Cursed Blood and Bound Fates
Chapter 5
Renfri woke far too early the next morning, struggling to drag herself out of the cloud that was Elena's bed, in order to get home to take care of Ash and get ready for school. She quickly shut off the alarm so she didn't wake the other two girls sleeping peacefully and quickly changed into yesterday's clothes as stealthily as she could. She tip-toed down the stairs and through the front door to avoid waking anyone else in the house, she knew she'd be pissed if someone woke her up hours before she needed to on a school day. She walked to her black sedan parked on the street and headed for the boarding house.
Once she arrived, she let herself in (the door was unlocked, a bad habit of Damon's) and was eagerly welcomed by Ash, who yipped and nosed her hand, demanding to be pet. She laughed quietly and complied, greeting him as well, before going to unlock the pet door and letting him out to the side yard. She went upstairs to quickly shower and dress in her go-to jeans, black ankle boots, a faded band t-shirt, and a knee length black cardigan. She quickly swiped some concealer under her eyes to hide the bags from the less than stellar amount of sleep and blended it out before applying mascara. With that, she grabbed her school things and her bag and headed back downstairs. It had only taken her about an hour to ready herself, so she had time to make some eggs and toast for breakfast. She made her way into the kitchen, dropping kibble for Ash, and went about making her morning meal. Stefan wandered in when she was plating her food and headed for the coffee maker which was finishing up a fresh batch.
"So," he started, "how was it last night…after everything?"
Renfri raised an eyebrow, "Do you really want to know? Elena said you were ending it completely and are staying away to keep her safe." She grabbed two mugs as the machine sputtered out the last drops of caffeinated liquid, then poured one for her and another for her uncle.
He shrugged, "I don't want to cause anything else to happen to her, that's why I'm stepping away, but I still care, I can't not care." Ren poured some flavored creamer and sugar into her mug and nodded.
"I get it, but I don't really agree. She's a part of this world now, whether you're associating with her or not," she took a sip of her coffee and hummed. "Her best friend is a witch, another was fed on and had their mind messed with by a vampire, and her other friend is related to vampires; not to mention the founding families are aware of them and have a secret council hunting them down. I don't think it's possible to just keep on as she has been like before, I know I can't."
Stefan looked down at the mug in his hands, deep in thought, but just shook his head silently. Renfri sat at the counter on a high stool and ate her breakfast while sipping at her coffee, slowly reenergizing herself.
"It was a tough conversation to have, explaining everything to Bonnie. She's going to talk to her Grams soon to see what she knows and if she can help ease her into everything."
"I assumed as much," Stefan sighed, "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect her from Damon."
Ren waved a hand at him, "You can't protect everyone from Damon, and he actually hadn't hurt her until that point, which means he was probably restraining himself a lot before. He only did it because Emily used her body to destroy what he needed to get Katherine back. I don't condone it, but I can understand it. At least you were there to heal her." She gave him a small smile and nodded in appreciation. Stefan stared at her as she finished up, washed her dishes, and filled a travel mug with more coffee.
"I was thinking about leaving."
Renfri froze while screwing the cap onto the mug then turned to look at him in surprise, but he continued quickly.
"I considered it. Damon might leave now because he can't have Katherine, but I don't want to leave you alone, and if we both left you might get thrown into the foster system, I can't let that happen."
Renfri released the breath she didn't even know she had been holding.
She put the mug down and stepped over to hug him and murmured into his shoulder, "Thanks, Uncle Stefan."
He smiled and hugged her back gently, "Anything for you. You're family, Ren."
"Hey, what's with all the PDA in here?"
The two let go and turned to see Damon in the doorway holding a bag of blood.
He gave his trademark smirk, "Noone's going anywhere, at least not until your turn eighteen, I am your legal guardian after all."
"First of all," Ren retorted, putting a hand on her hip, "calling a hug from your uncle 'PDA' is a disgusting implication. Second of all, now you get one too." She then lifted her arms and made a grabby motion with her hands at him with a grin on her face. Stefan chuckled as she took a step forward, threatening his older brother with an embrace, but he flashed away and reappeared behind the counter, grabbing a mug from a cabinet.
