Disclaimer: I only own my OCs
A/N: Thank you, all, for your kind words and understanding. Writing was something that my dad always encouraged me to do, I got my love of reading and writing from him. So it has been incredibly hard putting pen to paper (words in a document?). But now that the funeral is done, I'm going to try and honour him by getting back into this. I must confess that it has been a while since I wrote this chapter, but I know that this is a popular episode, so I hope it lives up to expectations!
XXX
"Poor Ric," I sighed, following my sister down the stairs to the Salvatore Boarding House basement. "Can't we find somewhere nicer for him to stay?"
"Ric was the one on insisted on being down here," Ellie gave me a sympathetic look as she paused at the bottom of the stairs. "That door can hold a vervained vampire, so it will definitely hold Ric if his…"
"Evil," I supplied helpfully when my sister trailed off.
"Yeah," Elena gave a sharp nod before continuing. "If that happens, then both he and our vampire friends will be safe."
"And he can't use that pesky white oak stake to potentially wipe out an Original sire line," I agreed. I still hated that. We couldn't even take out Klaus because it could potentially take out our loved ones. Damon was already looking for a way to save Tyler. And if it turned out that the annoying Original hybrid sired them, then it could be applied to our vampires too.
Ellie grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze, before approaching the cell. We had done what we could to make it a bit more homely. A more comfortable camping bed was set up in the corner and I had placed cute little fairy lights around the door. But even so, it still wasn't the nicest place to stay.
"Alaric?" Elena asked, peering through the bars on the door. She kept a hand on my shoulder, keeping me protectively behind her. I rolled my eyes. Ironically, out of everyone, I was probably the safest person if Evil Ric decided to make an appearance. With my own Evil side, although she had been suspiciously quiet, I didn't have anything to fear.
"Yep, still me," the hunter sighed, sounding like himself. There was no evil hint to his voice. My sister must have been convinced as she opened the door. I followed her in, refusing to be left behind. I knew that my stubborn twin would try it. But I wanted to see Ric too. He was sitting on the camping bed when we entered, resting against the wall, a thermos in his hand. "You know, you shouldn't be in here. It defeats the point of the whole being locked in a cellar thing."
"Even prisoners get visitors, Ric," I teased gently, rolling my eyes while Elena put the bag down on the floor. I wiggled my eyebrows as I added, "They even get conjugal visits."
Ric chuckled and I immediately felt pleased, "Nice to see that the situation hasn't brought you down."
"Well, Ric, you should know that hiding your feelings with humour is one of the best coping methods around," I sniffed dramatically, perching on the camping bed. "And I happen to be an expert at it."
"Of course you are, Alexa," my sister rolled her eyes at me, nudging me with her foot before turning to Ric. "Since we don't know how long you'll be down here, we brought you some things. Mainly the basics, like toothbrush, clothes, some boring books to help you sleep. Alexa even snuck in some cookies."
Ric nodded, going through the bag while my sister spoke. He pulled out one of the books, an amused look on his face as he held it up, "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?"
"What?" my twin immediately frowned, grabbing the book while I snickered. "No, I grabbed…" she trailed off and glanced over at me, before shaking her head. "Damon. He thinks he's hilarious."
I had dared my vampire to do something like that. I knew that it would put a smile on Ric's face. And that was my main aim. It sucked that he was stuck in this cell. He wasn't the only one with an alter ego. But mine had decided to go silent, whereas his hid white oak stakes that could kill Original vampires and their sire lines.
"At least one of us still has a sense of humour," the hunter gently took the book back from my sister, tucking it back into the bag. He had better books in there. Not all of them were designed to make him fall asleep. I had snuck my copy of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit in there. Just to help the time go by.
"Are you sure that you…?" Elena trailed off, exchanging a glance with me before sighing. "I mean, you don't have to be kept in here."
"There are other places that you can stay," I added, shifting so that I could properly look at Ric. "We can even ask Bonnie to spell you in somewhere more comfortable. Like she did to Elena that time, when she was being stupid about the sacrifice."
Ric gave us a thankful smile before shaking his head, "Ah, no, this is… this is the right place for me to be. At least until you guys can convince my highly uncooperative alter ego to fess up as to where I… or he… hid the white oak stake."
"We looked everywhere," there was a frustrated edge to my sister's voice and I reached out to grab her hand, tugging her close to me. "You… the other you, hid it well."
"It's not even in the weird places, like behind the bar at the Grill," I added, resting my head against my twin's side. "But don't you worry, we're still looking. I've started a game at school, asking people for the weirdest places that they would hide stuff in this town."
"What's Klaus gonna do if you can't find it?" our aunt's boyfriend asked, glancing between us, a wary look on his face.
"It's the only thing that will kill him," Ellie shrugged, resting her hand on my shoulder. "So wage war, murder people, you know, Klaus stuff."
"Stuff that we've dealt with before," I patted Ric on the knee as he looked disheartened at our words. "We know how to deal with it. And we're much better at kicking his ass this time around. Like, I can totally wreck him if needed."
"I see Alexa's delusions of grandeur haven't gone away," he laughed, apologising when I pouted in offence. "Just make sure that you have backup when you go to wreck him."
"Ugh, fine," I rolled my eyes dramatically, shaking my head. "I'll take Damon with me. He's my good luck charm."
"Of course he is," Elena shook her head at me before looking at Ric. "Listen, Stefan is gonna watch over you for a little while. Now that Klaus knows where Jeremy is, it's not safe, so, Damon is taking me and Alexa to Denver to go pick him up."
I couldn't hold back my smile. I was getting my baby bro back. I had missed Jeremy so much. It wasn't the same, speaking to him over the phone. Not even video calls could cut it. So the fact that he was coming home was huge. And I was itching to go and wrap him in my arms again.
"Is Jenna going to stay here?" Ric asked, smiling at my obvious excitement.
"Yeah, she didn't want to leave you," I nodded, tapping my fingers against my knees. "And she trusts Damon to get us home safe."
"And you didn't want to wait any longer to get Jeremy home," Ric finished with a smile.
"Nope, the sooner my bro is home, the happier I'll be."
XXX
After we said goodbye to Ric, we returned to the parlour. Damon and Stefan were in there already, speaking in serious voices. I knew that they were worried about Klaus. My sister wasn't wrong when she said that the hybrid would turn vengeful if he didn't get what he wanted. He was an annoying little turd like that.
When we entered the room, my boyfriend glanced over at me. There was a spark of excitement in his eyes and I knew that he was happy to be getting me out of town. After everything that had happened, it had taken its toll on me. My excitement over getting my brother back had hidden a lot of it. But Damon had seen most of it. And I knew that he wanted to get me away from the insanity of Mystic Falls, even if only for a couple of days.
Of course, getting my brother back was only one reason that we were going to go see him. We also needed to track down the Salvatore brother sire line. Katherine turned them. Rose turned Katherine. But from there, it was unknown. We didn't even know if Rose had been turned by an Original or if there was another vampire that we had to track down.
"Ladies, have either of you ever flown first class?" my vampire smirked as I walked over to him. His luggage was by the door, waiting next to mine. Elena had only packed a small bag. But I knew that if push came to shove, then she would borrow some of my stuff. It was one of the annoying things about siblings, they would take your stuff if they needed to.
"For realz?" I laughed, grabbing his hand. Damon gently tugged me closer to him as he rolled his eyes. But I could tell that he was happy. Finding out that I would be getting Jeremy back had put the first true smile on my face for a while. It was hard to be happy when I kept getting taken hostage, when bad news followed bad news, when I was dealing with a ridiculous amount of panic attacks.
"Who did you have to compel for that?" my sister snarked, but even she didn't look too grumpy at the thought of it. Flying first class was something that neither of us had done before. And I honestly expected that I would never get it.
"Pft, please," my vampire shook his head at my twin. "I use miles."
"Ah, but are they your miles?" I teased, dodging his hands aimed for my side. "Or did you compel them off of people?"
"So little faith," Damon tapped my nose. "Before I came back, I happened to travel quite extensively. And that meant I built up miles."
"Well, since they're getting me into first class, then I don't care how you got them," I shrugged, leaning in for a cheeky kiss when I saw that my sister was distracted by Stefan.
