Forgot to put this on the last chapter: Trigger Warning - mature language, PTSD, general sad vibes all around.
Godspeed, Sherlock Salvatore
Don't look back.
Don't look back.
Don't you fucking dare look back.
She ran hard, pushing herself faster and faster as her feet slapped the pavement. The stars above her in the dark sky seemed to falter out, their unearthly shine fading away. They didn't want to shine on her anymore, and she couldn't blame them.
She couldn't want their shine anymore.
She didn't deserve their shine anymore.
She was a monster.
The noise of the squelch was still prevalent in her ears. It would haunt her for the rest of her days, she was sure of that. There was no way that it could not. The look of betrayal in his eyes, the feeling of his blood on her hands, the way his fingers started to go gray...
She wanted to throw up.
She didn't even know if she could throw up, but her body definitely wanted to.
Her feet took her to a far distant warehouse that was on the outskirts of the town. She remembered seeing it when she had gone for a tour early in her days in living in the small town. There wasn't much there; Sheriff Forbes had stated that it had been the hideout for a killer in the town and so most people didn't want to stop by.
It would be perfect for her needs.
She found a door to the inside of the warehouse right by the parking lot, and the small lock and chains keeping the door closed weren't an obstacle for her. She ripped them apart violently, throwing the remains off to the side. She pushed the large warehouse door open and slipped inside once there was more than enough room. Inside, in the darkness, she flipped around and slid the door back shut.
It made a loud echo as metal scraped against metal. Once the door was closed on again, silence reigned triumphant throughout the warehouse. She couldn't hear anyone's heartbeat inside of the building, so she figured she was safe for now.
"Don't become Kelly."
"I'm sorry," she rasped, tears springing to her eyes. Her knees couldn't support her weight anymore and she fell to the ground, gasping sobs pouring out of her as her fingers clawed at the concrete underneath her. There was stinging pains in her knees, but she relished that pain.
It was punishment.
She deserved to be punished.
"And you deserve to let go of this guilt. You don't deserve that."
"I do," she wept, her hands covering her face. "I do deserve it. I deserve all of it."
She was a monster.
She knew she was a hard person.
She wasn't nice.
But...
He had been.
He had given her the benefit of the doubt, because a teenager had asked him too.
He had treated her for dinner, even though the two of them didn't like each other.
He had tried to save her daughter.
He had comforted her when her daughter died.
He, when they had left the burning building that had killed her daughter, had made sure she had gotten situated with a blood bag before going to check in on his daughter, who had almost died.
Zachariah Joseph Salvatore.
"Don't become Kelly."
"I'm sorry," Pearl sobbed, her hands reaching up and tugging at the roots of her hair. Her cries echoed throughout the large empty space and she just screamed, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Tori?"
No response.
She was numb.
No response.
No change in heartbeat.
Victoria could barely breathe, let alone move or acknowledge someone else's presence.
Kelly had been the one to condemn Noble.
Kelly had been the one to condemn Anna.
Kelly had been the one to condemn Zach.
Zach.
Zach was dead.
He was gone.
Dead, dead, dead.
Like Noble.
Like Anna.
Like everyone.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
"I do not believe that she is ready to discuss the subjects of what just happened with us," came a softer, gentler voice.
The female, the one from before, hissed back in retaliation, "I get that, Henri, but she almost transitioned too. Are we just supposed to ignore that? How do we know she won't just transition once she wakes up?"
"We don't," came Henri's solemn reply.
There was a gentle hand on her shoulder and Victoria let out a breathy gasp, tears springing to her eyes. He was gone. Her...Her dad. She had just found him, and then he was gone all over again.
She was going to be sick.
"Sweet Victory," Henri cooed, and he sounded like he shuffled around. His voice sounded closer to Victoria's ear and he began to speak once more as the tears spilled out over her cheekbones. "My dearest, you do not have to speak to us. Not this time, but you do need to breathe."
"I-It was her, Henri," Victoria sobbed, the words just spilling out of her without a filter. "M-My mom...the one person I-I thought I never had to doubt with my t-trust...she k-killed Noble. N-Noble is dead because of her and indirectly, so i-is my dad."
After the word 'dad', the sobs came out more violently and Victoria wrapped her arms around her torso.
