Immortalis

by BecomingFearless1F

She was supposed to be dead. Victoria remembered the sensation of water filling her lungs and the stars in the sky above the water dimming until they were black. So how come she wakes up in a place that shouldn't be real, greeted by characters that insist they've been friends since they were children? And she's 17 now, not 21? And adopted!

65. Founder's Day - Part 2 (Season 1 Finale)

A/N: Why am I posting today, you might ask, instead of Wednesday like I said?

BECAUSE IT'S IMMORTALIS' 1ST BIRTHDAY TODAY! WHOO WHOO!

Immortalis, a random story idea that came to a little author known as BecomingFearless1F came to fruition exactly one year ago (or, at least, it was posted one year ago. The idea started maybe a week before the actual posting of it). And when I woke up today and suddenly realized the date, I knew that there was no way I couldn't post the Season 1 Finale on any other date but today!

There will be a longer blurb down at the bottom, but first off: none of this would have ever been possible without all of you guys reading, taking such a heavy interest into my work. I know I talk about it a lot, but you guys mean the world to me, and your interest in my work means the world to me. So just simply said: Thank you.

To BrookeWorm3: Maybe grab onto your boyfriend now (and sorry, I had to. You'll understand later).

Child of Dreams: Don't hate me by the end of this chapter.

TRIGGER WARNING: strong language, attempted sexual assault (never goes anywhere bad, but it is still an attempt), crass language, violence

---

Founder's Day - Part 2 (Season 1 Finale)

Damon

"This suit is itching me in places that shouldn't ever itch. Ever."

"Man up a little, Damon," Stefan sniffed, swatting Damon's hands away from his cravat that Stefan was trying desperately to straighten. "Just be grateful that you're going on the parade float. If I hadn't screwed up so badly at the pageant, maybe I would have been allowed to stay as Elena's companion."

"Mrs. Lockwood really tore you a new one, huh?" Damon snickered, glancing down the road to see Mrs. Lockwood ordering around high schoolers like they were her soldiers and she was their general. "I see where Mama Bear gets her commanding presence from."

"That's definitely from her mother," Stefan refuted, again swatting at Damon's stray hand that had come up to just rip the entire monstrosity off of his neck. Stefan stuck his tongue out momentarily and then patted Damon's chest. "There! All set and good to go."

"Let it be known the only reason I am wearing this is because I know that Victoria would utterly mess me up if I messed up her Season One Finale dreams," Damon ordered, pointing a drastic finger towards his younger brother. Damon scrunched up his nose and waved his hand pathetically towards Stefan. "And why are you dressed up like you're seventeen?"

"I am seventeen, Damon."

"Yeah, for the past one hundred and forty-five years," Damon scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I mean, why are you dressed up like you were when you were actually seventeen...the first time."

Stefan waved an arm that was clad in a familiar white dress shirt that came straight from his (Stefan's) own personal closet. "Elena wanted pictures afterwards. I figured it was the least that I could do."

"Look at you, all retro," Damon chuckled.

"You seem rather giddy today," Stefan commented, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why shouldn't I be, Steffie-boy -?"

"- I thought we agreed that you would never call me that again -"

"- Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, confirmed by a White Witch and an Immortalis, Isobel's gone away from the town, it's the Founders' Day, and Victoria woke up from her six day coma today," Damon marveled with a grin. "I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl."

"Don't start with me, Damon -"

"- I kid. I'd rather steal Mama Bear -"

"- Damon -"

"- What?" Damon snorted. He reached forward and shoved his brother. "You have no sense of humor, Stefan."

"Actually, I've no sense of 'Damon Humor'," Stefan corrected, holding up a few fingers to put quotations around 'Damon Humor'. "I have a terrific sense of humor."

"Says your therapist," Damon laughed, and then he teased, "'Damon Humor'. Hey, look, I get it. Really, I do. I'm the better, hotter, superior choice and you're scared, now that Katherine is waaaaay out of the picture, that I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena, but believe me, I would rather kiss a toad than your girl. But you don't have to worry at least, Elena is not Katherine."

"You're right, she's not," Stefan finalized, before leaning just past Damon and squinting his eyes. In a low voice, the youngest Salvatore cursed, "Damn."

"I don't like the sound that of that, Stefan. What are we seeing...?" Damon asked, turning around and trailing off when he saw what Stefan was seeing.

Five women approached them, all dressed in the correct period style dresses. There was Elena, wearing a gold and green dress that looked all too familiar to Damon (it looked scarily similar to one that Damon remembered on Katherine's body that he had, at the time, the pleasure of taking off of her body) and Stefan maybe had to worry some; she did look remarkably like Katherine wearing that dress, and that was without her face.

Next to Elena was Caroline, wearing a sunflower-yellow dress that made the lightness of her hair pop out even more. She drew the eye, probably because her dress was ridiculously bright, but Damon guessed that it fit. She was Miss Mystic Falls anyways.

Beside Caroline was Amber, the Empath who looked like a mini carbon-copy of Caroline. She was dressed in green and she looked happy. Relieved, maybe? She looked as if all the weight of the world had been taken off of her shoulders. She walked with a bit more bounce in her step, and she was laughing at something one of the other girls had said to her.

On Amber's other side was Lexi, dressed in a deep blue dress that Damon recalled her whining about when she was trying to find a dress for Victoria to wear ("I want her to wear red! Her hair pops with red!" - "Lexi, she's currently in a coma. She's not gonna have an opinion on this matter." - "Shut up, Stefan."). It seemed that she had finally made up her mind. Though it was curious why she was even dressed up in the first place. She wasn't even a part of any of the festivities.

Then, finally, his eyes landed on the centerpiece of the entire group.

Victoria LeBlanc.

Wearing that dress.

Shit.

He was screwed.

The dress was a rose red dress with black details scattered around. The neckline was swooping, showing off her amazing shoulders and delectable collarbone. The sleeves were short, but she had put on a pair of elbow-length black silk opera gloves. And her hair...

She had worn her hair all up, unlike the other girls, and it showed off the beautiful curve of her neck which was clad in a new black choker with a sapphire ornament.

Yep.

Damon was definitely screwed.

Especially when Victoria and he locked gazes and her eyes lit up with excitement, giving Damon a little wave. She broke away from the other girls and threw her arms around Damon's neck, dragging him down to hug her. Damon didn't fight it, and leaned it into willingly. He used the hug as an excuse to duck his face into her neck. He took a subtle sniff. She even smelled amazing, using some sort of rose perfume that was making things hard for Damon. All he wanted to do was use his tongue to lick that perfume straight off of her neck.

"Thank you," Victoria murmured, and he only just caught it as he was too busy being distracted by her bare neck.

"You're welcome?"

"For Noble."

Oooookay, that made things a little less hard, but Damon pushed all bad thoughts out of his brain. A little voice in his head told him, "She's not your girlfriend. I respect the feels, but respect the bro-code even a little, man."

That voice sounded suspiciously like Vicki.

He was probably just going insane.

"You're welcome," Damon murmured into her neck, falling into the temptation just enough to drop an open-mouthed kiss onto her neck. He pulled back from the hug and took the time to openly study her. She looked great and she looked even better as her face dissolved into a hardcore blush. "You're going to be slaughtering all the males in the downtown area, though."

Victoria's brow wrinkled a little in confusion and all Damon wanted to do was drop a kiss between her eyebrows. She sniffed, "I'm not feeling especially murdery today, so you might need to connect a few dots for me."

"I'm gonna be killing any male who looks at you with even a trace of lust in their eyes," Damon clarified, tightening his grip on Victoria's hips. "You look stunning."

"Thank you," Victoria replied, giving Damon a little smile that made his knees weak. Sure, Victoria might be the Immortalis, but even without her powers, she could still make anyone she wanted drop to their knees. She was more powerful than she even realized, even more so when she gave that little smile. "You are looking rather dapper yourself."

"Oooh, dapper. Pulling out the big words today," snickered Damon, diving into the temptation to lean forward and kiss her brow. Her face scrunched up a little, and it was with joy given the little sparkle in her eyes. Damon jerked his head towards Lexi. "Any idea why BFF is dressed up too?"

"Well, obviously, me, Amber, Elena, and Caroline are all in the parade because we were contestants," Victoria began, talking with her hands as she went. "Lexi was feeling left out; plus, she wanted to take pictures with Lee."

"Do all of you women only care about photos?" Damon scoffed goodnaturedly, wiggling his fingers on her hips to gently tickle her sides.

"Don't be judgmental, Sir," Victoria warned, pointing a finger in his face. "I want pictures with you too."

For some reason, that surprised Damon. He couldn't help but ask, "Really?"

Victoria's eyebrow perked up in confusion. "Yeah. Why? Should I not want photos with you?" Her eyes widened comically and she hissed under her breath, "Did you kill puppies or something and are guilt-tripping over it?"

"No, no, no," Damon chuckled, shaking his head. He shrugged his shoulders and admitted sheepishly, "I-I guess I just wasn't expecting it."

"Oh, self-doubt," Victoria concluded sagely, nodding her head. "We have come a long way in six months, haven't we?"

"From choking you out and you threatening me with death to me choking out people who hurt you and you threatening to kill others who would hurt me," Damon mused. "That's a big step."

"I've made you cry," Victoria giggled, nudging his chest with her finger.

"I've made you cry. And you died."

"A lot."

Damon pulled Victoria a little closer and rested his forehead against hers. She followed through willingly and they just stood that way, eyes lightly closed as they just basked in each other's presence.

Then, quietly, Damon heard Victoria whisper, "Damon?"

"Yeah, Baby?" Damon couldn't help but reply, his eyes still closed.

"I'm really glad we became allies."

"Friends," Damon corrected, even though the terminology hit him right in the heart. "Best friends."

"Caroline's gonna be pissed that you're trying to steal her title."

"Best non-alive friend."

"Sorry, that title lies with Vicki and Mind Vicki."

"Best vampire friend."

"Now Lexi's feeling left out."

"Best younger than two hundred years old vampire friend."

"Poor Lee."

"Best Salvatore vampire friend."

"Bye Stefan."

"Best Salvatore older vampire friend."

"Aw, but I really liked Zach."