"As much as I love the familial bonding, I think I'll pass this time," he remarked and raised an eyebrow at her as she turned to look at him. She couldn't help but giggle a little at seeing him in a better mood than the previous night, although she knew it meant he was probably only masking how he truly felt, but she would take what she could get.
"Oh, fine," she huffed playfully and dropped her arms, shooting him a smile as she grabbed her travel mug and headed back to the den. She sat on a couch, checking she had everything she needed and was currently digging through her tote bag for her phone when she paused at the sound of the bell jingling at the front door. She stood up but saw Stefan come and let him get the door.
He opened it to see Sheriff Forbes on the other side.
"I'm here to see Damon?" Liz said. Stefan couldn't help but be a little taken aback at seeing her on their doorstep early in the morning.
"Uh, sure, okay," he said just as his older brother came up behind him.
"Sheriff," he said with a friendly smile, "what a surprise."
"Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk," she said quickly, jumping right into it.
There was a pause as the three Salvatore's racked their brains for why she might show up there randomly, but Damon quickly invited her in before the silence could stretch too long. Stefan came over and sat down across from Renfri who waved and greeted Liz Forbes politely as she and Damon passed them to speak out on the patio overlooking the side yard. Ash wandered in to lay by her feet and chewed on a nylon bone as Ren settled back down on the couch.
She could tell by Stefan's unfocused eyes that he was listening in on the conversation.
"What are they talking about? Why's she here?" she questioned.
His brow furrowed as he listened, "The council still thinks there's a vampire in town, whether it's Lexi because she got away or a new one. They were hoping that she'd moved on because the killings had stopped, but there's been another attack," He paused to tune in again then added, "They're hoping Damon will take the lead on it since he's the only one they know of that's taken on a vampire when he tried to kill Lexi."
Renfri rubbed a hand over her mouth, unsure who else in town could be a vampire. Was it someone new to the area or a townie that was turned at some point? There wasn't a way to know right now, but they'd all have to be careful until they could figure out who it was.
A minute later Damon walked the sheriff back to the front door and said goodbye. As soon as the door shut and he turned back toward them, Stefan sped across the room and pinned his brother to the door, causing Renfri to jump in surprise.
"What is wrong with you, you killed somebody?" Stefan immediately accused.
"Stefan, don't jump right to that," she called exasperatedly.
Damon pushed him back a step, "Get off of me." He held up a finger, "A: don't touch me, B: if I had I wouldn't have been so obvious about it, C—"
"You weren't so subtle when you first came to town," Renfri muttered. They both turned to look at her, Damon with annoyance. She shrugged, "What, it's true."
"C," he continued, "there's another vampire in town."
Stefan shook his head at him, "That's impossible."
"Obviously, it's not," the older Salvatore retorted.
"What makes you think it'd be impossible? It's not like you can sense each other's presence or something, right?" Renfri asked. Damon laughed and Stefan ignored him and shook his head at her this time. "Then there's no reason a vampire couldn't happen upon a small town to feed on or even turn someone, right?"
Stefan sighed in defeat, "Fine, it's possible. But how are we supposed to find this guy?"
Damon looked at him mischievously, "Why don't you let the adults handle this, Stefan." He turned to point at his niece, "And you, don't go out alone at night for now. If they've left a body so easily found and aren't even hiding that it was a vampire that did it, they're probably new, which means it's dangerous for you to be out after sunset."
She nodded and got up, grabbing her things, "Sure, but I have track and field practice everyday after school and meets once or twice a week, so getting home before dark just isn't realistic for me, especially now that it's December and the sun is setting earlier."
Damon groaned, "Ugh, then don't walk to your car alone. Go with a few friends and park close to the entrance if you can. If you end up alone, call Stefan, and if he doesn't answer, only then can you call me." He walked away with an exaggerated huff, "Teenagers, always doing too much!"
