my personal arsenal in the living room. Everyone, follow me."
"You guys go ahead," Damon ordered, waving them off. "I need to talk to Noble about something." He jerked his head back behind himself, where he knew Noble was waiting.
Everyone else sidled out (he did get a few confused looks, specifically from Zach, Kelly, and Caroline), following Alaric out of the dining room. Damon waited until they were all gone, walking behind them to shut the door once they left, before he turned around to face Noble.
"Is there a specific reason why you pulled me aside, Damon?" Noble drawled, leaning up against the wall with a leg propped out. "Or am I just special?"
"You know why I pulled you aside," Damon snorted, rolling his eyes. "I do have some special talents that allow me to recognize when I'm not the smartest person in the room."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Noble sniffed. His body stilled and Damon could see Noble's forearms, which were free of his button up as he had rolled up the sleeves, tense. "You are wondering what to do with Victoria once she returns home."
"If she hasn't died since they..." Damon began, waving his hand to imply what he would rather leave unsaid. He had been through a shitty life, that was true, but seeing that kind of torture done to a woman who didn't have vampiric healing...it was not a pretty sight. "You know what I'm trying to say."
"You are wondering if we should kill her so she can activate her healing abilities?" Noble stated, and Damon gave a nod. "And you are discussing this option with me because...?"
"Because you took the heart out of a vampire who kissed her neck," Damon explained. "I know you didn't hurt Zach when he killed her after the tomb accident because he was just putting her out of her misery. I want to make sure that if we have to kill her to stop her from being in bad pain and to get her back to normal, you aren't going to take my heart. I'm kind of attached to it. My head too, so don't get any ideas."
"I had not realized that my protective nature over Victoria has been the topic of conversation."
Damon snorted and rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me?" Noble shook his head from the darkness and Damon sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his eyes. He can't believe he was having this talk a second time in the last four months. He was too old for that kind of shit. "It's obvious to pretty much everyone that your protective nature of her stems from wanting a not-so-platonic relationship."
"So does yours," Noble shot back, his voice calm and steady.
Damon blinked and shook his head, pretending he thought that Noble was crazy (which could very well be true). "I don't know how long you've been alive, but men and women can be friends without romantic interests. Brave new world."
Noble made a noncommittal noise, as if he was silently observing Damon. It unnerved the younger vampire. He cleared his throat and continued, "So I just need to know if you are going to kill me, permanently, for killing Victoria if need be."
Noble was silent for a moment before he said slowly, "You are safe from my hand, Damon Salvatore." Damon let out a sigh of relief, but he paused when Noble continued, "However, if you lay a single finger on Victoria, ever, with foul intent, it does not matter where you run. It does not matter where you hide. I will hunt you down and make you wish that you had died the first time."
"Good talk," Damon grunted, giving Noble a concerned look. "So do you need weapons too or are you just a special kind of vampire who's good without them?"
"I'm a special vampire."
"Of course you are," Damon grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Meet you in the living room."
Damon sprinted into the living room, hopefully leaving Noble in the dust. He really enjoyed the guy, honestly, but sometimes there was something about him that seemed...off. He was just...old (and that was saying something coming from Damon).
Damon let out a low whistle as he observed the vast array of weapons scattered across the coffee table and two couches. He sent Alaric a semi-impressed look. "Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night."
"I've you to thank for that," Alaric grumbled, flipping around to hand off some stakes to the Ette twins. He tossed two large darts across the room to Lexi and Lee, who each caught one nimbly.
Lee twisted the dart in his hand, giving it a squinted look. He leaned closer and sniffed deeply. "What are these?"
"Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain," Alaric explained, stepping aside so Kelly could snatch up a stake and shove it into the back of her waistband. "Knocks any vampire out in two seconds."
"Just get us in," drawled one of the Ette twins (Damon wanted to say that it was Noisette, but he honestly couldn't tell the two women apart). She spoke softly with a thick French accent. "We shall get them out."
"I would normally be worried about you guys going against them all," Elena began, observing the group quietly, "but honestly, I think you guys are going to be alright."
"Your faith in us is astonishing," Zach deadpanned, shrugging on a leather jacket. Damon narrowed his eyes. It looked really familiar. Was that the one that Victoria was constantly stealing? Someone needed to have a talk with her about that; Damon had noticed that all the vampires were slowly losing clothes to the Immortalis. She liked different aspects of their outfits a lot: Lexi typically got her sweatpants stolen, Lee lost a ton of his socks, Damon couldn't find half of his favorite shirts, Zach was missing many jackets, and Stefan's sweatshirts were a thing of the past.
"Oooh, Zach's getting sassy," Lee announced, giving Zach a faux-expression of surprise. "Someone call the local newspaper."
"Don't piss him off, Lee," Lexi chided her boyfriend, elbowing the other vampire in the gut. "He's worried about Victoria, just like the rest of us."
