Cursed Blood and Bound Fates

Chapter 14

Stefan had been locked in the basement for nearly a week, being dosed with vervain and fed animal blood until they were certain the human blood was gone from his system. Stefan, however, stopped feeding after the first couple days, once the human blood had left his system, and became more and more broody. Renfri would normally call this a good thing, since it was a return of a normal pattern of behavior, except it was all he seemed to be doing. He wouldn't eat, he refused to really talk or listen to Elena or Damon, and just sat on his cot, eyes closed or head hanging down. Renfri had chosen not to get involved in Stefan's recovery beyond giving her opinion on occasion when they discussed his current state of health and mental wellbeing. She still took it as a good sign that he was wallowing in guilt and not wanting Elena near for fear of hurting her, that meant he hadn't turned his emotions off, he still cared. She had texted Lexi about what had happened and she'd said that as long as his emotions were still on, he would be okay, Elena would just have to help him through it. Of course, if he moved towards turning his emotions off and becoming a ripper, they were to contact her immediately. Based on Damon and Elena's reports, she didn't think he was at that point, so she was hopeful that Elena could get through to him, the girl was damn persistent when it came to her vampire boyfriend.

Renfri had stayed home for a few days, having Damon call her out sick, and she took the time to sleep in, catch up on books and tv shows she'd been wanting to get to, and go running with Ash. Essentially, she just needed time to herself to get her head right again before being around people again. The ordeal with Stefan at the pageant, him attacking her, it had messed with her head more than she liked. It helped that she hadn't had to see or hear him for a little while, but she knew it would end soon once Elena could convince him to eat again. It seemed he was refusing the blood out of guilt and not wanting to be strong enough to hurt someone, though she didn't know if he had really thought beyond that, he couldn't just sit in the basement and slowly desicate.

The traumatized teenager had decided to return to school that day and was welcomed back with open arms from an excited Caroline and a hesitant smile and greeting from her witchy friend. She'd been seeing Elena every day since she stayed at the boarding house each evening to be near Stefan during his difficult time, so a reunion hug wasn't needed, though she offered her a warm smile and a 'glad you're here.' The day went alright, she received her makeup work in each class and was offered notes by some of her classmates.

Tyler sat with her at lunch to check-in and had ended up being a bright spot in her day. They were becoming good friends and had texted several times over the days she had stayed home from school. They had been friendly before, their penchant for mischief and snarky jokes made them compatible friends, but now they actually talked beyond just in classes or amongst their similar friends. Renfri's discovery of Tyler's father's abusive habits pushed them closer together and he would text or call her whenever he needed to get away physically or mentally from the two-faced mayor. Sometimes that meant meeting somewhere in town or just talking on the phone when he locked himself in his room. They'd even worked out together once and were planning on doing it again that day after school. She had joined him to lift weights in the school gym then met him with Ash to go for a run on a trail in the woods. She felt safer doing that with someone she trusted, but she still wouldn't do that alone anymore. Tyler had a hell of a lot of stamina, but she was mostly able to keep up during the run. She couldn't, however, lift nearly as much weight as he could, which made him laugh.

After working out with him after school, she headed home. As she walked through the foyer and into the den, Ash ducked through the dog door's flap and bounded over to greet her, barking happily. He'd been happy to spend so much time with her when she was home the past days and had apparently missed her during the day. He followed her up to her room, lounging on his dog bed while she showered and changed, then joined her downstairs again when she went looking for Damon and Elena. She found them in the large study, Elena on one of the leather couches and Damon leaning over the table against the back of the couch.

"You know he's just being dramatic, he's not gonna starve himself," the dark-haired man told the girl.

"Then why would he say that?" Elena asked.

"He feels bad about hurting Ren, it's very typical Stefan martyr stuff, it will pass."

Ren's shoes on the entryway steps announced her arrival along with the click of Ash's nails on the wood.

"Stefan's still not eating?" she asked them as she plopped into an armchair by the fire with Ash moving to lay in front of the warm hearth.

Elena turned to her with worried eyes, "He said he's not eating because he doesn't want to survive, that he just wants it over."

