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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm0BPf0Vf9
"Something botherin' you?" he asks me.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkbXVIRKE3
"Would you believe me if I told you mosquitoes?" I ask him.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ucj8vljkh
"Aye, I would. How does it feel when a relentless eating machine is draining the blood from your veins?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4oMM8DvHmv
"Itchy."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsufbsSBeyw
"Your friends from Mystic Falls think you're funny, Damon?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfa16DKpDq
"You obviously know who I am and where I'm from. Have you been spying on me?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2PgyNZcuy
"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?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWSD2FKvr2
I look at his tattoo.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABLB2BWNuY
"You wanna know something, just ask," I tell him.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxnQTDZotO
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzHjLjtI0W
"Come on, man. Do I look like I know anything about tattoos? Look at my skin. It's flawless."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KNpYY4OTd
"Ah! You're not taking me seriously."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpekLKmCLH
He walks over to me.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpae2bnsQG
"I don't blame ya. You don't know me."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFB42scOYa
He holds up a pointy wooden stick that he's been holding over the fire. "So let me introduce myself."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡci84y1aEkh
He stabs the stick in my neck.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5L6BaAyMdJ
"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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswcgXoROGZ
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdoGH7Qub5
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvp6QWTb1Nu
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrG2K6QVPl
"You really don't understand, do you?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcriulvQHR
"No, I don't understand, so why don't you explain it?" I say in a slight accent, mocking Galen's.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKPO8JTE2x
"Silas is immortal. I have to cram the cure down his throat in order to kill him."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTWDiILb81
"Yeah, what does that have to do with me and my friends?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TYlZAAHo6
"I need to use the cure against Silas. Your friends, they can't exactly have it, now, can they?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zRNr5dScy
"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?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoom7ns8HZ
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4gfnhXy9r
"And why can't you share it?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovhPYbtUgN
"So it is written. There is only one dose. "489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDe7PXXG4F
I'm still walking ahead and he shoves me.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRu0qdQgWnu
"You touch me again--" I start to say.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXB4Lm0dWXX
"And you'll what? Threaten me? Sorry if you're upset about the cure, Damon, but we've got road to cover."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNBBn8uhri
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTnZZHLVOe
Galen shoves me again.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8L7J7KUKYB
"Make that 10," I add.
"Right."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmIeZNfqGJ
"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?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfpmdhKlRf
"How did I do that?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtYY4BGiJD
"Big guy. White paint all over him. You stuck a hatchet in his spine."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡca7bJlGX3A
"I don't remember doing such a thing."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEPKZGmYSj
He pulls on the rope, but I resist, refusing to walk.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBVMXFxgem
"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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacAW289wzz
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdibbhQFoKH
He shoves me forward again, but we stumble across a body. He's dead with his throat slashed.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG78tbiiZzJ
"Was that you?" I ask him.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gZMyqzlgQ
"No. You?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUrCXIu78b
"No."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwPfmpFTlC
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMJNk0jt1x
"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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOizk0ci6YS
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9ur56LpGp
"Ditto. You know, that pesky hunter's curse and all."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0UTzWa31U
He nods.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeao1pgczI
"All right. How do you want to do this?" I ask him.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vTrlYJdUf
"I'll make it quick and painless," he replies.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKY7SHogoli
He pulls on the rope tied to my neck.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLz0MMVGfqc
I resist and grab onto the rope, and the vervain sears my skin.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wmVAD2dt3
"Wish I could make the same promise," I tell him.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1Yo17EZcT
He cuts the rope at his end and flings it towards me.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GIls42qme
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Dx3WQxBDH
"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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWsC0DtiB6
"Your attachment to your friends will be the end of you."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsQYQHdbe5
We hear footsteps from the entrance and I smile.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPiIMjgX6X
"You don't know my friends," I say. I then add when Rebekah appears, "Or my enemies."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RUCCvi9kJ
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FxhVum3h7
"Are we gonna dance or are we gonna play?" I ask him.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvdHVV9Slf
"You know he can't hurt me, Damon, unless he's got the white oak stake."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxt4WFFiqAY
"Oh, he doesn't, but he's got other toys," I tell her.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW64MCcjQvS
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5l592GSBpe
Rebekah looks down at it.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxL4SW7ESul
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKLTNj5gwJ
I run towards him and we engage in hand to hand combat.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvELRXy04P
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibft8xYYKN
I groan and make choking noises.
"Damon!" Stefan yells in the distance.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5jSxTEFo9
Galen grabs a rope going down the shaft and slides down it quickly and disappears.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkZ7vO4ksM
I see Elena and Stefan enter, just as I hear Galen reach the bottom.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLfItm6rqu
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhM3zbaAwE
"You're wasting time. Just get the cure. Go," I tell my brother.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkqZTF9bvD
"We're not gonna leave you," Elena says to me.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6SoT5pV7n
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QvjHxsJc4
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkFysD3Y1t
"All right, come on. We have to catch up," he says to me.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHIiiSc6Zf
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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8xm5XPCth
"And what? You don't care to be that one anymore? You finally decided it was easier to just walk away?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzeN9o18Rr
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gpJDoLkae
"Things have changed. It's not that easy anymore."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnE1BQXNCt
"It is right now," I loudly tell him. " Get your ass down the well. Help Elena get the damn thing."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDHbBb4cRi
Stefan hesitates and I add, "Come on."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsR7I0Ex3Cf
Finally, Stefan jumps into the well, while I sit and watch him go.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoHFaX0G48
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.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNdERKdMbi
"You're alive," she says to me.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIDzxAE8cq
"Yeah."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEyz9ufQv1
"Why didn't you go with them?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAniRAMWdk
"Needed a siesta."
"You gave up, didn't you?"489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IesClrpnt
I groan, as I try to sit up.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpHfHdgsO3
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92qIj7Hgtz
She sits up.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gG2NJetZG
"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."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpwex8rCHh
"Life sucks. Get a helmet."489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64A66e1eEF
She smiles.489Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbEZwykoUQ
"You did something selfless, Damon. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were becoming a halfway decent person."