"Baby, you are really trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"I thought you were already dead," Victoria teased, pulling back. Damon opened his eyes and took in the beauty that was that little impish smile he saw only on Caroline, Victoria, and Vicki's faces. "Now, direct me towards Mrs. Lockwood. I don't know what I'm supposed to do as the Songstress of Mystic Falls."

---

Victoria

The parade was a roaring success. The float had been crafted in such a way that Caroline stood up at the back on a platform, showcasing that she was Miss Mystic Falls, and a smaller platform (still elevated, but to a lesser degree) sat off to her side, where Victoria and Zach stood. Matt stood with Caroline as her formal escort, since he hadn't gotten on Carol Lockwood's bad side. However, Jeremy and Stefan were both kicked out of standing on the float. One should never purposefully skip the pageant, it was learned. Damon stood beside Elena, smirking towards the crowd and giving them friendly waves. Victoria could see just how uncomfortable he was and it made her giggle deep down inside. Zach looked almost unrecognizable in his attire, which he said he had stolen from Damon's closet since Stefan was too short for him to wear any of his clothes.

Wilmer, who was supposed to be Amber's escort for the parade, apparently came down with mono the week that Victoria was in coma round two, so Lee stepped in to be her escort. The two were at the front of the float, chatting quietly with each and giggling together. It was adorable to see Lee basically adopt another teenager as his younger sister, like he had done with Victoria. It made her heart warm.

Lexi, Jeremy, Tyler, and Stefan had managed to worm their way into walking in front of the float, Jeremy and Tyler as soldiers and Lexi and Stefan as a couple (since they were already properly attired). Behind the float came Harper, Ms. Gibbons, Pearl, and Anna, who also somehow managed to wrangle their ways into the parade. Harper was dressed up like a wounded soldier, and Pearl had revealed to Zach, for some reason or another (Victoria thought that the two of them didn't get along well, but recent times seemed to be changing that), that the outfit Harper was wearing had been the one that he had transitioned from human to vampire in. Ms. Gibbons and Anna were dressed in simpler outfits, but Pearl had gone all out in a dress that Victoria remembered distinctly from a flashback of Mystic Falls, circa 1864.

Once the parade had concluded (with some nice shoutouts from Carol Lockwood to Victoria and Caroline as the Songstress and Miss Mystic), the float swung back around to the high school and parked itself in the parking lot. Victoria was one of the first people off. She had withstood many a different kinds of costumes, but corsets would never be one of her favorites.

To Zach, she wheezed, "I'm gonna go and rip this corset to shreds in the school. Send someone with a change of clothes."

She didn't wait for his snarky reply (she could just feel it in her toes that it would have been snarky) and she just started to jog away from the rest of the group. Victoria tugged off her gloves as she walked towards the school and she reached up to brush her fingertips against her choker.

She was on the walk to the entrance of the school when she felt a thing collide with her legs. The thing was too small to knock her off balance, but she still let out a 'oomph' regardless. Victoria glanced down and found herself staring into the eyes of the most adorable little child in the entire existence of the world. It was an adorable little Latina, with big doe brown eyes that looked like they were stolen straight from Bambi himself, and she was wearing an adorable red princess dress.

"Eres una princesa?" the little girl asked in a beautiful squeaking voice. It made Victoria's heart melt with just how freaking adorable it was. Her words roughly translated, if Victoria's little Spanish skills were correct, to "Are you a princess?"

Victoria squatted down to the ground and looked at the adorable little girl with a large smile. She shook her head gently, not trusting herself to speak Spanish correctly enough for the little girl to understand her.

The little girl frowned and reached forward, poking Victoria's cheek now that it was at eye-level to her. "Pareces una princesa." That one roughly translated to "You look like a princess."

"Gracias," Victoria replied, smiling.

"Valeria! Ahí tienes!"

Victoria and, apparently, Valeria, both looked up to see a woman who looked like a much older version of the little girl come rushing towards them. She dropped to her knees beside the younger girl and started scolding her rapidly in Spanish, too fast for Victoria to catch onto anything she was saying.

At last, the woman turned towards Victoria and gave her an apologetic look. She said with a very heavy Spanish accent, "I am sorry if she disturbed you."

"She didn't, I promise," Victoria reassured the woman, who Victoria naturally assumed was her mother. "She just asked if I was a princess. When I said no, she told me I looked like one. It was a very nice interaction."

The mom sighed in relief and brushed a hand over Valeria's hair. "That is a relief. My Valeria has not been good with people this new year, so she has stayed by my side. I could not find her today and I panicked." The mom looked towards Victoria and her eyes narrowed slightly. "You are familiar to me. Have we met before?"

"I don't think so," Victoria admitted. She stuck out a hand for a handshake. "My name's Victoria LeBlanc. I was in the parade as the Songstress of Mystic Falls -"

"- LeBlanc!" the mom gasped, nodding her head rapidly. She reached out and shook her hand and Victoria was surprised to find it was a strong grip. Most people didn't strong-grip handshake her anymore. "Yes, yes! I know you!"

"Y-You do?" Victoria stammered. She braced herself for anything: did this woman know her from before? Did she know Victoria LeBlanc, but not Victoria Vanacore? There was no way of telling for sure.

"Yes, yes! You are the girl who was punched by the footballer!"

Victoria blinked once. Then twice. When had she been...?

Oh, yeah. Tyler Lockwood did punch her in the face back in September...right? Gosh, that had been in her first month in Mystic Falls. Sheesh. She really didn't catch a break, did she?

"Yes, that was me," Victoria admitted sheepishly, wincing slightly. "Gosh, that was such a long time ago, I forgot that happened. Were you are that pep rally?"

"No, no, no," she said, shaking her head. "My Valeria was sick so I was tending to her. But you met my husband." Victoria noticed the way her voice caught on the word 'husband'.

"I don't particularly remember meeting any men there," Victoria sniffed.

"He was one of the EMTs who tended to you," the woman continued. "My Derrek, Derrek Sheppard was his name, he loved to say that you were his favorite patient. He liked to check in on you while you were in the deep sleep."

"Deep sleep?"

"English is not my first language, so some words I do not know how to say right," Mrs. Sheppard explained slowly, seeming frustrated with her lack of ability. "The deep sleep. You were in the deep sleep for four months?"

"Oh, the coma?" Victoria supplied, and Mrs. Sheppard nodded rapidly. "Why did your husband come to check up on me when I was in the coma?"

"He and his team, the ones who helped you when the footballer hurt you, were the ones who brought you to the hospital after you fell into the water."

Victoria let out a gasp of shock as her eyes widened in disbelief. "They helped me get to the hospital after the car accident?" When Mrs. Sheppard nodded her head rapidly, Victoria bounced a little in her spot. "C-Can I go meet him? Them? To thank them for saving me?"

It was like Victoria had flipped a switch in Mrs. Sheppard. Her eyes suddenly watered and her body began to shake and Victoria felt horrendous. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"No, no, no," Mrs. Sheppard said, shaking her hand as she looked down towards her feet. She reached up and gently brushed her tears out of her eyes with her hands. "I am fine. It has just been hard. My...My D-Derrek is dead. He and his team. They responded to a call in December and never came back."

Ice water hit Victoria.

No.

No.

Nonononononononononononononono.

Victoria had died in December.

December 8th.

Her transition had killed three EMTs in December.

Derrek Sheppard and his team...

"W-What were the o-other names of the men on his t-team?" Victoria heard herself asking in a slightly monotone voice.

"Nicholas Whittle and Peter Jefferson. Why do you ask -?"

"- It was very nice to meet you, Mrs. Sheppard and Valeria," Victoria interrupted, robotically pushing herself up to her feet. She was seeing, but not really, you know? "I'm sorry for your loss. Enjoy the festivities."

Then Victoria turned and started to run.

She sprinted.

Faster and faster and faster.

Into the school.

Down hallways.

Farther and farther away.

It was all my fault.

I'm the reason she's a widow.

I'm the reason Valeria is half an orphan.

It's all my fault.

It's all my fault.

It's all my fault.

Victoria collapsed on the floor, her legs refusing to move another step. She let out a gasp as she hit the hard tile and she scrambled to push herself back up against the lockers. Her chest heaved as the world refused to give her enough air to breathe. She panted as all of her senses started to grow fuzzy.

A panic attack.

She was having a panic attack.

Breathe...

Just breathe...

"Tori!"

Someone skidded to a halt in front of her and dropped to their knees. The person reached out and grabbed either side of her face. Their hands were ice cold and Victoria let out a shuddery gasp at the sudden temperature change. The thumbs of the other person's hands started to move, to gently stroke Victoria's face, and the repetitive motion started to help her calm down. It kept a steady rhythm. It was like a dance. She just needed to breathe on the beat and everything would turn out better.

"There you go, Tori. Just keep it up," the voice cooed. She knew the voice. It brought her comfort before in the past. The first time she had ever had a panic attack in Mystic Falls, hell, in Mystic Falls High, this person had been the one to comfort her. It was -

"- Stefan Salvatore," Victoria breathed, and it was as if someone had unclogged Victoria's senses. A simple exhale and inhale followed, and they kept following. In, out. In, out. She could breathe again. She gave Stefan a relieved and watery smile. "Y-You always are there to help me out of my panic attacks in this high school, huh?"

"What else am I good for?" Stefan joked, but his hands didn't leave Victoria's face and his thumbs didn't stop rubbing her cheeks. "Are you feeling better now?"

Victoria opened her mouth to say 'yes', but a voice in her mind just kept screaming and repeating:

It's my fault.

It's my fault.

It's my fault.

Tears sprung to Victoria's face and she shook her head. She threw herself at Stefan, wrapping her arms around his neck, and Stefan caught her easily, though her dress did make a large poof around the two of them. Victoria hid her face in Stefan's neck and cried and cried and sobbed and cried. He just held her in silence, rubbing her back soothingly. He didn't try to speak; he didn't try to calm her down. Stefan just sat there as a solid figure for her to cling to.

"I-I killed them."

Stefan stiffened underneath her arms and she could hear his brain gears ticking around as he tried to come up with a decent response to that. After a moment, he whispered, "Who did you kill, Tori?"

"The EMTs."