At that moment, it felt like someone started to hug her from behind, wrapping their arms around her tightly. She supposed it was meant to bring some level of comfort to her.
It was hard. The mere thought of Zach pained Victoria. It hurt her so bad that she just wished she could close her eyes and lose herself to the blackness. She didn't want to think about what happened.
Sounds echoed throughout the air, sounding like humming, and Victoria slowly started to blink her eyes until -
- the meadow faded away to the dimmed light of the Salvatore boarding house. The cushions Victoria were strewn across was a very familiar feel, familiar enough that she could identify them as the cushions on the bed that she had laid 'claim' to. She was wrapped underneath the covers, her head placed onto her two pillows. The covers were pulled up to her chin and there had to be a solid three blankets on top of her.
She was lying down on her side, her head facing the wall towards the back of the boarding house. There was a set of arms wrapped around her stomach, and they were holding her still, adding a little heat to her body that she really needed.
Victoria didn't want to get up.
She really, really did not want to get up.
"Baby Bear," a soothing voice whispered, and Victoria's eyes scrunched up, closing up once more. "It's okay, Ria. I gotchu."
"H-He's dead, K-Kat," Victoria croaked, unable to say the rest of Katherine's name. Her arms moved, grabbing Katherine's arms that were resting on her stomach and she just held them. "Z-Zach -"
"I know, Baby Bear," Katherine cooed, and Victoria can feel Katherine pressed up closely behind her, giving her a squeeze. "I know, and I'm so sorry."
Victoria wiggled a little out of Katherine's arms and flipped around, moving so she was face-to-face with Katherine Pierce.
Katherine, surprisingly, wasn't wearing that much makeup, and she kept it very toned down that day. She looked like she had dark lines underneath her eyes, but it was only visible under all of Katherine's foundation because of Victoria's enhanced vision. She was under the blankets too, and she had them pulled up to her chin. Her eyes were soft, looking at Victoria with a motherly gaze.
Motherly.
Mother.
Kelly.
"Come here, Ria," Katherine ordered, tugging Victoria forward as everything in Victoria's line of sight started to get blurry from tears.
Victoria clung to Katherine, hiding her face away in the woman's collarbone as sobs racked her body. Despair, hopelessness, guilt, and pain just radiated from every pore in her body, and throughout all of this, Katherine just held her tightly, rubbing her back, occasionally running her fingers through Victoria's hair. Katherine whispered nonsensical words, words that didn't have much meaning, but still provided Victoria will a small amount of comfort.
After what felt like hours, but in reality, Victoria knew it was only minutes, Victoria felt strong enough to croak out, "Y-You saved Caroline."
"We don't have to talk about it now, Baby Bear, you're good. It's alright," Katherine stated immediately, shaking her head.
Victoria didn't want to take no for an answer. Not right then. "N-No, Kat. Y-You saved her. Pearl would've killed h-her permanently if you hadn't..."
"Someone else might," Katherine retorted firmly.
"Maybe," Victoria agreed solemnly. "But I-I could've lost my best friend last night for good. Y-You...You saved her. That's what you meant by it was the best option you could come up with. Y-You knew that Pearl was t-thinking of doing something...like t-this."
Katherine was silent for a moment, and Victoria was forced to just listen to the way Katherine's dead lungs breathed in and breathed out. After about forty-five rotations of in-and-out from her lungs, Katherine finally murmured, "I've known Pearl for a long time. What we learned about vampirology, we basically learned together. If there is anyone that I know like the back of my hand, it's her. That woman would do anything for her daughter, even if it meant killing another innocent life. An eye for an eye, I think is what she said last night."
Victoria gave Katherine a large squeeze, breathing in the perfume that was dabbed onto the woman's collarbone (funny enough, it smelled like white chocolate and roses, the two scents that were signature for Caroline and Victoria). Katherine returned the hug, resting her cheek on the top of Victoria's head. "Thank you."
"Of course, Ria," Katherine replied just as softly. Victoria could feel Katherine press a gentle, caring kiss onto the top of her head.
There was a knock on the door and Katherine tensed up, hard. Victoria pulled herself out of Katherine's arms just enough to give the vampiress a shushing motion. With a terribly placed voice crack, Victoria called out, "Come in!"
The door at the end of her bed creaked out, revealing Damon standing in the doorframe.
