**Apologies for the late post, I've been taking some time to map out the events and important details of season 2. I've also been a little distracted with picking up another part-time job and will be picking up hours. I may not post as often as before, but I will do my best.
Well, here's the last part of Season 1!
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Cursed Blood and Bound Fates
Chapter 16
The heavy skirts of the Victorian era gown made walking across the school lawn quite annoying for Renfri. The sage green of the dress made her copper hair seem even more vibrant and brought out the hints of green in her hazel eyes. The gauzy trim on the cuffs of the sleeves and sash were a pale cream color as well as the tiny flowers embroidered on the fabric. The teenager had to refrain from hustling, otherwise she might be tempted to take a deep breath and risk busting the seams of the corset underneath it all. She really didn't know how women wore such outfits day in and day out back then, it was just too much for her…although, she could appreciate how it accentuated her figure and basically acted as an extreme push-up bra. She smiled a little to herself as she brushed the tight ringlets not already pinned up behind her shoulder, then she lifted her skirts and approached the group of teenagers also donning period appropriate outfits.
Bonnie was taking pictures of Matt and Caroline while moving through prom-like poses.
"Wait, switch sides, your cast isn't era appropriate!"
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Okay, alright."
Renfri shook her head in amusement at the blonde couple as she came up on the side of the witch holding the camera as she called out, "Well if it isn't Miss Mystic Falls and her handsome escort." Caroline paused and turned to her before she squealed with excitement.
"Oh my god, Ren, you look great!" She strode over and grabbed the girl's hands while looking her up and down, eyeing the long, tight ringlets pinned back from her face and trailing down to her shoulder blades in appreciation. "We need to take a picture together to capture you all dressed up, it's not like it happens often!" She was grabbed and dragged over to stand in front of Bonnie who smiled at the girl's bullheadedness while Renfri rolled her eyes.
"I resent that, I do dress up for the occasional town function," the redhead griped back.
Caroline huffed, "That's nothing. Your everyday clothes are fine, I guess, but you would look awesome in some of the outfits I have. You should borrow them sometime!"
Matt laughed as Ren sarcastically thanked her friend. They posed a few times for the camera before Caroline declared that she wanted one with Bonnie.
"Here, I can take it."
They looked up to see Tyler in an old-fashioned suit coming to join them. Matt immediately lost his smile and excused himself. Tyler watched him go unhappily and a little frustrated. He turned to the girls in frustration.
"I said I was sorry!"
Caroline raised her eyebrows, "You made out with his mom and then beat him to a pulp. You're gonna have to do a little bit better than 'sorry.'" He frowned and Renfri stepped forward to pat his shoulder.
"I told you, it'll take time. Let him do what he needs to and he'll come back when he realizes you're still his best friend and is ready to forgive you." He nodded but seemed unconvinced. "Now, get ready to take a picture and you better have your best resting bitch face on or it's not an authentic 1800s photo." Tyler snorted and took the photo of the two girls as requested before Bonnie moved to take one of him and Ren. She waved goodbye when they were done, planning to hunt down her uncles before heading to the float. She saw them a little further down by the marching band, which was now hauling themselves and their instruments to move back in the lineup.
As she came up behind them she heard Damon saying, "—It's Founder's Day! I'm here to eat cotton candy, babysit Kujo, and steal your girl."
"Don't start with me, Damon," Stefan replied.
"That better not be a complaint about watching my furry little angel."
They turned to see their niece approach them in her period outfit with a grin on her face, and Damon scoffed, "Of course not, I'd never complain about Fido, he's such a good dog." The vampire leaned over to pat Ash on the head and got a low growl in return, making Ren laugh as she leaned over a bit to rub his head, getting a tail thump for her efforts.
"You know, he only does that with you. He lets Stefan pet him once in a while, but he's not a fan of you at all."
Damon rolled his eyes as he held the leash loosely, "What do I care, it's not like he's my dog anyway. Why am I watching him again?"
Renfri put a hand on her hip, "I told you, he needs to get out more because I've been so busy but I can't watch him until after the parade. I'd have someone else do it, but literally everyone else is on a float. You're a last resort, so suck it up. You can walk around with him until I'm done, it won't be that long."
