It's a beautiful day in the upper chamber in the cave. Stefan and I are the only ones there.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BUD7RDBu0
"How'd this happen?" I ask.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSKh6gEXyb
"It was Katherine. She must've been following us this whole time," Stefan answers me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOFUQE76B5
"What about the cure, or Silas?" I ask.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApfsXrMyuC
"If there was anything in there at all, it's all gone."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FmmB8eyEX
"Where the hell is Bonnie?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJoKT5hydI
"I have no idea. She went looking for Jeremy last night. She never came back. Damon, Elena is in there waiting for the Gilbert ring to bring Jeremy back to life."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHH43BvGrZK
"Okay, fine. I'll wait with her."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5VkEHCn6K
I start walking towards the well opening, but Stefan puts up a hand to stop me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jQAMrrQzt
"Damon, listen to me. Jeremy was one of The Five, a hunter."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MgzBmCel5
"He's supernatural. The ring won't work anymore." I pause and then add, "She won't survive this. I'll find Bonnie. You get Elena off this island."
Later on in the day, I'm on the island in search of Bonnie.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCULh5LALhH
I enter the campground and peek into the tent.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrYoP6Imrt
I walk a little further and stop, veins showing under my eyes, as I hear rustling in the trees.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6S4UzFUzZb
"Unless you're a blond, a Bennett witch, or a doppelgänger, I suggest you steer clear," I warn.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjWhrEBbbF
I approach the shack and creak open the door. And as I open the door wider, Rebekah appears next to me, startling me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgwRKci9hR
"Where is it? The cure? I know someone has it," she says.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQfgRMIURA
"Yeah, someone – Katherine."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJXdTeDjzp
"Katherine? The doppelgänger?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7dDlGHqJH
"Yeah. Sneaky little bitch must've been spying on us for weeks. She killed Jeremy... or somebody did. He killed your brother. Let's not with the fake sad face."
"I didn't say I was going to miss him, but I'm not heartless. He was Elena's only family."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ukHafHqaj
"Good. Well, you can send flowers after you help me find Bonnie."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFUDa7aR5z
We walk away, side by side.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYkgS0nShP
"We need to find Katherine," she says.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgI1GSAI7ss
"If there's one thing that's a guarantee in this miserable little world, it's that Katherine Pierce is gone. We need to find Bonnie. Oh, and beware of the immortal Silas. If he was asleep in that cave, he's awake now."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3aqToAWvG
I turn and start walking away.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogKW4vcrND
A moment later, she follows me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NW1jUmNX6
As we walk through the woods, Rebekah asks me, "Do you think Bonnie is dead?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3jIvCE8bw
"Never thought I'd say this, but I hope not," I reply.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGwl6OCoJ7
"I don't like being out in the open like this."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YhlPGZJgM
"What, afraid of the big, bad Silas?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCSdPrpORd
"No."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFTIuNdqAC
"Scaredy cat," I say in a sing song voice.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFb9r8RRwy3
"I'm not a scaredy cat. My brother Kol drove himself mad worrying about Silas rising. It would benefit us all to be a bit concerned, and you're one to talk about being afraid. You're so scared, you're 1,200 miles away from where you're supposed to be."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPD7X6yEdlV
"Hey, somebody needed to find Bonnie."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjJvUnwNYf
"Stefan could've done that. Aren't you Elena's current love? It's so hard to keep track these days. Shouldn't you be home comforting her, or are you terrified of being there when she realizes her brother is dead?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzJF7vxq14
Suddenly, I grab Rebekah, hearing something that she doesn't, and an arrow hits her back.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuvuzRf8GG
"Ow," she says.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAon4Mm7e2K
"Sorry. Better you than me," I apologize.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8zxM6r1Cu
I toss Rebekah away and she falls to the ground.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Vm9FE0XU8
I see Vaughn aiming his crossbow at me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXcLnOUp81
Another arrow flies at me and I catch it and throw it to the ground, before running at vamp speed out of sight.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9o1K3FRalu
He sets his crossbow and bag down and chases after me, but I reappear and throw him to the ground. He has a dagger in his hand, but I twist his wrist and he drops it, but continues to struggle against me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YjLqUiV7S
"Mm, just the guy I wanted to see. Not really," I say to him.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLN8x6jonCV
I slam him to the ground, knocking him out.