Renfri smiled at his feigned annoyance, at least he didn't want her to get hurt.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
That evening, Renfri went home after practice to shower and feed Ash, then returned to the high school; it was career night. She hadn't thought too hard on what she wanted to be when she grew up, she only had a few major hobbies: reading, volleyball, running, and helping out as a part of the dance committee, which she enjoyed for the creative design and organization aspects. She occasionally tutored younger students who were struggling in their English classes and helped them revise their writing, so she had considered becoming an editor or copywriter, though she wasn't completely sure yet.
The hallways were filled with tables manned by people from surrounding communities and local businesses, pamphlets on the tables and banners advertising their careers. As Renfri lingered by a table for brand marketing copywriters, she scanned the room then did a double take.
Four tables away, smiling charmingly at students, was Logan Fell.
Logan Fell was supposed to be dead.
Renfri's heart started to thud heavily in her chest and she quickly looked down, letting her auburn hair fall over her face a bit. She had to force herself to take long, slow breaths to appear calm and slow her heart rate a bit; hopefully he wouldn't have heard her heart start racing in comparison to everyone else's. She was praying he was too new and unpracticed at listening for it to have noticed. She tucked the pamphlet in her hand into the bag slung over her shoulder and turned away to walk in the opposite direction. As she went, she started searching for her younger uncle, knowing he was around somewhere since he had said he'd make an appearance to keep an eye on Elena while the new vampire was on the loose. She spotted him as she turned a corner and picked up the pace now that she was out of sight of the undead news reporter.
As she approached, Stefan looked up at her questioningly from what looked like a serious conversation with Elena. She came up between them and got close so she could talk quietly without being heard by others around them.
"I'd say 'sorry to interrupt' but I'm really not because we've got a problem," she announced, quickly gaining the brunette girl's attention too.
"Logan Fell is currently educating people down the hall on careers in media," she rushed out.
Elena looked confused while Stefan's eyes widened.
"Okay? I know he's a jerk because Jenna calls him 'ScumFell,' but why is that a problem?" Elena asked.
Renfri turned to Elena with her voice rising higher with her fear, "It's a problem because when we found Vicki in the woods while she was transitioning, he found us. He shot Stefan with a wooden bullet, I sicced Ash on him to save Stefan, and Damon killed him."
Elena gasped while Stefan dropped a comforting hand on Ren's shoulder, attempting to calm her down.
"We're fine for now. He can't do anything in a public place so stay around people," he reassured her. She nodded, fisting her hands on the strap of her bag. Just then, Jenna came and joined their little group.
"Hide me," she sing-songed to Elena, who turned to her in confusion, "the ScumFell has landed."
"Jenna! Are you dodging me?"
They all turned to see Logan standing a few feet away and smiling confidently. His eyes skimmed over the group, pausing on Stefan before landing on Renfri, making her tense.
Elena's aunt gave him a nasty look, "It's a form of self-preservation."
"Elena, why don't you guys go somewhere else, I'll meet you later," Stefan murmured.
She nodded quickly, "Let's go, Jenna. You too, Ren." She turned to hurry Jenna away from the new vampire. Renfri took a step to follow but was stopped when Logan caught her arm.
"Ren, is it? As in, Renfri Salvatore? You're the one with the dog," his grip tightened, making her wince slightly.
She steeled herself then looked him in the eye, "Let go or I'll scream."
He chuckled arrogantly, "You try and I'll break your arm."
"Or, I can just bitch slap you and loudly call you a pervert for going after a minor. That'd cause quite the scene and make people far more wary of you. It's harder to lure in and feed on innocents who aren't charmed by you anymore."
The smile fell from his face.
Stefan leaned forward and nodded to the students and adults around them, some glancing their way curiously.
"You're already attracting the wrong kind of attention, so I suggest you let go, now."
Logan's eyes darted around the crowd quickly then he loosened his grip before smiling like nothing was wrong, letting go. Ren took a step back and closer to Stefan's side. Her arm throbbed a bit and would probably bruise by morning but she refused to rub it and show that he'd hurt her.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked immediately.
Logan smirked, "You know your brother asked me the same thing, in fact why don't we just skip past all the 'who turned me' stuff and get to the answer that I want. How do I become a daywalker?"