Stefan just hummed, as if to acknowledge Victoria's words. She didn't blame him for not trying to speak actual words. Who the hell could come up with something to say after that?

"I-I met one of the widows and the kids of the men today." At that, Stefan let out an 'oh' and Victoria could feel the puzzle pieces clicking together in Stefan's brains. "H-He and his team saved me at the Wickery Bridge and that helped me when Tyler punched me, and I-I killed them!"

"Tori, it wasn't your fault -"

"- I slaughtered them -"

"- You were scared. You didn't have control of your powers -"

"- I-I'm a monster -"

"- Enough!" Stefan growled, pulling himself so rapidly away from Victoria that it left her jarring. Stefan roughly grabbed the back of Victoria's neck and forced her eyes to stay on Stefan's. "You know what, Tori? I have had it with all this self-doubt and guilt. You want to say you're a monster for accidentally killing three men when you had just woken up from being dead? Well then, if you're a monster, what does that make me? I purposefully submitted myself to drunken blood binges and I have killed more people than you could even dream of hurting. You are not a monster, Victoria, because you do not choose to willingly kill someone just for the thrill of it. It's an act of self-defense with you. Not with me. I chose it. Sometimes, I continue to choose it. So if you're a monster, then I must be the demon that sent you to do so."

"Y-You're not a demon, Stefan -"

"- But you're a monster?" Stefan shot back, his eyes darkening in warning. "You are not a monster, Victoria. You are just as much of a victim as these people are. You did not choose any of this. It was chosen for you. You are a good person, Victoria. A good person. So please, you have to believe that...because if you don't, what hope do any of us have?"

---

Amber

Amber had changed out of her clothes and was roaming around the town square, waiting for the time when the Founding Families would go up onto the stage for some big announcement or other when she was hit with a wave of anger.

Pure anger.

Rage.

Fury.

It was like someone had punched her straight into the gut and she staggered backwards, grabbing onto the first person she could find.

"Darling? What's the matter?" her father, Jeffrey, asked, him being the one to catch her. The moment his skin touched hers, she could feel him stiffen up under her and he just muttered, "Shit."

"Something's going to happen tonight," Amber murmured, her eyes widening in distress. She stood up, shakier than she had been before, and whipped around to look into her father's eyes, which were identical to her own. "Papa, we need to find Victoria."

"LeBlanc? The comatose child?" her father asked, perking an eyebrow. "Who we need to find is the Sheriff and we need to come up with a convincing argument as to why she should come and help us. Our 'emotions'," he threw quotation marks up with his fingers around the word 'emotions'; Amber hated that since she told him that she was aware that of them being Empaths, he called their powers 'emotions', "are not solid enough evidence."

"They will be with Victoria," Amber insisted. Her father didn't look convinced and Amber wanted to scoff. Of course, the moment that he spouted out a random theory, he needed her to believe it, but the moment she did the same, he was skeptical. Amber ripped her arm out of her father's hold and stood up as straight as she could, ignoring the way her knees wobbled. "Fine. I'll find her and you can go to the Sheriff. We'll see who's actually right tonight and gloat about it."

Amber twisted around and took off before her father could doubt it. She needed to find Victoria and fast.

The last time Amber had seen Victoria that day had been when Victoria left the school to go and visit her beau, the supposedly mysterious Noble (Lee had filled her in on Noble while Victoria was in the hospital). Were they officially dating? Amber didn't know the particulars on that one. However, Victoria had said that she and Noble would be walking around the streets by the town square, since Victoria was needed for the Founding Families celebration later that night (since the LeBlancs were founding family members).

Amber grabbed her phone and rapidly dialed Victoria's number, pulling it up to her ear as she dodged her way through the crowds.

Victoria, thankfully picked up after the third ring. "Amber, hey! What's going on?"

"Something bad is going to happen tonight," Amber said hurriedly, swinging her head back and forth as she tried to spot Victoria. Why the hell were the crowds this big? Ugh! "Like bad-bad. Maybe close to genocide bad, kind of bad."

Amber heard Victoria quietly curse on the other end of the line. "The tomb vampires who escaped Ms. Gibbons' house. I was so focused on the watch that I totally forgot. Amber, listen to me: I need you to go find one of the elder vampires. Lexi, Lee, Zach, Pearl, Damon, it doesn't matter. Any of them will do. Tell them that Victoria says that the tomb vamps are here and they are targeting the Founding families. I'll call who I can and get them spreading the word too. We need eyes on everybody."

"On it," Amber agreed, nodding her head and slowing down to a stop by one of the alleyways. She panted, "I can call Lee as soon as I can get to a place where he might actually be able to hear me; these crowds are killer! He'll be by Lexi and Zach so that'll spread that way."

"Perfect. I'll call Caroline and hopefully, she can get Tyler away. Tell Lee to send Lexi their way too. A back-up vamp can never hurt."

"Got it. Talk to you soon," Amber said, before quickly hanging up.

Now all she needed to do was -

"Hey, Baby. You walking my way?"

- not get hit on by some drunken asshole.

Amber could see the two of them out of the corner of her eye, pushing themselves up from where they were chilling on the ground in the alleyway. The pure stench of alcohol was almost as overwhelming as the unbridled waves of lust that was coming off of one of them in particular.

Amber ignored them (specifically the one who looked at her like she was a five course meal) and took a few steps away from the alleyway, hoping that her clear-as-day disinterest in them would make them leave her alone. That didn't seem to be the case as the sketchy one stepped forward, grabbing onto her wrist. Her heart skipped a beat as the skin-to-skin contact allowed her to feel the full extent of what the guy was feeling. She had practiced a little bit with Lee on how to shield herself from unwanted emotions, but this one was too sudden.

He wanted her.

Any way that he could.

Shit.

"L-Let me go," Amber stammered and she cursed herself internally for being so anxious.

"But Baby...we're just getting to know each other," the man cooed, twisting her around so she had to face him. With her facing him, the stench of beer and bourbon was even more intoxicating. "There's no need to run away."

"Get off of m-me, or y-you'll regret it."

"You hear that, Al?" the man who held her called out to his friend, who was watching the two of them from the alleyway. Amber couldn't make out his details clearly as he was too far into the shadows of the building for her to see properly. "This little birdie says she'll make me regret it."

"She will," came Al's reply and something about his voice sent literal butterflies to Amber's stomach. There was something so hypnotic about it. Alluring, even. And the apparent confidence that Al had in her abilities definitely had something to do with those butterflies too.

"True confidence in me, buddy," the guy in front of her growled.

One moment, Amber was standing on the corner of a busy street. The next, she was flung up against a brick wall and her attacker was the one pinning her. She let out a frightened gasp and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the man's rancid breath up against her cheek. "Pretty birdie. You wanna sing me a tune?"

In rare form, there was a giant rush of confidence to Amber's soul and she found herself saying words that she would never have dared to say before.

"Fuck you."

Yeah, the man didn't like that all that much.

"Why you little bitch," the man growled, and his hands were suddenly wrapped around Amber's throat, squeezing tighter and tighter. She let out a raggedy gasp and tried to push the man off. Claw at his face, anything. But the man was determined and kept his grip.

Tighter.

And tighter.

And tighter.

NO!

Amber let out a scream as she threw another punch. This time, her fist connected with the man's temple. The man let out a handful of curses as he staggered backwards away from Amber. Amber didn't wait for him to regain his balance. She twisted around and made to dash away, but her brain was still getting used to the new intake of oxygen. Her vision went skewy and she stumbled into the other man.

Al.

Al caught her easily and his touch was much gentler than her attacker's. He wrapped an arm around her torso and kept her grounded, even when her legs started to shake.

Amber tried to push herself away from Al. She didn't know what he wanted from her or if he was going to send her back to her attacker so all she knew was that she had to get away.

Right.

Now.

Amber let out a little whine as her body failed to push herself away, but that didn't seem to disturb Al. Al just simply cooed gentle warnings towards her, a stray hand reaching up to stroke her hair. "Easy there, little fawn. Steady your legs first."

"D-Don't hurt me."

Al shushed her stronger, coiling his fingers in the depths of her hair. "Easy, little fawn. I will not hurt you."

Something about that...

It calmed Amber.

She sagged into Al's arms and her face smashed up against Al's chest. Her hands clung to Al's frame and he made a humming noise that sounded like encouragement. "There you go, little fawn. Just relax."

"Keep her steady, Al, and I'll make sure she doesn't squirm when it's your turn."

Amber tensed up again and a rush of tears came to her eyes but she stilled when she heard the deadly tone that overtook Al's voice.

"Talk to her like that one more time, and I will feed you your heart."

He sounded so calm, yet the inflection of fierce protection and caring in his voice made him sound deadly.

The man who tried to attack her laughed in disbelief. "V-Very funny there, Al. You got me laughing."

"It was not a joke," Al replied, his hold on Amber tightening even more. "Should you continue to disrespect her, you will find out what I do to guys who don't take no for an answer."

"Why, listen here you little bastard -!"

In a flash, Amber was stumbling up against the alleyway's far brick wall. She barely got her hands up in time to prevent herself from faceplanting right into it. She hadn't realized that she had been putting so much of her weight onto Al's body.

Behind her, she heard a loud curse rip its way from the pervert's mouth and then silence. Well, not silence, per say. There was a distinct squelching noise that chilled Amber to her core and made her freeze. Amber could hear her blood pumping through her veins and it felt like a crazy winter storm just descended on her like a gloomy cloud.

She felt a hand at her shoulder. She flinched, hard, and curled up closer to the bricks as she started to cry once more, this time in earnest. Amber tried to keep her tears silent.

He just killed that man.

Oh my gosh, he just killed him.

Deaddeaddeaddeaddead.

I'mnextI'mnextI'mnextI'mnextI'mnextI'mnextI'mnext.

"You need to breathe."

"D-Don't kill me."

"I'm not going to hurt you. You need to breathe," Al cooed once more, and Amber could feel him step up close behind her body.

She started to shake. She didn't want to die. She couldn't die. She didn't want to leave her father all alone. She didn't want to leave Lee, Harper, Ms. Pearl, Anna, or Victoria. No, no, no, no, no...