When he wakes up, I have him tied up and propped up against a rock face, jabbing the point of a dagger into Vaughn's throat as I talk.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkz4CiK4BF
"Here's the thing. I was completely willing to accept the fact that you were a one man on a lonely mission to kill ol' Silas, and then I got boned by my vixen nemesis Miss Katherine Pierce, and then I start thinking there's no way that this is a coincidence. So what do you know, huh?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2IoRP7GN9
I sense Rebekah, as she walks up behind me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkDKaWtUJV
"Took you long enough," I add to Rebekah.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOM5ISJqsO
"Sorry. I had to dig the arrow out of my spine. Thank you for that," she replies.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bKTjJ6ygy
"Well, if you want a lead on Katherine Pierce, here's your guy."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4a1rwGvY9C
I twist the point of the dagger in Vaughn's neck.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHCmVyJ5cW
"Torture me all you want," he says, smiling. "You can't kill me. The hunter's curse will torment you forever."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4J6M4NKuQc
"It'll be worth it," I say to him.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF86N4cJdLJ
"He's right. You can't kill him, but that doesn't mean we can't tear him apart piece by piece, nerve by nerve until the pain is so severe, that your brain shuts it off to give you one tiny moment of blessed relief, and then we'll heal you and do it again and again and again," Rebekah says to me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0FDD041B5
"You are creepy," I comment to her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPM5ry4rtB
"Thank you," she says.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpR9Lb9diA
"I was tracking dens of vampires across Colorado. Katherine found me, said she could help me find Silas. She already knew about the Hunter's mark, the cure," he tells us after a moment of squirming uncomfortably from the dagger at his neck.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2ahyRlEgZ
"How?" she asks him.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszPZQ7ibqK
"Oh, she had someone on the inside, some werewolf girl, friends with your professor," he answers her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pzrBejhLu
"Hayley, Tyler Lockwood's old friend. Ah, I knew she was shady. Where'd Katherine find her?" I say.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6pu5rDCF2
"New Orleans. That's all I know," he answers me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06FjaVkUAX
"Ah. Good. Let's throw him in the well. If he starves to death, it's not our fault. I'm gonna go find Bonnie," I say, as I remove the dagger.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUQidzUZfF
"We've got a lead on the cure, Damon. I'm gonna find it, but I suppose you don't mind. You never wanted Elena to be human again, anyway."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUm9XkbnAPF
"I wanted that cure for her because it's what she wanted. You might think I'm afraid to go back, but I'm not because I know what she needs. She needs me to bring her best friend home."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtMye6XcC6
I walk away and then call my brother.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPovdApZgaL
"Did you find her?" he asks.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15tetS6ysj
"I'm still looking. How is she?" I answer.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhl7TSacV0d
"She's losing it, Damon. We can do what we can to delay things here, but we've got to get Jeremy to the morgue before it gets ugly."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlky9rZ5w44
"Damn it. I can't- I can't just leave her behind. I can't- I can't show up without Bonnie."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjzYo2Suyq
"I think you have to. At this point, the sire bond is probably the only thing that's gonna keep Elena together. I can go back to find Bonnie."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidw2ZHPcAx
I nod and say, "I'm on my way."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8s1oHQwVZS
I hang up and Bonnie emerges from the trees a moment later.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsTRQjA44T
"I could actually hug you right now," I tell her, before we embrace. "Where have you been? How'd you find me? " I add.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnyFRd0g6k
Bonnie pulls away.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2psI75NRO
"Shane led the way. He told me what to do, Damon. I know how to bring Jeremy back," she answers me.