Caroline bounced her way around the group of vampires, stopping to give Kelly a quick hug. She made it to Damon's side and Damon rolled his eyes. He could smell the conversation she wanted to have with him a mile away.
"No, Blondie."
"Damon! You don't even know what I was going to say!"
"Yes, I do," Damon retorted, flipping around to face her. He threw his voice up high and squeaked out in a poor imitation of Caroline's voice, "Oh Damon, please let me come inside the house with you guys. You might need my help. She's my best friend. I need to make sure she's alright."
"Alright, so maybe you do know what I was going to say," Caroline grumbled, her mouth falling into a frown. "But it doesn't make it any less true!"
"It's not happening, Care-Bear, so get that little idea out of your head."
"What if you can't stop me?" Caroline fired back, folding her arms across her chest. "It's Victoria we're talking about here. You don't understand."
"Oh, I understand," Damon growled, narrowing his eyes. "I understand. She's the reason you live. She's your best friend in the entire big, wide world. I get it, Caroline."
"Can you not be a sarcastic mess for just two seconds? I turned around and abandoned my trip to my dad's boyfriend's daughter's birthday to help my best friend and you're just here making jokes!" Caroline pleaded.
Damon snapped. He took a menacing step forward, ignoring the way that all eyes shot towards him and Caroline. "I can't protect you, Caroline. None of us can; we're going to be too focused making sure that everyone gets taken care of. We don't know how many vampires there are in there; even Kelly doesn't know. That's how you get your head ripped off. We are able to get in and get out with little detection. None of us can be distracted with your safety, or this will end up in a bloodbath that none of us will walk away from, except maybe Victoria. And do you really want her to live in a world where you don't exist? So yes, Caroline, I get it. I understand."
Caroline was quiet for a moment and Damon then noticed that her eyes had started to water. He let out a little sigh and wanted to punch something. He didn't have the time nor the bandwidth to deal with a crying woman. "Caroline..."
"Promise me you bring her home safe," Caroline whispered, her voice slightly broken. Her voice sounded like it was tight with emotions and she was doing everything in her power to prevent the tears from slipping down her cheeks. "Promise me, Damon, that Victoria comes home safe. That I will be able to hug my best friend again."
"I give you my word, Caroline. Mama Bear makes it home tonight. Nothing is going to happen to her."
"If we're gonna go, let's go."
Pain.
Suffering.
Anguish.
"P-Please...just stop. Please. Don't hurt him. Please..."
"Shut up, rat. Frederick, how much longer are we going to have to deal with these three?"
"Quiet, Billy. I don't know what the witch did, but she did something and it killed Chrys. And then, not even ripping her heart out killed her. She's...She's something else. Something I don't know. And because of that, we are keeping our mouths shut."
"Ms. Pearl will know what you've done, Frederick. She will take you down."
"I'm not afraid of Pearl, Harper. She has been in power for too long. She does not understand how we are suffering. Billy, help me move the witch. We need to split them up in case the elder Salvatore decides to try and be smart."
"If you hurt her, Frederick, I will be forced to hurt you."
"Why are you helping her, Harper? Why are you abandoning your brothers and sisters in arms?"
"She is my friend's descendant...and she gave me chips."
Darkness.
Movement.
Pain.
Suffering.
Anguish.
Protect Stefan.
Protect Harper.
Hurt Frederick.
Kill Frederick.
Make them pay.
Make them pay.
MAKE THEM PAY.
KILL THEM.
KILL THEM ALL.
"Oh, good, someone's home. Uh, could I use your phone? My car broke down a few miles up the road. This was the first house I saw," Damon heard Alaric babble to Frederick, his words barely intelligible. He and Zach were squatted underneath the windows outside of the little house, as to not be seen by any of the tomb vampires. Noble was hidden around the corner of the house; the dimming light didn't do well with his "I must stay hidden" aesthetic. The other team were set up at the front, ready to engage the moment that Zach gave them the signal. The witches were each at their spot, a mile away from the house so neither of them would be in trouble. Caroline was waiting with Jeanine and Lee's SUV and Elena was by Kelly, waiting there with her car. The plan was in motion and nothing was going to stop them now.
"Well, lucky you," Frederick drawled.
"Yeah, lucky me," Alaric laughed good-naturedly. "It's no trouble, is it?"
"Not in the slightest."
Damon wanted to snort, but he settled for an eyeroll. Frederick was not even trying to not be creepy. A normal human would smell a bad vibe from a mile away, even without heightened senses.
"Great, whew."
There was a collection of footsteps and Zach flashed Damon a thumbs-up. Alaric was officially in the house. That was good.
"Hey, man, I really appreciate it. It's rough out there. The storm is a killer."