Things were still complicated between them. Stefan had his humanity back, that was obvious. And he had begun to apologise for all of the dodgy shit that he had done. But that didn't mean that we forgot what he did. And there was a lot of stuff that was hard to forget. I knew that his stunt with the Wickery Bridge still haunted her dreams. And I caught her staring at my wrist every now and then.
But that didn't change the fact that she still had feelings for him. It was just whether she wanted to accept those feelings again. Or whether she would rather move on. The petty part of me wanted her to move on. Stefan didn't deserve my sister after what he had done to her. He had chosen revenge over her. But I also remembered just how good they were together and how much the vampire loved my twin.
I knew that I would support Ellie, no matter what she chose. But if she asked me for advice, then I wasn't sure what I would say to her. The selfish part of me hoped that she wouldn't ask me, that she would go to Jenna or Caroline or Bonnie instead. But I would help her if she needed me to.
I watched as Damon carried our luggage out. We had called a taxi to take us to the airport. It would take far too long to drive to Denver, so flying there and back just made sense. My boyfriend was too precious to leave his car in the carpark, which was kinda hilarious. So he had hired a taxi to come and get us, compelling the driver to make him forget about the journey after he completed it.
Behind me, my sister breathed out Stefan's name. She looked at him with wary eyes. I knew that she wondered if she was doing the right thing, leaving him in charge of the Ric situation. But Damon had insisted on taking us to go get Jeremy. We assumed that it was safe to go get him, but we didn't know if Klaus had dangerous spies up there. So we would need stronger backup than Stefan could provide.
"Be safe," the younger vampire nodded, not giving my twin a chance to say anything else.
When she looked conflicted, I spoke up, drawing his attention to me, "You too, Stefan. Look after Ric and Jenna."
"I will," Stefan nodded, a tense edge to his shoulders as my sister continued to look at him. "If you need anything, then just call."
"You too," I nodded, before grabbing Elena's hand. "See you soon!"
I tugged my twin from the building. I knew that she would tie herself into knots trying to work out the best thing to say to Stefan. And while I sympathised with her dilemma, I was eager to go and save Jeremy. He would be a lot safer when I got him back home. And I just missed him.
So my sister could brood on the plane, thinking of all the things that she should have said to her ex.
XXX
I hadn't been on enough planes to know how I actually felt upon them. And it had been a while since I was last on one. I remembered enough that it was weird, like the feeling of it. But I had also never been in first class. So this time would be different.
Damon was quite content to let things flow when we got to the airport. We had arrived in plenty of time for our flight, so getting through everything wasn't a stress. Of course, that didn't stop Elena from getting jittery. I just ignored her, content to let my vampire deal with it all. I just people watched, wondering about the way that airports felt like another world. It could be 8 in the morning and people would be drinking without being judged. It was weird.
Elena's seat was a couple of rows in front of us. That way, I could keep an eye on my sister without feeling awkward when I snuggled into Damon's side. Despite my excitement, I could feel myself getting sleepy. It wouldn't be a long flight, but I would have enough time to have a nap if I wanted one. Although I got the feeling that I wouldn't be given much of a choice.
Damon knew that I hadn't been sleeping well recently. He had done what he could to help me relax enough at night to at least get some sleep. But it wasn't as much as I should have been getting. And he knew my tells well enough that he knew when I was getting to that sleepy stage.
My boyfriend held me close against his chest, his fingers stroking my hip. His chin rested on my head as he sighed, "You should get some sleep, Ally."
"I'm not tired" I murmured, my eyes closing against my will. "I can stay awake."
Damon's voice was filled with amusement, "Of course you can."
"Don't take that tone with me," I grumbled, opening my eyes to give him a look. "I actually managed to sleep for a few extra hours last night."
"Considering how much sleep you get, that doesn't say much," my boyfriend rolled his eyes, adjusting the blanket over my legs. "If you get some sleep now, then I'll compel you some wine on the return flight."
"Are you bribing me?" I laughed slightly, shaking my head. "Cos that ain't cool, Day."
"Well, I can't wear you out like I normally do," my vampire winked at me and I could feel myself blushing. "So I'm getting creative."
"You mean that you haven't wanted to join the Mile High club?" I teased, clearing my throat when he gave me one of Those Looks. The type that would have me dragging him off to a private room. But the only privacy that we would find on this plane would be in the toilet.
"It's not as exciting as it sounds," Damon shrugged and I gave him a look before shaking my head. There was a teasing smile on my face.
"I really shouldn't be surprised that you've done it," I poked his chest only for my vampire to grab my hand. He linked his fingers between mine, his thumb stroking my knuckles.
"Well, if you really want to give it a go, then we'll do it properly," my boyfriend's words had me raising an eyebrow. "But right now, with your sister on the plane. That is not going to happen."
"Ugh, fine, you have a point," I rolled my eyes and slumped back against his chest. "Elena would get all sensible and lecturey if we tried it. And I don't want to deal with that."
"How has she been? Since you two made up?"
"Well, mainly worried about me. The whole thing with my ring making me go evil, the same thing happening to Ric. And then the whole sire line thing, it's been a lot for her to think about. She's mainly been coping by mother henning me. At least now I'll be able to push Jeremy at her. She can fuss over him instead."
"I'm sure Jeremy will love that," Damon rolled his eyes and I giggled at his tone.
"He's had a few weeks where he's been able to escape her mother henning. He owes me. Especially since I've stopped Elena from spying on him through Louise."
"How did you manage that?" my vampire sounded surprised and impressed. Everyone knew how hard it was to change Ellie's mind when she had a plan. Especially when that plan involved her loved ones. And my twin had been incredibly determined to keep tabs on the kid while he was away. She had made him go to Denver so that he would be safe. And the paranoid girl that was my sister wanted to make sure that that was happening. It was fair enough, but she had to let him live his life. She had far too much stuff happening back home for her focus to be distracted.
"Well, I told Jenna and I did everything that I could to distract my sister whenever she got that look on her face. The one that meant that she was planning something. Of course, the fact that the truth about that damn ring came out not long after probably helped. And you had all of that Mommy Original drama."
"All of your favourite stuff," Damon teased gently, running his fingers through my hair. I snorted and nodded, relaxing into his warmth. "Just get some sleep, baby, I'll wake you up when we get close."
"Fine," I grumbled, giving in gracefully. It was only because I could feel sleep taking over and I didn't have the energy to fight it any longer. "Keep an eye on Ellie for me. Just cos we are on a plane, doesn't mean that she won't do something stupid."
"I'll keep an eye on her," my boyfriend promised, tucking me into his side, using his own blanket to cover me too. "Just focus on actually getting some rest."
XXX
When we arrived in Denver, we went to go and see Louise. She told us that Jeremy was at the batting cages nearby and gave us our brother's bags. He had packed, ready for us to pick him up. Jenna had been light on the details when she told him. But the kid knew that he had to come home. Of course, Jeremy didn't put up any fight at all. The only request he made was to ask if he could bring his dog back with him. Damon had grumbled over the trouble with getting a dog on a plane, but he made all of the arrangements. And so, my baby bro was getting to take his first pet home.
We left Larry the Dog with Louise while we went to get Jeremy. Dogs weren't allowed at the batting cages and I didn't like the thought of leaving him alone in the car. He was such a cute little dog, all golden and fluffy. No wonder Jeremy wanted to bring him home.
When we got to the batting cage, it didn't take long for us to find our brother. He was in one of the cages, missing all of the balls that came at him. Baseball was never one of his strengths and it was cute that it was still like that. I was relieved that he hadn't changed that much during his time up here. Especially since the few changes that I had noticed were obvious. He was a little bit taller and was more muscular. He had always been well built, having grown up to be an active kid. But this was different. There was a sturdiness to him, combined with a new found confidence. The training that he had been doing and had been good for him. But I couldn't help but wonder where my adorable baby bro had gone.
"Has he always been that bad at baseball?" Damon rolled his eyes as Jer missed another ball. I couldn't stop myself from smiling and giggling. Seeing the kid again, it made me so happy. I had missed him so much. Like, I knew that I missed him. But I didn't realise that I had missed him as much as I had.
"Yep, he has," I nodded before increasing my speed. I darted over to the cage that Jeremy was in, watching as he adjusted his stance. And missed another ball.
I wolf-whistled and laughed, "Looking good, kiddo."
