Cursed Blood and Bound Fates

Chapter 8

Damon had taken full advantage of Stefan's offer, and assigned Elena to search for the journal since it could be in her parent's stuff that was packed up. After spending the day looking into any other possible ways of finding a lead, Damon had Renfri ask Jenna if they could come over for dinner. She wanted to frame it as the two families having a friendly get together, but she knew Damon wanted to feel out Elena's intentions and wait for Stefan to arrive in order to try and keep him honest on what he's been doing. Jenna was happy to comply, especially when they offered to cook, and she had always liked Ren.

They found themselves in the Gilberts' kitchen, Damon and Renfri prepping ingredients for chicken carbonara on the island while Jenna sat on the counter by the doorway and watched, sipping wine.

"My father had never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more, of course. What about you?" Damon said to Elena's aunt. Renfri cringed inwardly, knowing who would come to mind.

"There were a few guys," Jenna admitted, "Logan wasn't the only loser I've dated."

"Did they ever find him, is he still missing?" Damon asked casually, making Renfri glance at him.

"He's not missing, he's in the Bahamas working on his tan. Very entitled, that one, marches to the beat of his own drum," Jenna remarked, finishing her glass. Damon immediately went to refill it as she added, "He's a Fell, they're all snooty."

He made prolonged eye contact with her and smirked before turning back to the counter and said, "Hello, Elena."

As Jenna turned to look for her niece and ask where she'd been, Renfri quickly poked a finger into his ribs and whispered, "Stop flirting, you relentless asshole. I like Jenna, don't mess with her." He only wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her roll her eyes and slap his arm. She stepped away quickly when Elena spotted the two in her kitchen and returned to her task of making the pasta from scratch.

"Is Stefan with you?" Damon asked immediately, looking up from his cutting board.

Elena looked at him suspiciously before glancing at Renfri questioningly, who just shrugged innocently, like she was just along for the ride, and continued cooking.

"Um, he'll be here soon," she said, still watching Damon warily.

As Renfri finished making the fresh pasta into long strips and twirled them into bundles, Jenna wandered off to tell Jeremy that dinner would be ready in a little while. Elena went to get plates for the table and as Damon passed her, he intentionally bumped into her, nearly pressing their fronts together.

"Don't do that," Elena admonished.

He played dumb, "Do what?"

"You know what, that move was deliberate," she said, shaking her head at him.

"Yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the—sink," he gestured…from his position at the stove.

Renfri forced out a breath, "Do I have to tell you to stop flirting again? I can't take you anywhere."

Damon ignored her, "Speaking of Stefan, where is he? He's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely."

He paused, seemingly to contemplate something before he continued.

"Is it real?"

"Is what real?" Elena asked.

"This renewed sense of brotherhood," he quickly tasted the sauce from the pot, "Can I trust him?" He turned to look at her.

She met his eyes, but hesitated before saying, "Yes, you can trust him," then turned away to place the salad bowl on the dining room table. Renfri caught Damon's eyes briefly, both of their brows furrowed in concern, before he sped over to stand just behind the girl as she turned back around.

His piercing cobalt eyes stared right into her brown ones, "Can I trust him?"

She looked up at him, annoyed, "I'm wearing vervain, Damon, it's not gonna work."

His face twisted in irritation and a bit of offense, "I'm not compelling you." She looked surprised, then a little remorseful for the assumption.

"I just want you to answer me, honestly."

Renfri watched Elena's face carefully as she took in Damon's sincere question. She could tell he wanted to believe Stefan would help him, that Elena would help him, but he needed to hear it from her to decide if it was the truth.

She looked his face up and down, mouth parting to take a breath, before she said softly, "Of course you can," then turned away again. Damon's eyes watched her carefully, but Renfri saw a mix of relief and concern in them. Renfri watched Elena from the corner of her eye as she began to boil the water for the pasta. She wasn't sure what to believe. Her friend had never been a great liar, especially if she felt bad about it. Renfri and Damon knew that Stefan would likely try to get to the spell book first to stop him from opening the tomb, but she wasn't sure if Elena didn't know about it or was working with him.

Damon stayed where he was for a couple moments, seemingly lost in thought, his eyes soft, before he blinked and snapped out of it.