"It certainly is that," Frederick agreed. Even Zach pulled a face at how outrageously obvious that statement was to Frederick's true nature. All Damon could do was nod sadly to his nephew. Frederick was honestly just sad. "Billy, show our visitor where the phone is in the kitchen. And get me something to drink."
"Yeah, sure thing," came a new voice, and Damon's eyebrow perked up slightly. New vampire alert.
There was another set of footsteps as they got closer to the back door. Damon shifted on his feet and saw that Zach did the same thing. They waited in hushed anticipation. Damon gritted his teeth. Mama Bear, I hope that whatever you did worked.
"Hey, Ms. Gibbons, this guy wants to use your phone." Billy, the new vampire.
"Oh, sure, honey," came a sweet, almost tender voice. Naïve. "It's right there."
"Thanks," Damon heard Alaric say, thanking the woman. There was a hint of suspicion in his tone.
A moment later, there was a loud of shuffling and then Damon heard a barely imperceptible cry of pain from Billy. A few seconds after that, Damon heard the blender and faucet turn on. It was only because the kitchen was so close to the back door that he could pick out Alaric and Ms. Gibbons' conversation.
"What's happening?" Ms. Gibbons asked incredulously, still sounding like a child that didn't know the meaning of the word 'why'.
"I'm really sorry," Alaric apologized. "But you're gonna need to invite a few friends of mine inside."
Alaric whipped the back door open and Damon and Zach jumped to their feet. Ms. Gibbons caught one look at Damon and licked her lips, looking startled. She turned to Alaric. "Oh, I'm sorry. He's not allowed in the house."
"I know that," Alaric grunted. "But you've gotta make an exception."
"Exception," Ms. Gibbons murmured, blinking her eyes a few times. When she turned back towards Damon, there seemed to be a brighter side to her. She seemed more aware and comprehending. "You are the exception, Damon Salvatore."
"Uh..." Damon said, blinking in surprise. "Thank you, I guess?"
"Come on in. All three of you," Ms. Gibbons said with a welcoming smile, stepping back. Her eyes sparkled as she looked past Damon and Zach. Damon glanced behind his shoulder, looking towards where he knew Noble was hiding.
"Yeah, that's a little creepy," Zach grunted, stepping inside the house.
Damon followed, turning towards Ms. Gibbons. He held her still and worked his compulsion deep into her mind. "You are going to leave this house and head to the Salvatore boarding house. Once you get there, you are going to sit in the living room and wait for us to get back."
Ms. Gibbons echoed the instructions, moving to grab a pair of keys off of the hallway table. Once she was outside of the house, heading straight for the driveway, Zach crossed to the door and shut it. Damon raised an eyebrow and Zach just rolled his eyes. "Noble is strong enough to open a door."
"You weren't supposed to compel her," Alaric muttered, giving Damon a dirty look.
"Sometimes it's just faster to do it this way," Damon replied, glancing down the hallway. "Would you have rather we spent hours trying to convince her to leave this house?"
"She's just human, Damon."
"And I'm not, so I don't care," Damon snapped, shooting Alaric a sharp glare. "Now, let's get moving. Take the body out when you leave -"
Damon heard something towards the front door creak, and then he heard Frederick shout, "Billy, what's the holdup?"
"Scatter," Damon hissed, sprinting into the kitchen.
He spotted the pantry cracked slightly open and ducked inside, shutting the door just enough. He held his breath (not like he needed to breathe anyways) as someone entered the kitchen. Damon could see the vampire barely from the cracked opened door. He stood in the middle of the kitchen, looking left and right. As he approached the sink to turn off the water, Damon slipped his hand behind him, pulling up his shirt enough to get the stake hidden in the back of his pants free. As the vampire slapped the faucet down, Damon pulled the stake out. His fingers curled around the wood tightly. The vampire in the kitchen turned towards the countertop and switches off the blender.
Now was a good time.
Damon burst from the pantry, stake poised down by his hip. Before the other vampire had a chance to say or do anything, Damon stabbed him low in the back, reaching around with his free hand to clamp his mouth shut. The vampire let out a muffled scream as the signs of desiccation started to set in. Damon waited until the vampire was completely grayed before he let the body drop to the ground. He knelt down and yanked out the stake just as his nephew came around the corner.
"You good?" Zach asked, giving Damon a worried look. Damon just gave his nephew a short nod. "Good, because Team Distraction is doing their job. I'd give us a very short window of opportunity before vampires either give up or start scattering like mice."
"I bet Kelly has an entire lightning ring surrounding this place," Damon snorted, pushing himself up. He bounced on the balls of his feet. "Like an electric fence. Too close and zap!"
"Either way, let's not let it come to us having to use her," Zach pleaded, stepping back. "Kelly said that they should be keeping Stefan and Victoria, and by extension, Harper, downstairs in the cellar."
