It's a beautiful day in the upper chamber in the cave. Stefan and I are the only ones there.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6yYNwfFFM
"How'd this happen?" I ask.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBqV4ZwNVy
"It was Katherine. She must've been following us this whole time," Stefan answers me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhT1PpJOio
"What about the cure, or Silas?" I ask.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SVVIkcNxO
"If there was anything in there at all, it's all gone."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBatSGCb5GR
"Where the hell is Bonnie?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLVn7di0d9
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WyRReiMft
"Okay, fine. I'll wait with her."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcj2NKizMS
I start walking towards the well opening, but Stefan puts up a hand to stop me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJn5N9fFvPS
"Damon, listen to me. Jeremy was one of The Five, a hunter."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16BWvONRy8
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBM85Rdv0R
I enter the campground and peek into the tent.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1hbCi5RkQ
I walk a little further and stop, veins showing under my eyes, as I hear rustling in the trees.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmel4fZZiD
"Unless you're a blond, a Bennett witch, or a doppelgänger, I suggest you steer clear," I warn.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAk8on7aD9
I approach the shack and creak open the door. And as I open the door wider, Rebekah appears next to me, startling me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRBWnNdHJ6
"Where is it? The cure? I know someone has it," she says.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BDXZzNRzF
"Yeah, someone – Katherine."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7ptxzSe65
"Katherine? The doppelgänger?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPOi8CUXeI
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkrLLp47F5
"Good. Well, you can send flowers after you help me find Bonnie."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3oZNcJsZ8
We walk away, side by side.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8pYJjpFQi
"We need to find Katherine," she says.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLifZR7YhO
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tfkPTagqi
I turn and start walking away.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWM1xDscIif
A moment later, she follows me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJSdT5n13q
As we walk through the woods, Rebekah asks me, "Do you think Bonnie is dead?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvOSuva8Wf
"Never thought I'd say this, but I hope not," I reply.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVnnxS2lMp
"I don't like being out in the open like this."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LNmLnAt2q
"What, afraid of the big, bad Silas?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpOGIzlYLb
"No."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKf7Qb1jPV9
"Scaredy cat," I say in a sing song voice.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7w1mx7phO
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ442Zk1i1hu
"Hey, somebody needed to find Bonnie."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu974q8yZce
"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?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnU7M52bmQ
Suddenly, I grab Rebekah, hearing something that she doesn't, and an arrow hits her back.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RbifnGvS6
"Ow," she says.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSd0u1xJXwE
"Sorry. Better you than me," I apologize.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhcsxOzCVM
I toss Rebekah away and she falls to the ground.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJDa6Qa0Yc
I see Vaughn aiming his crossbow at me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5cLrBNIDF
Another arrow flies at me and I catch it and throw it to the ground, before running at vamp speed out of sight.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79EM4enN8S
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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79EHo0EfS4
"Mm, just the guy I wanted to see. Not really," I say to him.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5yKx187Tp
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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7PTF21Iwp
"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?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRR4kCKv9jZ
I sense Rebekah, as she walks up behind me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Lj70TYqPY
"Took you long enough," I add to Rebekah.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAQDKX3Cmq
"Sorry. I had to dig the arrow out of my spine. Thank you for that," she replies.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsoCGFKbv9
"Well, if you want a lead on Katherine Pierce, here's your guy."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBN4nrGPPo
I twist the point of the dagger in Vaughn's neck.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RXOLZjLIK
"Torture me all you want," he says, smiling. "You can't kill me. The hunter's curse will torment you forever."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQLAX9hQsE
"It'll be worth it," I say to him.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAMOVKBiSo
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8N2Xt0nr9
"You are creepy," I comment to her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrc0dj8tkW
"Thank you," she says.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7Boa5WqjP
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdQGFRv5MA
"How?" she asks him.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIqz8t4zK0
"Oh, she had someone on the inside, some werewolf girl, friends with your professor," he answers her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EPl4vGRUq
"Hayley, Tyler Lockwood's old friend. Ah, I knew she was shady. Where'd Katherine find her?" I say.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhGcSt6XIv
"New Orleans. That's all I know," he answers me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpMa96cExT
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXZmjQFdqK
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvR1uhFYce
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5EwaQErQJ
I walk away and then call my brother.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DBJ7DdSCF
"Did you find her?" he asks.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ923CjEflE3
"I'm still looking. How is she?" I answer.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5mgINR97p
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2MmcGsuAu
"Damn it. I can't- I can't just leave her behind. I can't- I can't show up without Bonnie."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboM4c8DsPL
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeCo6LoBve
I nod and say, "I'm on my way."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ814dMvtZwu
I hang up and Bonnie emerges from the trees a moment later.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4my7c0VMxI
"I could actually hug you right now," I tell her, before we embrace. "Where have you been? How'd you find me? " I add.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCuZtFCzFc
Bonnie pulls away.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44QJYN2l3s
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMjmVK4jkN
"Thank god," she says, as she sighs. "We were so, so worried," she adds to Bonnie, before they hug.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡth04dzzfKf
"I'm okay," Bonnie assures her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2qU787SHv
"Could you get Stefan out here?" I ask Caroline.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVyriOOtjw
"They said that she knows what to do," Caroline answers.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBoO4mVf5d
"Caroline, I need to talk to my brother," I tell her with a serious tone of voice.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIEOpCbN7j
"What's wrong?" she asks me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcGRWre9gM
I gesture at Bonnie with my eyes.