Immediately, Victoria wanted to crawl over and be swept away into his arms. Or sweep him away in her arms. Anyways, she wanted one of them to sweep the other. He looked like Katherine if she hadn't been wearing any sort of makeup. Dark lines under his eyes, a slight sunken in look to his face, and his skin was looking paler than usual. His eyes were glassy, like he was actively fighting tears. His hair was a mess, both matted and looking like it hadn't been washed in days. He wore sweatpants, slung low on his hips, and no shirt.
"Hey, Baby," Damon whispered, his voice low. His eyes wandered away from Victoria and settled them onto Katherine. "McJudgey."
"Damon," Katherine replied, slipping into the Elena Gilbert persona. "Do we have to get up now?"
"No, no," Damon reassured her, shaking his head. "I-I -" He cut himself off and swallowed heavily, breathing in deeply through his nose and then releasing it out from his mouth in a large sigh. "- I don't think any of us are going to be getting up anytime soon."
"Do you need something?" Victoria asked tentatively, giving his body another once over to double-check that he was okay. There didn't seem to be anything physically out of order. He was very...physically fine.
"I was hoping to steal you if you didn't mind," Damon answered.
Victoria shook her head, pulling at the blankets that were keeping her down onto the bed. "No, I-I don't mind." She turned to Katherine and whispered softly, "Thank you."
"Of course, Ria," Katherine replied, nodding her head gently. She added in a smooth lie, "I think I'm going to go find Stefan and tell him that you're doing better now."
"Got it," Victoria said, nodding her head. It was probably some cue that she was going to sneak out of the back door before the Salvatore brothers realized that it wasn't Elena in Victoria's bed. "I'll see you later?"
"But of course," Katherine sniffed, giving Victoria a cheeky smile, but it didn't have as much oomph as it usually did.
No one was really feeling that 'oomphy', to be honest.
Victoria stood up, her sock-clad feet with the sticky pads on the bottom keeping her secured on the ground. Somebody had changed her out of the hospital gown, and she was thankful for that.
She was now wearing crimson socks, a pair of sweatpants that she was more than positive she had stolen from Lexi, and a sweatshirt that she didn't recognize. She pulled at the sweatshirt, trying to get a good sense of the logo and why it looked familiar. It was a shield, that much she could discern, with red and cream sections. There was a medicine cross in the top left corner, followed by words written in Latin in the other top corner. In the bottom sections, there was a tree and then a lightning bolt.
It was really familiar...
"It's a sweatshirt from Whitmore," Damon rasped, and Victoria's eyes shot back up to him. He was staring at the logo like it held all the secrets to the universe. The glassiness in his eyes sharpened as he continued, "I-I thought you might want to be wearing something of h-his. You always did like to s-steal our clothes."
His.
His.
His.
This was Zach's sweatshirt.
Zach Salvatore.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
Victoria sucked in a sharp breath through her nose and just blurted out the first thing she could think of to not start crying all over again (she had a feeling that all that crying would come into play much later in the day), "Zach went to Whitmore?"
Damon didn't seem that taken aback by her sudden comment, but instead he gave a weak smile at it. "Not for long. S-Said there were things i-in Mystic Falls that required his attention more." He gave her a pointed look, and she didn't miss the unspoken words.
Her.
She had been the thing that required Zach's attention more.
Her dad.
His daughter.
She still couldn't wrap her head around it.
So, Victoria decided, that she didn't want to try and wrap her head around it.
She shuffled forward, grabbing Damon's outstretched hand when it offered it to her. He pulled her into his space, and she just numbly wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling her face against his chest. Damon let out a rumble, and the movement made Victoria's face buzz. It definitely sounded a bit like a purring noise, and she tightened her arms around him in return.
"Oh," Damon murmured. He dropped a kiss down onto Victoria's head. "Before I forget." He turned to look back towards Katherine and his lips turned down into a frown. "Elena just went to the bathroom down the hall and is taking a shower. You got about fifteen minutes, give or take some if she decides to really go all out and doll herself up. Stefan's up in his room. Go to him or not, just don't make it a big deal. After that, get out of my house."
"Love you too, Damon," Katherine grunted, lazily lifting a hand and giving Damon the finger.