"Have you spotted Noble yet?" Damon asked as the two abandoned the dead vampire in the kitchen in favor of the deserted hallway.
"He's checking out the upper levels of the house right now," Zach explained, keeping his voice low as the two crept forward. "He wants to make sure that we don't miss anyone."
They kept moving down the hallway until Zach indicated a door that, once opened, revealed a set of stairs that led down. Damon led the duo, having spent more time alive as a vampire. If they encountered any trouble, Damon would deal with them easily.
At the bottom of the stairs sat a large metal door. Damon frowned. That hadn't been apart of their strategy discussion. He cursed lightly under his breath. "Guess that Kelly forgot one thing."
"Oh no, she didn't," Zach replied. He pushed past his uncle and knelt down in front of the lock, coming eye to eye with the lock. Digging deep into one of his pockets, he yanked out a small rolled up section of leather. He set it down on the ground and unraveled it.
Damon's eyes widened in disbelief and he couldn't help but scoff incredulously, "You have a lockpicking kit? Scratch that: you know how to lockpick?"
"Seriously, Uncle Damon, you did not visit us as much growing up as you think you did," Zach sniffed, reaching down and grabbing two picks. He brought them up and studied the lock for a moment before he cautiously inserted them one at a time and began to fiddle.
"Okay, okay, I was a crappy uncle who had blood drinking and humanity issues," Damon grumbled, rolling his eyes. He squatted down beside his nephew and gave a nonchalant shrug. "But I'm here now if you want to tell that story."
Zach paused, as if thinking things through, before he sighed. He seemed exhausted in that one moment and Damon's telltale smirk dropped into a concerned frown. Zach didn't seem to notice, because he started to speak, his fingers fiddling once more with the locks, "You remember Tobias?"
"Of course I remember Tobias," Damon snapped, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling. Hell, he might have been distant and even a flake, but he didn't forget his family. Never. Not even once.
Zach shot him an ugly look and Damon winced. He shook himself, trying to relieve the sudden tension in his shoulders. "Sorry, I just don't like it when people assume I forget family."
"Glad to know you still think the world of him," Zach hummed, turning back towards the lock. "He was twenty-seven and I was twelve. Thought I should learn the life lessons that every Salvatore should know."
"Lockpicking?" Damon asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Lockpicking is the life lesson that every Salvatore should know?"
"Of course not," Zach scoffed as he twisted the picks. There was a satisfying click from the lock and Zach turned to face his uncle, giving him a triumphant smirk. "The life lesson was baking, but Mom liked to keep the alcohol cupboard locked and Tobias insisted that it made all the cookies taste magical."
"I say this with the most respect I can muster in all of my body," Damon began, standing up. Zach followed suit and pushed the door open as Damon finished, "I think your brother already drunk."
"Oh, definitely," Zach agreed with a chuckle and a nod. "I got grounded for two weeks and Tobias had to pay off my mom's credit card debt as punishment."
A vampire stood at the end of the narrow hallway, standing guard in front of a singular door. Zach moved quickly, darting in front of Damon. He was in front of the other vampire in a blink of an eye and he had a stake dug deep into the man's heart before the other vampire could move.
"You're getting scary good at this," Damon commented as he jogged to catch up with his nephew.
Zach stood up, brushing his hands off on his pants. He grimaced when he spotted all the bloodstains. "Yeah, I set up some practice dummies in the back. It's the only reason the house didn't look like a mess when you got back after your phone call."
"Uhhh...thank you. For trying to help me."
Zach and Damon both caught each other's eyes, instantly recognizing the sound of Stefan's voice.
"They just needed somebody to blame. Someone to punish," came a different voice. Damon recognized it too. Harper.
They yanked the door open and the sight in front of them caused Damon's blood to freeze with anger. Stefan was strung up, his arms pulled tightly above him. The way he hung from the ceiling made it look like both of his shoulders were also (potentially) dislocated. Harper sat opposite of him, staked down onto the wooden chair. Between the two, facing the door, sat an empty wooden chair that was identical to the one that Harper was currently sitting in. It was soaked deep with blood and when Damon sniffed, he was overwhelmed with a delicious, beautiful scent. It made his blood boil even more.
That was Victoria's scent. He was willing to bet on it.
"Damon...Zach..." Stefan rasped, drawing Damon's attention back towards him. Stefan looked at the two of his relatives through bloodshot eyes. "You shouldn't be here..."
"Well, we weren't going to exactly wait in the car, now were we?" Damon retorted gently, stalking forward.
Stefan struggled against his ropes and started to shake his head, wincing as he did so. "No, no, no. Not him. Don't hurt him."
"I'm not going to hurt him, idiot," Damon scoffed fondly. "I know him." He dropped to a squat in front of Harper, observing the former soldier with a careful eye. "How you holding up, Harper?"