"You know, there was a time I trusted him more than anyone."

"Trust breeds trust," Elena chirped, popping a piece of food in her mouth.

"Or betrayal," Ren muttered, spurring an odd look from Elena.

"Are you lecturing me?" Damon asked teasingly.

The brunette put a hand on her hip and teased right back, "Do you need to be lectured?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "I just want her back, I'm sure you can understand that."

"I can understand that you'd do anything for her, yes," she replied, moving to place a bowl of salad toppings on the table.

Damon turned to let her, but stayed just behind her and said lowly, playful tone gone, "Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way."

He walked away, back to the sauce on the stove beside his niece, but Renfri's eyes stayed on her friend, watching as she stayed facing the other way for an extra moment or two before moving to finish setting the table. The redhead couldn't let go of her suspicion, as much as she wanted to, and worried that her uncle would end up getting hurt by trusting Elena and inevitably retaliate.

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

They had already finished dinner, Elena and Jenna were cleaning up since they're guests had cooked while Damon and Renfri took turns playing Halo with Jeremy on his Xbox in the living room. The kitchen looked right through the dining room and into the living area where they played, but she couldn't quite hear what Jenna whispered that made her uncle smirk, or Elena's response that turned it into an eye roll. She could tell that Jenna thought Damon was attractive, and probably said as much, but she was equally as sure that Elena had shut it down for the sake of keeping his ego in check in addition to warning her aunt away from the temptation.

As she watched Damon take his turn with the controller, Jeremy suddenly paused the game to check a text then toss his phone aside.

"Who are you dodging?" the older Salvatore asked, keeping his eyes on the screen.

"This girl Anna," Jeremy replied absently, "she can be, uh, persistent."

"And you'd rather be friends?" Renfri pried. Jeremy shrugged, unsure.

Damon made a curious face, "Is she hot?" Of course a man would ask that.

"Yeah, yeah, but she could be weird."

"Psh, hot trumps weird, truuust me," Damon advised, making Jeremy laugh a bit.

Renfri rolled her eyes, "That depends on who you ask and what you're looking for, really. Only manwhores say that; decent guys aren't shallow and look at other qualities as well," she educated the two males. "Although, there are girls that can be just as trashy, to be honest. May all the trashy people have each other and leave us decent people alone," she declared.

Jeremy snickered while Damon barked out a laugh and asked, "Since when are you the dating guru, Miss Matchmaker?"

She waved him off, "I'm not, I just know what I want as a girl and a friend of other girls. I've only dated a couple guys since moving here and they didn't last long. The boys here are either entitled assholes, desperate and boring, or just not my type. There's not exactly a wide variety to choose from, so I gave up on dating anyone from town last year. I'll probably have to wait for college to find someone I might click with."

"Yeah, most of the guys around here are dicks," Jeremy agreed.

"Of course you'd agree, Little Loner Gilbert," Ren teased.

"Don't worry, Little Red, you've got plenty of time for romance when you're older. Why not just have some fun while you're still young?" Damon proposed, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Ren gaped at him, her lips twitching up a bit, "Are you seriously encouraging me to start my ho phase early, you enabler?"

Jeremy burst out laughing and Damon just shrugged, grinning, "If that's what the kids say these days, sure, why not. Be in your ho phase."

Elena heard that last bit and called out while Renfri joined Jeremy in his laughter, "Damon, what the hell are you telling Ren to do?"

Just then the doorbell rang and Elena let them know it was Stefan. Damon immediately dropped the controller and got up to answer the door with Elena, so Renfri quickly followed, making Jeremy throw up his hands as they quit on him. As Elena opened the front door, the two came up behind her, making Stefan pause in his greeting, his face becoming wary.

"No, go on, finish what you were about to say, Stefan," Ren encouraged with a wave of her hand then held her hands behind her back patiently.

"You missed family dinner, Stef, so it must have been important. Well?" Damon prodded, eyeing him. Stefan sighed then waved them out onto the porch to talk privately, away from Jenna and Jeremy.

Renfri closed the door behind her and went to sit on the bench swing on the side of the porch while the others stayed standing. She wanted one as well, but it wouldn't suit their type of front entrance, they didn't really have a porch. Maybe a hanging chair by the window in her room would be nice…

Stefan began to report his findings, bringing Renfri's wandering thoughts back to the present. He revealed that Alaric had been given the journal by Jeremy after handing in his extra credit essay.