I soon arrive at the Gilbert house with Bonnie. And as we get out of my car, Caroline is there standing by hers.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxRDtlo7WX
"Thank god," she says, as she sighs. "We were so, so worried," she adds to Bonnie, before they hug.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzVovygj3y
"I'm okay," Bonnie assures her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPn6xFXSjI
"Could you get Stefan out here?" I ask Caroline.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dSZ7nz9am
"They said that she knows what to do," Caroline answers.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNl6jUNuVdB
"Caroline, I need to talk to my brother," I tell her with a serious tone of voice.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hRVX8Ubfu
"What's wrong?" she asks me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGcdqjCt79
I gesture at Bonnie with my eyes.
It's a dark night. Everyone else is inside, while Stefan and I talk outside.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboxGnTdpHT
"She's out of her mind, Stefan. The nutty professor's got her totally brainwashed. I mean, the whole flight back home, all she could talk about was how she's the one that can drop the veil between this side and the Other Side."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4u21N4zHo
"Drop the veil? What does that even mean?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuama96HWZ
"What it means is, the myth about Silas being able to raise the dead is not just one, or some. It's every supernatural being over there. Three massacres, three hot spots, and the witch spell of the century, and every supernatural being over there is back with a vengeance. "429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtlkK7oJnR
A few minutes later, I walk inside and upstairs to where Elena is, and I go into Jeremy's room and stand at the doorway.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalSa5i0zLq
"Elena..." I say, trying to figure out what to say.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPNarEpfES
She's standing at her brother's bedside, where he lays with a blanket covering him.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKKun4lUfS
She spins around and looks at me with tears running down her face.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetABC1eJ89
"He's dead. He's dead. Damon, he's dead, and he's been dead this entire time, and I--" Her hand flies to her face over her mouth. "Oh, my god." She looks down at her brother. "I can smell him." She looks at me again. "How long has he smelled like that?"
"Hey, talk to me. I can help you," I say, wanting to comfort her. I can't stand to see her like this. She's grieving so much.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4bPcN354R
"How? How are you gonna help me? How?" She sniffles and wipes her hand over her face. "Okay. Okay. We-- we have to- -we have to take care of his body. Bring him downstairs."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfPpCfmSBM
"We shouldn't--," I start, but she cuts me off.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmXH0Pr8J8
"Just carry him down, please."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8vEb0g7qI
She leaves the room, leaving me there.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglezbJ0YVW
I hear her go downstairs and ask, "Where's Bonnie?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNnUaSS3DX
"We told Matt to take her home. We thought it'd be best," I hear Stefan tell her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMFA7hcNbJ
"Okay. I guess we're gonna have to do this the old--fashioned way," she replies.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVFYJiyhJH
"Do what?" Caroline asks.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3GnrhK8pb
I arrive downstairs and she tells me, "Put his body on the couch." She then goes into the kitchen and starts opening and closing cabinets, while I lay her brother's body down on the couch.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ4rWzzD4E
"Elena? Elena, you need help finding something?" Caroline asks her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiA2h3P5of
Elena takes a bottle of lighter fluid out of a cabinet and squirts it over the counter, as she answers, saying, "Got it."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxg8keGiKgM
Caroline stands there with an astonished face, while Stefan asks Elena, "What are you doing?"429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0lbDVrxgk
"We need a cover story, right? You think I didn't hear you guys talking earlier? Well, what are we gonna say- -animal attack, 'tumbled down the stairs'? No. We burn the house down with him inside of it," she answers, continuing to squirt the fluid everywhere. She then makes it to the living room and squirts it on the couch.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakdfaFi7Rw
"Elena, stop it," Stefan says, raising his voice.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5nEYEazbH