"I'll be fine, Sir; just a little banged up."
"Good man," Damon sniffed, nodding his head. He stood up and unceremoniously yanked out the stakes that kept Harper pinned. The vampire let out a pained groan, but he didn't try to fight back against Damon's work. Once Harper was free, he slumped over in his seat, allowing his body to relax.
Damon left Harper to recover and went to help Zach get his brother down. "You look like a million bucks, Stef."
"I feel like a nickel," Stefan groaned. "Careful. There's vervain on the ropes."
"The gloves that Frederick used to string him up are over on that work bench," Harper groaned, gesturing weakly off to the side of the cellar.
Zach moved to find the gloves and Damon asked the question that was present in the front of his mind. "Where's Victoria?"
"Lost sight of her," Stefan whispered, flinching as if he had made a wrong move in his vervain-soaked shackles. "T-They...Damon..."
"Did they hurt her more than what we saw this morning?" Damon questioned.
"N-No...I-I don't think so," Stefan mumbled, licking his lips weakly. He winced again. Damon leaned forward and swiped his thumb over his brother's lower lip (sounds weird, felt even weirder). He retracted his thumb with a hiss, shaking his hand as his finger started to throb in pain. Vervain. "They took her out of the house. I-I heard doors shutting. They wanted to split us up in case you guys came."
"Fantastic," Damon grumbled just as Zach came back. "You got this, Zach?"
"Call the troops," Zach ordered as he yanked at the ropes holding Stefan to the ceiling.
Damon grabbed his phone and dialed up Lee's number. The vampire answered with a quick, "One second!" There was a squelching noise on the other side of the line and then Lee panted, "Please tell me you've found them. There are a lot of vampires here and most of them became vampires years before I was born and this is really difficult!"
"We got Harper and Stefan, but Victoria is still MIA," Damon stated, placing a hand on his hip. "Stefan said that our villains wanted to split them up so it'd be harder for us to rescue them."
"Because the world doesn't want to give us a break," Lee grumbled. "This is as worthless as gum on a boot heel!"
"I don't understand you when you speak Southern," Damon grunted, shaking his head. "Listen, just keep an eye out for her. I'm not going to leave until I find her." He hung up and slipped his phone back into his pants. Zach was arranging Stefan's arm around his shoulder (they didn't appear dislocated right then, so maybe earlier had just been a trick of the light). Damon headed over to Harper and grabbed the young man, copying the pose that Zach and Stefan were doing. "Up and at 'em, Harper. We gotta start moving."
In a blink of an eye, the quartet was up in the back hallway.
And, unfortunately, they were not alone.
"Zach, catch!" Damon hollered, passing Harper off towards his nephew. Damon charged Frederick, who was standing in the doorway to the dining room. He bent over and wrapped his arms around Frederick's middle, tackling the semi-older vampire to the ground.
Frederick let out a grunt as he hit the wooden floors, Damon straddled on top of him. Damon pulled a hand back, curled his hand into a fist, and let loose. All the rage that had been building up in his body, all the anger since that morning, spilled out and Damon just kept hitting him. Over and over again. Even when Damon's hand started to hurt and ache, bones popping and some even fracturing.
"Damon, watch out!"
Damon looked up just in time to see a vampire over his shoulder raising a broken piece of a chair over his head, ready to bring it down. Damon rolled off of Frederick, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the two other vampires. He came out of the roll and leapt to his feet. The vampire with the stake jumped after him, slashing at his stomach with the stake. Damon stumbled backwards, the stake missing him by a singular inch. Damon took a step forward, snapping his hand forward. His fist dug itself deep inside of the vampire's chest. The man gave a gasp and dropped to the floor dead when Damon dragged his hand back, the vampire's heart secured tightly in his fist.
Damon looked up and growled angrily when he saw that Frederick was gone. Damon dropped the heart and stalked back into the hallway, wiping the bloodstained hand on his jeans. Zach and Harper were still there, but Stefan was gone. Damon shot one warning look towards his nephew, who explained hastily, "Lee came and is escorting him to Elena's car. I said I could take Harper. Stefan was in worse shape, so he needed to be moved immediately."
"Let's get out of here," Damon growled. "Frederick's gone and the moment I find him, I am going to kill him."
The threesome staggered down the hallway, making it towards the front door. Damon paused, though, when they were a few feet in front of the door and held up a finger when he heard a large amount of footsteps heading towards them. He closed his eyes and focused on the sound. It sounded like six set of footsteps and when Damon did a quick smell test, he didn't recognize any of the scents.
"How many of those vervain darts from Alaric do you have left?" Damon asked his nephew, keeping his voice low.
"Not enough for six," Zach grunted, adjusting Harper around his shoulders.