"Wait, that old book was the Gilbert journal?" Renfri interjected, "I walked in on him giving Mr. Saltzman an old book cause he'd said he would love to read a first person account of the civil war. I didn't even make the connection that it was his ancestor's journal, fuck!" She threw her hands up in frustration and leaned back in the swing.

Stefan shook his head, "It doesn't matter now, someone took the journal from his desk, he doesn't have it anymore."

"Well, who took it!?" Damon snapped.

"I don't know," Stefan said calmly, shrugging his shoulders with his hands in his front pockets.

Damon whipped around to point at his brother, "You know what, that teacher, there's something really off about him."

"He doesn't know anything, somebody got to it right before me."

Renfri interjected, "He doesn't know anything? I don't know about that, but he sure as fuck is suspicious. He came up to us at the dance and started questioning Damon, not even seeing me right next to him at first. He was really pushy, asking if we had any parents, how long he'd lived here, if he'd traveled and where. It was fucking strange." She crossed her arms defiantly, her eyes narrowing as Stefan avoided her gaze.

"You're overthinking it, I'm sure he was just being diligent. We don't have the best attendance record at school and he was probably just looking out for his students' wellbeing."

Renfri glared at Stefan with critical eyes, ignoring Elena's pointed look attempting to get her to back off, "You certainly are quick to defend him."

"We're getting off track," Stefan bit out sharply, "someone else took the journal and we need to figure out who."

Damon crossed his own arms as he stood beside his niece, anxious to get to the bottom of it all, "Who else knew it was there?"

Stefan couldn't help but to turn his head to glance at Jeremy through the window. Damon immediately followed his gaze then started for the door again.

"No," Stefan said like it was a reflex.

"Damon, leave him out of it!" Elena called.

"What's the big deal? I'm only asking him a question," he said as he opened the door.

"Easy," Ren murmured as she followed right behind him, "He's a stubborn teenager, you won't get a straight answer out of him if you come at him strong." She glanced back at Stefan and Elena in solidarity for once, exasperated at Damon's bullheaded determination.

Damon walked straight into the living room and perched himself on the arm of the sofa where Jeremy still sat, playing his video game.

"So, I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

The teenager was still playing the game, eyes on the screen and barely managed a, "Huh?"

Damon kept a fake pleasantness plastered on his face, "Don't ask questions, just spill." At that, Jeremy looked at him with a confused smile.

"You're kidding me, right?"

Renfri jumped in, "Jeremy, that old journal I saw you loan to Mr. Saltzman, did you tell anyone else about it? You got help with your extra credit essay, right?"

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?" he asked instead of answering, and she could see her uncle's patience thinning.

Elena intervened, "Jer, who did you tell?"

"Um, just that girl, Anna. She helped me choose my topic and find some sources."

Damon jumped on that, "The hot, weird one?" Jeremy nodded.

"Wait, who's Anna?" Stefan asked.

"That's what I want to find out," the elder Salvatore turned back to the boy, "how do you know her?"

Jeremy seemed perplexed at this line of questioning, "I…just know her? She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight…"

Elena went to answer her ringing phone as Damon said, "Perfect! I'll drive, come on."

"I'll join you, I could use a new friend," Ren said cheerfully to Jeremy, who just nodded, a little confused with what was happening but just went along with it.

Renfri clocked Stefan's intense stare as he watched them leave the house and get in Damon's car, making her gut clench in worry.

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

Once at the Grill, Damon went straight for the bar as she and Jeremy got seats by the pool tables to wait for Anna. While they waited, they chatted about little things like school and Ash. Ren used one of their natural silences to send a quick text to Damon letting him know that she thought Stefan was too eager to see them leave and that he must have known more and left it out. She got a quick response telling her that he was sure of it, but figured this lead would be easier and faster than trying to sneak around, catch him in a lie, and force him to tell them what he knew.

Renfri looked up again when Jeremy called his friend's name, waving over a teenage girl with asian features and dark hair in loose waves. As Anna came over, she quickly scanned the redhead while maintaining a polite interest.

"Who's this?" she asked Jeremy.