Damon sighed dramatically, making Stefan smile a bit, "If I must. Only for you, Little Red." She grinned as he pulled teasingly on a strand of tightly curled hair. He turned back to his brother, "Now where was I? Oh, yeah, 'I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl?'"
Stefan rolled his eyes now, "Just stop, would you?"
"Well, you started it, Stefan, with that whole 'I'm insecure, leave Elena alone' speech. I'm just enjoying that," Damon responded easily, mimicking Stefan's serious tone.
Ren watched the two with raised eyebrows as Stefan replied, "As long as you heard it."
The dark haired man put a hand to his ear, "Wait, huh? What?" Stefan watched him with a serious face before giving a forced smile and nod at his brother's teasing provocations. Damon shook his head disappointedly, "You have no sense of humor, Stefan."
"He is rather serious, but it's probably a bit hard to find you funny when you're threatening to steal his girlfriend and he doesn't one hundred percent trust you not to," Ren said, adding her two cents while adjusting the cuff of one sleeve.
Stefan started to walk away while Damon snorted and stepped in front of him with Ash reluctantly following at his heels, "Hey, look, I get it. I'm the better, hotter, superior choice—"
"That's subjective, but whatever."
Damon ignored his niece, "—and you're scared now that Katherine's out of the picture that I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena. But don't worry, Elena is not Katherine."
Stefan nodded in agreement as he stared at his brother, "You're right, she's not." When Damon's eyes trailed past his brother to stare at something and Ash gave a chipper little bark in the same direction, the other two turned to follow his gaze. The three found themselves staring at Elena in her 1860s style gown with her hair in large curls and pinned back from her face. She paused when she saw the trio staring and smiled while giving a curtsy.
Renfri raised her eyebrows at the sight and thought back to an old photograph in Stefan's room, "She may not be your ex, but she sure as hell looks like her."
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Renfri waved at her friend before her, Damon, and Ash quickly walked away, leaving Stefan to drop the bomb of John being her dad. She joined Tyler, Matt, Caroline, and the other contestants on the float, getting into place. Stefan and Elena arrived just before they were expected to get moving. Renfri watched in amusement as Caroline meticulously directed people where to stand and their exact positions, creating the perfect image of southern classic elegance that she had pictured. As the float moved its way through town, Ren plastered a pleasant but stiff smile on her face and waved at the crowd every few seconds.
At one point she spotted Damon in the crowd. He was stepping in front of Bonnie and waving at her, Elena, and his brother. Ash was standing happily beside her uncle, looking around and wagging his tail at everything going on around him, his nose working hard to take in all the scents. When he seemed to spot her, he perked up and took a little step forward with an excited bark, making Ren grin and blow him a kiss playfully. Damon smirked and put two fingers in his mouth to give a loud wolf whistle while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, making Renfri snort then try and fail to choke down laughter. She turned towards Tyler to hide it a bit, who didn't help at all since he found it ridiculous as well. Stefan just looked awkward and his girlfriend rolled her eyes and allowed a small smile at Damon's shenanigans. She noticed as they passed that he turned around and stopped Bonnie before she walked away, engaging her in a conversation that had the witch looking at him with suspicion. Renfri watched curiously but had to look forward again as the float moved forward.
After the parade, Renfri was quick to change her clothes at school and leave her bags in her car. She met Damon at the Grill, who was happy for her to take the dog off his hands so he could roam more freely.
"Finally, took you long enough," he exclaimed, tossing the leash at her so she had to scramble to grab it out of the air.
She huffed and smoothed a hand over Ash's head as he wagged his tail, "The route ended back at the high school and I had to change. It really wasn't that long, you're just being a pain because you enjoy it."
He smiled and nodded, "As is my right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a drink." He made his way in and towards the bar as she shook her head at him. She sat at a table on the sidewalk so Ash could lie down underneath and people watch. Caroline and Elena found her a few minutes later; Elena went inside to wait for Stefan while Caroline joined her at the table, jumping straight into chatting about the costumes and how the float came out a huge success.
"Well, you designed it and put so much work into putting it together, Miss Mystic," Ren told her, earning her a radiant smile from the blonde.