"Fantastic," Damon growled, his hands tightening into fists. Damon yanked the already bloodstained stake he had in his pocket out and twirled it around. "This was supposed to be an easy, simple night."
"Nothing ever is," Zach said, tightening his grip on Harper.
The door flung open and all three men flinched. Damon and Harper relaxed visibly when they saw it was only Pearl and Anna.
Pearl looked gobsmacked at the state of the house and she stepped in, gasping, "Stop! What's going on here? What did you do?"
"Harper!" Anna cried out in distress, spotting her friend. The teenager left her mother's side, running towards Zach and Harper. Zach helped the younger girl transfer Harper's weight over onto her shoulders. "What the hell did you two do to him?"
"Me?" Damon asked incredulously, narrowing his eyes. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother and a human girl."
"Trust me," Pearl growled, her voice as tight as wound up strings. "The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."
"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them," Damon snapped.
"This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Well, it did and Harper got caught in the crossfire," Damon said with a sadistic laugh. "If I had a good side...torturing my younger brother and my Mama Bear were not the ways to get on it."
"Damon -"
"- Not now, Zach -"
"- Anna and Pearl make two sets of footsteps," Zach whispered hurriedly, his eyes wide and wild.
The realization of Zach's words sunk into Damon's soul. If they only made up two footsteps... "Where are the other four?"
A loud crash from behind them made Damon and Zach flip around, Damon bringing up the stake in his hand like a sword.
Farther down the hallway, against the far wall, laid a vampire who was staked. Damon didn't recognize the vampire as someone he had killed. The stake looked as if it had been jammed all the way through his body, and he was already grayed with desiccation. Across from him, there was a large, gaping hole in the wall. That room the hole led to was the dining room; Damon remembered that much at least from Kelly's detailed description of the house at their war meeting. A figure stepped through the hole and it only took Damon a second to comprehend who it was.
It was Victoria...but something was wrong.
She was covered from head-to-toe with mud and dirt. It covered her body like a second skin. It also covered her scent like a filter; instead of living ambrosia, she instead smelt like earth and wild animals. Her eyes were glowing, one white and one black, like how it usually was with her powers, and in her two fists sat two hearts. She let them drop to the ground as she looked upon the dead vampire in front of her. Given the way she was standing, she didn't look remorseful. Victoria looked like an avenging angel.
An avenging angel that looked pissed as hell.
"Victoria LeBlanc?" Anna gasped. "She's the human girl?"
Damon ignored her. "Hey, Mama Bear? You good?"
"Protect Stefan," Victoria growled, her voice rough and low. She started walking towards Damon and Zach, but her line of sight seemed to push past them, towards the outside of the house. "Protect Harper. Hurt Frederick. Kill Frederick."
"Mama Bear?"
"Make them pay!" Victoria screamed, breaking into a full out sprint. She pushed past Damon and Zach, not even bothering to glance at them, and nearly shoved Pearl straight into a wall. "Kill them! Kill them all!"
Damon took after Victoria the moment she accessed her supernatural speed. He heard a pounding of footsteps but he didn't dare to look behind him. He kept his full focus onto Victoria. If he looked away even for a moment, he would lose her. She ran like a mad woman, seemingly in no direction. Damon panted and sprinted harder, trying to catch up to her.
They eventually reached a stopping point, and Damon could see where she was heading.
Stefan was on the ground, panting and looking in pain. Elena was by his side, and Kelly was standing protectively in front of the both of them, though she looked like she had a nasty head wound. Lee was grappling with Frederick, but the younger vampire seemed to be failing. Frederick had a stake in his hand and was just inches away from getting the stake into Lee's chest. Lee's hands were wrapped tightly around the stake and the Southerner let out grunts as the wood sliced through his palms.
Victoria jerked her hand violently in front of herself and Frederick was wrapped around tightly with an ooze of black-colored magic. The vampire went flying into the undergrowth, off of Lee and a good distance away from the group of human, witch, and vampire. Victoria stalked off towards where Frederick had gone flying and a figure stepped out of line from Damon. It was Pearl.
Damon was at Pearl's side in the blink of an eye, a hand wrapped around her upper arm to prevent her from moving. Pearl jerked her arm once and with narrowed eyes, not tearing her gaze away from the retreating form of Victoria, she hissed, "Release me now, Damon Salvatore, or prepare to face the consequences of your actions."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but listen," Damon said harshly. "If you try and stand in between Victoria and Frederick, you are not going to leave alive."
"I have met many Immortali in my life, Damon, and she is not capable of such power. She is too young."
"Say that to a witch who tried to kill her with magical blood-draining," Damon spat. "She was the one who was the one who died that night, as Victoria was bleeding to death and breaking a hundred and forty-five year old curse."
Pearl frowned and gave Damon a sharp look. "I know she was the one who saved us from the tomb, but that could have been a fluke of extreme magic. But you have made me curious, Damon: why are you trying to so-called 'save my life'?"