Ren's eyebrows rose, "Damon? When did you see Damon?" She hadn't heard from him all day and at this new information she became worried.
He tilted his chin up and looked down his nose at her, "Yes, it was quite fun to fill him with wooden bullets, he's probably not my biggest fan right now."
At this, Renfri's anger flared up, burning away her fear. Now, she was just pissed as hell that he'd hurt her family and that anger was all she could feel in that moment.
She scowled at him and crossed her arms, "It was stupid of you to let him live, now he's going to kill you, painfully."
Logan ignored her and turned back to Stefan. Renfri hoped that his arrogance would lead him to making a mistake that would lead to one of her uncles killing him.
"How can I walk in the sun?" he demanded of Stefan.
"Damon and I are the only ones that I know of—"
"But you're very cagey on the how, which means there is a way," Logan interrupted. "You know, in case you haven't noticed, I'm quite the celebrity in this town. It would be very, very easy to expose you," he looked at the girl suggestively as well. Renfri raised an eyebrow; did he think she was a vampire too? That showed how little he actually knew.
"You want to know how you can walk in the sun?" Stefan asked.
Logan nodded eagerly, "I do."
Her uncle leaned in, keeping his voice low, and spoke slowly, "You can't. Don't ever threaten us again." Stefan let that sink in for a moment, maintaining eye contact, before taking Ren's hand and leading her away without looking back. They quickly found a side door leading out to a handicap ramp. Renfri walked over and leaned back with her elbows on the railing and let out a breath, the anger still simmering underneath her skin. She crossed her arms and tilted her head up to look at the stars and take deep breaths in and out as Stefan pulled out his phone. He tapped his screen and put the call on speaker.
The line clicked and the first thing out of Damon's mouth was "Logan Fell's a vampire and when I find him I'm going to destroy him limb by limb."
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked.
"I'm not okay. I was ambushed, I was shot," they could hear the rustle of clothing on the other end of the line as he paused, "now I'm vengeful. Just got to find him."
"He's here at the school, feel free to drag him away and tear him apart," Renfri called out angrily.
There was a pause on the other end, "Little Red? What happened?"
Stefan eyed his niece, noting her temper, before responding, "He's working the crowd and decided that threatening us would be a good way of getting the secret of walking in the sun."
"And I'm pretty sure he bruised my fucking arm!" Renfri hissed.
"Well, I'll be right there," he replied, "And Red, stay with Stefan," then he hung up.
Stefan and Renfri made their way back inside with Elena finding them again to get an update. They searched the corridors to try to get eyes on the dead reporter again until Damon could get there, but after 5 minutes and 2 laps of the halls occupying career night, they realized he wasn't in the crowd. As they passed Matt, Elena called out to him.
"Hey Matt, have you seen Logan Fell, the news guy?"
"Uh yeah, he was giving Caroline a ride home."
The three looked at each other worriedly.
"Stay here," Stefan told Elena, then he and his niece hurried out the door.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Renfri clung to her older uncle's back as sped through the woods, the wind whipping through her hair and stinging her face. She squinted in an attempt to see but it was pointless, everything around them was a blur at the speed they were moving. She and Stefan had met up with Damon outside the high school and made a quick plan to take down Logan and rescue Caroline. Stefan went ahead to track them while she and Damon made a pit stop at the warehouse the reporter had been camping out in during the day. Stefan had tried to convince her to stay at the school, but she insisted on going with them. It was her idea to stop at the warehouse so she wasn't completely defenseless and could even contribute. She was itching to punch the guy ever since he had hurt her arm and revealed he'd shot Damon, but she'd have to settle for a different kind of violence since she was only human. Her older uncle was intrigued by her idea so allowed her to join them on the condition that she kept a safe distance and listened to them while they dealt with the rogue vampire. As she'd climbed onto Damon's back, he wiggled his brows and mocked her with a 'Hold on tight, spider monkey,' to which she'd savagely slapped his chest for his ridiculous Twilight reference, only succeeding in making him laugh at her.
