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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgJmdHlYlQ
"Something botherin' you?" he asks me.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXAHEQIzQ4
"Would you believe me if I told you mosquitoes?" I ask him.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlx4phBzDBt
"Aye, I would. How does it feel when a relentless eating machine is draining the blood from your veins?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqG0ffab0i
"Itchy."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvXTLoxpox
"Your friends from Mystic Falls think you're funny, Damon?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkaMKNQBZ4
"You obviously know who I am and where I'm from. Have you been spying on me?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4v3F0VXNi
"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?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYZsCYmgKx
I look at his tattoo.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pAjtv2wB8
"You wanna know something, just ask," I tell him.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PqCYqctua
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKodPL9MBwx
"Come on, man. Do I look like I know anything about tattoos? Look at my skin. It's flawless."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThTiRhaJlU
"Ah! You're not taking me seriously."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9knOoIzbgo
He walks over to me.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLqjI4eNkU
"I don't blame ya. You don't know me."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZZ6mbtQFa
He holds up a pointy wooden stick that he's been holding over the fire. "So let me introduce myself."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxbhvchCQF
He stabs the stick in my neck.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4xcpkvGqe
"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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0EmqUsholV
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHgleOaq6I
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3uJ9tNrFD
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2b3SffkdoY
"You really don't understand, do you?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAcfphNFNF
"No, I don't understand, so why don't you explain it?" I say in a slight accent, mocking Galen's.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmq7qJutmYN
"Silas is immortal. I have to cram the cure down his throat in order to kill him."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHS8O89VHL
"Yeah, what does that have to do with me and my friends?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUOYuBZDim
"I need to use the cure against Silas. Your friends, they can't exactly have it, now, can they?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfr9N7abLL
"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?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL27orZeESb
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEy9tjjoM2r
"And why can't you share it?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8m1SQ91OO
"So it is written. There is only one dose. "517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpXfldqXUW
I'm still walking ahead and he shoves me.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZHZ0XJZz1
"You touch me again--" I start to say.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyH4gD6nk7
"And you'll what? Threaten me? Sorry if you're upset about the cure, Damon, but we've got road to cover."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5ZvbeR8st
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ958zoxbI9n
Galen shoves me again.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBBQDhniSB
"Make that 10," I add.
"Right."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43mmH0V6mM
"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?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIcjs3362z
"How did I do that?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAq2Z9cdqJ
"Big guy. White paint all over him. You stuck a hatchet in his spine."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8C2EzZOGgQ
"I don't remember doing such a thing."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RX8hc0Zuv
He pulls on the rope, but I resist, refusing to walk.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnoIRCm4uR
"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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppZYHQrTnf
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCoEqAegS0
He shoves me forward again, but we stumble across a body. He's dead with his throat slashed.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5moNdMTV5
"Was that you?" I ask him.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn91YxVZx8e
"No. You?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43QSzjYNNV
"No."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BkJJQ9z6o
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqAKt3gspa
"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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ068QxIav38
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaz2UVe9CLR
"Ditto. You know, that pesky hunter's curse and all."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVZc4cj0Fk
He nods.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvmdQ24bcx
"All right. How do you want to do this?" I ask him.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnzHiVlbHn
"I'll make it quick and painless," he replies.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAvjqggJj5
He pulls on the rope tied to my neck.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBiOEuJLJm
I resist and grab onto the rope, and the vervain sears my skin.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9sTf4Z4jS
"Wish I could make the same promise," I tell him.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBU79fYdGy
He cuts the rope at his end and flings it towards me.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1Mq93Y70w
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesZkE5fv5s
"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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssQhZWQq76
"Your attachment to your friends will be the end of you."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pPVr5v7fz
We hear footsteps from the entrance and I smile.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BuZGj9hrA
"You don't know my friends," I say. I then add when Rebekah appears, "Or my enemies."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeSt4LciUt
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEXL0daA5V
"Are we gonna dance or are we gonna play?" I ask him.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFBOoal7Xa
"You know he can't hurt me, Damon, unless he's got the white oak stake."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyj0I9ToAw
"Oh, he doesn't, but he's got other toys," I tell her.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJaCjVkKhB
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAGbRUL1ZQ
Rebekah looks down at it.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQsWid87bJ
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qcQXNRcqv
I run towards him and we engage in hand to hand combat.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6CzcwpGDC
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxA6zk3k04P
I groan and make choking noises.
"Damon!" Stefan yells in the distance.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbV3dicy9qg
Galen grabs a rope going down the shaft and slides down it quickly and disappears.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pf69AszVq
I see Elena and Stefan enter, just as I hear Galen reach the bottom.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXc86eqwroL
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nItTXfaUR
"You're wasting time. Just get the cure. Go," I tell my brother.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEgYZxU7CM
"We're not gonna leave you," Elena says to me.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFc1CjHnit
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJk0VFuRPk
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxQR11L9qa
"All right, come on. We have to catch up," he says to me.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWlaPqj9kz
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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGYMbwIiJO
"And what? You don't care to be that one anymore? You finally decided it was easier to just walk away?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CPwcmddOq
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rXCZ1jrxD
"Things have changed. It's not that easy anymore."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAo1JhBtZ2W
"It is right now," I loudly tell him. " Get your ass down the well. Help Elena get the damn thing."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxcd2DNQiw
Stefan hesitates and I add, "Come on."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryL6puONio
Finally, Stefan jumps into the well, while I sit and watch him go.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UEUpgpobl
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.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYt21rixPF4
"You're alive," she says to me.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QzLaMX12Y
"Yeah."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPR3wayx4UA
"Why didn't you go with them?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPszfkWrmn
"Needed a siesta."
"You gave up, didn't you?"517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLPsuoXMq3
I groan, as I try to sit up.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNV80w2AeIe
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6wLLbu4kL
She sits up.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOVnBkC89x
"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."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3wrqihKik
"Life sucks. Get a helmet."517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsuNzYJ58R
She smiles.517Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiHQJYZzrf
"You did something selfless, Damon. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were becoming a halfway decent person."