"This is Renfri. She's friends with my sister, but she's pretty cool otherwise."

"Damn, Jer, I didn't know being friends with Elena counted as a defect in your book," Renfri remarked with a laugh and he just shrugged with a little boyish quirk of his lips. She then turned to the new girl at the table, "Hi Anna, my name's Renfri but you can just call me Ren if you want, most people do."

Anna gave her a pretty smile, "Either one works for me. I like your full name, it's different from the typical American teenager name you hear everyday."

"Hey!" Jeremy said playfully.

"Not that there's anything wrong with typical teenager names! It's just interesting. Is it Scottish?"

Renfri nodded in surprise, "Yeah, it's Scots-Gaelic in origin, from what I know, though most people wouldn't have been able to guess that. Do you read a lot Anna?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm home schooled, so I spend a lot of time in the library, as Jeremy can tell you. I do a lot of reading outside of the educational requirements though."

"Ooo, what genres do you read? What are some of yo—"

Renfri's phone buzzed, stopping her mid-sentence, and she checked it.

Stop nerding out and come out the side door, time to set up an ambush.

She looked up sheepishly, "I've got to go. Sorry I couldn't stay to hang out longer, but I'm sure I'll see you around, Anna. Bye, Jeremy." She waved and strode towards the entrance on the other side of the room leading to the street parking.

As she stepped out the door, she felt something clamp down on her shoulder and she gave a shout.

"Aahh!" she quickly cut off her voice once she saw her uncle. "Fucking hell, don't do that!"

He waved off her complaints lazily, "Let's go." They quickly climbed into his light blue Camaro and the engine revved as it pulled out onto the street. Damon had quickly tracked down where Anna was staying, a little motel on the outskirts of town, and on the way there Damon filled her in on who Anna was.

"I thought the name had sounded familiar," he said as they drove through the main downtown area, "and I was right. Anna is a vampire; she and her mother were friends with Katherine back in 1864."

"Wait, does that mean she's older than you?" Renfri asked, concern bleeding into her tone.

Damon sighed, "Yeah, unfortunately. She and her mother are over 500 years old, and the older vampires are, the stronger they are."

"Shit," she breathed, "she's certainly good at playing the innocent and quirky teenager."

He shrugged, "Eh, you get used to doing what you need to in order to blend in with the public, it comes with the gig. We're going to have to go about this carefully, because of her age, but she'll be wanting the same thing I want: into the tomb."

"Why is that?"

He grinned, "Her mother, Pearl, is in there. She had a little flirtation going with Johnathon Gilbert back then and when they started rounding up vampires, he threw her right in with the rest of them when he found out."

Renfri listened with wide eyes, "Damn, that's some hardcore betrayal, right there. Talk about a woman scorned."

Damon scoffed, "It was her own fault. She was in a town filled with vampire haters and chose to have a fling with someone dedicated to hunting her own kind down. Her own stupidity got her caught."

Renfri side-eyed him but didn't contradict his words, "I guess, but it still sucks. I can see why Anna is desperate to get in there, though. Maybe she could work with us?"

Damon shook his head, "Hell no, way too risky, and I don't trust her."

"Alright," she quickly relented, "it was just a thought. I'll trust you to handle her, though it sounds like she could skewer you if she wanted, given her age."

"Strength is great and all, but you can kill an older vampire if you get the jump on them. Just gotta be sneaky, though I don't think it'll come to that."

Renfri sighed as they pulled over to park on a residential street roughly a block over from the motel. They got out and Damon rummaged in his trunk for a second before pulling something out of a small duffle bag. It was a smooth, narrow wooden stake made from a dark wood that had an intricately carved handle and a pointed end.

He flipped it in his hand and held it out to her, "Straight from the dusty attic of your vampire hating ancestors. If worse comes to worst, it's always good to have a backup plan, though we'll probably be fine. Using your little hunter's gun wouldn't be a good idea unless we want the other tenants calling the cops, so a stake it is."

She took it hesitantly, unused to the idea of defending herself with just a sharp piece of wood, but quickly tucked it into the back of her jeans' waistband and flipped her jacket over it. She also quickly tied up her hair into a high pony just in case. If things got ugly fast, she'd want it out of her face.