Renfri leaned her head on her hand and crossed one leg over the other, "Well, that's dramatic. I told him I'd forgive him, it would just take time. This is going overboard, even for him."

Elena pinched her lips together and looked back at Damon, "Will it pass? Because he seemed to be in a lot of pain."

He scoffed, "Yeah, that'll pass too once he eats."

Elena gave him a look, "I didn't mean physical pain."

"I know what you meant," he replied, "Look, are you two gonna be okay here if I run out? I have to go on an errand with a teacher."

"Alaric? What are you two friends now?" the brunette inquired.

"I don't have any friends, Elena," he said lowly, turning to grab his jacket.

"Why are you going anywhere with him? He tried to kill us," Renfri added with a frown.

"That's what I said, but he diligently pointed out that I did kill him. He also refused to give all the info he had until I let him join me on said errand, so…" he lifted his hands and shrugged. He pulled his arms through his sleeves as he added, "You should, um, you should stay up here, Elena. You shouldn't be down there by yourself."

"I'll be fine," she reassured dryly, like he was a nagging parent.

Damon's face pinched a bit, "You know, you're very trusting of him…given the circumstances."

"You mean, him trying to eat me? Yeah, I'd say that's a little too trusting," Ren commented.

Elena glanced at her friend sadly before looking back at the oldest Salvatore, "So are you, otherwise you wouldn't be leaving."

Damon looked back at her for a moment then at his niece, "I won't be long."

Renfri lifted and dropped one shoulder, "Fine with me, I'm gonna head to the Grill soon to meet Tyler anyway." Her uncle nodded and left.

Elena's curious eyes turned her way, "Since when do you and Tyler hang out? I saw you guys sitting together at lunch today."

Renfri hummed, "We were friends before, but we've just been talking more lately. It's no big deal, we've always gotten along well before."

Elena raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, "If you say so."

Renfri sighed, knowing the girl didn't believe her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The redhead entered the Grill scanning for Tyler and spied him at the pool tables. She grinned and pulled her jacket off as she made her towards him as he leaned over to take a shot.

"Looking to get your ass kicked by a girl tonight?"

The dark-haired teen paused and straightened, turning with the cue stick in hand to see her challengingly stare directed at him.

He chuckled, "Not tonight, it'll be you going home crying, loser."

She tossed her jacket on the chair of a nearby table by the half-wall that divided the pool tables from the dining tables by the fireplace. As they began to play, she noticed John Gilbert sitting at a table directly in front of the crackling fire. She hesitated for a moment, watching him curiously, before going to take her turn, sinking two balls before missing, making it Tyler's turn. They continued to play for several more minutes until they were taking their final shots of the first game and Renfri saw a tall woman with pin-straight hair enter the Grill and move right for Elena's uncle's table. The teenager narrowed her eyes curiously as Tyler tried to sink his last ball. He missed and Ren finished the game by putting her last ball in a corner pocket, and she moved towards the table, smirking victoriously as he gave her the middle finger and pouted.

"Let's order some food, I haven't had dinner yet and I'm starving."

He shrugged and followed her over to the table where her jacket was. They picked up the menus from the side and skimmed the choices. As she pretended to review her options, Renfri glanced two tables over to where Pearl and John Gilbert had begun speaking, just able to hear their conversation since there were more empty tables in this section.

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Gilbert, you knew who I was when I requested the meeting," the woman said bitingly in response to something the man had said, and he nodded. "So, Damon tells me you're looking for the device I took from Jonathon," she continued, and he nodded again, "I'm sure you realize I have no intention of giving it to you."

"That's why I wanted to meet you, I'm planning on changing your mind," he replied easily.

"Really? How so?" she asked disbelievingly.

"With my Gilbert charm, I know that you have a weakness for it." Pearl looked back at him with skeptical eyes as he asked, "May I buy you a drink?" His attempts at being charming as he signaled for a waitress made Renfri's lip curl, it just came off as slimy to her, she hoped the vampire wasn't foolish enough to buy into it, she rather seemed old enough to have learned to not get tricked by men who openly hated vampires and outright said they wanted something from her.

"You ready?"

The redhead whipped her head around as Tyler looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, yeah, I just got lost in thought. I'm ready to order."