Al stepped closer so his chest was pressed tightly to her back and his arms slipped around her waist, wrapping her up in a backwards hug. The move made both Amber and Al pressed up against each other tightly. Amber let out a raspy gasp that also came out as a little whiny cry.

Al's face suddenly ducked down and she could feel his face against the crook of her neck. "Shh, shh. I know, it was really scary. But you need to calm down."

And just like, a light switch.

She wasn't panicked.

She wasn't scared.

She wasn't terrified.

She was, in fact, calm.

So, she stated as calmly as she could, "Get the hell off of me."

Al's arms released her and he stepped back away from her. Now standing on steady feet, Amber flipped around and looked at him. Like, really looked at him.

And holy shit, he was Attractive with a capital A.

The first thing that Amber latched onto was his eyes. They were this kind of baby blue mixed with an icy blue that just made his eyes pop. They were alluring, dragging people into his gaze underneath his strong set brow. He had a sharp jawline (and Amber thought that Lee had a sharp jawline) that looked sharp enough to cut paper with. His hair was dark, a dark brown that was a mix between black and brunette. It was longer than most of the guys' hairs that she knew, but it looked to be around the same length as Damon's haircut. Al also had a faint stubble.

Not to mention that this man was wearing a white button up with the sleeves rolled up and slacks that looked like they were tailor-made for his body. He had wide shoulders and was endowed well-enough with muscles. He also had a simple chain necklace on with an oversized ring attached to it, with a stone that was basically the same color as his eyes.

Suffice to say, the general look of him made Amber's heart flutter in a way that was so not appropriate for the situation.

Amber was well aware that further down the alleyway, there was a dead man's body with his heart removed, but she kept her gaze locked onto Al. She also did her best to ignore the way that one of his hands was covered with a sticky red substance.

"You killed that man."

Al didn't even blink, just nodded once. "Yes, I did. I would do it again."

"Why?"

"He didn't take no for an answer."

"But you were with him before he started hitting on me," Amber insisted, needing to understand the reason why. "You two were friends."

Al scoffed, shaking his head the moment that Amber said 'friends'. "Make no mistake, we were not friends. He was just a pawn that I was thinking about using. Evidently, he showed me that he had no place alongside me." There was a little sparkle in Al's eyes as he took a long look at Amber that made her face blush hard. He didn't seem to mind that she knew he was checking her out. "You, on the other hand, are a completely different story."

"Don't even think about it," Amber warned him, jolting up a finger. The warm sensation of peace was still covering her like a warm blanket on a winter's day, so she didn't feel scared about standing up to a man (or whatever he was) who had just torn somebody's heart out. "I am not going to be your pawn or anybody's. I can make your life suck."

"Oh, trust me, I saw that right hook you gave our mutual acquaintance," Al chuckled, gesturing with his head down the alleyway. Amber swallowed heavily but didn't take her gaze off of Al, no matter how much her subconscious was telling her to. Al shoved his hands into his pockets as he observed Amber. "And I'm guessing as an Empath, even a new one, you can still make my life...unpleasant."

"How do you know about that?" Amber immediately asked, before silently cursing herself. She should have tried to deny it! Now this man (her subconscious added "this fine hunk of a man") knew she was an Empath for sure.

"You're not the only one whose got a thing for emotions," Al chuckled, shrugging one shoulder up. "What I am curious about is your story. How does an Empath, presumably one of the last ones in existence if my memory towards Empath history is still correct, end up in Mystic Falls, Virginia? This place has a history of supernatural creatures, sure, but still."

"My dad and I moved here four years ago," Amber found herself admitting. She didn't know why she was being so truthful with Al, but something in her just said he was a 'friend' (and she was pretty sure it wasn't him doing something with her 'emotions') and that it was safe to reveal information. "He heard that Mystic Falls was more supernaturally-inclined. I-I didn't know what we were then. I just thought he was trying to get as far away from my mom as he could." At Al's perked up eyebrow, Amber admitted, "He and my mom went through a really messy divorce. It was...bad."

"I see. And you said 'what we were'. Your father is an Empath too?" Amber nodded and Al hummed. "Interesting. Did he know that he was an Empath before moving?"

"I live in the woods and it takes me nearly fifteen minutes every morning to get into town. Add an additional fifteen if I want to get anywhere in said town," Amber snorted. "According to Le...a friend, he said that Empaths tend to stay away from large groups. My dad only came to the festivities today because I was a part of the Mystic Falls Court."

"I saw that," Al commented. He gave Amber a small bow from his waist and his eyes sparkled with mischief. "Congratulations."

"I didn't win."

Al sniffed. "Doesn't matter. You were nominated. That's got to count for something."

Amber felt herself blush again. "Thanks...I think?"

"You're welcome."

Amber held up a hand. "Okay, wait. Before I tell you anymore of my backstory, I need some questions answered."

"Ask away," Al said, gesturing towards Amber. He folded his arms across his chest and Amber did her best to not notice the way his bloodied hand was starting to ruin his shirt.

"What's your name?"

"If I answer that, will you give me yours?"

Amber bit her lower lip and sniffed, before relenting, "Sure."

"Allister."

"I'm Amber."

"Nice to meet you, Amber," Allister said with a smile that was way too charming to ever be put onto his face. "Please, continue."

"You're not an Empath, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"But you were able to control my emotions. You calmed me down, twice," Amber recounted.

Allister nodded. "That's true."

"What are you?"

"That's a little too much information to be shared on the first date, don't you think?" Allister teased.

That stupid blush returned to Amber's cheeks and she found herself spluttering, "This is not a date!"

"Isn't it?" Allister asked, tilting his head as that charming smile came to his face again. "I mean, a guy tried to hit on you and I protected your honor, after you gave me an opening to and now we're getting to know each other more."

"You killed a man," Amber said in disbelief.

"Sometimes dates involve a little murder. It's a natural course of life."

"You're ridiculous," Amber breathed, shaking her head. Though...his antics did make Amber feel a little better, so she allowed herself a little smile. "I may not have dated before, but even I know that you are supposed to buy me some dinner. Maybe some flowers. I am rather partial to sunflowers -"

PAIN.

SUFFERING.

AGONY.

TORTURE.

STRUGGLE.

STRAIN.

ACHE.

HURT.

Emotions bombarded Amber so hard it felt like somebody had grabbed a hold of her heart and started to squeeze. She let out a pained scream and collapsed to her knees as all oxygen exited from her. Her brain pounded against her skull and she felt like all of her organs were starting to shut down. There was just so much pain. It was coming from all around. Dozens of people in sudden amounts of pain.

It was too much.

It was too much.

Amber felt a trickle of something coming from her nose. From her ears. Sobs and screams came from Amber like a fountain and she would have started to flail, looking for some sort of relief, if Allister hadn't dropped to his knees beside her and immediately brought her into his arms. Amber shook, squirming around like a fish out of water, but Allister had a solid grip on her, keeping her from hurting herself.

"What's happening?" Allister demanded, all trace of gentility gone from his eyes. With one arm wrapped around Amber's waist like a vice, he used his other to grab the back of her neck and force her to look into his eyes (not like she could see from the excessive amount of tears that were spilling down her cheeks...everything just hurt). "Amber, what is happening?"

"S-So much pain," Amber sobbed, the pounding in her head started to increase even more. "I-It hurts. It hurts so bad!"

"Shit," Allister cursed, glancing down the alleyway towards the main street that Amber had just come from. "Shit!"

He turned back towards Amber, who was starting to rock herself in Allister's arms. The pain was almost numbing as it just overloaded all of her nerves. It felt like her body was starting to shut down. She couldn't feel her legs anymore and the feeling in her arms was starting to fade away too.

"Amber, stay with me," Allister growled, shaking her head. Amber let out a pained whimper as the movement rocked her already tender head. "Little fawn, I can stop the pain." Amber moaned again as Allister tightened his grip on the back of her neck. "Listen. I can stop the pain, but I need your consent. Do I have your consent?"

"M-Make it stop, please. P-Please."

"Do I have your consent?"

"P-Please..."

"Come on, little fawn," Allister cooed, rubbing his thumb along the curvature of her neck. "Please, Amber. I need your consent. Do I have your consent?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Then I'm sorry," Allister whispered as Amber felt her head start to fade out, "for stealing your probably first kiss."

Allister ducked his head and the last thing that Amber recalled was the solid pressure of his lips on hers and the feeling of completion she got before she just passed out.

---

Victoria

Victoria had just gotten off of the phone with Caroline, pleading with her to have herself drive the trio of her, Matt, and Tyler home ("Trust me, Care-Bear, you'll understand later, but right now, make sure that Tyler doesn't drive") when the most painful sound in the existence of the universe started to play. She had just gotten back to the main square with Noble in tow (she'd have to apologize to her mom later for missing out on most of the celebrations to walk around town with Noble; can anybody say "perfect first date"?). Everything had been going fine.

So how did the world turn upside down so quickly?

The noise that hit Victoria's eardrums could only be described as a shriek. It was loud, it was proud, and it surrounded Victoria like she was a small animal and it was a comforter-sized blanket.

Victoria, changed from Lexi's gown and now back in a more comfortable pair of jeans, blue Henley and black leather jacket that she was pretty sure was Damon's spare one, stumbled when the noise hit. She was on the ground as screams of pain erupted from her mouth, and her screams were only partially masked by those coming from Noble, who had also hit the ground in pain. And, you know, the other chorus of screams that were coming from the populace in the main town square.

Victoria clawed at the pavement underneath her as her head pounded, feeling like her brain was trying to squeeze its way out of her. Her nails broke and the pavement dragged cool cuts into her fingertips, but the pain in her hands was miniscule, basically non-existent compared to how her brain was dealing.

The watch.

Johnathan Gilbert's watch.

The vampire hunting device.

Something had gone wrong.

It was still working.

Someone had betrayed them.

A taste of copper hit Victoria's upper lip and between screams, Victoria's tongue instinctively darted out to give it a taste.

Blood.

Blood was coming from her nose.

The sides of her neck also felt sticky.

Were her ears bleeding too?

It was like opening the tomb all over again.

"Victoria!"

The sudden shout of her noise only caused her to cry more as the loud noise amplified. Two strong hands grabbed her shoulders and turned her.

Noble.