Damon held her to his side as he closed the distance to the motel in seconds, setting her down in the dimly lit parking lot. He quickly compelled the manager to unlock a room on the second floor and then forget it. Anna had left the bedside lamp on so they made sure not to touch it as they did a quick search of the room but didn't find the journal. They're weren't many places to hide things, she even tried pushing up some of the ceiling tiles to look in the hollow area above but had no luck. He then decided she would hide in the bathroom and not come out until he told her while he dealt with Anna. How he dealt with her was left up to interpretation, unfortunately, leaving her concerned. Renfri was fine with staying hidden, she was already worried that he would get his ass handed to him because of the age difference, she didn't want to be a distraction that got him killed.

He stood to the side of the window and kept watch. When he quickly stepped back and nodded his head at her, she backed into the dark bathroom, pulled the door almost all the way shut, and gripped the stake tightly in her fist as Damon positioned himself silently behind where the door would swing open. Within thirty seconds, the doorknob rattled and the lock clicked open. Renfri silently watched as the vampire girl entered the room only to be grabbed by the throat by Damon and shoved into the section of the wall jutting out across from the beds. She was quick to get a hand on his throat as well, however, and remained firm while he struggled.

They remained in a power struggle for about five seconds, seeing who would hold out while their air was restricted, before he finally wheezed, "Okay, I give in," and they both let go. Damon took a step back and Renfri heard him cough harshly twice while Anna took steadier, though still hurried, gulps of air into her lungs.

"Damn, you're strong for a little thing," he quipped, though his eyes remained serious as they watched the older vampire cautiously.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to find me," the girl said dryly. She wandered over to the dresser and placed her bag on top of it.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, watching her carefully.

"I arrived around half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb."

"How did you know about the spell?"

"I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything," she smiled mischievously, much less the sweet teenager Renfri saw earlier and more the arrogant vampire she actually was.

"If you've been here this whole time, why are we only crossing paths now?"

She sighed lightly, "I like to get others to do my dirty work," then stepped past him toward the beds.

He paused then turned to face her again, "Like Logan Fell?" She turned her head to him. "Yeah, thanks for that. The little bastard shot me."

She scoffed and crossed her arms, "Logan was an idiot. We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal, I couldn't let him die," she paused, head turning to the right a bit.

"You can come out now," she said in a slightly raised voice.

Renfri tensed, holding her breath and waited.

Damon sighed and added, "Come on out, Little Red, no point in hiding anymore."

Renfri slipped the stake back into her waistband, making sure it was covered by her jacket, before she pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out. She eyed Anna cautiously, glancing at Damon as he tipped his head at her, indicating for her to join him. As she walked over to stand beside her uncle, she looked at Anna again.

"I'm guessing you already knew who I was then," she presumed.

The older vampire smiled sweetly, "Yes, I already knew you were a Salvatore, sorry for the charade earlier."

Damon interrupted, returning to the topic, "What did you want with the Fell journals?"

The girl's sharp gaze returned to him, calculating, "I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book; I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria Fell gave the grimoire to Johnathon Gilbert." She moved over to her bag, pulling out a collection of tattered pages wrapped in worn leather, "And according to this, he gave it to your father. So, now you're going to help me find it."

Damon glanced at the journal in her hands, "Why would I help you?"

"Because you and I both want into that tomb," she turned to a specific page and held it out to him.

He took the book, reading through the section she pointed out.

"Hmm," he closed the journal and wrapped the strap around it, "sorry, we work alone." He nodded at Ren, and she followed him quickly, making sure not to turn her back on the older vampire. She was shocked that Anna had just let them take the journal and leave.

As they reached his car, she asked, "Why do you think she just let us go with the journal?"

"She still doesn't know where the spell book is, but is probably banking on me finding it since dear old Dad was the last one who had it. Here." As she buckled her seat belt, he handed her the journal, pointing out the page and section he had read earlier as he pulled the Camaro out onto the road. Renfri furrowed her brow as she read:

The Fell family believed that it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book, but I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. He said he would carry it to his grave.

Renfri looked up, "But this doesn't tell us where it is, only that your dad hid it and didn't tell anyone."

Damon's mouth quirked up a bit, "Oh, I think dear old Dad was a bit more literal than that. He always was an unpoetic, no-nonsense kind of guy, it made him a dick."