"Victoria wanted to meet you. It'd be a shame if you died before that could happen," Damon stated honestly.
Frederick stood up on shaky legs. Damon was able to see him easily despite their distance. Frederick took one look at Victoria and paled noticeably, even in the dark light. "You were dead."
"Death doesn't like to stick," Victoria whispered, poison oozing from her words. She cocked her head to one side as she observed Frederick.
Damon tugged Pearl off to the side, moving her with him. Pearl followed easily as the two swiveled away from behind Victoria and more to the side of the duo. They were able to now see Victoria's face and Frederick's.
"You don't scare me, little witch," Frederick gulped, swallowing heavily. Damon watched a single drop of sweat fell off of his forehead.
"Then you are a fool," Victoria cooed, her gaze scary in how dead it appeared.
"I have stared down humans, witches, and vampires. None of them scare me, so why should you scare me?"
"Because I am the thing that monsters have nightmares of."
Victoria raised her hands. In a swift move, she clenched them into fists and jerked them to either side of herself. A dark ooze of magic gripped both of Frederick's shoulders and Damon quickly jumped in front of Pearl, turning his back towards the duo. Frederick let out a panicked, terrified scream of pain and a loud squelching noise filled the clearing. Then came a deadly silence.
Damon waited a solid fifteen seconds before he turned back, slow and careful. He blanched when he looked towards where Frederick had been standing. Covered in blood and gore...it was horrible and Damon had seen some pretty messed up shit. To put it simply, there were now two halves of Frederick.
Damon swung his gaze to look at Victoria. The woman stood tall, looking unapologetic. Her face was dotted with little droplets of blood from Frederick and she sniffed, as if the whole exchange bored her. "Well, that was simple -"
Victoria cut herself off and a moment later, her eyes faded back into normalcy, their beautiful blues blinking as if she was coming back into herself. She shook her head and brought a hand up to her forehead, pressing the heel of her palm to her temple. She looked up towards Frederick.
And then a scream.
A scream that came from Victoria.
There was a noticeable difference in the way that Victoria held herself in that moment. When she was confronting Frederick, she stood tall with shoulders back. However, in that moment, Victoria was curled in on herself and she was scrambling back from Frederick. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her whole body seemed to get a bad case of chills. She tripped over some branches and started to crab walk backwards, sobs and screams erupting from her mouth as she didn't tear her gaze away from the half-and-half body in front of her.
"Mama Bear," Damon began, taking a handful of steps towards Victoria. It hurt him to see how terrified she appeared.
He stopped when she started screaming, throwing her hands up into the air to stop Damon from getting closer. She shook her head and pleaded, "No, don't get close to me!" She started to rock herself on the forest floor. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..."
There was a gust of wind and a tall shape was crouched beside Victoria. Noble. His arms were wrapped tightly around Victoria's body and he was rocking with her, gently shushing her and speaking in words that Damon didn't recognize. Her body fit well into his hold and it sent a painful ache to Damon's heart to see how much Victoria leaned into Noble, seeking comfort from his warm hold. Her distressed calls of apologies also threatened to bring Damon to his knees.
"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"
A/N: We did it! We made it to Monday! I honestly didn't know if this chapter was going to get done. I finally had time off this weekend to hang out with friends, so I took all my opportunities. What does that leave us? A chapter that frustrates me, but I'm too tired to try and make it better, so here it is. What do you guys think happened to Victoria?
As some of you may have noticed, the rating on this story has changed. Allow me a moment to explain, if I may: the rating for M is only in regards to the violence we will experience in this story and some prolific cursing in far distant future chapters. Most chapters will have a solid T rating; if there is a chapter with more advanced gore, I will give you all a warning at that start of the chapter.
Also, we passed 500 reviews! CELEBRATE! Whoo! Thank you all so much for your kind words and I can't believe we've made it this far. Whoo whoo!
IMPORTANT QUESTION: So I've toying around with the idea of creating merch for this story. I know that sounds weird because this is just a fanfiction and all, but would any of you be interested in buying Immortalis merch? Some things I was thinking of are my favorite quotes from characters in this story as either stickers or like the cover of a hardback notebook, maybe t-shirts or sweatshirts, but yeah. Lemme know what y'all think. Thanks!