He was clutching onto her, his hands shaking and there were tears streaming down from his gorgeous brown eyes. His jaw was tense and his body shook as if he was trying to contain his screams. Maybe he was. The device acted on anybody with enhanced abilities. However old Noble was, he had to be so old and strong from experience that he could resist the device, for however long.

"I-It hurts!" Victoria sobbed as she clung to Noble's chest. "H-Help, it hurts s-so bad!"

"Forgive me," Noble whispered in her ear, and he sounded like he was crying. If Noble was crying, heaven help them all because things were about to go down. "My love, please, forgive me."

Then, a quick twist of her neck and Victoria descended into the darkness.

---

Victoria sat up, letting out a panicked gasp of air, and her hands flew to her neck. Nothing was wrong, her skin was perfectly smooth, but Victoria swore she felt bumps where her bones had snapped.

Noble had just killed her.

Noble.

Something about the fact that it was her vampire...lover? Boyfriend? Victoria didn't know how to class him...made the thought dark to her. She didn't like that feeling.

"Tori!"

Victoria's head whipped up and she had just a few seconds to brace herself before she found herself with a faceful of Vicki. The younger girl threw herself into Victoria's embrace and clung to her like she was a koala (Vicki, in question, being the koala). Victoria returned the hug to Vicki, glad to feel something solid (or something that seemed solid enough) underneath her fingers.

"Ohmygosh, you're okay!" Vicki sighed into Victoria. Vicki pulled herself out and moved her hands to quickly frame Victoria's face. "You are okay, right?"

"Considering the fact that I am currently dead while supernatural creatures in my town are currently suffering in great amounts of pain, I would say that I am, in fact, not okay," Victoria sassed, feeling a headache already coming on. Could one even get headaches when they were dead? Victoria didn't dwell on that thought, lest she get a headache from stress. "What the hell happened? I thought that the Gilbert device got deactivated!"

"Either someone lied and did a bang up job of covering it up, or someone reactivated it," Vicki explained hurriedly, smoothing down Victoria's hair. "Now listen, we don't have much time."

"We don't?"

"No," Vicki confirmed, nodding her head. "We don't. Neck-snapping deaths are usually quick anyways, but Henri's gonna streamline the process. You're gonna have one hell of a headache, but it'll get you out in the field faster."

"But what do I do once I get back in town?"

"Go to Grayson's clinic and save our friends," Vicki ordered, her gaze determined. "You are the only one who can. And oh, if you want to kill John Gilbert, I'm not gonna be that upset."

"Elena would. He's her father."

"Yeah, well, screw that guy," Vicki snapped. She paused and tilted her head, as if she was listening to something that Victoria couldn't hear, and her demeanor changed, becoming slightly more frantic. "Okay, showtime, Tori. Give them hell."

"Wait, already -"

---

Victoria let out a gasp as her eyes flew open. Her head was pounding and everything hurt.

She couldn't tell where she was.

She didn't know where she was.

SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE SHE WAS -

"Tori!"

A new voice. Friendly. An ally. Young. Teenager. Someone that Victoria didn't hang out with all that often, but it honestly needed to change. A witch.

Bonnie Bennett.

Bonnie Bennett came skidding into Victoria's line of sight and she dropped down to her knees. Oh...Victoria was sitting down, leaning up against something. A little bit more context.

"Oh my gosh, Tori!" gasped Bonnie, her eyes watering with tears. "Y-You're covered in blood. Are you okay?"

"D-Did you do it?"

"What?" Bonnie asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Victoria's throat felt like it was on fire, but she had no water to quench it. She licked her lips and swallowed heavily. The salvia from her mouth helped the soreness a little, so she was able to croak out again, "Did. You. Do. It?"

"What is 'it'?"

"This," Victoria grunted, gesturing to herself. Bonnie's eyes widened in disbelief but Victoria continued, "Did you," cough, "hide the device's status or reactivate," another cough, "it?"

"The Gilbert watch?" Bonnie clarified, and Victoria nodded. Whoa. That was a bad idea. Her whole world spun and she had to close her eyes. Steady, Victoria. Keep it steady. "No, I didn't! I turned it off, like everyone said. You and Kelly even agreed that it was turned off."

"Kelly really confirmed it," Victoria said, adjusting Bonnie's answer. "I-I'm still new to my powers," cough, "so I'm pretty sure I did nothing with validating it."

A thought suddenly popped into Victoria's head.

She wasn't alone when the device was turned on.

Oh no.

Noble.

"Bonnie, where's Noble?" Victoria demanded frantically, reaching out with a hand to grab onto Bonnie's wrist. Bonnie flinched at the sudden contact and Victoria made a mental note to apologize later. "Bon-Bon, where's Noble?"

"I-I don't know!" Bonnie insisted, shaking her head. "Elena sent me to try and find you and Amber when everything went down and I just stumbled on you. You were by yourself so I dragged you into this alleyway and told the deputies who stopped by that you drank too much. Sorry about that."

"D-Did they take him?"

"I-I don't know," Bonnie stammered.

"Bonnie Bennett, where is Grayson's clinic?" Victoria demanded, pushing herself off of the wall she was leaning against. She shoved herself up, stumbling until her hands caught the bricked wall on the far side of the alleyway. "Where is Elena's dad's shop?"

"D-Downtown," Bonnie stammered. "Stefan and Elena are already headed there...where are you going?"

Victoria broke out into a sprint and once she got onto the main road, which was filled with partygoers going home from the festivities. Which meant that Victoria couldn't start sprinting with her supernatural speed until she got to a place where no one could see her.

Let's just say that she pushed her speed enough that she could have rivaled Usain Bolt.

She had to get there on time.

She had to.

Her friends were there.

Everyone she knew.

Pearl.

Anna.

Harper.

Lexi.

Lee.

Stefan.

Zach.

Damon.

Noble.

She couldn't let them die.

She couldn't let them die.

She just couldn't.

Save them.

Hurry up and save them.

Hurry up and save them.

HURRY UP.

SAVE THEM.

HURRY.

UP.

SAVE.

THEM.

"Tori! Down this way!"

Victoria skidded to a halt and turned down towards where she heard Vicki's voice coming from. Down an alleyway, through another street, Victoria could barely see Vicki standing in the reflection of a far distant shop window.

"Grayson's shop is downtown," Victoria shouted, uncaring of all the bystanders around her who would see her yelling at nothing. "What do you want?"

"Do you trust me?" she heard Vicki's voice faintly call out.

"Bitch, you know I do."

"Then run towards this window, think of Grayson's shop, and take a leap of faith."

"I swear, if I get glass in my eyes, I will be pissed as hell!" Victoria shouted before she turned and started to run towards Vicki's shop.

Closer and closer the shop came, and higher and higher went Victoria's nerves. She went through the alleyway and took a few steps out onto the street and shouted, "Vicki!"

"Think of Grayson's, Tori! And leap of faith!"

"I am not from Assassin's Creed!" Victoria shouted as she got just a few steps from the window.

Instinct took over Victoria and she watched as the world fell into black and white. Victoria threw an arm forward and a blast of white magic erupted from her fingertips, hitting the window straight on. And her instinct took over as she angled herself right for that blast area. Victoria jumped, tucking her legs in as close to her body as she could, and she hit the window...

...and found herself flung onto the pavement. But not the pavement she had just come from. No. At that place, she would have gone backwards. Where she was, Victoria had kept a forward momentum. Which meant that she was somewhere new.

Oh, and you know, there was the fact that the air around her was literally on fire.

Victoria whipped her head up and couldn't help but curse, "Holy shit!" when she took in the view in front of her.

She was across the street from Grayson's Clinic, and it was enflamed. Completely engulfed in fires, licking it from all sides and up on the roof.

And John Gilbert was in the middle of the street, watching the flames grow higher and higher like he was some sort of sick addict.

Victoria let out a physical growl and threw one of her arms forward as the black-and-white world she had become so accustomed to overwhelmed her senses. A strand of black magic shot from her fingertips and wrapped John Gilbert up. Victoria yanked back as hard as she could and watched with sick fascination as John went flying backwards. He landed closer to Victoria and hit the ground hard enough that Victoria could hear some bones cracking under the pressure.

Victoria strode forward and planted a foot on John's sternum, preventing him from getting up. She pressed down enough that she heard another crack; John let out a shout of pain, and Victoria gave him a sadistic smirk. "Didn't expect your plans to be ruined, huh?"

"Victoria," John rasped in surprise, his eyes widening in disbelief. "B-But Kelly -"

"- But Kelly what, John?" Victoria growled, daring John to speak another word. She crouched down, keeping her foot planted hard on his chest, and hissed, "Where are they?"

"They will kill you," John whispered hoarsely.

"Then it's a good thing I can't stay dead," Victoria spat. "Now, I won't ask again." Victoria pressed harder down onto John's chest. "Where. Are. They?"

"B-Basement."

Victoria took her foot off of John and raced towards the burning building. She stopped, though, and turned towards John, who was slowly pushing himself up onto his elbows. "Hey, John?"

"Yes?"

With all the strength that she could muster, plus the venom, anger, and utter loathing that rested deep inside of her soul, she said two words to John that she had been wanting to say to him since she had met him.

"Fuck you."

Victoria turned back to the fire and took a deep breath (which was hard, given the amount of smoke in the air). I can do anything with my blood. I can do anything with my blood. She lifted her hands and closed her eyes to focus. Split the fires like the Red Sea. Split the fires. I will not get burned.

SPLIT THE FIRES.

I WILL NOT GET BURNED.

Victoria's eyes shot open and she threw her arms wide.

It was almost Biblical, the way that the fires leapt away from a straight and narrow line that Victoria had imagined in her mind. They were like dogs, jumping back because they had been scared by a vacuum cleaner (Victoria being the vacuum cleaner in this scenario).

Victoria didn't even stop to question it.

Too many lives were counting on her.

Victoria strode forward, bringing her leg up and kicking the flame-weakened doors apart. She added an extra bit of oopmh from her barely used enhanced strength, and the doors shattered from the force. Victoria then sprinted in, no regrets.

The air became thick with smoke and Victoria wheezed as she tried to look through the smoke, haze, and flames to find the one door that she needed. A basement door. She just needed a basement door.