"I did, didn't I…with help, of course," she said, nodding to Ren as she made the amendment.
The redhead smiled knowingly, "Of course." Caroline had done most of the work, only a handful of people had actually helped her put the float together; the girl was a hard worker, that was for sure. Ren glanced up when the door to the Grill opened, letting out an irritable Jeremy Gilbert. Seconds later, Damon followed.
That wasn't good.
"Excuse me, Caroline, I need to go reign in my volatile family member, mind watching Ash for a few minutes?" Her friend glanced in Damon's direction as Ren stood then nodded reluctantly. Ren turned to look at Ash, who had perked up, and told him, "Bleiben," so he settled down again.
Renfri hustled over to the two before she could lose sight of them in the crowd. She had almost caught up when she heard Damon mocking Jeremy in a whiny tone.
"I have so many emotions but I don't have any way to express them, being a teenager is so hard."
Jeremy nearly ignored him but couldn't help himself, "Dick."
"You don't talk to me like that, I'm not your sister. From now on, don't talk to your sister that way either," Damon said, mockery gone and his tone firm.
Renfri finally pushed past the last person in her way and grabbed onto her uncle's sleeve and said, "Damon," in a warning tone, just as Jeremy turned on him in a rebellious teenage fit, clearly forgetting who and what he was turning his anger on.
"So what," he spat, "you're going to kill me just 'cause I hurt Elena's feelings?"
Damon ignored her hand tugging on his shirt and stayed firmly in the boy's personal space, "Cut her some slack."
"She erased my memories," the younger Gilbert insisted, as if they were unaware.
"No, I did," Damon corrected him, "she was protecting you." He swallowed like the words were getting stuck in his throat, unused to defending someone's honor.
"Damon, don't get in the middle of it. It's their business to deal with, not yours," Ren told him lowly while glancing around.
"That wasn't her call to make," Jeremy said hotly and turned to leave. Damon grabbed his arm and yanked him back, glaring at the angry teenager.
"Absolutely not!" Renfri snapped and snatched at his wrist, trying and failing to get him to release his hold on the youngest Gilbert's arm.
"Let me go before I cause a scene," Jeremy warned the vampire.
"You'd be unconscious before you even got a word out."
"You're already causing a scene, you fucking children!" Renfri hissed, making an effort to keep her voice down despite her frustration. She patted Damon's arm and gave a fake smile to a passerby who was staring before she put her back to the boy and faced her uncle. "I know you're trying to help Elena, but in this case you're only making it worse. She can deal with her own brother, so let him go." He stayed still for a long moment, glaring at the boy in irritation, before complying. Just as he released his grip on Jeremy's arm and Ren stepped back, Stefan joined them. He glanced at Ren and nodded in thanks before addressing his girlfriend's brother.
"From what I heard, my brother means well…in his own way. What he's trying to say is don't blame Elena for this. Damon turned Vicki, I killed her when she attacked you, Elena, and Ren. She was dangerous and a threat to all of you, she had no control. I'm sorry that it happened, I wish it hadn't."
Jeremy stared at the regretful vampire with evaluating eyes before he mumbled, "You shouldn't have made me forget," and walked away moodily.
The three watched him blend into the mass of people covering the square before Ren broke the silence.
"I'll say it again: Thank god I'm an only child, you two are enough drama."
Damon snorted, "Good cops, bad cop; I like it."
Stefan turned to him, "What are you doing?"
He shrugged, "He was being a punk."
"Elena's relationship with her brother is none of your business, so stay out of it."
Renfri pointed to Stefan while looking at Damon, "As I said, don't get involved in their sibling drama, you've got plenty of your own."
He scoffed at them, "Oh, I forgot, there's only two do-gooder roles available. My bad, I'm sorry."
"Get over yourself, we both know you're not doing this for the right reasons," Stefan told him with a shake of his head.
Damon laughed dryly, "And there you go with the jealousy act again. I just—what are the right reasons? Enlighten me, Stefan." He crossed his arms and faked an eager curiosity. Stefan was about to open his mouth, but Ren stopped him, hoping it would come across less condescending from her than she knew it would sound coming from his little brother.