Jeremy spun around, dropping his bat. His lovely brown eyes widened dramatically as he laughed, "Alexa?"
"The one and only," I nodded as the kid opened the door to the cage. The second that he had stepped out, I was wrapping my arms around him. I gave him a squeeze as I felt the other two standing next to us. "Oh I missed you so much, Jer."
"I missed you too," my bro mumbled into my shoulder before easing back slightly. He still had an arm wrapped around me. He held out his other one, gesturing for Elena to join the hug. Our sister didn't need any more encouragement and immediately stepped forward to wrap the kid in a hug of her own. I just smiled happily at them.
When Elena pulled back, Damon took the opportunity to nod at the kid, rolling his eyes as I bounced on the heels of my feet in excitement, "Jeremy, good to see you."
"You too," Jer nodded back before glancing back over at me and Elena. "So, why the sudden need to call me home? Klaus is still alive, which means that all of the reasons that were there before are still there."
"Well, Klaus knows where you are now," I shook my head, keeping a hand on my brother's arm. I was reluctant to let him go. It had been far too long since I last saw him and I wasn't going to let him go again. My baby brother was going to come home with me, where I could look after him and keep him safe. "So it just makes sense to bring you home. And besides, we missed you, kiddo. We just want you to come home."
"Good," Jeremy nodded, looking relieved. "As nice as it is here, I've missed being at home. I've missed you all."
"And let me guess, it's far too quiet here as well," I teased, nudging the kid with my elbow.
Jer rolled his eyes at me, "Yes, Lexa, it is far too quiet here without you annoying me all day every day."
"Well, that's rude," I muttered, giving him another prod. "Next time we'll just leave you in the boring place."
But I knew what he meant. You got used to it, all of the drama. Living a high stakes life was exhausting, but your body got used to the constant adrenaline highs and lows. You got used to the danger. And, on some level, even craved it. Because when things were quiet, all you could think about was what you had lost, what you had been through. And those thoughts were not pleasant ones.
"A lot has happened back in Mystic Falls," Elena sighed before things could escalate further. I was so excited to see the kid that I wasn't going to hold back on the teasing. It had been far too long since I saw his smile in person, since I properly heard his laugh. And I would go overboard if it meant hearing it again. "And not all of it has been good."
"That's one way of putting it," I grumbled as I felt Damon stand behind me. He rested a hand on my hip as he glanced around, making sure that no one bothered us. We knew that Klaus had a minion keeping an eye on Jeremy. And I was not in the mood for that minion to interrupt our reunion. I would wreck them if they tried. "But we'll explain it all to you. The good and the bad. If, in return, you tell us all about your time up here."
XXX
Damon had taken over explaining what had been happening since Jer left. He was kind enough to skirt around the most painful moments, like the fact that Ric and I had murderous alter egos. I knew that we would have to tell my brother at some point. But now was not the time. It would be best to tell that story when Ric and Jenna were around.
"So, Katherine sired us," my vampire explained, while I linked my arm with Jeremy's. "Rose sired Katherine. All we need to do is find out who sired Rose."
"So you need me to use my abilities to talk to a dead vampire?" Jer asked with a frown, glancing down at me. I shrugged and reached up to pat his head.
"Dead vampire is redundant," Damon rolled his eyes. "But yes."
"I'm sorry, but I can't," the kid shook his head, an apologetic look on his face. "I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them. I've never even met Rose."
"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" my vampire grumbled and I rolled my eyes, reaching out to poke his shoulder.
"Damon, play nice," I shook my head. "There are other ways that Jeremy can help."
"Yes, fine, sorry Jer," Damon did actually look apologetic as he glanced over at my brother. "Is there a way that we can help you reach out to Rose?"
Elena piped up, a thoughtful look on her face, "Rose spent a long time running from Klaus as well. She was close to Damon and Alexa, so maybe we can use them as a connection."
"It could work," Jeremy nodded thoughtfully before glancing over Damon's shoulder. "Can we do this later? My friend just got here and yes, Damon, I do actually have some. They don't know that I'm leaving town. I'll call you when I'm done."
"Have fun," I nodded before turning around. I immediately froze as I recognised the person walking towards my brother. With a shaking hand, I tugged urgently on Damon's arm, forcing him to turn around.
"Hey man," Jeremy greeted the youngest Original Brother.
"It's Kol!" I gasped out, causing the other two to spin around. "Kol! Original brother! Bad news!"
Kol shot me a smirk before twirling the bat that he had in his hand. The moment Damon turned around, the Original hit him in the face with it. My vampire fell to the floor, the splinted halves of the bat next to him. As Damon groaned on the ground, I grabbed Jeremy's wrist. I shoved him towards Elena, knowing that she would look after our brother.
I dropped down to my knees, my hands fluttering uselessly over my boyfriend's back as he groaned. He glanced up at the Original before glancing to the broken bat next to my leg. I nodded and glanced up at Kol, who was busying taunting my brother.
"What are you doing?!" Jer had shouted at him as Ellie tugged him close. My sister had looked at me, exchanging a wide-eyed look. Our brother's words jolted her from her shock.
"Jeremy, stay back!" she pulled him back a few steps, pushing him behind her. "He's an Original."
At my brother's betrayed look, Kol shrugged, looking anything but apologetic, "No hard feelings, mate. But we're not buds." I narrowed my eyes at the Original as he grabbed an aluminium bat from the rack. While he was distracted, I eased one of the broken wooden halves over to Damon. "You know, I'll never used to aluminium. But hey, at least it won't break."
As he stepped forward to hit Damon again, I snapped, "Get wrecked."
From my position on the floor, I kicked out at the Original. I managed to get his knee, causing him to stumble back a step. Damon used his distraction to grab the broken bat, blurring his feet. Kol recovered quickly, but Damon never gave him a chance. He grabbed the aluminium bat, yanking it to the side before quickly stabbing Kol through the chest.
The Original let out a gasp, shocked eyes staring up at Damon before his skin started to go grey. His knees gave way and he fell to the floor. I moved out of the way, giving the body a dirty look, before darting over to Damon.
"Are you okay?" I asked quietly, getting a nod in return. There were no marks left on him. But that didn't mean that he was all healed. Bones took a bit longer sometimes. And Kol had got him in the jaw. Which was incredibly painful.
"I'm fine, all healed," he replied, giving my hand a squeeze, a comforting look in his eyes. I nodded, taking what he was offering. It would be the best that I would get until we got to safety.
I glanced over at my brother who was staring down at his fake friend in shock, "Did you kill him?"
Huh, did Jer not know the details for killing Original vampires? Damn, I'm gonna have to teach him about that. He needed to know what can and can't hurt an Original. Especially since we were bringing him back to town, which was inundated with the bloody people.
"No, but it'll give us a head start," Damon shook his head as he grabbed Kol's legs. He dragged him into a nearby storage room. He shoved the Original's body in there, uncaring of being careful. I was right behind him, kicking where appropriate, because fuck him for hurting my boyfriend and threatening my brother. Damon wedged the door shut before glancing around. "Okay, come on."
"Where are we going?" Elena asked, still clutching Jeremy close. I wanted to pull him close too. But I trusted my twin to look after our brother. She wouldn't let anything happen to him.
"Somewhere far away from here," my vampire answered, directing us away from the batting cages and dead Original. "Where we can help Jeremy contact Rose."
XXX
Before we left town, we stopped off at Louise's to get Jeremy's dog. We were just lucky that we were using a hire car. Because I knew that Damon wouldn't let a dog in the Camaro. The dog laid on the seat between Jer and Elena, his head resting on Jeremy's lap. He was a calm dog and that was helping my siblings to relax.
I refused to relax. I needed that anger to stop me from panicking. We had sent Jer to Denver so that he would be safe. I had persuaded him to leave. And an Original had infiltrated his life. He had pretended to be his friend, putting him in danger. And it worked because Jer was alone up here. He wasn't surrounded by his friends and family. Because I had persuaded him to go.
Damon cleared his throat and I glanced over at him, he quirked his lips into a smile, the one that he showed in front of people. But he did rest a hand on my thigh as he asked, "So, Jer, what do you need? Peace? Quiet? Or can you summon a ghost at anytime and anywhere?"
"With Anna and Vicki, I could do it whenever," my brother replied slowly, thinking deeply. "But with Rose, some peace and quiet might help. Especially since you need to help me establish that connection."