Tyler looked around and flagged down a waitress. The young woman he had waved at nodded but turned to the blond teenager behind her and spoke to him, pointing in their direction, before going to serve other tables. Tyler groaned and glanced down awkwardly when Matt Donovan moved in their direction.

"What, are you guys still not talking?" she asked.

"He hates me. I've apologized, but he still won't get over it, there's nothing else I can do," he explained with a frown.

Renfri leaned back and crossed her arms, "It's kind of a big thing to get over, you making out with his mom then punching him, so yeah, it's gonna take some time. Let him be, do normal things like saying hi, even if he doesn't respond how you want him to. Just make it clear you'll let him come to you whenever he's ready." He looked at her uncertainly but nodded. Matt came to stand by the table and pulled a pad and pen from his apron pocket.

"Hey, what can I get you guys?" he asked in a flat tone, keeping his eyes on his pad.

Tyler looked at him with a frown but Renfri kicked at him under the table, making him flinch, "Hey, Matt. I'll have a bacon burger–medium– with fries and a coke, thanks."

He nodded, jotting it down, then shifted and looked up at Renfri, "And you, Ren?" She raised an eyebrow, he was really making it obvious that he was avoiding Tyler by refusing to look at him then blatantly acknowledging her.

"Hi Matt, can I have a chicken bacon ranch wrap grilled with a side of the roasted vegetables?"

He nodded again as he wrote, "Sure thing, anything else?"

"A Dr. Pepper, thanks. Oh, and feel free to come over if you get a break anytime soon, yeah? I didn't really get a chance to talk to you in classes today," she told him.

He paused to look at her, "I already had my break and I'm leaving in twenty minutes, but I'll find you tomorrow at school. You doing okay though? I heard you were in the ER after the pageant."

She waved him off, "Yeah, just had a bit of an accident, I'm alright, just needed some rest and time to decompress. See you at school."

He waved and walked away as Tyler let out a heavy breath he seemed to be holding, letting his shoulders sag.

"Fuck, it's way to awkward, he won't even look at me," he complained but Renfri just shrugged.

"It is what it is, just gotta let him take the time he needs to be pissed. It's better that he ignores you rather than try to take it out on you constantly, he's actually pretty mature for a high schooler in some ways," she responded thoughtfully. Tyler grunted and turned the conversation towards the boy's track team's scores, allowing for Renfri to tune an ear towards Pearl and John again, who she hoped weren't actually flirting with each other. She might actually have to vomit on the guy. John had just returned to the table, though she wasn't sure what from, and apologized for his absence.

"My apologies."

"No apologies necessary. So tell me, Mr. Gilbert, why should I let you have the device?"

"Because I can help you. I'm connected around here, the town council's eating out of my hand and do whatever I say. I know that you just want to live your life complete with a white picket fence, I can help you do that," he attempted to persuade her.

She tilted her head curiously, "But the device doesn't even work, why would you want it?"

"It's a family heirloom," he said breezily, "call me sentimental." Renfri raised an eyebrow; 'sentimental' was the last thing she'd call John Gilbert, more like 'manipulative asshole.' She didn't think that the device didn't work, though, they probably just didn't know how it worked or what it did.

Pearl smiled a little, "Jonathon was ahead of his time."

John nodded, "I read his journals, they're very extensive. He actually wrote about you," Pearl tilted her head up, betraying her interest, "you were his one regret. He loved you and he hated himself for what he did to you."

The woman paused, sensing the deceit, then scoffed, "You're lying."

"No, in his last days he wrote how sorry he was, you were the only woman he ever loved."

There was a stillness in that moment as Pearl seemed lost in old memories, broken by Tyler getting up to go to the restroom, then by John's arrogant laughter.

Pearl's head snapped up to glare at him as he said, "Good god, you vampires, you're so emotional. Jonathan Gilbert hated you, his only regret was that he didn't drive a stake through your heart himself."

Renfri couldn't help herself, "Hey, would you shut the fuck up, already? Why don't you say the v-word a little louder so the whole restaurant can hear and think you're crazy? Or do you plan on going out like an idiot by pissing off someone half a millennia old?"