"Damon, you may have thought you were helping, but you were also being selfish by trying to interfere. You just wanted to feel good about helping Elena but it's only selfless if you're doing it for the sake of the other person, not your own feelings…or if you might have unconsciously thought you'll get something in return as a result," Ren told him more gently, eyeing him carefully as he listened.
When Damon said nothing, Stefan patted her shoulder with a false smile, "It's alright if he doesn't get it, Ren, it's probably a foreign concept to him."
He turned to walk away and Ren sighed in frustration before yelling after him, "Maybe if you weren't such a self-righteous asshole to him, your brother might actually like you, Stefan!" She shook her head in irritation at his attitude as she wondered how he expected to repair their relationship when he talked down to him like that? She thought it was one thing to trade barbs in friendly banter but Stefan could just be downright condescending sometimes which would piss anyone off.
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The sky had grown dark and Ren found herself and Ash walking amongst the lit trees, shrubbery, and booths set up on the square. She checked the time and saw that the fireworks were scheduled to begin soon, so she would go put Ash in her car to relax, hoping the sound would be muffled and wouldn't bother him as much. Just as she reached her car and the chirp of the alarm told her it was unlocked, her phone began vibrating in her back pocket. Ash jumped into the back seat after she'd opened it and she handed him a treat to snatch up eagerly, pulling the device from her pocket. As she looked at the screen, her brow wrinkled in confusion before she put it to her ear.
"Hello Pearl, what can I do for you?"
"I'm afraid it's what I can do for you, Renfri," the vampire's voice sounded through the phone. Renfri raised her eyebrows.
"That doesn't sound good, what is it?"
"I've stayed in contact with a few of the vampires that escaped from the tomb and I've just learned that a majority of those left are putting into action a plan to take revenge for the events of 1864."
Ren sucked in a breath, "When? What are they planning?"
"They're going to attack the Founder's Day event. They'll target the founding families when the fireworks go off, they're looking to make a spectacle. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already there amongst the crowd. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, my young friend, but it's best to warn your relatives and friends before it starts," the woman said in a stoic voice.
Ren nodded although it couldn't be seen, "No, it's alright, thank you for the warning, we appreciate it. I'll try to pay you back in the future."
A soft huff came over the line, "No need, this is a favor for a friend, nothing is needed in return. I just hope it was enough time."
"Thank you, Pearl, we'll speak again."
As soon as she hung up the call, Ren's brain jumped into action, deciding her next steps as she shoved the car door shut and locked it with a click of the remote. She immediately texted Tyler, who she knew to be at the Grill with Caroline and Matt, still trying to make up with his best friend. She kept it simple and vague, suggesting that she overheard deputies discussing a breach in security and urging him and their friends home just in case. She sent the same text to Caroline and Matt just in case they questioned him, but she hoped it was enough. She began to hurry back to the square while she waited for Damon to pick up her call, keeping an eye out for him, his brother, and Elena. When the line clicked and she heard Damon's voice, she didn't even listen before jumping right over him.
"Pearl just called, the tomb vampires are planning to attack the founding families as soon as the fireworks start. We need to find the others and leave, otherwise we'll be caught up in a bloodbath."
There was a beat of silence, then the phone went dead as she felt a breeze and she pivoted on the spot.
Damon stared down at her intently, "Did she say where they are?"
Ren looked back, "They're probably already in the crowd, blending in until the fireworks go off." She pointed towards the center of the square, "It looks like a bunch of founders are going to be sitting on stage, the vampires are going to make a public spectacle of slaughtering them as well as others in the area they can find." She paused, "John was going to use the device against them. What if Bonnie didn't remove the spell on the device's key? I've had a bad feeling since she agreed to do it, I don't think she cares about you guys dying like Elena thinks she does. She'd let you and Stefan die if it meant protecting a town full of innocents and her friends against vampires like the ones who killed her Grams."
His brows furrowed, "Honestly, I didn't trust her either but I had hoped she did it for Elena. If you're right, Stefan and I will go down with them if we're still here when the fireworks start."
"They're supposed to start in a few minutes and I don't think we can find everyone in time, what do we do?" she asked urgently, shifting with nervous energy.