Damon huffed, but then patted Victoria's hip. She got the silent cue and jumped up, easily wrapping her legs around his waist. Damon held her in his arms easily and he sauntered out of her room, heading down the long hallways of the boarding house towards his room.
"Where's Caroline?" Victoria sniffed, hiding her face away in the crook of his neck.
Damon's hands tightened on her hips, and he said, "She's downstairs in the library with Harper. He's getting her situated with everything vampy. Harper chose the library because it's the farthest away from all the bedrooms. Figured all the humans we got locked up in here would like to keep their blood."
"Who is here?" Victoria asked as she felt Damon let go of her with one hand to push open his bedroom door.
He stepped inside, and then carefully shut the door behind the two of them. "Well, the house doesn't have very many bedrooms, and given that..." He paused, and then swallowed heavily before continuing, "We're down to six bedrooms. You and Queen Bitchiness were in one, the red room. Bonnie, Jeremy, and Jenna have been bunking it in the purple room, Amber, Lee, and Lexi slept in the cream room, I had my room, Stefan and Elena had his, and then Ms. Gibbons is sleeping in the brown room. Harper's downstairs with Caroline in the library, Alaric just got in and is making his way towards Jenna."
"Aren't we special," Victoria hummed tiredly against his neck, "to have our own bedrooms to ourselves?"
"Well, now you're sharing with me," Damon teased, pinching her hip a little.
He placed her down onto his bed, and she scooted backwards as he crawled up onto it after her. The duo moved up the bed and Damon lifted the covers for Victoria to squirm her way in. Damon followed suit once she was all situated and he pulled her into his arms tightly once they were all good to go.
It was in the comfort of Damon's grasp that Victoria felt the strength to whisper, "Does this mean I'm your great-niece?"
"Let's put an end to that thought process right here," Damon grunted, pressing a kiss to Victoria's forehead. "You need to sleep. I'm sure you didn't get any kind of rest when you went to visit Vicki."
"I don't know if I can go to sleep," Victoria whispered weakly. Even the thought of sleep brought up the idea of terrifying dreams. "C-Could you..." She trailed off before finding the strength to ask again, "Could you tell me about him? B-Back then?"
"Back when I knew him, you mean? Before you came around?" Damon asked, and Victoria nodded her head.
He took a deep breath and started to speak, his voice low and husky and sending warm bubbles down Victoria's spine.
"He was born as Zachariah Joseph Salvatore, seven pounds twelve ounces, in Auckland, New Zealand, on April 17th, 1974."
"New Zealand?" Victoria spluttered, pushing away from Damon to look into his eyes. He had to be joking, right? There was no way. "Zach, our Zach, was born in New Zealand?"
"Parents were on a wedding anniversary trip when he just decided to pop on out," Damon smirked, and Victoria couldn't help but giggle before he pulled her back into his arms. "He was a surprise baby, if you couldn't tell. He was the youngest of two kids."
"Zach mentioned having a brother at the pageant," Victoria sniffed. "What was his name?"
"Tobias," Damon answered. "He was about fifteen years older than Zach, hence the reason why Zach was dubbed a 'surprise baby'. He passed away from surgical complications when Zach was fifteen, so Tobey would've been...thirty at the time of his death."
"How old would he be now?" Victoria asked curiously.
"Well, given math hasn't changed much since I learned back in the nineties...please note this was the eighteen-nineties, not the nineteen-nineties...then Tobias would've hit fifty-one," Damon sniffed. "An old man, practically."
"Says the guy who's a hundred and seventy," Victoria sniffled, reaching over and nudging Damon's shoulder. "Tell me more?"
"Of course, Baby," Damon stated. "Zach was a weird kid."
"Really, Damon?" Victoria sighed. She should have figured that this would be where the conversation would lead them.
"No, I'm serious," Damon laughed, nodding his head. "He was eating sticks, leaves, and dirt constantly. His mother was exasperated, didn't know what to do. She tried everything she could think of to get him to stop."
"How'd she do it then, because I've never seen him eat dirt?"
"She finally forced him to 'wash his hands' before going outside to play," Damon chuckled, putting obvious quotation marks around 'wash his hands'. "And by wash his hands, I mean that she would dunk his hands into a bowl of vinegar so the dirt 'wouldn't taste that good anymore'. His words back then, not mine."