"Damon!" Victoria screamed, coughing as she inhaled too much smoke again. "Zach! Noble! Anybody! Where are you guys?"

There was no answer and that sent a chill down Victoria's spine. Victoria sprinted into the next room, leaving the waiting room behind and heading into the back rooms where the patients would go. The flames were even bigger back there. Victoria paused and ripped off a chunk of her Henley. She wrapped it around her mouth as a mask. It would have been better if the mask was wet, but she was running out of options.

She ran as fast as she could, given the amount of smoke. Victoria checked every room on the ground floor, only managing to find the basement door when she stumbled upon it. I really need to make maps of these buildings for the future.

Victoria used her magic (this time, coming out as white) to grab onto the doorknob to the basement and she ripped the door open. The flames on the other side roared with the sudden rush of air and Victoria let out a shout of fear as she threw her hands up in front of her face. A white magical shield appeared just in time, acting as a full body shield as the flames hit the shield and then fled to either side.

SPLIT THE FIRES.

The flames parted once more and Victoria rushed forward. She was met with a pair of stairs that led down and headed down at a skipping pace.

At the bottom of the stairs, she reached a large room that was surrounded by flames.

And dead bodies.

Dead bodies everywhere.

"Vee-bee!"

Victoria's head whipped to the side, where she found Lexi, covered in soot and looking way too worn out, propped up against one of the only walls not lit up. She was barely clinging to Lee, who looked like he was barely breathing.

"Lexi! Lee!" Victoria shouted, picking her way across the floor to get to Lexi's side. Lexi withered under Victoria's touch when she placed her hand on the older vampiress' shoulder and Victoria's face churned with worry. "You guys' doing okayish?"

"I appreciate the 'ish' added on," Lexi rasped, coughing hard. "E-Everyone's more or less accounted for."

"More or less?" Victoria asked, feeling her blood run cold. "What does that mean?"

"Anna didn't make it," came Damon's voice from behind Victoria.

Victoria turned towards Damon and immediately let out a gasp as the vampire stumbled into her arms. She caught him and struggled to keep him upright as he basically collapsed against her. One of her arms wrapped around his waist and the other threaded itself into the hair on the back of his head. A psuedo-hug mixed with a post to keep him up. "Damon!"

"N-None of us could get to her," Damon muttered, his voice coming out way too slowly for Victoria's liking. "I-I tried...Pearl tried...Zach t-tried."

Victoria shushed the Salvatore man and turned her head slightly towards Lexi. "Lexi, there should be a clear path through the flames to the front door. I don't know how safe it is because John Gilbert was up there, but Stefan and Elena are on their way. You need to start getting these guys out."

Lexi nodded solemnly and was gone in a flash, Lee following close behind her.

Victoria turned towards Damon again and whispered, "You need to go."

"W-Won't leave y-you."

"Damon, now is not the time," Victoria growled, pushing him back some. Damon stumbled and it was only through her hold of him that he didn't go falling down. "You need to leave. I will be fine. Now, move!"

Arms suddenly wrapped around Damon's torso, yanking him away from Victoria. Stefan's popped up over his shoulder as he shouted, "I got him! Get the others!"

Victoria nodded and turned, rushing towards one of the far walls where she spotted Zach's turtleneck. The eldest Salvatore (or youngest, depending on how you wanted to look at it) had his arms wrapped around two bodies, both of whom were breathing. Pearl looked like she was comatose, her eyes open but not really seeing. Her cheeks, in the flames, sparkled with previously shed tears. The biggest surprise to Victoria was the fact that the other body was Richard Lockwood, the Mayor. Who was supposed to be dead, and yet was breathing just fine (unconscious, but fine...yeah?).

"I couldn't let him die," Zach huffed, breathing hard. "I-I got to him before the tomb vampire could."

"We'll worry about that later," Victoria issued just as she watched Lexi appear back in the doorway. "Can you get up?"

"Y-Yeah," Zach sniffed.

"You grab Pearl; Lexi, get Mr. Lockwood," Victoria ordered. "Out front, stay away from the flames. Does anybody know where Harper and Noble are?"

"Harper was never taken," Lexi explained in a wheeze as she crouched down to scoop up Mr. Lockwood. She threw his arm around her shoulder and tugged him up, staggering against his weight but still keeping her feet under her. "Lee saw him with Ms. Gibbons when that noise started. She threw him into the trunk of a nearby car and sped off, I'm assuming to the boarding house."

"Ms. Gibbons is a freaking G, I swear," Victoria gasped. "Okay, so I just got to find Noble. You guys get out of here."

"This building is coming down at any moment, Victoria," Zach coughed as he struggled to get up. Victoria stepped forward and helped the Salvatore up, bringing Pearl up too to wrap her arms around Zach. "You can't stay here."

"I can't just let Noble die in here," Victoria shot back.

"He's been around long enough to get out of a burning building, Victoria!"

"Noble is still just a vampire, Zach!" Victoria yelled. "I am not having this argument with you. Now, get out!"

Victoria headed back towards the stairs and went up them, taking them two at a time for extra speed. When she reached the main floor, she cupped both of her hands over her mouth like a megaphone and shouted, "Noble!" There was no response.

Victoria cursed under her breath and started another round of the building's main floor, checking through all patient rooms, the waiting room, even the broom closet that Grey's Anatomy's characters would've gotten down and dirty in.

Each time, she called out for Noble.

Each time, she got no reply.

Victoria skidded to a stop in front of Grayson's office, the last place she hadn't been able to check since the door had been locked...

...except the door was wide open now.

Victoria took a few steps forward, hesitant. She really couldn't take the time to stall; the building was three steps away from collapsing. Victoria busted through into the office and her eyes widened with relief as she spotted Noble tied to Grayson's office chair, a vervained-soaked rag tied around his mouth. His domino mask was tilted and partially singed and the skin around his mouth was raw from the vervain.

"Noble!" Victoria cried out and bolted for him.

Noble's eyes widened at the sight of Victoria racing towards him and the deep brown orbs looked like they were filled with fear...for her. Typical Noble.

Victoria jumped onto Grayson's desk, which had surprisingly not caught up in flames just yet, so she was more leveled with Noble. She ripped off the gag and Noble let out a gasp as fresh air rushed into his lungs. Victoria could've cried.

He was okay.

He was okay.

They were going to be okay.

"You need to leave, Victoria," Noble growled as Victoria's hands dropped to the tie that was keeping his arm in place. It was wet and soaked, and the skin around his wrist looked raw too. It seemed that too had been soaked in vervain. "Victoria, leave!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Victoria retorted, giving Noble her most vicious glare. "I just found you!"

"You stubborn girl!" Noble hissed as Victoria managed to rip that tie off of Noble's wrist. "You will be the death of me!"

"I try," Victoria said, adding a more teasing tone to her words. She gave Noble a cheeky wink and felt a sense of pleasure when she saw Noble giving her that small, sexy smile of his. "Okay, so -"

Victoria found herself being cut off by the loud creaking of the building...

...coming from right above them.

"Shit!" Victoria cried out, and instinct drove her to throw her hands up. Her magic reacted like a champ, and her white magic arced through the air and created a sort of shield above her and Noble...

...and then the roof fell down on top of them.

Victoria could physically feel the moment that the ceiling of the first floor (and subsequently the following floor and the roof) hit her shield. It was like she was Atlas from Greek mythology all of a sudden; carrying the weight of the entire sky on her shoulders. The weight was so sudden that Victoria could hear her bones creaking under the immense pressure. Victoria let out a cry as she tried to keep her hands steady. The flames hadn't completely died out, but they had definitely died down a little giving the amount of fire-resistant debris that landed on them, so they no longer were an issue.

"Victoria!" Noble gasped and he struggled to rip off the few other restraints keeping him tied down to the chair. He moved lethargically, like every movement hurt. John must've given him three times the amount of vervain he had given the other vampires.

"Shit," Victoria cursed, gritting her teeth. Her lower back started to hum with pain and Victoria flinched at the sudden change of pain. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" She shifted her weight and that seemed to help the pain a little, but not by much. "O-Okay, I think I-I steadied it -"

"- Victoria -"

"- I-If you can get y-your wrist out, then y-you'll be able to get your f-feet, no problem -"

"- My dear -"

"- J-Just one foot, t-two feet, yeah? T-Then y-you'll be able to get out -"

"- My love, you cannot hold this up!" Noble insisted. Victoria noticed that he stopped tugging at the ties that held him down. He just seemed...tired.

Resolute.

It was a face that terrified Victoria.

"You need to let the building fall."

"W-What?" Victoria stammered, letting out a pathetic whimper as the ceiling pressed even harder down onto her shield, which, in turn, pressed down even more on her shoulders. "I-I can't do that...you'll die!"

"We both will," Noble confirmed, nodding his head once. His eyes started to shimmer...tears? He was crying, again. Twice in one day could not mean good things. Noble took a shuddery gasp of a breath as he whispered, "But you will come back."

"Don't ask me to do that," Victoria swore, her eyes brimming with tears. Her throat became tight with sadness (though it didn't help the room was still steady with smoke). Her head felt lightheaded. "Don't you fucking dare ask me to do that."

Noble reached up with his one freed hand and he placed it gently on Victoria's cheek. That move caused her tears to spill down on her cheeks and she let out a sob as she tried to take as much comfort as she could out of his single touch.

"I wouldn't ask it if we had any other choice," Noble murmured.

"I-I can keep this up! I know I can!"

"My love, either way, this building will fall. Both ways, we will die and I will remain that way," Noble croaked, his thumb starting to stroke Victoria's face. "But you can choose how soon to let the process start."

"I-I can't kill you," Victoria sobbed, shaking her head. "Please, don't make me do it. I-I can't. I can't kill you."

"You are not killing me," Noble cemented, his voice steadier than it had been. "You are not. It is just the path that the world has fated for us."

"Fate cannot be telling us that I am going to drop a building on you!"