Damon thought for a moment, eyeing the crowd around them, before he said, "Let's find Stefan and Elena—" He cut himself off as his eyes fixed on a spot over her shoulder, then he grabbed her arm as he began striding across the square. She tried to see what he was looking at and saw Alaric talking to some of his students. The vampire made his way over and clapped a hand on the man's shoulder, pulling him away from the group and walking him in the other direction.
"Ric, you keep those nifty little vamp weapons in the car?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"Because this square is crawling with tomb vampires, I think we might need a stake or two."
"Or twelve," Ren muttered, eyes shifting back and forth as they moved.
"Yeah, got it," Alaric replied and peeled off from the two to get his weapons. Less than a minute later they spotted Stefan and Elena walking together. Ren practically ran towards them with Damon following behind, taking long strides to avoid attracting attention by moving too fast. She came up on Stefan's other side and slipped an arm through his, making him turn to her questioningly.
"Hey, bad news guys—"
"What are you doing?" Elena questioned as Damon did the same and grabbed her hand between both of his, as if just greeting a close friend.
"Saving your life," he replied calmly and stopped to face the pair. "Fifteen words or less: tomb vamps are here. Founding families are the target, get her out of here…now."
He moved past them quickly as Ren followed and only paused when Stefan called after them.
"Wait, wait, wait, where are you going with Ren?"
"That's more than fifteen words, Stefan." Ren went to follow him with a brief glance back at the two, hearing Elena say something about Jeremy. She sighed and hurried to follow Damon, knowing Elena wouldn't leave without her brother and would likely get caught up in whatever was going to happen.
They continued moving through the throngs of people when the feedback from a speaker filled the air before projecting Richard Lockwood's voice throughout the square.
"For 150 years Mystic Falls has been the kind of town that everybody wants to call home—"
She grabbed Damon's arm, "They're about to announce the fireworks show!"
Unsure what to do, she watched as Damon paused and scanned the square, listening intently.
"What, what is it?" she asked her uncle.
His blue eyes narrowed, "There's the little bastard." He grabbed her and flashed away, stopping right in front of Grayson Gilbert's old office building. It had been closed up after he died and his practice closed.
"The Gilbert office, is John here?" Ren asked, looking at her uncle.
He nodded and opened the door to let himself into what looked like a waiting room, John stood at the reception desk. The lights were off, likely to avoid attention. When the door swung open, the man looked over his shoulder just as the deep, thundering cracks of the fireworks began to sound.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Damon asked, his eyes filled with anger.
"Beyond trying and failing to kill a vampire half a millenia old?" Ren muttered, and John glanced at her with irritation and suspicion before looking back at the vampire in front of him.
His face was a picture of calm confidence, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."
Ren stepped forward and to the side, catching a glimpse of what was on the counter behind him, and her eyes widened.
"Damon, the Gilbert device—"
John twisted the key in the hole, causing the gears to turn. Damon sped forward only to yell and collapse in front of John while clutching his head. Renfri tensed up and clapped her hands to her ears.
"Oh god—what the hell?" she scrunched her eyes closed as a sound like screeching metal tore through her ears and bounced around inside her skull, making her drop to her knees in agony.
"Aaaaaagghh!"
Damon twisted his head, to glance at her as John stepped forward and jabbed a needle into his shoulder, injecting vervain into his system.
"Ren," he muttered, looking at his niece who cried out and curled up into a ball. The teenager was blinded with pain and couldn't fight the darkness that overwhelmed her. Damon watched through narrowed eyes as his niece passed out on the floor, the vervain burning through his body and pushing him towards unconsciousness.
John scoffs, "Good lord, did you turn your niece?"
Damon groaned as more footsteps approached and the poison injected into his blood pulled him under.
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Ren came to with a harsh cough, something in the air was choking her as she tried to breathe. She blinked her stinging eyes and shifted her arms underneath her in an attempt to push herself up. She groaned as her head pounded and she leaned forward on her elbows. She looked around as waves of heat hit her skin. She was in a basement, surrounded by a number of other people lying on the floor, unconscious, surrounded by flames and clouds of smoke. She heard shuffling beside her, and she turned her head to see her uncle on his stomach and crawling toward her as the flames spread around them.