"And you were just around for this?" Victoria asked.
Damon stiffened a little; not so much, but it was noticeable to Victoria. "Not as much as I should have been, Mama Bear. Not as much as I should have been." He pressed another kiss to her head. "Hey, Baby?"
"Yeah, Damon?" Victoria said, yawning. His storytelling abilities were really good; she was already feeling exhausted. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Damon, breathing in deeply.
"You know I love you, yeah?"
"Aw," Victoria sighed as she started to drift off into sleep. "I love you too."
By the time that Victoria woke up, it was already past noon. Given the sounds of the house, there weren't very many people up and about. Hell, she couldn't blame them. Talking to Damon had helped, but the feelings of darkness and fear were still lingering deep inside of her chest, so it made the urge to get up almost nonexistent. During the night, Damon had grabbed her and used her as a personal teddy bear (this was actually quite common for whenever Victoria fell asleep next to Damon).
Victoria sighed from her trapped position next to Damon and just whispered lightly, "I miss you, Zach."
She pulled herself carefully from Damon's arms and slipped out to his bathroom. She took the longest shower of her life, not caring if she used up all the hot water in a space that had thirteen other people waiting for showers. She used Damon's shampoo and conditioner, since they were the only ones there, and actually enjoyed how the conditioner made her hair feel much silkier than usual.
She had just shut off the water and was in the process of toweling herself off when there was a knock on the bathroom door. "Mama Bear, I need to grab some things in there. You decent?"
Victoria quickly folded her dirty clothes into a stack and made herself a short dress (a very, very short dress) out of her towel and then yelped, "Okay, you're good!"
Damon pushed open the door and just about froze when he spotted her. Victoria felt her cheeks flare up as his eyes slowly dragged themselves all over her body, from her very bare, long legs to her collarbone and shoulders that were on full display.
"Now that's just not fair," Damon grumbled underneath his breath, never tearing his gaze away from her.
"S-Sorry," Victoria stuttered, holding the towel closer to herself. "I-I was just going to slip back to my room and get changed."
"Almost tempted not to let you leave," Damon sniffed, licking his lips slowly. If it was even possible, Victoria's cheeks heated up even more. "At ease, Baby. I have some self-control." He stepped backwards, leaving a clear space from where she was standing to the door.
She took the opportunity, scurrying forward. She was forced to stop when Damon stuck his arm out, resting his hand on the doorframe and effectively blocking Victoria off. He leaned in to her, his lips brushing up against the edge of her ear. It made her body tingle at his closeness. He had been close before, but this...this was different.
"We're going to hold a memorial for Zach later tonight," Damon whispered softly to her, and all the tingles in her body were zapped away. Victoria bit her lower lip and focused on breathing evenly. "You might want to change into something black."
"Got it," she squeaked before ducking out.
She used her enhanced speed to get back to her room without any other further interruptions. She changed quickly into a long-sleeved body-hugging dress that went down to her knees that had mysteriously appeared on her bed. The dress was also paired with black opaque tights and some black heels with mysteriously red soles. Victoria made a mental note to thank Katherine for the dress and the apparently Louboutin shoes. There were also two very familiar pieces of jewelry sitting on top of the dress. Victoria let out a sigh of relief as she carefully placed the vervained choker necklace back around her neck. When she reached out for the anklet, though, she paused.
Kelly had given her the anklet.
Her mother.
The same mother who could, potentially, not even love her because she wasn't the "real Victoria".
Was Kelly even her mother or was she just some woman who had sympathy on Victoria?
She pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She didn't have the time, nor the willpower to even try and think through it some more.
She left the anklet on the bed. If she really wanted it, she'd run upstairs and grab it. Victoria also threw on Zach's sweatshirt back over her dress, not caring if the two colors didn't match well. It still smelled like him; paperbacks and coffee and bourbon.
Hell, he wouldn't have been a Salvatore if he didn't smell like bourbon.
Victoria made her way downstairs and headed straight for the kitchen. As much as she didn't want to be a morning person, she knew that there were others who wouldn't want to get up worse than her (read: Stefan and Lee). She wasn't really surprised, though, to see stacks of food, separated into Bloody and Clean piles, already on the kitchen counters with Ms. Gibbons fluttering back and forth, a red apron tied onto her black dress.