Renfri snorted, "So you're saying he literally carried it to his grave? Like, had it buried with him? That's stupid." Damon just nodded and hummed in confirmation. They sat in silence for a minute as they headed in the direction of the old cemetery before she spoke up once more.

"What if Stefan gets there before us? He was hiding something when we left, I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Saltzman made a copy since he's such a history nut, what if Stefan read it first?"

Damon watched the road as he answered grimly, "Then I'll just take the spell book, and Stefan will have earned a beating for getting in my way." Renfri sighed, nervous about what they would find in the graveyard…and who.

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

They crept through the dark woods, passing numerous other thin slabs of stone protruding from the ground at odd angles, showing their age. Damon stopped and put out a hand in front of her, eyes staring far ahead. Renfri followed his gaze and could see an orange light flickering far ahead, and another faint white light shifting around in the direction of the ground. The lines around Damon's mouth pulled tight as his lips pinched together and he clenched his jaw.

Fuck, Renfri thought, clenching her fists in anticipation of the mess that would unfold in a minute.

Damon held a finger to his mouth and she nodded, eyes showing she was nervous but upset as well. She let him lift her up and hold her to his side again so he could move them silently and stealthily closer to the sources of the torch and flashlight up ahead. She felt the air displaced around her as she moved with him then was set down on a patch of ground coated in pine needles. They were now only a few yards away from what was now clearly an open grave with Stefan pulling something large and square out of an old, rough wooden coffin. The torch planted at the corner of the rectangular hole in the ground cast shadows on the brunette girl standing over the grave and holding a flashlight over what must have been Emily's spellbook. They stood in the shadows and watched as Stefan grabbed what looked like a thin piece of wire or twine and pulled on it, ripping open what looked like a wax seal that covered the edges of the book. He removed the cover, revealing a collection of parchment pages that had fallen loose from the binding.

"Well, what do you know," Elena stood from her crouch and pointed the flashlight at Damon with Renfri standing just behind him, "this is an interesting turn of events." Damon looked far from interested, and much closer to angry and bitter…and a little bit hurt. Rightfully so, Ren thought.

Renfri took a step forward, crossing her arms, letting the disappointment show on her face. Elena looked surprised and a little ashamed after meeting her gaze, quickly looking away. Stefan's face lost its surprise and shifted immediately into wary defiance.

His dark green eyes went to Renfri, standing next to her older uncle in solidarity, "So you've been helping him this whole time?"

"Says the one who lied about wanting to help from the start. Yes, I decided to help him get his love back since that's what family does," she spat angrily, finally able to release the frustration she felt over him betraying his brother.

Stefan shook his head, "Ren, you're only going to get hurt if you stay close to him. He'll just use you for his own benefit, he doesn't care about you just because you're related."

Renfri had to clench her jaw shut so she didn't scream at him, her nails digging into the sleeves of her jacket in frustration. She knew if she yelled back she would only look like an overly emotional, naive teenager. She half-turned away from him and pinched the bridge of her nose, breathing to calm herself, choosing not to respond right away.

Stefan watched her for a second before looking back at Damon, "I can't let you bring her back, I'm sorry."

"So am I, for thinking for even a second that I could trust you," Damon said bitterly.

His younger brother scoffed, "You are not capable of trust; the fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"For fuck's sake, Stefan!" Renfri burst out, "We could tell from the second the offer left your mouth that you weren't being sincere—"

Damon interrupted, his anger boiling over, "Of course I was going to do it myself, because the only one I can count on is me," he waved at the girl next to him, "and apparently my 17 year old niece on occasion, instead of my brother! You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan." The green eyed man stood silently at that, having no response.

"But you," Damon said more quietly, looking at Elena now, "you had me fooled." The girl looked back at him, then down, guilt twisting her lips into a grimace. Renfri took the chance to berate Stefan, having held in her anger and stress too long.

