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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGhbMiVOkC
"Something botherin' you?" he asks me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMNoOF2Sut
"Would you believe me if I told you mosquitoes?" I ask him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXeMDF6Wbg
"Aye, I would. How does it feel when a relentless eating machine is draining the blood from your veins?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7b1G5K8hWv
"Itchy."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcNxvvlteL
"Your friends from Mystic Falls think you're funny, Damon?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPGOu2gMyS
"You obviously know who I am and where I'm from. Have you been spying on me?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2CngDRrRf
"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?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp439UnS7AC
I look at his tattoo.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzBF3CVrNO
"You wanna know something, just ask," I tell him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8qrM4bJNi
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipThhBmckA
"Come on, man. Do I look like I know anything about tattoos? Look at my skin. It's flawless."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SLxTk9IQu
"Ah! You're not taking me seriously."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmXPI4zjdT
He walks over to me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFwT4bgXCa
"I don't blame ya. You don't know me."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45r1gCoQ10
He holds up a pointy wooden stick that he's been holding over the fire. "So let me introduce myself."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPX4mPyFCP4
He stabs the stick in my neck.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVpt2xFT7b
"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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyT7OwKjWL
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZCjbn8xeP
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbi3oU7J3G
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWVynoUtCC
"You really don't understand, do you?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHSeFo88Kj
"No, I don't understand, so why don't you explain it?" I say in a slight accent, mocking Galen's.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQu1Nn3xmUc
"Silas is immortal. I have to cram the cure down his throat in order to kill him."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM25iIsx1x0
"Yeah, what does that have to do with me and my friends?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyXNA8IC0U
"I need to use the cure against Silas. Your friends, they can't exactly have it, now, can they?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QdQqnLEVd
"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?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMWfeB3Rqb
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTsy9IxhZD
"And why can't you share it?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbQJyxnAcD
"So it is written. There is only one dose. "491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BecvIS71c
I'm still walking ahead and he shoves me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCC7e05egqZ
"You touch me again--" I start to say.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLjIrOleIU
"And you'll what? Threaten me? Sorry if you're upset about the cure, Damon, but we've got road to cover."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡub4FEx6pfn
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLOfyFX97y
Galen shoves me again.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnORTC17oV
"Make that 10," I add.
"Right."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzWh4IT8GL
"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?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5fQvYatwY
"How did I do that?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BGPcde6C9
"Big guy. White paint all over him. You stuck a hatchet in his spine."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVzPJ1elGs
"I don't remember doing such a thing."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrs79rHPtpC
He pulls on the rope, but I resist, refusing to walk.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRJZdrKcmD
"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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYz5iZVAtEB
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KKfmYfOwq
He shoves me forward again, but we stumble across a body. He's dead with his throat slashed.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzABjOGzmqr
"Was that you?" I ask him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4k4c07Kgm
"No. You?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThFCnDTBuT
"No."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKs0mvttMEN
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWNCfzQQKj
"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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEEJjQQqeK
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOaMXw6lKq
"Ditto. You know, that pesky hunter's curse and all."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3snJcnrX0N
He nods.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rSLvFN1Bm
"All right. How do you want to do this?" I ask him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJL0a2w2tn
"I'll make it quick and painless," he replies.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY41whU8MFv
He pulls on the rope tied to my neck.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBREDYxS44y
I resist and grab onto the rope, and the vervain sears my skin.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DyFXHNEwf
"Wish I could make the same promise," I tell him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tivmjk7OF
He cuts the rope at his end and flings it towards me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwlPAL9Zq6
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOZLBzHxMC
"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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzChdb0xtgm
"Your attachment to your friends will be the end of you."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKflZF0lKWn
We hear footsteps from the entrance and I smile.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHX09U3JN8
"You don't know my friends," I say. I then add when Rebekah appears, "Or my enemies."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfWgL0bdV5
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsejrxEOcCT
"Are we gonna dance or are we gonna play?" I ask him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqsrSnhFcR
"You know he can't hurt me, Damon, unless he's got the white oak stake."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoMIcdbHyb
"Oh, he doesn't, but he's got other toys," I tell her.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DOrkcNsHL
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwBVTVgeD2
Rebekah looks down at it.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2TCtwYCHZ
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcs98mmRvW
I run towards him and we engage in hand to hand combat.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH31Si0BsfP
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lkfQyYgre
I groan and make choking noises.
"Damon!" Stefan yells in the distance.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc82jZ00Wxs
Galen grabs a rope going down the shaft and slides down it quickly and disappears.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrwOK4KjYb
I see Elena and Stefan enter, just as I hear Galen reach the bottom.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaWHESxIjp
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufRDIHPwnu
"You're wasting time. Just get the cure. Go," I tell my brother.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79iAzzWpi4
"We're not gonna leave you," Elena says to me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAsl2KiFcL
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlw6cDWtRi8
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OYMsTmIN3
"All right, come on. We have to catch up," he says to me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEh5DMygx1
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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhxz04YTVb
"And what? You don't care to be that one anymore? You finally decided it was easier to just walk away?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH26KoTx3bu
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp43lXNUY9n
"Things have changed. It's not that easy anymore."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3H86Kp9xz
"It is right now," I loudly tell him. " Get your ass down the well. Help Elena get the damn thing."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhj5kNBSnS
Stefan hesitates and I add, "Come on."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDOYQUwgnI
Finally, Stefan jumps into the well, while I sit and watch him go.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6aQaSAGXU
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MbXpXNSPA
"You're alive," she says to me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61enoaCDs9
"Yeah."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZphagbdyk
"Why didn't you go with them?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqX2VLvxzV
"Needed a siesta."
"You gave up, didn't you?"491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbdfxJcMIK
I groan, as I try to sit up.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekeWRWUkuI
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH88DGb9yIA
She sits up.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ext6ltICi
"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."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChCJCqV0gg
"Life sucks. Get a helmet."491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55IfiIVeiq
She smiles.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcI8mrUzbt
"You did something selfless, Damon. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were becoming a halfway decent person."