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} (17.5): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Lime, herewegoagain, K, emma, just another guest, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6), Guest (9), guest (1), theappleseed, Anaidiana, Hayden, Takinginspiration1, Serena Salvatore, Prometo, Lolita, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime
Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (45): 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, theappleseed, Guest (10), Juko, Bulma, Ellay, V, Ghest, charlievini, Guest (13), Guest (14), Guest (15), TrembleB4DietCoke, dhariti, Hayden, Guest (17), Elyse1821, Dannn, Yukihino-Sama, Dede, 4day, jazica, Guest (20), Unnisa, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime, Tik, 00esoteric00, Hariana Halone, jenniferchase2402
Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (43.5): 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, Guest (11), Anaidiana, Dalia2009, wolfcorgi, Nia, Rory, Teghan-Potter1370, Guest (12), Shiro7, alessandra92, Guest (16), Guest (18), Karina, Serena Salvatore, xrysatsan, Lolita, jazica, Guest (19), MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime, TheLadyO, jjaejjae, Guest (21), Guest (22)
Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (6): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9), Mythology216 the Beard King, thisIsNotATest, Guest (10), Tris Hart
Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2.5): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar, Guest (11)
Team Vinn {Victoria/Finn} (1): silentmayhem
Team Vioble {Victoria/Noble} (.5): Shiro7
New Followers!: sabrinacoronatosc, composersoprano (you're the 350th Follower, congrats!), 10wrighth, SerrafinaDrake, Nicci89, KitKat30
New Favoriters!: serenitykoneko, Rozlene, sabrinacoronatosc, 10wrighth, ktlv, PrincessKnight2302, SerrafinaDrake, KitKat30, Awkward Artwork
Onto reviews!:
guest: Thanks for being the only person to give me feedback on the rating. I did change it up, but please do know that most chapters will be a T-rating with a handful of M-rating chapters and I'll warn people before chapters that I think are M-rating. And yes, the eyes and tongue did grow back. Angst is the name of this game, so yeah, Victoria's not going to have a great time, but she isn't going to die I believe for the rest of Season 1, so there's that.
BrookeWorm3: She can see and talk again (after she dies, her body regenerates). Poor girl will live now, no worries.
DBZFAN45: You're the 500th reviewer! Whooo! Perfectly done, might I just say. Harper is such a sweetheart, and I have a feeling I'm going to love writing him into the story some more. The hunt began and ended really fast, but your comment made me smile :). The bandaged idea would have been awesome. I did not know that about Jaime Ray Newman! Oh my gosh, now I gotta look for that. Is it any good? And thanks for the fic recommendations! I want to say that I started to actually read Heart of Darkness. Is that the one with the pregnant teen?
Kathiena: Awww thank you! That's so sweet of you! I can promise you, it will be epic. I can't wait for the originals to show up either. It'll be explosive for some of them, that's the truth.
MelLoveArt: Yeah, take the time that you need! I take so long in between updates anyways that you could take like days before reading it and still be caught up. You do what you need to do. I'm sending a big hug in return!
brachelle80: I think your assessment of Damon was really spot-on. Yeah, Victoria is really oblivious to love situations, but to be fair, so are a lot of people in real life. Most can't tell when a potential significant other is interested in them, so I felt like that was a realistic representation of a lot of people. The Stefan/Victoria ship is not out of the waters just yet, so that could very well happen at some point later in the story. Oooooooh, that would hurt my soul, but yeah; a good idea.
xrysatsan: I loved your review. The two sides of the coin: 1) oh my gosh, gore! eek! and then yours: 2) Ah yes, let's bring chairs and enjoy the storm. Thanks for reviewing!
Lime: Hey Limestone. Oh yeah, the Kelly-Kol stuff I have planned is awesome. I'm so excited for it. I have some fun ideas for Finn as a writer too. Awww, thanks! I threw some lines in here that I feel like you'd like. I want to show people that a Damon and Elena relationship could be possible in this fanfiction while making it still realistic for the way the two characters act in this story (not saying Delena will or will not happen, but just stating it). I'll let loose this little spoiler cuz I just absolutely love him so much: Harper will live. I have a plan for our deal little Harper (good plan, I swear. For realsies, no angst as far as the eye can see for our little bean). Ahhh, Stefan who's actually Victoria's friend. Got it. He's awesome, that Stefan. It's so funny that you've acknowledged Zach as an OC since theoretically, he's not, but he sort-of is (same with Lexi and Lee and eventually, Harper) because they get killed so early on or never shown again in their stories so I'm having to make up a lot of their stories.
Elyse1821: Ah, okay! Yeah, I've said it quite a lot, so it makes me laugh when people still vote for Klatoria. I will not reveal the truth or lie behind your statement cuz that's a spoiler (as you know ;p). Murdery is totally a word in my book (probs Caroline's too; I'll throw that into a conversation sometime and somewhere. Noble is yeah, probably more murdery than Damon is. Don't mess with their Mama Bear, I'm just saying! Here's some good old fashioned murders for you. Until next time!
I'm not even going to say that I'm going to get a chapter out by Friday, cuz I honestly don't know. My first job (the morning one) started to increase hours again because we're getting back into summer, so yeah. I'll try, but just hold out hope for next week.
Until next time, my lovelies,
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F