They came to a sudden stop in the middle of an empty back road beside a tan SUV. Damon let her slide down to her feet on the asphalt and she saw the driver's side door was ripped open with Stefan standing in front of it and Logan was tumbling across the asphalt meters away. Damon turned to her and tipped his head at the new vampire with a smirk. The corner of her mouth tilted up a bit and she reached for the gun in her jacket pocket. She quickly aimed at the man who had started to sit up and fired.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
Wooden bullets ripped through the air, embedding themselves into his gut, shoulder, and thigh. She didn't want to kill him yet, she knew Damon wanted to try to get some answers out of him first. Logan shouted and clutched the bleeding wounds desperately. Stefan rounded the vehicle and gently pulled an unconscious Caroline out of the passenger seat then disappeared with her.
Damon grabbed the cellphone from the driver's seat and responded to the sheriff's desperate calls, asking what happened.
"Sheriff, it's Damon…she's okay. I'm on Elm str—," he said, faking the stress in his voice and cutting himself off then hanging up. Renfri took a few steps forward but stayed a couple meters away from the bleeding man on the ground while Damon popped the trunk to grab something. Logan made eye contact with her and growled as she glared at him, so she shifted the gun just a bit lower then fired another shot into his groin. The man screamed and writhed in pain on the ground.
"Easy there," Damon admonished cheerfully, "save some for me." He sauntered up next to her with a tire iron that he twirled in his hand. Renfri shrugged at him then looked at the desperate vampire lying on the road.
"Thanks for the firepower, by the way," she taunted and waved the 9 millimeter handgun a bit before aiming it at him again. "You didn't hide it very well, now I'm pretty well stocked," she said with false gratitude.
Damon grinned viciously, "Payback's a bitch, isn't it? I figured I'd give Little Red here a shot before ending you since you made the stupid decision of putting your hands on her. Us Salvatore's gotta stick together, right?" He glanced her way and smirked when he noticed the corner of her lips twitching up a bit. She huffed, what an odd way of bonding with her uncle.
"Now," he did a slow practice swing with the thin metal pipe, "this tire iron can take your head clean off. So let's try this again: who turned you?"
Logan grunted, "I don't know."
"Eeehh, wrong answer! Try again," the older vampire retorted.
"I don't know!"
Damon got into a batting position and mocked, "Is that your final answer?" in his version of a game show host's voice, making Ren snort.
"How can you side with them?" Logan asked angrily.
"I don't side with anyone," Damon snapped, "you piss me off, I want you dead…Who turned you?"
"I don't know!" the vampire shouted.
Damon wound up to swing, "Oh, well, you're screwed."
"Wait, wait! I do know!"
Renfri scoffed, "I call bullshit."
"You think you're the only one that wants to get in that tomb? Underneath the old church?"
Damon and Renfri both paused in shock, then glanced at each other before turning back to the now kneeling vampire.
"If you're lying I will end you," Damon threatened, pointing with the tire iron.
"I'm not lying. There's another way to break the spell, we can help you," Logan hissed in a rush as sirens approached. "Meet me at the old church."
Damon considered it for a precious few seconds and glanced up at the patrol car closing in on them.
"Take me down," he whispered, "make it look real."
Ren quickly tucked the gun into the back of her waistband and flipped her jacket over it, watching as Damon swung at Logan at a human speed so he could dodge then toss her uncle into the back of the car, disappearing into the woods. She rushed over to Damon and crouched next to him to play the part of the scared and concerned niece as Sheriff Forbes hurried out of her car and approached with her gun drawn.
"Where is she!?" Liz asked immediately.
"She's okay, my brother took her home," Damon reassured her and breathed heavily to feign the 'struggle' of the fight. The sheriff then noticed his niece who held his arm as he got up and said apologetically, "I'm sorry sheriff, I wasn't strong enough."
She holstered her gun, "Renfri? What are you doing here?"
Damon quickly came up with a solution on the spot, "He knocked her out and grabbed her when she was headed to her car from the school." Ren decided to play it up a bit more to make it believable.