John looked her way with arrogant eyes, clearly dismissing her comment, before taking a leisurely sip of his drink as his acquaintance got up from her seat. Pearl glanced at the teenager curiously before her eyes turned to steel and were aimed at John Gilbert.

"I gave it to Damon."

The man swallowed his drink quickly, the smug smirk now gone, "You what?"

"I gave your device to Damon, why don't you ask him for it yourself? I'm sure he'd be delighted to give it to you, and then, Mr. Gilbert, may you rot in hell." With that, the woman spun on her heel and strode away.

Renfri watched John's face go from frustrated contemplation to solid determination. He glanced her way before calling for a waitress and paying the bill. When she returned with his card, he headed for the door, a dark gleam in his eyes. Renfri was concerned. What if he was stupid enough to follow the vampire home and try to kill her? What if he actually succeeded? They didn't know a whole lot about John, but he sure knew things and was someone to keep an eye on. Also, someone with that kind of hubris must have some kind of experience in killing vampires to be so arrogant as to mock a 500 year old vampire to her face, even when you want something from them. Then again, he got the knowledge he needed, that Damon had the device, so she was useless now and an unknown variable.

He was definitely going to kill her.

Renfri called a waitress over to ask for a box and pay just as Tyler made his way back from the restroom.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked. She packed her food into the to-go container as she answered.

"I just realized that I have a bunch of homework to make up at home, and I haven't fed Ash yet, we can hang out another time, yeah?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, that's fine, see you at school." He waved as she grabbed her card and receipt from the waitress on her way to the door and hurried out to her car.

She saw John pulling out of the lot when she reached her car, so she jumped in and started the engine, forgoing any safety measures in order to keep his car in sight. She let a few cars get in between them so it wasn't obvious that she was following them, and when they had paused at a stop light, she pulled out her phone and pulled up Jeremy's contact. When it rang several times and went to voicemail she called again, but got the same result. She let out a harsh breath in frustration as the beep toned in her ear.

"Jeremy, it's Ren, I need to get a hold of Anna right now, it's an emergency. I know it must sound weird since I don't really know her and I can't really explain, but it's seriously important. It's about her mom, Pearl. Call me back, as soon as you get this, I'm headed to her place."

She hung up and typed a quick text telling him to call her immediately, then tossed her phone in the cupholder, keeping her eyes on the road as the cars in front of her began to move again. The closer they got to the edge of town, the more sure she was that John was on a mission to execute one of the town's last resident tomb vampires. She considered texting Damon as well for backup, but she thought that he would just tell her to stay out of it and that he would too because he didn't give a rat's ass if Pearl died or not. She kind of did, but mostly she wanted to fuck up John 'bag of dicks' Gilbert's plans, so she decided to go it alone this time. She was optimistic that she could take one human man on as long as he didn't see her coming, and even then, she knew some basic self-defense and was pretty fit. She was also hopeful that if shit hit the fan, Pearl or Anna might help her out since she was trying to save them.

She saw John pull over to the side of the road about halfway up the long driveway that led to the farmhouse on the outskirts of town. She had turned her headlights off once they'd reached the wooded roads so that he couldn't tell she was following, although that meant that she had a harder time seeing any debris that sways in the way. She pulled over several hundred yards behind him and killed the engine. Thank god she drove a hybrid and the engine was quiet, otherwise he might have heard her behind him.

Renfri watched as the man got out of his car and popped the trunk. He rifled through a large duffle bag before he pulled out some kind of contraption that looked homemade. It looked like someone had modified a shotgun, it had a much wider barrel and a small tank attached to it. Stefan had mentioned Alaric having some kind of air powered stake gun when he spoke to him at the school, she guessed that John had devised something similar. She watched him load the wood projectile into the barrel and tuck two more into his waistband by his hip. As he began to move toward the house, Ren quietly opened her glove box and checked that her 9mm was loaded and the safety was on before tucking it in the back of her waistband. She opened her car door and gently nudged it closed before popping her own trunk and grabbing the tire iron from her road kit. She quickly followed after the man, staying on the grass and avoiding the gravel that would reveal her presence.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" she muttered to herself as she trailed the vampire hunter up to the porch.