"Uncle Damon," she called out between coughs, "what happened?"
"The device worked, Bonnie didn't de-spell it," he replied in a rough voice. Ren furrowed her brows and gritted her teeth as fury ran through her.
"That bitch, I knew it," she hissed, her voice shaking. She raised a shaking hand to an ear and it came away with a dark liquid that was starting to dry.
"The device caused that horrible noise? Why did it affect me?" she asked in confusion even as she seethed. Damon shuffled closer and threw an arm around her back, pulling her in as the heat increased with the fire, encouraging them to shift away from the closest patch.
"I don't know, it doesn't make sense," he looked around when they heard more coughs nearby. A few feet away, sitting up against some bookcases, was Richard Lockwood.
"Mayor, is that you?" Damon called as they crawled forward a bit.
"Damon?" he asked, squinting through the hazy air, "What are you doing here? Is that your cousin?"
Her uncle smirked a bit, "I'm a vampire, what's your excuse?" The mayor's guard immediately went up, fear taking over his face.
"He's not a vampire, right? What's he doing here too?" Ren mumbled, her eyes focusing in on the blood trailing from the mayor's ears.
"Doesn't seem like the vervain affected you, but the device did," Damon said to the mayor, glancing at his niece in confusion as well, "so what the hell are you?"
Richard scrambled backwards to get away from the vampire in front of him, only to push himself onto the lap of another. He twisted to look back into the malicious grin of the person who wrapped their arms around him.
"Mayor Lockwood," the vampire greeted mockingly before tightening his hold, grabbing the mayor's jaw and pulling. The mayor groaned and fought him before there was a loud crack as his neck snapped and his body became deadweight, limbs splaying. Ren's eyes widened in fear and she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, edging backwards as Damon chuckled a bit in satisfaction.
"Damon, we need to get out of here," she urged. She looked around, seeing the stairs and the layers of flames between it and them.
He shook his head, following her gaze, "Unless you're looking to get roasted, we have to find another way."
Ren looked around again, she saw the small basement windows close to the ceiling, but they were far too narrow for them to fit through.
"The windows are too small, I don't see any other way out," she said and crouched down lower, trying to cough the smoke from her lungs. "We might just have to go through the fire to the stairs and hope we don't die."
Damon laughed dryly, "That's all, huh?" He looked around and got to his hands and feet as well. He grabbed at one of the unconscious vampires nearby and pulled their jacket off of them. He threw it around Ren's shoulders and she grabbed onto it in surprise.
"For the fire, wrap it tightly around yourself," he said, coughing as well as the smoke was really beginning to build up, trapped in the closed off basement with nowhere to go. He tried to get up, but struggled, the vervain still in his system.
"Come on, Uncle Damon, we've gotta get out of here," she gave a forced laugh to cover up the fear filling her as some of the previously unconscious vampires woke and began to scream as they were consumed by the flames. "I promise to put you out if you catch on fire, just do what you can to move us faster."
He gave a huff that turned into a hacking cough, but he nodded. She grabbed his arm and threw it over her shoulder as she crouched, pulling him up with her. They only took a few small steps forward, closer to the fire around the stairs, when a flaming beam dropped from the ceiling and crashed to the floor.
"Aagh!" Ren cried out while Damon gasped and pulled her back with him, causing them to falter and drop to their knees in front of the beam which sat at an angle, still attached to the ceiling on one end.
"Fuck!" Ren spat out in anger and fear, "Just let us out!"
There was a woosh and suddenly, the flames on the stairs and near the bottom died down, as small as flickering candles. They both stared in shock at the now unobstructed path until they heard feet clattering down the stairs and looked up.
It was Stefan.
Ren let out a small breath as he spotted them and relief filled her.
"Damon, Ren!" he called out, then ran towards the two, ducking under the beam to reach them. He grabbed Ren around the waist and threw her over his shoulder before putting an arm around his brother and flashing them up the stairs and through a door. They burst out into the alley beside the office building, hacking up the smoke in their lungs.
"Oh my god!"