"Right," my vampire nodded. "I'll stop off at the next service station that we see. That'll do nicely."
"No, Damon," Elena sighed, shaking her head as she mindlessly stroked Larry's fur. "It'll be better if we stop off somewhere properly. Like a motel. That way, we can relax while waiting for Rose."
"No way," Damon immediately argued and I glanced between the two. "We need to keep moving. It won't take long for Kol to recover and I want us to be as far away as possible when that happens."
"We can't keep driving all night," Elena rolled her eyes. "Kol won't find us in a motel. Especially if we drive for a bit longer before finding one. But we need to find somewhere to relax."
My vampire opened his mouth to argue, but I spoke up before they could properly start bickering, "Look. We don't have to travel too much, just in case Rose leads us around the country looking for vampires. But you are right that we can't stay too close to Denver."
The other two were silent as they pondered my words. I glanced over my shoulder and exchanged a glance with Jeremy. There was a surprised look on his face and I shrugged before rolling my eyes. The fact that I was the sensible one was definitely a surprise. And I was speaking logically. That was not something that my brother was used to. But when Elena and Damon were together, their mental age seemed to lower. So someone needed to be an adult.
"We'll drive a couple more hours before looking for a motel," my boyfriend conceded, although he didn't sound happy about it. "But don't get too comfortable there. The second I feel uneasy, we're leaving."
I gave my sister a look as she sighed and nodded, "Okay, that works for me."
"Awesome," I rolled my eyes before shifting so that I could look at my brother, reaching out to stroke the adorable dog. "So, Jer, how did you manage to get this adorable little cutie?"
Larry glanced over at me, a content look on his face as Jeremy scratched behind his ears, "I rescued him. For a while, I volunteered down at the local pound. His owners died and he looked so sad. So I asked Louise if I could keep him. She took a bit of convincing, but she said yes."
"Wow, you finally managed to convince someone to let you have a pet," I laughed, shaking my head. "I am impressed. How did you manage to persuade Jenna to let you bring him back from Denver?"
The kid cleared his throat and glanced away, "Uh, she doesn't know."
"And this just got even more fun for me," I smiled widely, looking at Elena. "When we get home, see if you can stall Jenna long enough for me to grab the popcorn. Cos it will definitely be a show."
"Oh shush, Lexa," Jeremy rolled his eyes. "It won't be as exciting as you make it out to be."
"That's what he thinks," I muttered to Elena, enjoying the smile that she tried to hide. I knew exactly what she was thinking. Jeremy was right. Jenna would agree to anything if it meant keeping the kid safe at home. But telling that to Jer meant explaining all of the bullshit in more detail, including the pesky little alter egos. And we weren't going to do that yet.
While I hated keeping my brother in dark, it wasn't just our story to tell. Ric deserved to be there too. As did Jenna. This affected all of us as a family and we wanted to tell Jeremy as a family. So if it meant lying to him for a few more hours, if it meant keeping this from him, then I would have to deal with it. And I would deal with it by teasing him and winding him up, just like I used to.
"Remind me why I missed you," the cheeky little shit grumbled, shaking his head.
"Because I make your life delightful," I shrugged, ignoring the snorts that followed my words. "And everyone loves me."
"Okay, I do have to admit that I missed your ego," Jeremy laughed, giving up on his grumpiness. "Nice to see that it hasn't disappeared."
"It may go on sabbatical at times, but it never leaves," I smirked, enjoying the smile on my brother's face. I had missed that smile. I had missed talking with him like this. And despite the fact that Mystic Falls was dangerous as hell, I was glad that he was coming home with me.
XXX
When we found a motel, Damon went to go get us checked in while I helped Jeremy smuggle his dog in. It wasn't hard, to be fair. It was a cheap little motel in the middle of nowhere. But it was exactly what we needed. So I didn't mind too much.
Once Damon had the keys to the room, he helped us get our bags from the car before leading us up the stairs. He had managed to get us a twin room, in a quiet corner of the motel. I took charge of Larry while the others got the bags. Jeremy rolled his eyes at me but he allowed me to take his dog. After all, the kid wasn't the only one who grew up wanting a pet. I just wasn't as obvious about it.
"So, where are we?" the kid asked, glancing around as we walked to our room. He had been distracted in the car, by me and by Larry. So he hadn't focused too much on looking at road signs. I didn't pay much attention either, but I wasn't too fussed at knowing where we were.
"Corner of somewhere and nowhere where Kol can't find us," Damon replied, glancing at each door as we walked past. I could tell that he was listening in, working out who was staying in the motel with us. My vampire could get very paranoid at times. But considering an Original had been hiding in plain sight, stalking my brother, he probably had every right to be paranoid.
At the mention of his fake friend, my brother frowned and muttered, "I can't believe that Kol was a vampire."
My boyfriend smirked back at the kid, "Well, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast? Have you met you?"
I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Damon, honey, what have we said about being mean to my brother when he's going through an emotional moment?"
The cheeky shit just wiggled his eyebrows at me as he opened the motel room door. We trailed in and Larry happily settled on the floor in between the beds. I cooed over the adorable cutie while Elena and Jeremy settled at the table in the corner.
Ellie glanced around before looking at our brother, "Well, this should work, right Jer?"
"Yeah, it should do," the kid nodded.
"Alright Whoopie, what do you need?" Damon asked after locking the door. He approached the window, closing the curtains, making sure that no one could peer. "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"
I snorted as Jeremy rolled his eyes, "That's not how it works."
I sat down on the bed, crossing my legs as I laughed, "That would be cool though. I can always play Unchained Melody."
"Not cool, Lexa," my brother shook his head. "You promised that you wouldn't reference that movie."
"Yeah, okay," I sighed dramatically, holding up my hands as Damon sat down next to me. "I'll stop. So you pull from this side while they push from the other, right?"
"That's how it goes," Jer nodded, glancing over at Damon. "Do you have a picture of her?"
"A picture?" my vampire scoffed. "What, a trip to Disneyland?" He raised his voice slightly, glancing around the room. "Come on Rose, you're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? You wouldn't want to disappoint your friend like that."
"Alright, uh, tell me something about her," my brother said after looking around the room. Damn, no Rose then. Either this wasn't working or we needed to establish more of a connection.
"Well, she was utterly obsessed with getting her hands on my good coffee, even when I tried to hide it," Damon smirked, resting his hand on my back. "And then a certain someone told her where I hid it."
"Oops," I sniggered, not feeling at all guilty. I liked Rose. And that meant sharing good coffee with her. Besides, she did a lot to help me save my sister. I owed her everything.
"Something that matters, Damon," Ellie rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat. She had been content to sit back and let things happen, keeping a sharp eye on the situation. It was unusual for her. But I guess she trusted me to get what we needed out of Jeremy. Although that didn't stop me from making a mental note to check in on her when we had time.
My vampire went silent for a moment. He had a thoughtful look on his face before he spoke, his voice soft, "She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it."
I glanced over at him, a surprised look on my face. I wasn't aware of that. But it was so sweet of him to do that for Rose. I knew that he had formed a quick friendship with her. And after what she went through on her final day, I was glad that someone had given her peace in her final moments.
"We were with her on her last day," my sister spoke, a confused look on her face. "And she definitely wasn't in paradise."
"It was in the dream he gave her," Jeremy spoke before anyone else. The kid blinked in surprise before looking at the bed behind us. "She's here."
Oh wow. It was super weird knowing that our friend was in the room but we couldn't see her. It was probably one of the weirder experiences that we had had. But I was relieved that she had came. It meant that she was still around. That she was herself again. And considering she had been losing her mind, it was a relieving thought to know that she got her mind back. Because I knew that it pained her. She had always been in control and having the werewolf venom eat away at her brain must have been so painful for her.
XXX
Jeremy's POV
I watched as Rose looked at Damon and my sisters. There was a content look on her face but I could see that she was happy to see the others again. I wondered where she had been spending her afterlife. But it didn't matter, she was here now. And she could help us. Considering what I had heard from the other three, we definitely needed all the help that we could get.
Even though I had been kept out of most of it, I wanted to do my part now. I didn't want Alexa to lose the man she loved; I didn't want either of my sisters to lose their friends. And Klaus would keep causing trouble as long as he was around. I needed to help get rid of him before he hurt my sister's again. I just hoped that we could get rid of him.