"Damon?" she said, forcing tears to well up in her eyes and blinking to let one fall, "What the hell is going on? Why did that news guy kidnap me?"
Damon hugged her to him and looked over her shoulder to the sheriff, "Liz, I need to take her home, can you deal with the car?"
She quickly nodded, "I'll call in some deputies and a tow truck to impound it, I need to go check on Caroline." She pulled her radio from her belt and spoke quickly into it as she hustled back to her car and drove away. Damon and Ren stayed huddled together until the sheriff's car was far enough away.
As they stepped back, Damon poked her cheek, "Nice crocodile tears, Red. Thinking of going into the acting business?" Renfri rolled her eyes and swatted at his hand before wiping the lone tear off her face.
"Crying on demand is a useful tool for any girl," she quipped before crossing her arms and looking at him seriously. "Do you really believe this guy about there being another way into the tomb? He doesn't seem that smart and probably just said it to save his life."
"Oh, I definitely don't trust him, but he said 'we' which means he might be able to lead me to someone who does know another way in." Damon turned his back to her and crouched a bit, "Now hop on, the bus is leaving! Time to get you home."
Renfri raised an eyebrow, "You don't want me to go to the church ruins with you?"
"Nope. I'm not gonna risk it when we might be dealing with more than one vampire, I won't be able to deal with two vamps and protect you, it'll just get both of us killed. Now get moving before I leave you here." She sighed but relented, seeing the logic in it. She clasped her hands around his neck and her legs around his waist as he gripped under her thighs, hanging on tightly as he sped off towards the school where she had parked her car. After a few minutes, they arrived and she slid from his back in the dark parking lot.
She leaned her weight to one side and offered him a smile, "Thanks for letting me tag along so I could deliver a bit of karma, even if you didn't kill him in the end."
Damon nodded in amusement, "It wasn't a bad idea, stealing from his hunter's stash to use it against him, and now it'll come in handy if you ever need it again." He pulled a couple boxes of the wooden rounds from his jacket pockets and handed them to her, adding to the ones in her own.
She smirked, "Hopefully they won't be needed, but better safe than sorry, or dead." She started to turn to her car then paused, "Be careful, Uncle Damon."
He flashed her a devious grin, "Aren't I always?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Renfri sat on a couch in the den, legs covered in a blanket and laptop resting on her thighs as she watched Netflix and munched on some popcorn. Ash lay on the other end of the couch with his head resting on her covered feet, keeping them warm. She heard a car pull up in the driveway, but didn't think much of it until she noticed nobody had come in after a minute or so. She paused the video and looked up, considering whether she should check who it was. Before she could, the front door opened and something blurred through and hit the wall in the foyer, making Ash's head pop up.
It was Stefan and Elena…mid make-out session. Good for them.
They hadn't seemed to notice her so she cleared her throat a bit, startling them from their lust-filled stupor. Elena blushed when she saw her and looked down shyly, though Stefan just smiled happily.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were home yet," he apologized.
"No worries, just maybe, ah, take it upstairs?" she chuckled.
Stefan grinned and grabbed Elena before doing as asked, flashing away with a shrieking and giggling teenage girl. Renfri smiled and shook her head to herself before settling down again with her late night show and snack, getting sucked into the drama and action of it all.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
A wet sob and sniffling dragged Renfri's eyes from the screen in front of her and she pulled her earphones out as she saw Elena hurry down the stairs with her keys and phone in hand and run for the door.
"Elena?" she called warily, pushing her laptop aside. When the girl didn't stop, Ren muttered, "Shit, what now?" She tossed the blanket off her legs and barked at Ash to stay, stuffed her feet into her sneakers by the door before chasing after her into the night. It was cold enough to make her breath fog and she was only in a pair of black leggings and a navy oversized hoodie that just covered her butt, but it would have to do for whatever the hell was going on.
She managed to catch up to the girl as she was climbing into her car and copied her, hopping into the passenger seat. Elena jumped and looked at her in confusion before deciding to ignore her and start the car, still crying hard.