She gripped the iron pipe tightly as she closed the distance, seeing the man silently climb the porch steps to ring the doorbell then turn to move quickly back down the steps. She paused and ducked behind a bush when he had turned her way, then kept going when he took a firm stance and lifted the stake gun to aim at the door steadily.

Just as the front door began to swing open, Renfri rushed forward the last few feet. She swung the tire iron swiftly through the air, slamming it into the side of his head just as he pulled the trigger. The door had opened to reveal Pearl standing there, but the stake that had launched from the makeshift weapon had missed its mark, thankfully. It had flown just past her left shoulder, grazing the cloth. John Gilbert dropped like a sack of potatoes on the farmhouse' front lawn and Renfri stood over him, breathing deeply from the adrenaline and brief sprint. She looked up to see Pearl staring at her and the downed man in shock.

"You're welcome," she breathed, hands shaking a bit.

"Thank you," the woman said immediately, "you didn't have to do that." Before anything else could be said, a noise was heard behind the vampire, and she turned to watch a dark-skinned man collapse forward, his skin turning gray.

The woman rushed forward and kneeled by his side, "No, Harper!"

Renfri moved forward and up the porch steps, trying to get a look at the dead vampire. It looked to be the one who had been staked down when they went to rescue Stefan, her uncle had said he tried to speak up for him against the others and was a kind man. She felt a bit bad that he had died, but better him than both him and Pearl, or Anna if she was there.

"I'm sorry, he had pulled the trigger by the time I reached him," she said sympathetically.

"No, it's not your fault," she said, getting up and turning to her. "Your blow changed the trajectory of the shot, it would have hit my heart if you hadn't done what you did. I'm grateful to you, even though I am sad to have lost a friend. It's just as well that Anna isn't here at the moment, he would have killed us all."

Renfri let out a breath and crossed her arms, "What are you going to do with him?" She nodded to the unconscious man on the lawn, "Might I ask that you don't kill him? He has a contingency plan in place that would expose us all to the council should he die unexpectedly."

She hummed in acknowledgement, "I suppose that should not be a surprise, the Gilberts have proven themselves to be even more cunning and ruthless than in the past."

Renfri shrugged, "I don't know about the rest, but this one sure is. How about dumping his weapons in the quarry, leaving his car on a random trail, and leaving him in the middle of the woods somewhere else?"

Pearl gave a charming yet deadly smile, "I believe that would be more than fair, considering he deserves to meet death. I was just packing our things to leave, I knew we would not be safe in this town any longer. You have my thanks, and please, contact me if you are in need of a favor or my knowledge. Consider me a friend, Ms. Salvatore, your bravery and intuition surpasses your ancestors'."

Renfri's eyes widened as the woman held her hand out for the teenager's phone, which she gave her, "Thank you, Pearl, but you can call me Renfri. And I'll definitely take you up on that somewhere down the line." The woman smiled as she added her contact information, then handed the phone back.

"Be sure that you do, I prefer not to owe debts if I can help it, though even if you call in your favor, I'm happy to still exchange information, as friendly acquaintances."

Renfri grinned at her, "Of course, so would I. It's been a pleasure, good luck." She tilted her chin up a bit in acknowledgement before pausing and contemplating the man on the ground. She grinned viciously before pulling her leg back and swinging it viciously into the man's ribs, making him groan but remain unconscious.

She leaned over him, looking down on the piece of scum, "That was for being a dick to me and my uncle. You'll be lucky if you don't die young at this rate, you excel at pissing people off, even your own family."

She sniffed as she stood straight, then continued on her way to her car, Pearl looking amusedly after the young woman. She has fire, the woman thought, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips again.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri waltzed into the study with her container of food, feeling pretty satisfied with herself, despite knowing what she did was risky. She gained an ally in a 500 year old vampire who was bound to be knowledgeable in certain things that would likely come in handy at some point and had gotten the chance to enact a little bit of violence on the man that so many disliked. She called that a successful night. She came into the room humming to herself, making Damon look up at her curiously as he continued to fiddle with the Gilbert device.

"What's got you in such a good mood? Did you enjoy your date with the Lockwood boy?" That stopped her in her tracks briefly. She threw herself in the armchair by the fire and frowned at him as she opened her box.