"You've been acting shady and trying to get your way the entire time you've been 'helping,'" she seethed, "If my guess was correct, you got a copy of the journal from Mr. Saltzman that he made before it was stolen, and hid it from us so you could find the grimoire first and destroy it. You being here just proves us right to not have consulted with you first." She glared at him, "You can't blame him for not trusting you when you lied to us from the beginning. You never wanted to help, you just wanted to get close so you could screw it all up. Get that righteous stick out of your ass, because in case you haven't noticed, you're being just as selfish and manipulative as he's been. Trying to cover it up by saying you're doing it for the sake of other people doesn't hide the fact that you're being a massive hypocrite!"

Renfri's chest heaved up and down, having gotten worked up into shouting at the younger vampire. Her angry eyes then snapped to her friend standing across the open hole.

"And you're no better," Elena startled, "going along with it and lying for him makes you just as bad."

A heavy silence filled the shadowy clearing.

"So what are you going to do now?" Damon said, "'cause if you try to destroy that, I'll rip her heart out." Renfri looked at Damon nervously, hoping he was bluffing.

"You won't kill her," Stefan said arrogantly. Renfri wanted to smack her forehead; Stefan really didn't know how to handle his own brother properly, only how to push him over the edge into violence.

Damon's mouth tightened and he nodded several times as if saying 'oh really?' then moved in a flash to grab Elena from behind. Stefan had moved to intercept him, but not fast enough, stopping on the ground in front of Renfri after having leaped up and out of his father's grave, and now turned towards the other two. Damon had an arm across the girl's chest, holding her in place.

"I'll do you one better," he said darkly and bit his other wrist then forced it over Elena's open mouth. "Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."

Renfri took a step forward, unsure of what she should do in this situation. Stefan must have thought she was intending to grab the book while he was distracted because in a split second he had snatched it up from where he'd left it on the edge of the open ground. He eyed her warily before turning his attention back to Damon, who had tightened his hold on Elena at the sudden movement, making her gasp in fear and choke on the blood. Damon pulled his wrist back but kept a firm hold on her. The older Salvatore caught Renfri's eyes briefly and shook his head just a bit, telling her not to interfere. She grimaced but dipped her head a bit in acknowledgement, not wanting to risk doing anything to set off the situation any further.

"Let her go first," Stefan demanded.

"The book."

"I'm not gonna give this to you until she is standing next to me," Stefan insisted, watching his brother carefully.

"The problem is," Damon snapped, "I don't trust that you'll give it back."

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will."

Damon stared back, then jutted his chin out, "Red, come get it." Ren hesitated, before slowly stepping around the grave and stopping in between the two brothers to hold out a hand to Stefan. He looked between them cautiously with worry in his eyes for his girlfriend, before hesitantly handing her the old grimoire. As soon as she tucked it into the crook of her arm and stepped back toward the older brother's side, Damon started to loosen his hold. Ren noticed that as he did, he let his nose brush against the brunette's hair, almost affectionately, before fully letting go and watching her desperately grab her boyfriend. Elena looked back at him with fear and hurt in her eyes and Damon couldn't help but look down. Renfri thought that maybe he felt bad for threatening Elena with turning her against her will. After Stefan and Elena turned to leave in a hurry, they stood in silence for a few moments, letting the tension bleed out of the air as the standoff came to an end.

Damon finally shifted to face her with an expectant look on his face and held his hand out. Renfri let out a breath and gave him the grimoire with tired eyes. He said nothing as he tucked it under his arm and started heading back through the trees in the direction of the road.

"You didn't have to go that far," she said quietly as she walked beside her uncle.

"Yeah, I did. Stefan wouldn't have given it up otherwise," he replied, keeping an even tone and not looking at her. Renfri just shook her head and followed him to his car, relieved for the day's events to finally be over.

Once Renfri was home she quickly took care of Ash's needs and showered the sweat and stress from the day off of her. She rushed through what was left of her homework before snuggling under the covers of her bed with her Dutch Shepherd lying by her feet. She made sure to put her phone on sleep mode, wanting a full night's sleep after such an exhausting day. She knocked out pretty quickly and felt a bit refreshed when her alarm went off in the morning.

As she sat up in bed, she reached for her nightstand to stop her alarm and unlocked her phone. She squinted at the screen a second time when something caught her eye. She had five missed calls and several texts from Stefan from the previous night and the early hours of the morning. She frowned and opened the texts from her younger uncle, the first few giving her a shock.

Ren, I need your help

Elena's missing

I think Anna took her

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

*Please review, it's much appreciated!