"How long have you been up for?" Victoria couldn't help but ask as she watched Ms. Gibbons race back and forth, bringing out chocolate chip muffins from the oven that held a distinctly coppery smell. "You should get some rest."
"I've gotten all the rest that I need, Ms. LeBlanc," Ms. Gibbons reassured her, placing the muffins down onto a cooling rack. "Could you put some gloves on and take those cinnamon rolls out of that oven there?"
"Sure," Victoria agreed, finding a spare pair of gloves. She slipped them on and got the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. They smelled heavenly, but then again, everything that Ms. Gibbons created smelled heavenly. She found a spare counter space and set the cinnamon rolls down there to cool. "Are these clean or bloody?"
"Those are clean," Ms. Gibbons told her. "I already cooked up the bloody ones."
Victoria turned towards Ms. Gibbons and studied the woman for a second before she said, "You know that most of this will probably go to waste, right?"
Ms. Gibbons paused in her scurrying, and she gently set down the spatula in her hand onto the counter. She turned towards Victoria and delicately took off her apron, making sure that her dirty hands didn't touch her black dress. Once it was off and over her head, she tossed it haphazardly onto the floor beside the counter. She took a few steps forward and grabbed Victoria's hands in her own, squeezing them tightly.
"Ms. LeBlanc," Ms. Gibbons began, before cutting herself off. She shook her head and started again. "Victoria. I am aware. We'll take what we can for leftovers and give the rest to a nearby shelter for the homeless." She took a shaky breath in and whispered, "I just...I just need to keep moving. I can't do much compared to all of you, but taking care of you, making sure you have enough food, that...that I can do."
Victoria nodded and swallowed heavily. She understood where Ms. Gibbons was coming from. Victoria wished that there was something she could do to help everyone better. She wanted to keep busy.
Keeping her hands busy kept her mind from being busied by...other things.
"Would you like any help?" Victoria croaked, swallowing heavily once more.
The already tender look in Ms. Gibbons' eyes became even more tender and the human woman nodded. She set Victoria to work, having her bus the already made food out to the dining room table, which was still in the living room. Victoria went about carrying the food out and then going back and grabbing some more. Once that was one, she and Ms. Gibbons worked to set up the right amount of plates all around the table. Victoria's heart burned and tears did come to her eyes when she purposefully kept back four dining spots.
Pearl Zhu.
Traitor. Killer. Murderer. Mother. Griever. Alone.
Kelly LeBlanc.
Traitor. Killer. Murderer. Mother. Griever. Alone.
Anna Zhu.
Innocent. Dead. Daughter. Alone.
Zach Salvatore.
Innocent. Dead. Father. Alone.
Alone, alone, alone.
Father.
Dad.
Dad.
Dad.
Dad.
DAD.
Everyone came down slowly and at their own pace. Groups stayed huddled by one another, not wanting to leave the comfort of their safety bubbles (the groups being Amber, Lexi, and Lee, and then Jeremy, Jenna, Alaric, and Elena). Only a few people broke out of that bubble.
Stefan was the first, immediately spotting Victoria and rushing over to give her a hug. She wrapped her arms tightly around Stefan, squeezing him as tightly as she could without severely hurting him. Stefan let out a little grunt at the pain, but he squeezed her back just as tightly in return. Victoria wanted to say something to him, say anything to him, but no words were able to come back. She just ducked her head into his shoulder and hoped that her hug was able to tell him everything that she couldn't.
Given the way that his eyes sparkled with gratitude when he retreated, Victoria would daresay that she was successful.
Once everyone was sat, each taking up a spot around the table, the sound of footsteps alerted Victoria to the presence of two new guests.
She raised her head from the table, where she had been giving Lexi a backwards hug, and looked towards the noise. She paused.
It was Harper...
...and it was Caroline.
Caroline looked better, now that she was freshly cleaned. She wore a black pencil skirt and a black sleeveless blouse, a black headband on her head to keep her bright blonde hair out of her eyes. There wasn't a trace of blood on her body, and when Victoria breathed in, the scent of her white chocolate seemed to have amplified. So much so, in fact, that Victoria coughed and couldn't help but comment, "Where did you just come from, Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory? Geez, Care."
