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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpACE9NIirn
"Something botherin' you?" he asks me.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonJlRcNTiC
"Would you believe me if I told you mosquitoes?" I ask him.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTleU05a9DZ
"Aye, I would. How does it feel when a relentless eating machine is draining the blood from your veins?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDEErBZGBs
"Itchy."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLll3vHTbl
"Your friends from Mystic Falls think you're funny, Damon?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnqPXWVSBK
"You obviously know who I am and where I'm from. Have you been spying on me?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaSpc1iec9
"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?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoYElWuEcb
I look at his tattoo.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5FzPhSU02
"You wanna know something, just ask," I tell him.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KLAZMZlQp
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡal0HVWM7Al
"Come on, man. Do I look like I know anything about tattoos? Look at my skin. It's flawless."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tWFdxazKB
"Ah! You're not taking me seriously."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmhEko8B0A
He walks over to me.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLh4WQZ0G4e
"I don't blame ya. You don't know me."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcJcAsm9Kg
He holds up a pointy wooden stick that he's been holding over the fire. "So let me introduce myself."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4lfTa7JFL
He stabs the stick in my neck.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1RMDFJdH6
"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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNbHZhRK4M
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFTs1yFI5O
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxdWcVFKp3U
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDD8U5SJlHF
"You really don't understand, do you?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcDVkTktnm
"No, I don't understand, so why don't you explain it?" I say in a slight accent, mocking Galen's.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVeSFXNmXA
"Silas is immortal. I have to cram the cure down his throat in order to kill him."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGL6yf8qxg
"Yeah, what does that have to do with me and my friends?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlz1eJiVnh0
"I need to use the cure against Silas. Your friends, they can't exactly have it, now, can they?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUub7bKH1Z
"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?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2GpbJAFX1
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBR1mE973G
"And why can't you share it?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSieQlcZeQx
"So it is written. There is only one dose. "518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8a7dfELLh
I'm still walking ahead and he shoves me.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrxAUQS4R5
"You touch me again--" I start to say.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYyoyDOg40
"And you'll what? Threaten me? Sorry if you're upset about the cure, Damon, but we've got road to cover."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepxvcwgLGg
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSimGQtRLc
Galen shoves me again.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7c627RcHY
"Make that 10," I add.
"Right."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSfBRgpbsm
"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?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjU14Wh9w47
"How did I do that?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6n95oG7yQI
"Big guy. White paint all over him. You stuck a hatchet in his spine."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjnEdPh5nA
"I don't remember doing such a thing."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEWWrelLJX
He pulls on the rope, but I resist, refusing to walk.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKsUsDmObd
"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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFly6uj2yRl
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOXwIiMy62
He shoves me forward again, but we stumble across a body. He's dead with his throat slashed.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILrkh0JZEO
"Was that you?" I ask him.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtbtTevDHV
"No. You?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLM93TqFR0x
"No."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrYt0IPtpq
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuqXlbLFgT
"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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgZ37PVNML
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdo891rXI7x
"Ditto. You know, that pesky hunter's curse and all."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXmUlvWQPl
He nods.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiLnogDMuz
"All right. How do you want to do this?" I ask him.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzTeLY633f
"I'll make it quick and painless," he replies.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74pAieuc7l
He pulls on the rope tied to my neck.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdUXmZtTjn
I resist and grab onto the rope, and the vervain sears my skin.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGEo7EzBPh
"Wish I could make the same promise," I tell him.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7duXQERcrX
He cuts the rope at his end and flings it towards me.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUVCb1uqyL
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbQtZgukpH
"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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrl9NsQA4xL
"Your attachment to your friends will be the end of you."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhReYes9BOT
We hear footsteps from the entrance and I smile.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzF9HMvv7Te
"You don't know my friends," I say. I then add when Rebekah appears, "Or my enemies."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnrcvNDm6h
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRPLFRFTTl
"Are we gonna dance or are we gonna play?" I ask him.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgDDpHP7aU
"You know he can't hurt me, Damon, unless he's got the white oak stake."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8cbwTay3n4
"Oh, he doesn't, but he's got other toys," I tell her.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVruddMKgUR
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2LcbHizzl
Rebekah looks down at it.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLGNm4SiDp
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnd8sYE6tmP
I run towards him and we engage in hand to hand combat.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQe6wKRK96u
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmg3UQyf2SO
I groan and make choking noises.
"Damon!" Stefan yells in the distance.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oUyPICXKz
Galen grabs a rope going down the shaft and slides down it quickly and disappears.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2k4U6xMH0B
I see Elena and Stefan enter, just as I hear Galen reach the bottom.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBx6JNAH5y
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNXO1Eg0vN
"You're wasting time. Just get the cure. Go," I tell my brother.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4X7LbFotGg
"We're not gonna leave you," Elena says to me.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOSxPIJznb
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPFyPjhSzZ
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynX5HP9MPO
"All right, come on. We have to catch up," he says to me.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvXW1g8n2i
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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwv7Ma7me96
"And what? You don't care to be that one anymore? You finally decided it was easier to just walk away?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQPcHCtud5
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMQAQFZo8b
"Things have changed. It's not that easy anymore."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQ1RKR5MfX
"It is right now," I loudly tell him. " Get your ass down the well. Help Elena get the damn thing."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBre6Eqpm6J
Stefan hesitates and I add, "Come on."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLj0wjIgp5
Finally, Stefan jumps into the well, while I sit and watch him go.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbInHSXO9h
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.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPygeDaeIe
"You're alive," she says to me.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpMKVk63Qc
"Yeah."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgWAjEunFF
"Why didn't you go with them?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dTjEr76e3
"Needed a siesta."
"You gave up, didn't you?"518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3s8cz4DLUH
I groan, as I try to sit up.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTG1jBODQHO
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJDHY5FPS0
She sits up.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0Tf5tPqh7
"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."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqvVQFLkl4
"Life sucks. Get a helmet."518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAkQXoJ5Ki
She smiles.518Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjbAScvwEv
"You did something selfless, Damon. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were becoming a halfway decent person."