"My love, I was greedy," Noble murmured, and it sounded too much like a last confession that Victoria's crying started anew (though it never really stopped in the first place). "I was greedy with you and I tried to move too fast, too soon." Noble let out a laugh that sounded too self-deprecating for it to be real. None of this could be real, right? It was just a nightmare. A demonic nightmare wrapped up in some more nightmares for good measure. "You are the best thing to ever happen to me, Victoria LeBlanc. I will treasure the time that we've spent together -"

"- P-Please don't -"

"- You mean everything to me -"

"- N-Noble, stop i-it -"

"- Victoria Khalida LeBlanc," Noble stated firmly, and Victoria didn't dare interrupt him, as his eyes were burning with a sort of passion she hadn't seen in them before. "I love you."

I.

Love.

You.

Three little words.

Three simple little words.

They both saved Victoria...

...and they destroyed her.

"I love you, Victoria," Noble whispered as his hand drifted to the back of her neck. His grip tightened and he added, "I love you so much...so please...forgive me."

Noble suddenly yanked Victoria forward, his anchorage being the hand on the back of her neck. Victoria let out a startled gasp as she fell forward into Noble's arms.

Two things happened at once.

First, Victoria landed in a heap on Noble's lap, but Noble repositioned her head so he could give her a solid, teeth-clattering and mind-numbing kiss.

Second, the building fell down.

---

Floating.

Airy.

A sort of numbness that could only be felt deep inside of one's soul.

Pain.

Anger.

Depression.

Sadness.

Grief.

Grief.

GRIEF.

An emptiness.

She was empty.

"Victoria!"

She was empty.

He was gone.

Gone, gone, gone.

Like a leaf in a breeze.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

He was dead.

"Victoria!"

He was dead.

"Victoria, where are you?"

He was dead.

"VICTORIA!"

HE WAS DEAD.

"Guys, I found her!"

HE WAS DEAD.

HE WAS DEAD.

HE.

WAS.

DEAD.

Something touched her.

She felt pressure on her hands, her shoulders. The back of her neck and the back her head.

She was being lifted up into the air.

"I-Is that -?"

"Noble...he didn't make it out."

Flying.

Weightlessness.

Numbness.

Emptiness.

"Holy shit, guys, she's still alive!"

She knew that voice.

Comfort.

Safety.

Security.

"D-Dad?"

She had to croak out the words, push them past the clogs in her lungs.

"Victoria?"

Dad.

Her dad.

"Dad."

She grabbed onto her dad, her hands clinging to him. She felt sparks from her fingers, and then her dad let out a gasp, as if someone had shocked him.

"D-Dad -"

"- I-I'm here, baby girl. I'm here. I got you."

"Dad...h-he died. H-He died, Dad."

"I know, baby girl. I know."

"I-I killed him..."

"No, you didn't, baby girl. You didn't. It wasn't your fault."

"I-I killed him."

"Baby girl."

"I killed him."

"No..."

"I killed Noble."

---

Zach

He hated seeing her like that.

Lying on a bed.

Pale like a ghost.

Hooked up like she was some sort of machine.

The steady beeping of Victoria's heart monitor was loud, and each beep was like a gunshot going off in Zach's ears.

Zach stood outside of Victoria's hospital room, looking in through the window. Damon was inside the room, his two hands holding onto Victoria's. He had his lips pressed against Victoria's hand, and his eyes were wet with tears. Zach had left the room a while ago, knowing that Damon would need some time alone with Victoria, just to cement that she was alive.

That she was being okay.

"Where is she?"

It was a loud cry, like an Amazonian ready to go to war, and the voice destroyed Zach.

Killed him.

It made him angry.

Zach turned around, folded his arms across his chest, and gave Kelly his best glare. Victoria's mother came running down the hall, her face tight with worry. As soon as she locked gazes with Zach, Kelly's face fell into that of relief. Like she was happy to see Zach.

Zach, however, knew the truth now.

She hadn't been happy to see him since before the accident.

"Zach! Where's Victoria? The staff told me she was this way, but I got a phone call that set me back," Kelly asked, her eyes whipping back and forth as she tried to decipher which room kept Victoria.

"I know," Zach whispered, his voice low and full of hatred. It seemed thick enough that it made Kelly take pause and look and him with confusion in her eyes.

"You know what, Zach?"

"I know everything, Kelly," Zach spat, venom dripping from each of his words.

It made Kelly freeze and she gulped, swallowing heavily. Zach could hear her heartbeat start to pick up and it made his gums water.

"I know that you were the one to turn the watch back on," Zach growled, taking a few menacing steps towards Kelly. Kelly staggered back a step and Zach felt a sick sense of satisfaction to see the terror in Kelly's eyes. "I know that you turned it back on because of your hatred for vampires. You hide it well, but that would make sense considering you've been acting since you were seven years old." Kelly's brow scrunched up in confusion as Zach continued to spit facts. Facts that had been kept from him, but no longer. "You turned it on, but you didn't know how it would effect the non-vampiric supernaturals."

"Nothing happened to the witches," Kelly argued, shaking her head. "Me and Bonnie were fine!"

"It's not just the witches, Kelly," Zach hissed, feeling his fangs start to descend. He didn't care if he was in public. He was too pissed off to care. "Amber Bradley, Empath. She felt all of the pain in every vampire in that square today. Bonnie said she found her in an alleyway almost catatonic! Amber only started to react the moment that they got into the woods, where she couldn't feel the pain anymore! Victoria LeBlanc, Immortalis. She has enhanced senses, Kelly. She can hear the same just as the vampires. You caused her enormous amounts of unnecessary pain today because of your racist bullshit point of view!"

"How dare you!" Kelly shouted, straightening up. She glared at Zach and Zach could feel a tickling of pain beginning at the base of his skull. "You do not know how I feel about vampires and don't pretend that you do, Zachariah Salvatore!"

"'Vampires are the abomination of natural society'," Zach quoted and Kelly's eyes started to slowly widen as a look of terror once again rested in her eyes. "'To work with a vampire might as well be considered mutiny. Any witch caught working with a vampire shall be terminated in accordance with the proper ways'. Page thirty-seven of the book Witchi: An Occult Studies by Ernestine Bennett, a Bennett witch. How do I know that, you might ask? You used to read that book to me while I rocked Victoria to sleep after she had a nightmare when she was a baby."

"Z-Zach..."

"I know, Kelly," Zach spat. "I know Victoria's favorite stuffed animal when she was younger was this little peacock stuffed animal that she got from a mysterious gifter named Alexander Ledger. I know that she hated spinach when she was seven, but she agreed to eat it because she thought that she could be like Popeye, because I convinced her that spinach would make her grow stronger. I know that between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, up to the day of the accident, Victoria would come to visit me at the boarding house after school every day because you broke up with me two weeks before her fourteenth birthday and kicked me out of the house. I also know that you ripped her out of my life because I did what you never would have!"

"T-There's no way you s-should remember that," Kelly whispered in shock, her eyes roaming his body as if he physically held the answers to why he knew. "I-It can't be..."

"Anything is possible with the Immortalis," Zach said darkly. He pressed forward, not wanting to lose stride. "I know, Kelly, that we disagreed on whether or not to tell Victoria about the quirk of the LeBlanc witches. You wanted it to come as a surprise, but I knew how much Victoria would have hated that. So I told her. You found out and came to my house when she was at school. You took my memories of her. You took everyone's memories of me ever being in her life because I went against your wishes."

"Z-Zach..."

"I am Victoria's father. And you? You are the true villain of the day."

---

Pearl

She caused it.

All of the pain.

The struggle.

The terror and depression of the day.

Her Annabelle.

Dead.

Gone.

Her body desiccated in the fiery remains of a burning building.

And all because of Kelly LeBlanc.

Pearl was a patient woman. She could handle any sort of wait if it meant that she would have her revenge.

She waited until Zach and Kelly both left, Kelly to go to the cafeteria and Zach to walk around the hospital in order to calm down. Pearl waited until both of them had gone far enough away that neither would hear her and she strode towards the hospital room that was currently holding Victoria. She slipped inside the room, noting Damon was still sitting in the chair, watching Victoria with those puppy dog eyes of his.

"When did you have blood last?" Pearl found herself asking.

Damon didn't take his eyes off of Victoria before he answered, "A while ago."

"You know she wouldn't want you to be starving for her," Pearl whispered, her eyes moving to rest upon Victoria's worn down body. "I can watch her for a while. You can go and feed."

"I'm not leaving her."

"You know what Victoria would say, Damon," Pearl retorted gently, trying to keep her temper down. She needed to remain calm in order to enact her plans. "And in the end, it is all about Victoria's safety and happiness, is it not? And she would be happy if you ate."

"Did Zach send you in?" Damon questioned, finally tearing his gaze away from Victoria long enough to give Pearl a raised eyebrow look.

"No, he didn't," Pearl admitted, shaking her head. "I just know what it is like to care for someone enough to do crazy things for them, and for you, that is starving yourself to remain by her side. However, I also know how much you care about Victoria and how much she cares about you, and you know how she would feel if you were desiccated by the time she woke up."

Indecision raced over Damon's face for a hot minute, before it finally settled into resignation. "Ten minutes, at most. Five at least. I don't want to steal from the hospital because I have a feeling we're going to be here for a while and I don't want to try and explain missing blood. I'll head into the forest and try to find some cougars."

"Good hunting," Pearl wished for him and she stood off to the side, waiting patiently as Damon gave Victoria's hand another kiss before he stepped out of the room.

Pearl waited, counting down from fifty, before she stepped forward to stand at the foot of Victoria's bed. She looked down at the sleeping teenager with a calculated and cold gaze.

"Ms. LeBlanc," Pearl whispered, her hands clasping together in front of her. "I do hope you know that a mother is willing to do anything for her child, even after that child is murdered right in front of her. So please, know that I do not want to do this, but I must, for my dear Annabelle's sake. Know that it is nothing personal."

Having said her peace, Pearl stepped around and moved towards her morphine drip that the doctors had installed. Her Annabelle had brought her up on some technological advancements in the few weeks that they had been reunited, and it was enough that Pearl knew what she had to do.

Pearl fiddled with the output and fidgeted with it enough that it dripped five times the amount that was needed. Given the amount of morphine flowing through her system, her bodily functions would shut down in two minutes. Just in time to miss Damon's reappearance.

"Goodbye, Ms. LeBlanc," Pearl murmured as she moved to step out. She still had to compel all the doctors on the floor for the second part of her plan to come to fruition. "I am sorry that I am to do to you what has been done to me."