"Is she lonely on the other side?" Ellie asked, glancing around the room. I knew that it was weird for the others. They had no idea where Rose was and they didn't want to appear rude. But I couldn't point out where she was sitting, it just felt weird for them to stare at the empty space. And it would probably feel weird for Rose too.
"No, I enjoy it," the vampire smiled softly, looking at my oldest sister before returning her gaze to the couple of the bed. "I was running so much when I was alive, now I have the freedom to do whatever I want."
She watched them with a soft look in her eyes. I knew that she was close to Damon and Alexa. But I didn't realise that she was this close. Alexa had been pretty cut up after Rose died and I knew that her mourning had been interrupted by her second death. But she often laid fresh flowers on the small memorial plaque that Damon had put in the Boarding House garden. Damon had refused to speak about the older vampire after she died, which was an obvious sign that he missed her. It was only with Alexa that he talked about Rose. But that didn't surprise me too much. I knew that he told her things that he didn't tell anyone else. It didn't take a genius to see that. Alexa knew stuff about Damon, about what he did, that no one else knew. Sometimes not even Stefan knew. It had been that way since Luke died. Their bond had properly started to form then and it was obvious how they felt about each other. Even if they refused to admit to themselves at the time.
I nodded before speaking to my sister, "She says not to worry, she's happy."
"Aww, I'm glad," Alexa smiled, leaning back into Damon, who adjusted so that he could properly support her. "It's good to hear from you Rose. Even if it is through my brother."
Rose laughed, a sweet look on her face, "Tell her that I've missed her too. And the others too. It's been weird, not being able to interact with them. I hate that I wasn't able to help them more with the sacrifice and everything that came after it."
I smiled, switching my gaze from the vampire to my sister, "She misses you. All of you. And she wishes that she could have helped more."
"And tell them that I'm happy that they've finally stopped dancing around each other," the female vampire added, shooting my sister and her boyfriend a fond look. Even Rose, who hadn't seen the worst of the flirting and emotion avoiding, was pleased that they were done. I wondered how much she had seen from the other side.
"She's glad that you two finally got together," I relayed Rose's words, enjoying the blush that formed on my sister's cheeks. Teasing her about that would never get old. Especially since she knew that she had longed out the situation. Damon had done the same. But he wasn't as fun to tease. Alexa blushed and got all flustered. It was always fun for me. And considering how much she had teased me over my girlfriends, it was well deserved.
"Unfortunately, I don't have news on the siring front," Rose sighed, shaking her head with a regretful look. "Klaus didn't sire me. No Original did. It was Mary Porter."
I didn't know how much she had sensed from me. Anna and Vicki did the same. They just knew what I was after when I summoned them. It was like when I pulled, they were told why. But it did make things easier for me. I didn't have to try and explain why we needed Rose. I didn't know how much she had seen from Mystic Falls when it came to the Original family. But she must have known something for her to name drop Klaus.
"She was sired by someone named Mary Porter," I told the others, glancing at Damon as he groaned loudly.
"Uh, Scary Mary," he rolled his eyes. Well, at least it was someone that we had heard of. Even if we didn't know where they were. Hopefully this Mary person had been sired by one of the Original family. Otherwise we would need to ask Rose help us track down someone else. "Well, where is she, Rose?"
"I didn't keep track of her when I was alive, much less now," the female vampire shrugged, standing up from the bed. "Tell them to sit tight, relax. I'll see what I can find out."
I nodded, watching as Rose disappeared, "Rose is going to go look for her. She said to sit tight and she'll be back as soon as she finds something."
"Oh joy, more waiting," Alexa rolled her eyes, her head rolling against Damon's shoulder. "That's exactly what we want."
"I'll go get us some food," Damon sighed, gently easing my sister forward so that he could move off the bed. "Don't leave the room. I'll be back soon."
XXX
Alexa's POV
As promised, Damon grabbed us food from a nearby Wendy's. While we waited for him to get back, I cooed over Larry while Elena asked what Jeremy had been up to while in Denver. The kid told us about school, how he was getting on in his subjects. He had volunteered at a couple of places before he decided to focus on his art. Louise had promised to send it back to Mystic Falls via courier, as there was too much for Jer to bring with him.
In return, we told him about the non-supernatural goings on in town. There was quite a lot to tell as all of the social groups settled back into their routines after the summer break. I dropped sly hints about the lack of action in Bonnie's love life. My brother turned bright red when I mentioned his ex, but I could see the pleased look in his eyes when he found out that Bonnie was still single.
I lounged on the bed next to Jeremy while he watched the TV. Elena was looking through her luggage, searching for her journal. She wanted to document everything that we did, so that future generations of the family knew her side of it.
"Hey, Lexa," my brother said, grabbing my hand when I went to poke him. "Where's your ring?"
Oh shit. I forgot that I wasn't wearing it. Even though it felt weird, not having the familiar weight on my hand, I tried to put it out of my mind. And it was actually going well. But Jeremy's words reminded me that I was no longer wearing it.
"Uh, well," I stuttered, looking over at my sister for help. She looked at me, a panicked look on her face and I sighed. Well, so much for waiting to tell Jeremy. "I've stopped wearing it."
"What? Why?" Jer frowned, glancing between me and my sister. "Its dangerous not to wear it."
"Its dangerous to wear it," I muttered, my fist clenching as I remembered what it had done to me. Even on this road trip, I had been drinking those disgusting herbs. I had tried to keep it hidden from Jeremy but now it was time to come clean. "Apparently those rings have a side effect that no one knew about."
"And what is that?" the kid asked slowly, looking worried. I patted the hand that was holding mine while Ellie sat down on the bed next to us.
"It creates a murderous alter ego in your head that you don't know about until its starting killing people," I said bluntly, not mincing my words. Since Jeremy was one of those who wore a ring, it was only fair that I told him straight out. Luckily, he had only died once because of the ring. So he didn't need to worry about going insane yet. And I refused to let it be a worry. As soon as we were home, I would make sure that Jeremy would never have to worry about going insane because of the stupid ring.
"Alexa," Elena hissed, giving me a look.
"What?" I shrugged, avoiding her gaze. "There was no point in sugar coating it. Not that I could think of a way to sugar coat it. It isn't an easy thing to say."
"But you could have found a better way," my sister rolled her eyes. But before she could say anything else, our brother spoke up, an unhappy look on his face.
"Why am I only finding out about this now?" he frowned deeply, looking between us. "You should have told me earlier."
"Well, we wanted to tell you when we were all together," I sighed, looking apologetic. "And really, Ric should be here since he's going through it too. Besides, it isn't exactly a conversation that we can have over the phone."
"I don't care," Jer shook his head, a stubborn look on his face. It looked so much like the look Elena got that I couldn't stop myself from wincing. "You still should have told me. I could have been there for you and Ric."
"Honestly, Jer, it's fine," I tried to reassure him. "Bonnie did a spell and now we just need to drink some yucky herbs twice a day. There's nothing to worry about."
"We're sorry that we didn't tell you sooner," Ellie added, a soft look on her face as she rested her hand on our linked ones. "We just wanted to protect you from this for as long as possible. You were happy in Denver; we didn't want to ruin that."
The kid shook his head, "You still should have told me."
I exchanged a glance with my twin before sighing, "Okay, we should have told you. We're sorry. Next time one of the family goes insane, we'll be sure to tell you first."
"To be fair, you should have seen it coming," Ellie teased gently, nudging my side. "After all, Alexa has been showing signs of insanity for a while now."
"Oh ha ha," I rolled my eyes while Jeremy laughed, giving my siblings dirty looks. "Maybe I should let my evil side lose on you two. Would serve you right."
"Nah, you love us too much," Elena smiled and I groaned dramatically.
"You're lucky that I do," I shook my head, glancing to the side as the door opened. Damon walked in, carrying a bag of food. The smell had my tummy rumbling and I immediately shot up from the bed to grab it.
"Thanks, Day," I smiled up at him before taking the food over to the table. "Come on kids, eat up."
"I'm older than you," Elena rolled her eyes at me but she got up to help me sort out the various packages within.
"And I'm more mature," I snorted, poking my twin's side.
My sister shook her head at me while Damon asked, "Any news from Rose?"