"No, something else entirely, and it wasn't a date. I knew everyone would jump to conclusions, we're just friends." She rolled her eyes as she stabbed at a slice of roasted carrot and stuck it in her mouth.

"What else are people going to think when you suddenly start hanging out with a boy, that you're friends?" He asked sarcastically and she gave him a deadpan look, making him chuckle.

She decided to move the conversation to other topics and grinned, "You're not gonna believe the night I had."

He raised an eyebrow, "What, did you finally get lucky?" She grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head, which he caught. Before she could insult him, he looked past her and she heard more footsteps enter the room.

"Little boy lost," he mocked as Stefan and Elena came in.

Renfri's eyes widened as she twisted to see them without dumping her food off her lap, "What the hell? When did you get out?"

"Little Miss Hopeless Romantic here left the cell door unlocked and gave him his daylight ring even though he was feeling a touch suicidal, he left it here," Damon said casually, making his niece raise her eyebrows judgingly at her friend.

"Seriously, Elena?"

The girl just shrugged unapologetically, "He's okay now, that's what matters." Renfri sighed but said nothing more on the matter, still eyeing her younger uncle warily. Elena squeezed Stefan's hand and glanced between the brothers, "I'll be upstairs." Stefan nodded and let her go.

"Good night, Damon, Ren," the brunette said with a small smile before walking out. Renfri waved at her as she took a bite from her wrap as Stefan spoke to his brother.

"Thank you—"

"No, Stefan, thank you," his brother interrupted, "You're back on Bambi blood and I'm the big badass brother again, all is right in the world."

Renfri smiled a bit, as did Stefan before saying, "I mean it. Thank you for helping her take care of me," as he sat on the other end of the couch.

Damon's face became annoyed as he turned to glare at his little brother.

"You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, it's not your fault; I own them, they belong to me. You're not allowed to feel my guilt," he told him before looking away to sip his bourbon.

Renfri looked surprised at his sudden lecture, and Stefan asked calmly, "Do you feel guilt?"

Damon waved his glass a little, "Whether I wanted to, it's there."

Stefan nodded, satisfied, and got up to leave but paused when Damon spoke again.

"You know Emily waited until after I turned to tell me that she'd been successful in protecting Katherine with her spell? She didn't want me to know about the tomb, I guess she thought it would impact my decision."

"She didn't want either one of us to turn," Stefan replied, "she said it was a curse."

Damon scoffed, "Witches, judgy little things."

Stefan studied him for a moment, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to know, because I hated you and I still do," Damon replied spitefully, his blue eyes flashing in the firelight. Renfri sat quietly while the two spoke, observing the deceivingly casual conversation.

Stefan lifted his brows briefly in acknowledgment, "I know."

"But not because you forced me to turn…" Renfri nearly choked on her food at that. She coughed then pounded her chest and swallowed until it went down properly. She looked up with teary eyes at her younger uncle in shock at the new bit of info while Damon snorted at her reaction.

"Then why?" Stefan asked.

Damon drained the rest of his glass and stood from the couch, moving to stand right in front of his brother.

"Because she turned you. It was just supposed to be me, Stefan," he said bitterly, and began to move past him, leaning into him as he said, "just me."

Damon rounded the couch to pour himself more bourbon, his foul mood clear on his face as Stefan stood still with a sad look on his face. Just as Damon turned and had nearly walked out of the room, Renfri broke the tense silence.

"Well damn, that's rough. Sucks that you're still hung up on Katherine, too. Would it help to know that I KOed John Gilbert?"

Damon froze with his back to them then appeared in front of the chair, looking down at her anxiously.

"You did what?"

The red-haired teenager grinned a bit at getting his attention before he could storm out, "I told you that you wouldn't believe the night I had." When he rolled his eyes at her and gestured for her to go on, she continued, "I was at the Grill and saw him meeting with Pearl, he was trying to charm her into giving him the Gilbert device. I wanted to puke when he started flirting with her."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust but Stefan interrupted, "Renfri, get to the point, what happened?"