It's a dark night. Everyone else is inside, while Stefan and I talk outside.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFzcU0eyka
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIf5cZMFUO
"Drop the veil? What does that even mean?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvYLlh4qjZ
"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. "380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ14WOZAUQ
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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKuIsdD1nV
"Elena..." I say, trying to figure out what to say.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9SKsazApC
She's standing at her brother's bedside, where he lays with a blanket covering him.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnONqVRwUEi
She spins around and looks at me with tears running down her face.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6d1DsgXtT
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKz7ImO4cq
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAOpoZVFa3
"We shouldn't--," I start, but she cuts me off.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGa5jHi7bIO
"Just carry him down, please."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBeZ0mWkjd
She leaves the room, leaving me there.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1uFxJxcco
I hear her go downstairs and ask, "Where's Bonnie?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoFDaXD1dk
"We told Matt to take her home. We thought it'd be best," I hear Stefan tell her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGFrzAKI8E
"Okay. I guess we're gonna have to do this the old--fashioned way," she replies.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EBzAS9PgU
"Do what?" Caroline asks.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobJLiq2meo
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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46xH0jHdBy
"Elena? Elena, you need help finding something?" Caroline asks her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2l19PWx4q
Elena takes a bottle of lighter fluid out of a cabinet and squirts it over the counter, as she answers, saying, "Got it."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWj0B3v05WJ
Caroline stands there with an astonished face, while Stefan asks Elena, "What are you doing?"380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdh8CulOO0z
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOivJ4MNHO
"Elena, stop it," Stefan says, raising his voice.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGRTeJVAHM
"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."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiy2bACv1MX
"Elena, stop it. You're scaring me!" Caroline yells at her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuKlI5bXDo
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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzamSQKYGlm
"No, no, Elena. Stop," Stefan says.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsxbyZyHvY
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNghwOkjRa
I catch it before it hits the floor.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYVBDarLCF
Elena sobs and starts to fall to the floor.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSEscSdL9Y
"Elena, I need you to calm down," I tell her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4ZjXCwH3W
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbWJwAWaIf
"Damon... Help her," Stefan says.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fR0eruVDX
I crouch down next to her and pull her to me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iw0oYXD72
"I-- I--," she says, as she cries.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6h39BqTxae
"I can help you. I want you to let me help you," I tell her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnNW5fVavi
Elena shudders as I touch her face.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnPmOiSf08
She sits up, pulling away as I gently caress her cheeks and smooth her hair back.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dxiwza6jI
"I can help you," I tell her.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1aZRwigKo
"How?" she asks me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQkA84nuM2
"Turn it off," I answer.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UgmebgD7i
"What? No, no," Stefan disagrees.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAipoLPXJJ
I hold up a hand to stop my brother from intervening.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xPvSXywox
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zDUsMlHBq
Then her humanity turns off at that. She stops crying and goes silent.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknlP8n76ND
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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLpV1BySQb
"It was a mistake," he tells me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEsDilI0Cc
"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.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7PW801jDr
"Her humanity, Damon, that was all she had left."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCPqOwS2FQ
"Humanity means nothing when you don't have anyone to care about, Stefan."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyKl7XuMk6
"She had you," he tells me, as he nods once.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfj0RcZCW0
"She lost her brother. I'm not enough, not this time."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gQYk3Qicx
"Listen, Damon. I know that you and I, we've been through some... bad spots lately, especially when it comes to her."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiuVwmxd91
"Yeah. Well... guess none of that matters anymore."380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyHrIht29m
"Well I just, um... I want you to know that, um-," he says, as he meets my eyes.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqft1WcTDXn
"I know, Stefan," I say, putting a hand on his shoulder and nodding once.
ns 18.68.41.176da2