Elena's voice rang through the alley as Stefan let Ren down onto her feet, leaning her up against the brick wall when she tipped to the side a bit, off balance. He kept his arm around Damon, who hung on him, coughing until he could finally breathe in the fresh air with his niece.
Ren sucked in the clean air gratefully, allowing Elena's fluttering hands to check her over for injury before she was pulled into a firm but gentle hug.
"Oh, thank god you're okay! I couldn't believe that John set the building on fire with you in it, I'm so sorry," Elena murmured into thick red curls as she embraced her friend. When Renfri was released she wrapped her arms around Damon and Stefan tightly as her face crumpled from the stress of the close call. Damon patted her back lightly as he finally stood up a little straighter while Stefan gave her a squeeze.
"Thank fuck you found us, Stefan, I thought we were going to have to run through fire," Ren gasped with relief, pressing herself into Damon's side as he chuckled weakly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Smoke streaked their faces and clung to their clothes and hair, but Renfri didn't care. She relished in the cool, clean air and the solid warmth of her uncles under her arms, reassuring her that they were all safe. Stefan stepped away from the two to grab onto Elena as she threw herself into his arms.
Ren caught movement from the corner of her eyes and she turned towards the opening of the alley where Bonnie Bennett stood. Ren's eyes hardened and a vein throbbed in her temple as she curled her hands into fists.
"You. You let this happen," she accused, glaring at the dark-skinned girl while Elena and Stefan turned to look.
Bonnie tilted her chin up and said nothing, only making Renfri grit her teeth in frustration.
"Nothing to say? Must be because I was right all along not to trust you with de-spelling the device," Ren continued, venom seeping through her voice.
Elena stepped forward hesitantly, "I know she made a mistake, I'm angry with her too, but she helped save you and Damon. She did a spell to smother the fire enough for Stefan to get you guys out."
Ren scoffed, "Like that cancels out the fact that she nearly got all three of us killed because she let John use the Gilbert device?" She clenched her jaw, "I understand being angry because of what happened to Sheila, but—"
"Of course I'm angry about Grams dying, it was all their fault!" Bonnie shouted with her hands clenched by her sides, finally letting her anger out for them to see, as opposed to the sullen, passive aggressive looks she had stuck to before.
Renfri took a step away from Damon, who was now glaring at the witch with murder in his eyes, only keeping a hand fisted on his sleeve.
"And that makes it okay for you to lie to us about de-spelling the device? Stop acting so self-righteous just because you're a witch and they're vampires. You chose to betray people you called friends and lie to their faces, intentionally putting people we love in danger. You did it knowing it could get them killed! At least when the tomb was being opened, we didn't have any idea about the possibility of the witches getting hurt from doing the spell, and we certainly weren't told about it. If you had at least told the truth about not taking the spell off the device, we could have made a plan to deal with John, but nooo, you had to screw us all over because you blamed us when it wasn't actually all our fault!"
Ren's chest heaved from her furious tirade at the girl, another fit of coughs escaping her as she pushed her lungs to work a little too hard after smothering them in smoke. Bonnie's mouth hung open in disbelief before she clicked it shut and sucked in a breath.
"It doesn't matter that you all weren't aware, Grams still died because you and your vampires couldn't let Damon open the tomb on his own. If Grams wasn't convinced that Damon wouldn't have stopped anyway without hurting people, she wouldn't have helped and she would still be here!"
The girl's bitter anger and grief had pushed her to the point of tears as they built up in the corners of her eyes. Ren huffed out more air and tilted her chin up, looking down on the girl as if she was a child.
"You're not the only person here who's lost someone they love. That doesn't give you the right to get other people killed just because you think it's their fault. If you're supposedly so much better than them, then act like it," she spat out, her hands on her hips defiantly now.
Elena tried to play the mediator and calm the two down while Stefan looked on uncomfortably.
"Look, we can't change what happened now. Yes, Bonnie was wrong to lie to us, but what's done is done. Let's just go home for now before the deputies see us and think they missed some vampires." She looked to Stefan with pleading eyes and he nodded in agreement while Ren grumbled under her breath, turning away from Bonnie and putting an arm around Damon's back, walking away from the group with him. Once they reached his blue Camaro away from the crowds, he pushed away from her.