She sighed and continued, "Well, he ended up pissing her off, so she told him she gave it to you," she pointed at her older uncle, "and to ask you himself and rot in hell. After she left, he left soon after, and I had a feeling his intentions weren't exactly good, so I followed him to her house."

Damon's eyes widened, "You followed him to the tomb vampire house on the edge of town? Are you stupid?! What if there had still been more vampires hanging around? You could have been killed!"

"You said yourself that Anna told you the rest of them had left or gone their own way, why would they hang around there? There's no one to feed on that far into the woods," she argued. "Anyway, I followed him out there, figuring he was gonna get rid of her since she wasn't of any use anymore and I wanted to screw up his plans, not to mention potentially get an old and powerful ally. When he rang the doorbell and waited to shoot them with a stake gun, I clocked him with a tire iron from behind. He still got a shot off, but it missed Pearl, that Harper guy is dead though." She shrugged and her uncles stared at her in a mix of frustration and exasperation.

"Ren, that was incredibly risky, you could have been hurt," Stefan told her with a disapproving frown.

She frowned back and crossed her arms, "I thought it through, Pearl was apologetic about you getting tortured and had no reason to do anything to me, especially if I was there to help her. I'm confident I could have taken that asshole on even if he had seen me coming, I did have my gun with me as backup; wooden bullets hurt him just as much as vampires, if not more."

Damon ran a hand down his face and groaned, "You're unbelievable," then looked at her accusingly, "Did he see you?"

She shook her head, "No, I snuck up on him, he never saw me coming. Although he might be able to guess it was me, I did make a bit of a rude comment while he was talking to Pearl at the Grill, he was sitting right nearby and I couldn't help myself when he just dropped the v-word loud and proud as if other people weren't nearby. He's lucky other people weren't paying attention."

Stefan and Damon sighed, the younger saying, "You'll have to keep an eye out then, he might figure out that it was you that attacked him, he could come after you."

The teenager scoffed and folded her arms. "Let him try. If he comes at me in public, I'll make a hell of a scene, and if he comes at me when we're alone, I won't hesitate to beat his ass in self-defense," she said with a cheerful smile.

Damon snorted and rolled his eyes, "Did you at least get something out of this little adventure?"

Renfri brightened and nodded, "Pearl was grateful, she knew she would have been dead if I hadn't attacked John, he was aiming straight for her heart when she answered the door. She gave me her number and said she would owe me a favor if I ever needed help. She also said to consider her a friend and would be happy to exchange information, should it ever benefit either of us."

The two brothers raised their eyebrows, reluctantly impressed, and Stefan stated, "Well, you certainly lucked out. At least she owes you a favor, if something ever happens that she can help with."

Damon sighed, "She's old enough to have a lot of connections and be a good source of information too. Fine, Red, you did alright. But don't ever try going after a vampire like that, a human is one thing, but that's another."

She snorted, "I definitely won't. I knew I could take John, the arrogant asshole was only prepared for going after a couple of vampires, he hadn't planned on me going after him." She grinned proudly and her uncles both rolled their eyes at their niece.

Stefan headed upstairs first, leaving Damon to plop down on the couch again.

Renfri glanced at him curiously, "Did anything come of your errand with Alaric?"

He shook his head, "Not really. He had tracked a cell number John had started calling frequently just after Isabel disconnected the number Elena had, and led to an apartment in Grove Hill."

Renfri lifted a brow, "Isn't that a little too on the nose anyway? She grew up there."

Damon nodded, "As it turns out, yes. The apartment was being rented by one of the tomb vampires, John had helped him get settled in the place and had been checking in with him as a source of information. This guy, Henry, would tell him about what the other tomb vampires were up to and John would supply him with blood bags and help familiarize him with technology. Although, he did say that the tomb vampires wanted revenge, so we'll have to keep an eye out."

Renfri sighed, "Great, and we thought we were done with them. I bet they're gonna try to use one of the monthly events to go after the founders, they seem like they'd enjoy the irony…and the spectacle."

Her uncle tipped his head, "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. Back to how it was then, walk with a friend to your car or call one of us after dark."

She groaned and splayed her limbs out like a starfish dramatically, "Uuugh, Just when I was enjoying my freedom."

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