The invisible tension that had been in her shoulders immediately dropped and Caroline just pouted. "It's not my fault that apparently, vampirism makes your scent ten times stronger."
"I mean, I like white chocolate as much as the next girl, but sheesh," Victoria huffed, her face scrunching as she tried to get used to the scent. She jerked her head towards Harper, who was moving pretty well with his crutches. "Harper's been a good teacher?"
"Well, I wouldn't say better than Alaric," Caroline teased, nodding her head towards their history teacher who was sitting down in between Elena and Jenna. She turned towards Harper and gave him a soft smile. "But he hasn't been too bad."
"I'm mighty honored by the high compliment, Ms. Forbes," Harper drawled, nodding his head respectfully. "Ms. LeBlanc, is it specific seating or anywhere we please?"
"Whatever works well for you, Harps," Victoria told him just as a loud knocking noise at the front door echoed throughout the large space. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she looked towards Damon in shock. "Who's here?"
"I got it," he reassured her, pushing himself up from his designated spot by her on the table. "Ms. Gibbons, could you grab us another plate?"
"Of course, dearie," Ms. Gibbons agreed, getting up to head over to the kitchen.
Damon's request for Ms. Gibbons to get another plate setting intrigued Victoria. She was drawn to Damon's side as the Salvatore headed out of the living room and up towards the front door. She stayed a few feet behind him, cautiously watching as he opened the door and greeted the person behind it.
"I'm surprised you came," Damon commented nonchalantly, though his fingers were tight where they were holding onto the actual door.
"I still got some questions that need answering, and last night did not give me what I wanted," came...Stefan's voice?
Oh hell.
Shit.
"Tom?" Victoria blurted out in shock, her eyes widening as Damon stepped back and Tom Avery, paramedic from Georgia, stepped inside. He was dressed appropriately for the occasion, wearing a button-down black shirt and dress slacks with nice looking dress shoes. His hair didn't seem to have any product in it, looking duller than it did the previous time she had seen him. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, Red," Tom greeted her, tearing his gaze away from Damon's eyes to look towards her. He looked frustrated, but his gaze softened when he connected eyes with her. "Damon invited me. I happened to see some...not-so-great things last night and he said he would give me some answers." He swallowed heavily as his eyes roamed her frame. "You look...well. Too well, some might say."
"I heal fast," Victoria lied, glancing towards Damon for some answers. Why was Tom at the boarding house? What "not-so-great things" did he see that night? Why did Damon invite him to the boarding house that day, of all days?
Damon just shook his head and sighed, "Don't bother, Mama Bear. He was there when Lee snapped your neck."
"Damon!" Victoria hissed, turning his gaze back towards Tom. He looked unsettled by Damon's blatant comment about her neck snapping, but he didn't seem surprised. That...That didn't sit right with Victoria.
"I heard y'all were doing breakfast?" Tom interrupted, seeming to become more and more awkward by the second.
"Come on, you two," Damon grunted, pushing past Tom. He reached out and grabbed Victoria's hand, dragging her down the hallway with him. "We're right here in the living room."
Tom followed them cautiously, but followed them nonetheless. Once they stepped into the living room, Damon gestured randomly towards the crowded table and said, "Pick a seat anywhere you'd like."
Coincidentally enough (or not so coincidentally if you didn't believe in coincidences when Damon was involved), the only seat available (cuz even though there were three empty spaces, Damon and Victoria's seats had already been claimed) was the one to the right of Stefan.
Stefan was frozen, watching Tom with wide eyes and disbelief sunken deep into his pores. Tom himself even paused when he spotted where he could sit down at. The two men just stared at each other while everyone else had different visceral reactions. Elena looked like she was ready to faint, her head swiveling back and forth between Stefan and Tom. Lexi just whispered a "You've got to be shitting me" as she, too, looked back and forth between Stefan and Tom. Everyone else was just either confused or in shock.
Tom swallowed heavily and was the first one to speak; his gaze was on Stefan, but his words were directed towards Damon. "Well, Brother, you weren't kidding about the resemblance issue, were you?"
"H-How is this...?" Stefan asked, trailing off as he blinked his eyes rapidly. "You...I-I..." He swung his gaze to Victoria, pleading with her silently to give them an explanation as to what the hell was going on.
Lee stepped in, though, before Victoria could give an answer. He looked at Tom with slightly narrowed eyes and he grunted, "Which state?"