And Pearl slipped out of the room, feeling a lone tear fall from her eye.

Villains weren't born, Pearl was coming to find out.

Villains were made.

---

Elena (?)

"You scared me," John gasped, placing a hand on his chest.

Elena (?) smiled apologetically, but she knew that there was a hint of sarcasm in her smile as she whispered, "Sorry."

"You know," John began, swallowing heavily as he sauntered back towards the kitchen's island. Elena (?) followed closely, her eyes drifting from John's face down to his hand, where the Gilbert ring sat on his finger. "I first met Isobel when I was a teenager. I fell in love with her instantly, although I'm pretty sure she never loved me." He let out a self-deprecating laugh that Elena (?) had to smirk at. "She was special. A part of why I hate the vampires so much if because of what she became, how it ruined her. And I never would have sent her to Damon had I known she wanted to turn." He paused and turned towards Elena (?) as she started to pick up dishes from the island to put them away. "Did you know that Kelly hates vampires too?"

"Really?" Elena (?) asked, her curiosity peaked. "I mean, I knew she didn't like them, but she seemed fine these past few months, hanging out with them and helping them keep Victoria safe and all."

"Oh yeah, maybe hates them even more than I do," John continued, nodding his head seriously. "She's the reason that the Gilbert watch turned back on." Elena (?) faked a gasp of disbelief and John nodded once more. "Yes. A double agent, that LeBlanc witch. Is willing to do anything in order to keep her daughter safe, even if it means breaking her only child's heart in order to do so."

"I-I never thought that Kelly would go to such extremes," Elena (?) pretended to stammer, her eyes blinking rapidly as she put the last few dishes away, leaving only the knife and the cutting board left.

"I'm not telling you this in the hopes that you put all the blame on Kelly," John added. "It's my fault. I'm telling you this because I hoped maybe you'd understand."

Elena (?) paused and gave him the best doe-eyed look that she could. "Thank you."

"Can I help?" John asked, gesturing around the kitchen.

Elena (?) smirked as her eyes rested on his ring. Finally was the time to strike. "Sure."

She lunged forward, grabbed the knife resting contentedly on the cutting board, and made a downward strike towards John's hands. Fingers were sliced off of John's hand containing the Gilbert ring and John let out a scream of pain. Elena (?) whirled John around and shoved him up against the sink, hitting hard enough that the sink started to crumble under their combined weight.

"Katherine?" John gasped, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Katherine, glad to be rid of the ridiculous Elena disguise she had forced herself to endure, allowed her eyes to change into their beautiful ruby color and her fangs to descend. "Hello, John."

"H-How are you here? W-Why are you h-here?" John stammered in shock.

Katherine smirked and tilted her head coyly as she stared down at the pathetic Gilbert man. "Originally? I just came down to screw you over. I find it enjoyable to take would-be Alpha men and cut them down to proper size. But after the events of today? An act of revenge."

Taking the knife that she had used to cut off John's fingers, Katherine first stabbed John in the shoulder. Blood spurted out of the wound, some of it landing on Katherine (gross), most of it landing on John, and John let out another scream of pain.

Pathetic.

"R-Revenge?" John gasped, whimpering as Katherine yanked out the knife from John's shoulder. "W-Why do you want revenge? I-I thought I-I was following your p-plans."

"No, you were following what you thought my plans were," Katherine purred, leaning forward to get all up into John's space. He leaned out of the way, trying to put as much distance between himself and Katherine. "I thought I made it clear: you only hurt Victoria LeBlanc when I say you hurt Victoria LeBlanc, and even then, you give her every ample opportunity to escape from the pain. Isobel followed that to the letter. She made Victoria stab herself, but she gave the Scooby gang a chance to save Victoria, which they would have executed perfectly, had it not been for the fact that it rained that day and Victoria slipped. You, however, failed, John Gilbert. You not only hurt Victoria with pain from the device when I didn't tell you to, but you also nearly killed her when you set the building on fire to kill all the small town vamps. Now she's lying in a hospital bed, working on life support as her body tries to mend itself from smoke inhalation."

"I-I couldn't stop her. S-She's the freaking Immortalis," John spluttered.

"And you're just the pathetic John Gilbert," Katherine mused, raising an eyebrow. "Such a pity."

"W-Why do you care about V-Victoria so much, anyways?" John demanded, breathing heavily as sweat began to pool at his forehead. "W-What does she mean to you?"

"It's rather quite simple," Katherine stated, willing to give John just enough hints to really make him sweat for it. She leaned in close, her lips ghosting the edge of John Gilbert's ear, and she said, "Fries before guys."

And then Katherine stabbed John Gilbert in the stomach.

---

A/N: SEASON 1 FINALE BABY! WE DID IT! All those old enough to drink, pop the champagne! Those who are still too young, get yourself from Martinelli's! I'm so proud of us!

So many important things happened in this chapter, so let's recap (since it was so freaking long)!:

1. Victoria met the widow and child of one of the EMTs that she killed.

2. Amber gets attacked but meets the handsome Allister, who takes her first kiss in order to save her life.

3. Noble kills Victoria to save her.

4. Victoria manages to save everybody from the clinic's fire, including Mr. Lockwood, but she fails to save Anna and Noble.

5. Noble says I Love You before the building falls on everybody.

6. Zach knows that Kelly turned the device on because of her racist views of vampires, as she is a witch, and he reveals that Kelly stole his memories and that he is, in fact, Victoria's father (read: adopted father).

7. Pearl becomes a villain.

8. Katherine appears (!) and there is something going on about her relationship towards Victoria.

So many fun things happening!

I want to give a special shoutout to a couple of people:

To: anybody who ever reviewed, thank you. Your kind words inspire me, help motivate me, and remind me if I've ever screwed anything up. You guys are seriously some of the kindest people I've met and I'm so glad that this story has become a favorite to some of y'all and to some, a reason to get back into reading fanfiction!

To: AngelColdHeart, Lorena1995. Ozpin98, Reign Black, and mattw2017 for being the people who followed this story on Day 1.

To: AngelColdHeart, Lorena1995, Orange keys 25, Ozpin98, carolinamaiah, and mattw2017 for being the people who favorited this story on Day 1.

To: all the "leaders" of the Shipping Teams. You may not have known this, but I subconsciously elected leaders for the different teams in the Shipping Wars, based on some random nonsense in my brain (this means nothing, just another little fun thing I added). So, here's to Elyse1821, leader of Team Datoria ship, Lime and Prometo, leaders of Team Stetoria ship, LoyalElijahFangirl, leader of Team Vilijah ship, Tayla141, leader of Team Klatoria ship, Dreamerpop, leader of Team Koltoria ship, silentmayhem, leader of Team Vinn ship, and Child of Dreams, leader of Team Vioble ship. And special shoutout to DBZFAN45, somebody who never actually voted for any ships, but sort of is like a professional announcer for the Shipping Wars.

To: anybody who kept on reviewing. I already mentioned this above, but if you reviewed consistently, thank you. I love hearing about your guys' lives, and I know that can be kind of sketchy since none of you know me personally, but it's a fun connection that all of us get to do and it makes me happy :D.

To: a few special people whose reviews make my day when I see them. Including, but not limited to (because there's so many of you who's reviews do make my day, but I had to narrow them down for this list XD): Lime, Elyse1821, LoyalElijahFangirl, Child of Dreams, and DBZFAN45. Thank you guys. Love you!

---

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

Who won the Shipping Wars?

Imma be honest, I kind of fell off and lost track, but I recounted just to make sure.

PLEASE REMEMBER: the winner of this vote does not decide WHO she ends up with, but rather showcases who the general populace of the Immortalis community THINKS she should end up with...

...And here at the results.

At 56 points, we have Team Vilijah.

And, at 59.5 points...

WE HAVE TEAM DATORIA!

TEAM DATORIA IS THE WINNER!

I really did not suspect that Datoria was going to win the Season 1 Shipping Wars, but hot dang, y'all did it! So congratulations! Go get yourself a cookie.

---

New Followers!: elysianfields10, bellanora, KeyaakaLakeya

New Favoriters!: miraziyu, elysianfields10, supergirlfansinger123, KeyaakaLakeya

Onto reviews!:

KEZZ 1: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this Season 1 Finale!

Child of Dreams: I would've put her as Hufflepuff too, but according to Google, she's a Ravenclaw. I think she's more Ravenpuff or Huffleclaw, like a mix of the two. Yeah, that's really true. She is loyal (mostly to a fault when it comes to her loyalty to her friends who always put her in danger).

DBZFAN45: Now I have the "Guess who's back (back, back)/Back again ('gain, 'gain)" song stuck in my head XD. Here's the finale just for you! Oh yeah, Damon's hands are definitely tempted to wander XD. Well, things have already changed in this story, so Elijah's intentions might be a little different too. I know!? I need to watch Strange New World Season 2 (well, the end of season 1 has him a little too) just so I can see him act again!

Kayumeee: It's gonna take you a while to get here, but here are my responses to your so far reviews!: (Ch3) THANK YOU! Usually when people review on the third chapter recently, it's mostly been negative reviews so it was really refreshing getting to see your positive one! Awww, shucks. You're so kind! (Ch11): You know what? You're the only one who has ever used Viamon as a ship name. I tried to make that one sail, but everyone just wanted Datoria XD. Thanks! (Ch25): Yeah, Team Stetoria is more or less sunk by now, given how little people like it XD. (Ch31): You'll get your fluff, don't worry ;p. (Ch33): Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed that small little detail. I really love when people comment on the little details I just throw in there. Makes me feel accomplished. Good luck with Ch34 XD.

Elyse1821: Well...Noble won't be there to eff it all up anymore X'D. Oh yeah, there's way more to Vicki then any of you guys, or Victoria, or even Vicki herself knows...I'm actually sort of surprised that no one's put it together. Only one person has ever come kind of close to it, but they never officially hit it on the head, you know?

You guys are seriously amazing and I love you all with every little fiber of my fanfiction writing heart.

Until next time,

Stay healthy and stay safe!

BecomingFearless1F

---

IMMORTALIS SEASON 2 WILL RETURN ON

SEPTEMBER 5TH.

SEE YOU THERE