I wake up to see one of The Five. I realize that I'm tied to a tree with vervain ropes around my neck and hands. I see that one of The Five is crouched by a campfire. I try to get out of my bonds, but I can't. They're vervained, which causes me pain and eats at my skin.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVqMEkr1a4
"Something botherin' you?" he asks me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUJVYLIVIe
"Would you believe me if I told you mosquitoes?" I ask him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLDXiHG2Fz
"Aye, I would. How does it feel when a relentless eating machine is draining the blood from your veins?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwIaIm3EVJ
"Itchy."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dQDZ19ews
"Your friends from Mystic Falls think you're funny, Damon?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnk5Xlo0W9
"You obviously know who I am and where I'm from. Have you been spying on me?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh79SShd7iS
"Aye, I have," he answers, getting up. "You and Stefan, Elena, your witch, Bonnie. You need her to cast the spell written on your pal, Jeremy's Hunter's mark..." he continues and sits down again. "...the tattoo that looks exactly like this?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL56XqzwdhN
I look at his tattoo.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNksgCob4XD
"You wanna know something, just ask," I tell him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6isQgNkq0P
"I've been killing vampires my entire life. Still, this thing refused to reveal itself to me. That was, until three days ago and it just magically completed for no apparent reason."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9mxBX9ayQ
"Come on, man. Do I look like I know anything about tattoos? Look at my skin. It's flawless."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRO8JfvXUE5
"Ah! You're not taking me seriously."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡha98Se81jN
He walks over to me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9tgP14tSl
"I don't blame ya. You don't know me."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR88qxf7wqM
He holds up a pointy wooden stick that he's been holding over the fire. "So let me introduce myself."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Z7Qxxv9ec
He stabs the stick in my neck.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXntI5XCLd
"My name is Galen Vaughn, and you'd better start talkin'."
It's a beautiful day, as Galen and I walk through the woods, a vervain rope still around my neck and hands.
"Mind telling me where we're going?" I ask him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAhVVb4awe
"At the wishing well lies an entrance to a crypt. In the crypt lies Silas. And with Silas lies the cure, which will allow me to kill Silas, bring the mission of the brotherhood of the Five to an end. You're my leverage, Damon. I use you to get your witch friend to open the passage to Silas' crypt for me."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGMWdNr4xw
"Wait a minute, you're using me to get to Bonnie Bennett? Whoa, brother. Ha! You picked the wrong vampire."
"I guess we'll see about that."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ja8jQjiCk
"Here's the deal, Shrek. My witch friend will open the passage for you. No leverage necessary. We don't care about Silas. All we want is the cure, so you cut us in on your share, and we'll get out of your hair."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWC3W7OiYcH
"You really don't understand, do you?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ftTMb5p1u
"No, I don't understand, so why don't you explain it?" I say in a slight accent, mocking Galen's.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCURRCb2ysb
"Silas is immortal. I have to cram the cure down his throat in order to kill him."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyxsCUCZLT
"Yeah, what does that have to do with me and my friends?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiM98UMrP4v
"I need to use the cure against Silas. Your friends, they can't exactly have it, now, can they?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD58DBr1A7t
"So you use it on Silas, and we'll use it for whoever wants to use it. You don't want to share it with us?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmqv6rmMs8
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fQDi5BPSs
"And why can't you share it?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrucyLUtvD6
"So it is written. There is only one dose. "593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUCkV6uLFb
I'm still walking ahead and he shoves me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCHbzl1MjA
"You touch me again--" I start to say.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFlnXpMBU0
"And you'll what? Threaten me? Sorry if you're upset about the cure, Damon, but we've got road to cover."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTI4UpgPi5U
"I don't care about the cure. In fact, I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to be a vampire. You know what? If I wasn't a vampire, then I wouldn't be able to do 9 of the things I'm gonna do to you when I'm free."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dIAPvOCxP
Galen shoves me again.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPcVsocigP
"Make that 10," I add.
"Right."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2CDYcgc6y
"All right, I admit it, okay? My friends want the cure, and I want them to have it, and I get very upset when I can't provide for my loved ones. But tell me something, Vaughn, if all you're worried about is Bonnie the teenage witch, then why'd you save Jeremy and Elena yesterday?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIic7neZjLC
"How did I do that?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJLSutyQVi
"Big guy. White paint all over him. You stuck a hatchet in his spine."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EF7A8XwTO
"I don't remember doing such a thing."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQ9zdF0hbV
He pulls on the rope, but I resist, refusing to walk.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHB5tWEgsR5
"We're on a remote island. There's you, me, and a bunch of unpleasant locals. You expect me to believe that someone else took out that monster truck of a human being that went after Jeremy and Elena?" I say.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59vc3c1esz
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEXEEAziKX
He shoves me forward again, but we stumble across a body. He's dead with his throat slashed.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblolwoN47g
"Was that you?" I ask him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXPNk7LVFI
"No. You?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqG7GqNKwQi
"No."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf09NrXoH9a
He looks around, as he says, "Well, I reckon there really is someone else on this island."
We continue walking, but stop when his tattoo starts to disappear.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyng6dQhkdm
"Looks like your witch is casting her spell," he says.