"Nah," Jeremy answered, moving to sit at the table. Larry followed, resting his head on Jer's leg, looking to get some food. I knew that my brother was a softie and would inevitably end up sneaking the dog some food.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna freshen up," my vampire nodded, his fingers stroking my back. "You might want to get some rest once you've eaten. I'm sure Rose will make herself known when she gets back."
XXX
Once we had finished our food, we retreated to the beds. Elena and Jeremy were sharing one. I had offered to share but I think Ellie just wanted to be near our brother. I knew that she hated the fact that she wasn't able to look after him while he was in Denver. But she could look after him now.
I laid down on the other bed, listening to my sibling's breath. It hadn't taken long for them to fall asleep. But, as usual, sleep eluded me. So I listened to the sounds of the room, the sounds of the outside. I heard Damon puttering around the bathroom. I heard the couple in the room next to us shout at each other. I heard Larry snuffle in his sleep as he stretched out between the two beds.
I was distracted from my thoughts when the bathroom door opened. My boyfriend walked out, turning off the light behind him. The streetlights outside illuminated his bare chest, framed by his black shirt. I watched him as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the side. He sighed and sat down at the table, pouring himself a drink.
I watched as he drained the glass, before pouring himself another. Damon must have sensed my gaze as he glanced over, meeting my eyes. I gave him a small smile, knowing that he would see it in the dim light. It was weird, being in a motel room like this. If it wasn't for the fact that my siblings were sleeping on the next bed, then I would be summoning Damon into my bed. But since they were, I settled for watching him, admiring his firm chest.
Damon's eyes never left mine as he slowly sipped at his drink. His tongue flicked out, catching a drop of whiskey on his lips. I could feel myself flushing as I remembered what that tongue was capable of. And I knew that my vampire shared my thoughts.
When he finished the drink, Damon got up from the table. He approached the bed, slowly laying down next to me. His head shifted to the side, looking down at me.
"Hi," I whispered softly, turning on my side. I reached out to rest a hand on Damon's chest, my fingers stroking that soft skin.
"Hi," my boyfriend replied, his voice just as soft as his hand covered mine. I studied his face, noting the tense lines in his skin. I knew that he still worried about Kol tracking us down. It was a worry that I shared, but I just tried to focus on the fact that I had my brother back with me.
"That was sweet, what you did for Rose," I shifted my hand so that it rested on his cheek. I lifted myself up so that I was resting on my elbow, looking down at Damon. "I'm glad that she was able to find peace in her final moments."
"I couldn't let her stay in pain," Damon sighed, reaching up to stroke my cheek. "There wasn't much that I could do for her, but I could take away her pain."
"I hate that people don't see the good in you," I carefully shook my head, making sure not to dislodge my vampire's hand from my cheek. "It's not fair."
"I don't mind so much. Because when people see good, then they tend to expect good," Damon's eyes stared into mine, the blue turning silver in the night light. "And I don't want to have to live up to other people's expectations. You accept me for who I am, Ally, not everyone is as generous as you."
"I'll always accept you, Day, no matter what," I promised softly, running my thumb over his cheekbone. "And I'll fight anyone who tries to tell me not to."
"And that's why I love you," Damon's lips curled into a soft smile, one that took my breath away. It was such a sweet smile, one that showed his vulnerable side. And I felt so privileged to see it.
I leant down, pressing a kiss against his lips. Damon's hand moved to cup the back of my head, holding me against him. I let him devour my lips for a second before pulling back, breathing out, "Not here."
My vampire nodded and I got up from the bed. I glanced to the side, making sure that my siblings were asleep, before leaving the room. I made it as far as the ice machine before a gentle hand grabbed my arm, spinning me around.
Damon's eyes stared into mine and I was very much aware of the fact that he hadn't done his shirt up. His skin shone in the moonlight and I itched to feel it against mine. I knew that that wasn't possible, not right now. But that didn't mean that I could imagine it.
I stepped into Damon's arms, using his shirt to pull him closer, as I kissed him, urging his lips to open. My vampire needed no further encouragement. He licked into my mouth; his hands grabbed my hips. I took the hint and opened my legs, wrapping them around his hips. Damon pressed me back against the pillar, one hand tangling in my hair, holding me still while he devoured me.
My hands were everywhere, on his neck, in his hair, tugging on his shirt. His mouth moved from my lips to my neck, his hand gripping my ass. I tugged on his hair as he found that sensitive spot under my neck, sucking on it. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from groaning.
Damon pressed a kiss to my cleavage before returning to my lips. He sucked and nibbled and licked, driving me crazy. I wanted more. Despite the fact that we were outside, despite the fact that my siblings were literally a door away, I wanted more. It had been far too long since I last had this. And I needed it.
The sound of a door opening had me freezing, as did the sound of my brother's voice, "Uh, Alexa?"
"Fuck," I mumbled against Damon's lips as my eyes closed. I let my head rest back against the pilar as I raised my voice, "Yeah, Jeremy?"
"Rose found Mary," the kid replied, barely hiding his amusement. "She lives in Kansas."
"Okay then," Damon sighed, carefully letting me down. He stared down at me with lust filled eyes before glancing over at my brother. "Let's go."
XXX
The journey to Kansas was awkward. The drive was a couple of hours and during that journey, I could feel my brother smirking at me. The little shit. I knew that he had told Elena what he had seen, as she had rolled her eyes at me when I entered the motel room. I just cleared my throat and looked away.
There was no judgement in that gaze, just amusement. But it was still embarrassing, getting caught making out with your boyfriend by your brother. It wasn't something that bothered me before. But I guess it was because it was Damon. And were dealing with murderous Original vampires and tracking down sire lines. It probably wasn't the best time to be getting freaky with your boyfriend next to an ice machine. But my vampire just drove me crazy. And I was horny. It had been far too long and just having him lying next to me in the bed had my heart racing in a way that I just didn't want to control.
There was a frantic rush to get packed and get changed before we left. Damon had gone to get the car ready, taking the luggage that was already packed with him. Elena tried to sit in the front, but I refused to let her. I knew that if I sat near Jeremy, the kid wouldn't stop teasing me. It was bad enough that he was smirking at me. But he wouldn't say anything while I was next to Damon.
"Did Rose say anything about Mary?" Damon asked, glancing at my brother in the mirror. "Or did she just give you an address?"
"Just an address," the kid replied with a shrug. "But she did say that this Mary woman was a bit of a recluse, so she should be there."
"Well, she better be," my vampire rolled his eyes. "Because the longer that we're searching for our sire line, the more Klaus will get pissy."
"Has Stefan gotten the location of the stake out of Ric yet?" Elena asked, a worried frown appearing on her face. I knew what she was thinking as those same thoughts haunted my mind. Ric's alter ego was doing the same thing as mine and refusing to come out. Unfortunately, while it played hide and seek, we couldn't get the information that we needed from him. Klaus wouldn't remain patient for long. And I was scared as to what he would do to Ric to either get the stake or remove the threat. If Evil Ric was the only one who knew of its location, then killing Ric would mean that the stake was safe, thus ensuring that the Originals were safe. I prayed that Jenna would be able to help. That his evil side loved her as much as it appeared he did.
"Not yet," Damon sighed, shaking his head. "But my brother is capable to getting things done, when push comes to shove."
"He better be," I groaned softly, resting my head against the window. The thought had occurred to me that maybe my psycho side knew. But it had been a while since I last blacked out. And I was never alone when I went to sleep. So there was no way that my alter ego could sneak off somewhere to hide a stake. But if she was resourceful as I could be, then it was possible. Maybe, when we got back to town, I would think about it further, if Stefan hadn't gotten the location of the stake.
Things went quiet after that. It was a lot to take in. So many of our loved ones were in danger. And there wasn't much that we could do. I hated that. I needed to help them. When it came to the supernatural drama that plagued our lives, there wasn't a lot that I could do. But it was hard to accept that. Protecting my loved ones was something that I had been doing for years. I wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
Eventually, Damon pulled up outside of an old, decrepit building. It looked abandoned. Like no one had been here in years. But we had to trust Rose. She wouldn't let us down, not when it concerned something so important. Maybe this Mary person just wasn't very houseproud. Which would make sense, if she really was a recluse.
"This is the address," Jeremy replied to the frown that Damon sent his way. We all stood outside the car, staring up at the old building. "Rose was very specific. And it looks like she described it."