"Why? Because you want me to not be in denial? You want me to face the truth? This is the truth, Stefan. I don't want to live here anymore. I don't want these sketches." She sprays them with lighter fluid and kicks something. "I don't want this Xbox." She throws down the empty bottle and reaches into a cabinet. "Not gonna need this bourbon anymore. Alaric's not here to drink it, I mean, unless you guys are willing to bring back every supernatural creature on the Other Side to get him back." She turns to me. "Would you? I know you want your drinking buddy back." She walks toward me. "Would you, Damon? Because I wouldn't." She walks over to Jeremy's body and splashes bourbon over him. "I don't know, I mean, does that make me a bad person? I-- I have no idea." She takes the Gilbert ring off Jeremy's finger and tosses it to me and I catch it. "He's not gonna need that anymore."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgR2fghCPiM
"Elena, stop it. You're scaring me!" Caroline yells at her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOynigUOlD
Elena takes down a picture frame from the fireplace mantle, before saying, "What else are we supposed to do with the body, Caroline? I mean, there's no-- there's no room in the Gilbert family plot." She throws the frame down on the floor and the glass cracks. "Jenna and-- and John took the last spots." She throws the empty bottle of bourbon against the wall and it shatters, then grabs a match from the mantle and lights it.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8R8w8zgb6
"No, no, Elena. Stop," Stefan says.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rtLujV8fT
"There's nothing here for me anymore, Stefan. Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that I love that have died-- my mom, my dad, Jeremy, and Jenna and Alaric, even John. I mean, they're all dead. Everyone is dead. So what am I supposed to-- I mean, how am I gonna-- I can't even--There's nothing left for me-- aah!" She shouts, when the fire on the match burns her finger and she drops it.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbKBVui1P4
I catch it before it hits the floor.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWO0y8pSSXo
Elena sobs and starts to fall to the floor.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOP3XYrhxZ
"Elena, I need you to calm down," I tell her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRPcFzFAlR
"No, no, no, I can't. I can't. I can't. I--," she tells me, before falling to her knees, immeasurable pain and grief distorting her face. She grabs at her head and says, "No. It hurts. It hurts. Just make it stop. Please make it stop. It hurts," as she continues to sob.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXkbQRZSkN
"Damon... Help her," Stefan says.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLcsdm4KtB
I crouch down next to her and pull her to me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYO50zwMSE
"I-- I--," she says, as she cries.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWid4Jv30rV
"I can help you. I want you to let me help you," I tell her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7egYCAWHh6
Elena shudders as I touch her face.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuY962hLBgV
She sits up, pulling away as I gently caress her cheeks and smooth her hair back.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5V7wXJcbvU
"I can help you," I tell her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0iswLVBjy
"How?" she asks me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDVh3txGTe
"Turn it off," I answer.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7rzBCPzI1
"What? No, no," Stefan disagrees.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleq8ps3xW0
I hold up a hand to stop my brother from intervening.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaedppt1Kf
"Just turn it off, and everything will go away. That's what you have to do. It's what I want you to do. Just turn it off," I tell her.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmhPd2GcgK
Then her humanity turns off at that. She stops crying and goes silent.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3rnH6eSoZ
She and I both stand up and she throws a match down and we all soon leave her house, as her family home burns to the ground.
Later that night, Stefan and I talk outside our place.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMHnYFRqXC
"It was a mistake," he tells me.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCQbqGNuPQ
"It wasn't, and you know it. This is the only way she's gonna survive. We'll help her, keep an eye on her. When she's ready, I'll use the sire bond to bring her back," I answer.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24gJcoDmhe
"Her humanity, Damon, that was all she had left."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBpLYtohkU
"Humanity means nothing when you don't have anyone to care about, Stefan."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiJp25wxzf
"She had you," he tells me, as he nods once.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW03TDsFLeN
"She lost her brother. I'm not enough, not this time."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzruyfOzvz
"Listen, Damon. I know that you and I, we've been through some... bad spots lately, especially when it comes to her."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinB4xmM9Ub
"Yeah. Well... guess none of that matters anymore."429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDzAUxBSTY
"Well I just, um... I want you to know that, um-," he says, as he meets my eyes.429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6zzlQutmH
"I know, Stefan," I say, putting a hand on his shoulder and nodding once.
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