I stagger into the cave in the upper chamber with Galen behind me, vervain ropes still around my neck and hands. We then see some ropes hanging down that we can use to go down into the lower chamber.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GaR50d8Lc
"Well, here we are. Looks like someone beat us to the punch," I announce.
"That's a shame, Damon. I have no use for you anymore. Hate to kill ya."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgncBtLL7t
"Ditto. You know, that pesky hunter's curse and all."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQY840zKdt
He nods.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1c0q0Uto3a
"All right. How do you want to do this?" I ask him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXdfhEvZE5
"I'll make it quick and painless," he replies.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfRf47TeiY
He pulls on the rope tied to my neck.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTdWzhv5S7
I resist and grab onto the rope, and the vervain sears my skin.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiTL60hQm9
"Wish I could make the same promise," I tell him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHedPhTC56
He cuts the rope at his end and flings it towards me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5r0w24uJG
I pull the rope off my neck, groaning in pain, and pull off the ones around my wrists. He then takes out a gun and prepares it.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡde8oEYeQNs
"I'm gonna kill you. And then I'm gonna get to that damn cure, and I'm gonna give it to the girl that I love," I tell him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0FLHCr086
"Your attachment to your friends will be the end of you."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHYAovrpd4
We hear footsteps from the entrance and I smile.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfAXBYhHVN
"You don't know my friends," I say. I then add when Rebekah appears, "Or my enemies."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlywche8j8p
Rebekah and I go and stand on one side of the cave side by side, Galen on the other side with his gun trained on us.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3C8lq8NaB
"Are we gonna dance or are we gonna play?" I ask him.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YuADg3y4L
"You know he can't hurt me, Damon, unless he's got the white oak stake."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuimGGVJskZ
"Oh, he doesn't, but he's got other toys," I tell her.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtNKoAwvNz
He shoots Rebekah three times and she runs towards him at vamp speed and grabs his throat, but he stabs a grenade with wooden spikes protruding from it into her chest.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfuChgePbW
Rebekah looks down at it.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqIuk5bFGf
He holds the fuse that he pulled out and the grenade detonates, sending wooden spikes through her body, all the way through her back. She falls down, neutralized.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgt58sLqeRA
I run towards him and we engage in hand to hand combat.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EzTirqv1K
He withdraws his weapon and fires it at me and it throws a lasso-like device covered in vervain, which secures me by the neck to a pole behind me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUa5xIo3HtX
I groan and make choking noises.
"Damon!" Stefan yells in the distance.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJauRaEurTR
Galen grabs a rope going down the shaft and slides down it quickly and disappears.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4YfKDYNvt
I see Elena and Stefan enter, just as I hear Galen reach the bottom.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHclt2nl7O
Stefan goes to my side and tries to get the rope off of my neck while I groan in pain, but it burns Stefan's fingers.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3uQ77BiIz
"You're wasting time. Just get the cure. Go," I tell my brother.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jgCrZ00cn
"We're not gonna leave you," Elena says to me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3g5Ldv3mK
"No, we're not," he says to me, and then says to Elena who's at his side, "You need to go ahead. We'll be right behind you." When she hesitates, he adds, "Go."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3abiGsbERg
She looks at us both a moment longer, before she jumps down into the shaft.
I fall to the ground when Stefan finally manages to free me from the rope.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MC6HvWMdm
"All right, come on. We have to catch up," he says to me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasXVFl6nZ4
I breathlessly say to him, "No, it's okay. I just need a minute. I'm only gonna slow you down. Go. She only needs one of us."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDkIfAplE7
"And what? You don't care to be that one anymore? You finally decided it was easier to just walk away?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsfABVJDZc
"There's only one dose of the cure, Stefan. She wants to take it, you want her to. I don't. Just do what makes her happy, Stefan."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLro8CVeBh1
"Things have changed. It's not that easy anymore."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSO4TGmqkiq
"It is right now," I loudly tell him. " Get your ass down the well. Help Elena get the damn thing."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtc12rT5Tq
Stefan hesitates and I add, "Come on."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFsCrD0wLW
Finally, Stefan jumps into the well, while I sit and watch him go.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGh6H5sDJBk
I drag myself over to Rebekah and start pulling the spikes out of her. And after the last one, she coughs and starts to wake up.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7zANCEfcA
"You're alive," she says to me.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgFEQLblir
"Yeah."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTt2ClJYxcu
"Why didn't you go with them?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuLScLZz4k
"Needed a siesta."
"You gave up, didn't you?"593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡon50fIBGtr
I groan, as I try to sit up.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWYnfakygI
"I didn't give up. I just realized... you can't control everything... no matter how hard you try. Let's just say I made peace with that fact."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66dZV3il6V
She sits up.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUjlKb9xjY
"Peace? You love Elena. You always will. If she becomes human, she may not feel the same way about you. You'll never know peace."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhozO38teqQ
"Life sucks. Get a helmet."593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3A5wtiYxK
She smiles.593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioOaugYJZP
"You did something selfless, Damon. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were becoming a halfway decent person."