"Sounds about right," my vampire conceded, looking at the house with distaste. It was quite amusing really. He was such a perfectionist when it came to this sort of thing. Seeing this old building probably got right under his skin.
Elena nodded before glancing at our brother, "Wait here."
"Why?" the kid pouted, looking annoyed at being left out. "I can help."
"Sorry kiddo, not this time," I patted him on the shoulder, ignoring the look that he gave me. "Stay here and look after the car. And Larry. If anyone arrives or if anything happens, just shout." When he opened his mouth to argue, I held up my hand, "We can test out your new badass skills when we get home. But now is not the time."
Jeremy had to accept my point, but he didn't do it graciously. He rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Fine," before slouching back to the car. He opened the door and slumped inside, patting Larry on the head.
"Honestly, he's the lucky one here," I shook my head at him as he pouted at me through the window. "He isn't the one who has to go into that manky house."
"You don't have to go in either, Lexa," Ellie spoke softly, a suggestive look on her face. I just snorted and rolled my eyes.
"Nice try, Elena," I prodded her shoulder before walking forward. "But there is no way that you are going into that building without me."
XXX
Damon entered the building first, pausing just by the door before gesturing for us to follow. I wrinkled my nose at the dusty smell. Honestly, it was like no one had cleaned in here for years. This Mary person must be nose blind to it all. Elena's expression reflected my thoughts, especially when she turned on the torch on her phone.
The bright light illuminated the piles of books on the floor, grouped around piles of boxes. It was filled with junk. Dusty junk. And I was not impressed.
"Oof, like Vampire Hoarders," Damon scoffed as he carefully moved around the precariously piled boxes. I gestured for Elena to follow him. My sister rolled her eyes at me but moved forward. She knew that I wouldn't move since I wanted to watch her back. And for once, she didn't try and argue it.
"Who is this Mary person?" my twin frowned, shining the light around the room. Despite being filled with junk, the room was huge with numerous doors leading off of it. At the back of the room, I could see stairs leading to the top floor.
"Scary Mary," my vampire answered, pausing to listen for any noises in the house. When he heard nothing, he sighed and shook his head. "She's really old, super creepy."
"Sounds like you know her," I remarked before flinching and grabbing my sister's arm. Damn, could have sworn that I saw a mouse run across the ground. Maybe I should have waited in the car with Jeremy and the dog. Would have been a lot nicer than being in here.
She rolled her eyes at me and grabbed my hand as Damon said, "Well, I did date her."
"Date her or fuck her?" I raised an eyebrow, shaking my head with a smile. Was I jealous that we were seeing an old fling of Damon's? Yeah, I was. But I knew that I didn't have anything to worry about. I trusted Damon; he wouldn't do anything with this Mary chick. It was just weird, the thought of seeing one of his ex's.
My vampire wiggled his eyebrows at me as Ellie rolled her eyes, "Of course."
"What?" Damon shrugged, going for an innocent look. "I said creepy, not ugly."
I was about to make a comment when a loud noise came from one of the adjoining rooms. We all froze where we stood as Elena pointed the torch towards the door. Well, shit, maybe we had just woken Mary up? Because if it was someone else, then we were probably a bit fucked. As we needed answers from Mary.
Damon carefully opened the door before slowly walking inside. We followed him, with me gripping my sister's hand tightly. I kept her close to me, ready to push her to safety if needed. We all paused in the middle of the room. I could just about see a bed next to us, but it was the light of the torch that distracted me.
Ellie shone it onto the wall and it illuminated a vampire. Well, a dead vampire. Even deader vampire? Either way, a blonde was staked to the wall, blood dribbling from the wound. Her skin was grey and I cursed under my breath. I knew that there was a chance that it wasn't the one that we were looking for. But I also knew that we weren't that lucky.
My thoughts were confirmed when Damon sighed, "Mary."
At his words, the lights were turned on. We immediately spun around, Damon pushing me behind him while I pushed Ellie behind me. Kol sat in a chair behind the door, a baseball bat in his hands. It was the aluminium one that he had picked out at the Denver batting cage.
"Quite contrary," the Original smirked, standing up. He approached the vampire on the wall, faking a sigh. Damon kept us hidden behind him, a hand against my shoulder as he watched the older vampire with wary eyes. "Shame about Mary. She used to be a blast. Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time that she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."
"Clearly she had no taste," I muttered and Kol's smirk grew. He shot me a wink and I narrowed my eyes at him. He was as unpredictable as his brother. And it was rather annoying. Honestly, one day, this lot would decide if they wanted to kill me or befriend me.
"And were you her favourite?" Ellie asked, drawing the Original's attention away from me. My sister held her head high, her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked extremely unhappy at the attention that he was giving me.
"You mean, did I turn her?" Kol asked and I realised that he knew what we were doing. He, and probably his family too, knew that we were tracking down the sire line of our vampires. Which was bad as they would do everything in their power to stop us from finding out. Like killing our only lead. "I think I did." He exaggerated a thinking face. "But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair." Kol's face hardened as he stepped forward. "I spoke to my brother; I knew that you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will." A smirk returned to his face as he held up his bat, twirling it in his hand. "So, where did we leave off?"
Before anyone could move, Kol darted forward. He wacked Damon in the leg with his bat, a stomach-churning crack echoing around the room. My vampire crumpled to the floor, clutching his knee, a pained look on his face. I went to go to him, desperate to help my boyfriend. But Elena pulled me back. She wrapped an arm around my waist as I struggled to go to Damon, to help him. I needed to help him.
While Kol continue to hit him with the bat, my vampire groaned out, "Girls, get out of here!" When I shouted out, refusing to leave, he added, "Elena, get her out of here!"
Ellie nodded and pulled me towards the door. I struggled as best I could without hurting my sister. I needed to get to Damon. But I also needed to get her away from Kol. I was so conflicted and I just didn't know what to do.
But before we could leave the room, Kol suddenly appeared in front of us. He had a dangerous smirk on his face as he looked down at us, resting the bat against his shoulder, "Now, according to my brother, you're both off limits. So please don't test me."
I glared at him, reaching out to the side. I grabbed a handle and it felt like one of those old wooden brushes. With a snarl, I wacked the Original in the head. Kol staggered sideways in surprise and I took the opportunity to shove my sister out of the door. Elena let out a shout of protest but before she could race back in, strong hands were shoving me back.
I fell to the floor, knocking my head against the corner of the bed. I let out a low groan as my head erupted in pain. My eyes scrunched closed as I reached out to press a gentle hand against my forehead. I could feel wetness on my fingers and just knew that I was bleeding. Which was just… fantastic. Jenna was never going to let me leave the house by myself again. If she let me leave at all.
Nearby, I heard a ferocious snarl as Damon pushed himself from the ground, rushing at the Original, "Don't you dare touch her."
I forced my eyes open only to see Kol hitting Damon again with the bat. He had a vicious smirk on his face as he spoke, using all his strength to beat on my boyfriend, "Oh dear, I've hit a nerve. Heh, relax, darling, I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, you humiliated me. And then you had the audacity to forget me."
"What do you mean?" my vampire groaned, covering his face the best he could.
"We were friends!" Kol lost his composure for a second before shaking his head. "Back in the 1908, in New Orleans. We were friends, we partied and we had fun. And then you let my brother compel you to forget me. That hurt, darling, and now we're finally even."
With one last hit, Kol stared down at Damon and a second later, he was gone.
XXX
Despite the pounding in my head, I crawled over to Damon's side. He laid on his back, a pained look on his face as he cracked his wrist back into place. I knelt down next to him, reaching out to stroke his cheek. Blue eyes flickered up to meet mine just as my sister burst through the doors.
"Alexa!" Ellie shouted, racing over to my side. She dropped to her knees beside me, wrapping her arms around me to bring me into a hug. "Oh my god, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," I patted her back with one hand, the other resting on my boyfriend's chest. "Damon took the brunt of Kol's anger. Is Jeremy okay?"
"He's fine, Kol left without paying him any attention," my sister replied, pulling back. But she kept one hand on my shoulder, especially when she saw the cut on my forehead. Before she could say anything, I looked down at Damon. I wanted to avoid the worried look in my twin's eyes. I didn't regret pushing her out of the way, but I knew that she would feel guilty that I got hurt because of it.