"I can drive myself," he insisted, standing up straighter.
Ren frowned in concern, "Are you sure? He put a whole syringe full of vervain in you."
He patted her shoulder, "I'm alright, you should go to the hospital to get checked out, you inhaled a lot of smoke."
She nodded, "Yeah, okay. My throat does hurt a bit," she paused for a second, thinking, "Damon, why do you think the device affected me? Or the mayor?" He looked at her uncertainly and replied slowly.
"We know you aren't a vampire and I'm pretty sure the mayor wasn't. Vampires are supernatural creatures and Emily designed the device to be used against them. My best guess is that…it hurt you because you have something supernatural about you that it could affect."
The teenager looked worried, "So what does that mean? Have you heard of anything other than vampires existing? Beyond folklore and mythology, I mean."
He shrugged, "I've never met anything other than vampires, if other beings existed, I feel like I would have seen them over the past century and a half I've been alive."
Ren shook her head, "Maybe, but how else would the device have affected me? Vampires can't have kids, so it can't be related to vampires in my ancestry." She froze for a second before meeting his eyes again, "What if it has something to do with what Emily said to me? That warning about a curse in my veins and darkness coming?" She crossed her arms worriedly, "Witches create curses, right? What if a witch cursed me, or maybe someone in my family, and it's affecting me because I'm related to them by blood? I mean, we don't know anything about my mom's biological family and who they were, she had a closed adoption."
Damon's forehead wrinkled, "Maybe, but didn't she say something about keeping your innocence to not die? And how could she even know what's coming? Witches can be powerful, but they're not all-seeing. It could all just be a bunch of witchy mumbo jumbo for all we know. She was probably just trying to scare you away from us since she didn't trust vampires."
Renfri sighed and let her arms drop, looking defeated and confused, "Yeah, maybe…" Damon gazed at her for a moment before he tapped the side of his finger under her chin and gave her a small grin.
"Hey, cheer up, Little Red. We made it through the day. No more tomb vamps to deal with and we didn't die from the Gilbert device. We can deal with whatever comes next, yeah?"
A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth a bit as she glanced up at him, "Yeah, there is that." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her uncle and buried her face into his shoulder.
He chuckled and patted her back, "Easy there, Red."
The girl's voice came out a bit shaky and muffled in the material of his shirt, "I'm so glad you're okay, Uncle Damon. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you or Stefan, you're the only family I've got left."
He softened a bit and hugged her back, "Don't worry about us, Red, we'll survive. We've lived this long, haven't we?" She looked up and he smirked cockily at her, making her give a watery laugh.
She pulled back and wiped at the few tears that had escaped her eyes, "Alright, I'll meet you at home…and you should shower, you smell like a bonfire."
He snorted, "You don't smell so great either, sweetheart." She gave a weak grin and wave as she headed for her car. She could hear barking when she got closer to where she parked. She sighed, knowing Ash had probably freaked out when he could smell the smoke and hear her in trouble, she hadn't parked far from the Gilbert office. She hurried over to the car, unlocking it and shushing the distressed dog who gave high pitched, happy whines when he saw her. He nosed her intently and licked her hands as his tail flailed back and forth, happy to see her again and in one piece.
She gave a soft smile, "I'm okay, Ash, I got out. You can thank Stefan for that later." She sighed and pushed him back so he was sitting again and shut the door before getting into the driver's seat.
"Let's head to the hospital, bud, just to make sure I won't die of smoke inhalation in my sleep. That would sure suck after all this," she laughed humorlessly as she started the car and pulled out of the parking spot. She had to stop frequently due to the increased traffic from the Founder's Day festivities. At one of the red lights she checked her messages, having heard several notifications as she was driving. The screen lit up and she unlocked it, the grip on her phone tightening as she stared at the messages.
Caroline was undergoing emergency surgery. Tyler had crashed the car while driving her and Matt home.
"Shit," she breathed and tossed the device in the cupholder, clenching her hands on the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, "can anything go right today?" As soon as the light turned green, she stomped on the gas, speeding the rest of the way to the Mystic Falls Hospital.
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