Tom tore his gaze from Stefan to look at Lee and just rasped a "What?"
"You're from the South, I can tell by your accent," Lee responded. "So, what state?"
"Georgia," came Tom's semi-timid response.
That seemed to win some brownie points with Lee, because he then said with a lighter tone, pointing to himself proudly, "Baptist."
Tom just sighed and shook his head, replying instead with, "Nondenominational."
Lee groaned and flopped his forehead onto Lexi's shoulder. "Of course he's nondenominational." He lifted his head and gave Tom another narrow-eyed gaze. "You guys are just Baptists with fancy websites."
Victoria snorted. She had absolutely no clue what was going on, but the rapport between Lee and Tom made her stomach feel lighter. It was like how Lee acted with Zach -
Zach.
Zach.
Zachariah Joseph Salvatore.
Great-nephew.
Father.
Dad.
Her dad.
She had a dad.
She had had a dad.
He died.
Lost.
Gone.
Gone.
GONE.
LOST.
DEAD.
HE'S DEAD.
HE'S DEAD!
"Breathe, Baby," Damon whispered, and it was then that Victoria realized she was standing (barely), tears streaming steadily down her cheeks as she held her breath while staring down the table of her friends. Damon's hand moved to her hip, giving it a tentative squeeze and it was like a plug have been yanked out from her sockets. She let out a raspy sob and her hands latched onto Damon's shirt, her fingers going white from hard she was grasping onto him. Her legs shook and her knees quaked. "There you go, Baby. It's okay. It's okay, Baby."
"H-He's dead, Damon," Victoria gasped, shaking her head. "H-He's dead, he's dead, he's dead -"
"- I know, Baby," Damon soothed, dropping a kiss onto her temple. "I know, Baby, and I know it hurts. Just breathe, okay? It's going to be okay."
"H-He's dead, he's dead, he's dead. Z-Zach's dead."
A/N: Everybody say it with me now, "TRAUMA!"
I really don't give any of my characters a break, huh?
Also, WE HIT 700 REVIEWS AND WE'RE OVER 600,000 WORDS!
Happy Halloween, everybody! I expect to "see" (cuz I can't see y'all) everybody dressed up (or if you don't celebrate the holiday, get yourself some comfy clothes). What is everybody going as? I'm curious to know!
So, SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! You will be getting another chapter next week (Monday, November 7th) instead of in two weeks, because it's like a back-to-back Funeral Special and I didn't want to force you guys to wait two whole weeks for it.
New Followers!: Flagadabob, Agent14, tyrannenfresser, zizkazizka, cactussolo
New Favoriters!: Flagadabob, DreamingInShadows, looneytunes378248, cactussolo
Onto reviews!:
Kathiena: I'm so glad to hear that Zach was one of your favorite characters! He was one of my favorites too. Yeah, I wasn't expecting to bring Tom in at the end either, but he has a mind of his own, so he likes to pop in. Aww thank you so much! I would definitely keep reading more. More plot twists to come.
grapejuice101: IT'S FOR THE PLOT. JUST HOLD ON. YOU'LL UNDERSTAND!
AngelColdHeart: Thank you!
DBZFAN45: I know. F's in the chat for Zach. Yeah, we got some Katherine here in this chapter. I know, all of the details about Zach and Mason just make me so happy. Hehe.
Child of Dreams: It's okay, there's so many characters that I have a hard time remembering too. I just have a feeling you're not going to like me much this season, and I'm okay with that.
Elyse1821: Heck yeah it was! He was like the moral compass of the group. Pearl didn't necessarily turn Caroline. Katherine was the one to snap her neck after Damon's blood transfer, but Pearl tried to kill her by broken neck means and then realized she couldn't die, so yeah. Yeah, that beautiful Datoria ship. Disneyworld sounds amazing! I would love to go to one of the Disneys someday. Oh yeah, I can definitely see that with Klaus, but I can also see Victoria calling him Niklaus in a more aggressive way than Elijah. The Elijah-Damon bromance will happen eventually, that's for sure.
kafo521: Awww thank you! I'm glad I wrote that section well, I was kind of worried about it!
See y'all next week on November 7th for the second part of the funeral special!
Love you all and remember,
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F