"Hey, Day," I said softly as my vampire pushed himself up into a sitting position. I could see his body healing itself, even with the pained frown still on his face. "How you doing?"
"How do you feel about daggering Kol again?" he grumbled as I grabbed his hand. "Because I would definitely support and help you."
"Well, I would definitely enjoy the opportunity," I shrugged lightly, feeling my sister's eyes on my face. I glanced over at her and sighed at the guilty look on her face. "Hey, Ellie, go get the car ready. We'll be right out. No point in hanging around since Mary is dead."
I could tell that Elena didn't want to leave my side. But she glanced over at Damon and sighed. With a gentle nod, she climbed to her feet and left the room. I was surprised that she didn't try to argue to stay, but maybe she realised that I needed to check on my boyfriend. And he wouldn't admit any weakness in front of her.
Once my sister was gone, I shifted to help Damon to his feet. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as I helped him up, leaning him back against the bed frame. While he was mostly healed, I knew that there was a little bit left to go. Especially since it looked like one of his arms was not in the correct position.
"Do you need help with that?" I asked, gesturing to the fucked up arm. I didn't know how to pop a dislocated arm back into place. But I would help in any way that he needed me to.
"I've got it, baby," he gave me a pained smile before popping it back in himself. I grimaced at the noise it made but I could see the tension in his body ease slightly. "That's better."
"Couldn't have been any worse," I quirked my lips into a small smile before reaching up to cup his cheek. Damon rolled his eyes slightly at my words before he examined my face. I knew the second that he realised that I had gotten hurt too, as he reached out to gently touch the skin next to it. I knew that it was going to bruise around the cut and I did my best not to wince. But I must have failed when his hand moved almost immediately, shifting to cup the back of my head instead.
"You're bleeding, baby," he murmured, wrapping his other arm around me, pulling me close. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I mumbled into his chest, feeling his strong body, unmarred by injury any longer. "It stings a bit but that won't last. I'm just worried about you."
"I'm all healed up," Damon promised, resting his chin on the top of my head. "Nothing to worry about."
"Not gonna stop me worrying," I sighed. "Not after what I just saw."
My vampire was silent for a moment before pulling me even closer. Not that there was much distance between us anyway, but the way that he squeezed me against his chest just helped. His fingers stroked my cheek and I let my eyes close.
"I promise, Ally, I'm fine," he whispered into my hair. "Kol wasn't aiming to do much damage, he just wanted to make a statement."
"He knew you. I know you said that he felt familiar, but he actually knew you. He liked you, enough that you getting compelled to forget him seemed to hurt him."
Damon spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully as he thought deeply, "Before I met Sage, I didn't enjoy being a vampire, feeding was just something that I did. I didn't take pleasure in what I could do. I always thought that Sage was the one to change that for me. But, now that I think back on it, there was a reason as to why I was so receptive to her lessons. I remember feeling that way, a few years before I met her."
"Kol helped you enjoy it, didn't he?"
"I think he did. And then I was compelled to forget it all."
"It must have been Klaus," I sighed. "All of the others had been daggered at some point, ending their compulsion."
"Something else for me to hate him for," Damon murmured before shaking his head. "I'll never get those memories back, so there's no point in thinking about it. Let's just go home and forget about our latest failure."
"Hopefully Stefan had more success than we did," I nodded, keeping myself wrapped around Damon as he led me through the junk and out of the house. "At least if he has found the stake, then we have a bit longer to find out who sired your vampire line. We might even be able to get Jeremy to form a connection with Mary, find out answers from her ghost."
"We need to do something," Damon agreed as my sister approached us. "Because we can't let Klaus keep the advantage."
XXX
The drive home was quiet. All of us were thinking deeply on what our failure to find answers meant. Knowing that the survival of so many of our loved ones depended on one of the Original's living was horrible. Because if we did manage to kill all except the one that sired them, then that Original would be after revenge. Especially if it was Klaus, who we had no way of neutralising. At least if it was someone like Rebekah, we could just dagger her.
"Have you heard from Stefan?" my sister asked, breaking the silence. I knew that this road trip, and the distance that it provided, had done nothing to help with her conflicted feelings towards the younger Salvatore. It would take some time for her to work through those. She had loved Stefan for so long, but I didn't know if she loved an image of him. The vampire that ate animals, that wasn't dangerous to her. I knew that it scared her, when he drank human blood. But did she love Stefan enough to accept that part of him? To truly love his entire vampire side, not just the pretty aspects of it.
"Not yet," Damon replied, shaking his head. "But that doesn't mean that he didn't get the stake. If it ended up the way I expect it did, then he probably needs some time to clear his head."
I understood immediately what my vampire meant. It was entirely likely that Stefan had to torture Ric to find out the location of the stake. Especially if Evil Ric didn't want to come out to play. I just hoped that Klaus didn't get involved. I knew that Stefan wouldn't hurt Ric too badly, but the Original Hybrid definitely would. Especially if there was a threat against him.
Elena stayed silent at the implications behind Damon's words. I knew that she didn't like the thought of Stefan hurting Ric. Ellie wasn't one to get her hands dirty if she could avoid it. And she definitely didn't want someone that she cared about to get hurt. This would only make things harder for her when it came to her complicated feelings for Stefan.
The moment we got home; Jenna was at the front door. I was surprised that she wasn't with Ric, but maybe she had been sent home to avoid the painful part of the stake finding. I hoped that was the case. Jenna didn't deserve to see someone else that she loved get hurt. Which was why I had forbidden anyone from mentioning the cut on my head, which I was trying to hide with my hair.
"Jeremy," our aunt smile, gathering the kid into a hug when he got out of the car. I could see the relief in Jenna's expression, that our youngest was unharmed. It was a worry. When you couldn't see him, then it felt like you didn't truly know that he was okay.
"Hey Jenna," Jer replied, sinking into the hug as we got the bags out of the car. I helped carry them up the porch while Jenna checked in with Elena. My sister gave a high-level accounting of what had happened. I appreciated that she left out the gorier details of Kol's attack. Jenna didn't need to know about that.
"I'm going to go check on Stefan and Ric," Damon told me once all of the bags were by the door. He reached out to cup my cheek, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "I'll come back later."
"Tell them that I say hi," I replied, tilting my head back to capture his lips before he could move away. "Let me know what happened."
"Will do," my vampire nodded, disappearing as I heard Jenna finally notice Larry.
"Uh, Jeremy, why are you taking a dog into the house?" our aunt frowned, staring down at the dog. Larry, bless his golden heart, sat down in front of her, tail wagging slightly as his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.
"Because he's the newest member of the family," my brother shrugged, but I could see the hope in his eyes, even as he tried to play it cool.
"Jer, I don't know if that's a good idea…" Jenna spoke slowly, but I could see her glancing down at the dog. It was obvious that she was going to cave. But it was just a case of how much of a fight would she put up.
"He'll help keep you safe, Jenna," I piped up, deciding to help my brother. I crouched down by Larry, wrapping my arms around him and pouted, "And how can you say no to this little cutie? Isn't he adorable?"
Larry, the good boy, licked my hand and let out a woof. It was the cutest sound and I knew that we had it. Jenna's face melted as she knelt down to stroke his head, "Fine. You can keep him. But Jeremy, he is your responsibility."
"Yes!" Jeremy smiled happily, gathering Jenna up into another hug. "You won't regret this, Jenna. I promise. He'll be the best dog ever and you'll love him so much."
"Okay, okay," Jenna laughed, shaking her head. "I've already said yes. You don't need to convince me any further."
"Which is code for quick, get him in the house before I can change my mind," I added, a cheeky grin on my face as I quickly led Larry inside. "Once he's in, he ain't leaving."
"If I haven't kicked out the numerous vampires, then I won't kick out Larry," our aunt rolled her eyes. The dog settled in front of the fireplace like he had lived here all his life. And I made a mental note to find the biggest, fluffiest bed that I could find for him. After all, he was a member of the family now, he deserved to be spoilt. Especially since he made my family happy. And after everything that we had been through, they deserved to be happy.
XXX
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, my darlings, please keep them coming :) We're properly into the endgame now and it is exciting! I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) friendly reminder that the poll is still up (if you have any trouble finding it, please let me know). Until next time xoxo