As she stepped on the gas and had them speeding out of the driveway, Ren asked, "What's going on Elena, what brought this on? You guys seemed great when you came in."
That last bit was the wrong thing to say, as it made Elena gasp for air and squeeze her eyes tight to heave out more sobs.
"Woah, woah!" Renfri shouted, grabbing the steering wheel with one hand to make sure they stayed straight, "Sorry, I didn't mean to push any buttons, but maybe you should pull over, Elena?"
The distraught girl shook her head vehemently, "No, I need to get away—" then sucked in more air, trying to keep her blurred eyes on the road.
"Elena, what happened?" she asked a bit more gently, deciding to keep it simple and pray the girl could multitask so she wouldn't run them off the road in her emotional upheaval.
"He–he had a–a picture," she sniffled, "she looked like me!"
It clicked in Renfri's mind, she was talking about the old photo of Katherine. He seriously hadn't told her yet? She was going to give Stefan some major shit for this later.
While she was trying to figure out what to say, she glanced up to see a silhouette appear on the road ahead and she gasped then shouted.
"WATCH OUT!"
Elena saw it but was going too fast, so when she turned the wheel sharply to try to dodge it she couldn't stop the car's momentum, and they felt the sick thud of a body slamming into the side of the vehicle. They screamed as the back end of the vehicle kept going forward, overbalancing the car, and it began to roll. The engine revved loudly as the wheels left the ground then was drowned out by the screeching and crunch of metal against asphalt. Glass exploded everywhere as the metal frame tumbled over and over. Renfri felt like a rag doll as gravity and inertia pulled her in several different directions within seconds. Her seat belt dug into her skin and the side of her head slammed into the door frame, causing black spots in her vision. The crumpled SUV teetered to a stop on its roof with a final piercing groan, leaving them in near silence while hanging upside down by their seat belts. The quiet after the tumultuous assault on their ears during the crash was jarring, only relieved by the low hiss of steam or smoke coming from the dented hood of the car.
Renfri blinked dazedly and coughed, twitching and flexing her fingers dangling above her head to confirm she could still feel and move them. Shards of glass tinkled as they fell to the floor from the crevices in the ruined car, the creases in her clothes, and in her hair. Her whole body throbbed and her head pounded to the beat of her heart's racing drum. She heard Elena groan then cough as well and turned her head to find the brunette next to her through bleary eyes. She was also hanging from her seat belt and covered in bits of glass that fell as she shifted. Elena's eyes met hers and it seemed to ground her as she focused on her.
"Ren," she wheezed and sucked in another breath, "are you alright? You're bleeding." Renfri lifted a hand hesitantly and touched her tender scalp by her temple; it came away with blood, shining nearly black in the moonlight.
Well, that explained the wooziness.
"I think so, though I might have a concussion," she responded raspily as black spots still danced in and out of the edges of her vision.
They both stiffened when they heard a dull crack, like if you'd snapped a tree branch wrapped in a towel. Elena's eyes skipped past her and her eyes widened with fear. The bleeding girl's heart rate picked up again and she twisted to look out the shattered passenger window. Further down the road, they saw the silhouette of a body lying on the ground and they heard more cracks as the figure's arm wrenched up then forward, back into its socket, followed by snaps as the seemingly dead man shoved his mangled body parts back into place as he got up.
The girls started to scramble, hands clawing at the buckles to unlatch their seat belts that were jammed and began panting, "No, no, no, no," as they realized they had run over a vampire and were sitting ducks, bleeding and trapped in the ruined car. The figure approached the upside down car, walking closer and closer, inciting panic. As the black hooded vampire's boots stopped right outside Renfri's open window and it began to lean down, they screamed in terror.
"AAAAAHHH!—"
The girls screams broke off as suddenly the vampire straightened and flashed away in a blur. They gasped and stared out the broken window, looking to see if it would come back, only to shriek and turn away when a figure flashed in front of them again.
"You okay in there?" a concerned voice asked.
Renfri peeked open her eyes then opened them fully, heaving out a relieved sigh.
"Uncle Damon," she breathed.
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