It's a beautiful day in the upper chamber in the cave. Stefan and I are the only ones there.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70ced4qZD2
"How'd this happen?" I ask.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jvyQQWNbT
"It was Katherine. She must've been following us this whole time," Stefan answers me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUXIBAe7Cn
"What about the cure, or Silas?" I ask.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEXvnFYAlt
"If there was anything in there at all, it's all gone."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyAuBh71dv
"Where the hell is Bonnie?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsQQOMpnd0
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoebo5yFUQ
"Okay, fine. I'll wait with her."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Il3rmVmsP
I start walking towards the well opening, but Stefan puts up a hand to stop me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKhnoUcmqQ
"Damon, listen to me. Jeremy was one of The Five, a hunter."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcv0bom5aVd
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsfM467z2d
I enter the campground and peek into the tent.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaOoZcWoiR
I walk a little further and stop, veins showing under my eyes, as I hear rustling in the trees.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡig6H9dizfN
"Unless you're a blond, a Bennett witch, or a doppelgänger, I suggest you steer clear," I warn.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeJoIvKiE1
I approach the shack and creak open the door. And as I open the door wider, Rebekah appears next to me, startling me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCbt1auMxC
"Where is it? The cure? I know someone has it," she says.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdm9ntEw8d
"Yeah, someone – Katherine."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXAvwA7ZkS
"Katherine? The doppelgänger?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0N8gPJQzu
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCX086CqFl
"Good. Well, you can send flowers after you help me find Bonnie."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KP6TTEhU4
We walk away, side by side.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasMD2HbcnW
"We need to find Katherine," she says.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hKJ1WxXLI
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKFnY3UQW7
I turn and start walking away.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhNfn2T4Gs
A moment later, she follows me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWh9B25Y7fc
As we walk through the woods, Rebekah asks me, "Do you think Bonnie is dead?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1qywXQkxj
"Never thought I'd say this, but I hope not," I reply.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYaoGgLfcq
"I don't like being out in the open like this."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdYzAYTotG
"What, afraid of the big, bad Silas?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMkCJLbiPI
"No."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKD5TIJnpbm
"Scaredy cat," I say in a sing song voice.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdegD7o25OG
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTPnqn35oT
"Hey, somebody needed to find Bonnie."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgrYZdNUyJ
"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?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdylomWwvW6
Suddenly, I grab Rebekah, hearing something that she doesn't, and an arrow hits her back.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjWDwIFYzm
"Ow," she says.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzmLsxWdZT
"Sorry. Better you than me," I apologize.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5gQMJWTn2
I toss Rebekah away and she falls to the ground.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVSnABsLr3
I see Vaughn aiming his crossbow at me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfe5mcX3Qs
Another arrow flies at me and I catch it and throw it to the ground, before running at vamp speed out of sight.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1qeGrIg07
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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3jNEIiGTj
"Mm, just the guy I wanted to see. Not really," I say to him.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr4ClLIZPW
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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUj0TknwVN
"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?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzJgxqIQYw
I sense Rebekah, as she walks up behind me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUY17GmZZ6
"Took you long enough," I add to Rebekah.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyDxk0jr7F
"Sorry. I had to dig the arrow out of my spine. Thank you for that," she replies.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpYvmhomHQ
"Well, if you want a lead on Katherine Pierce, here's your guy."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpNKWse9Vr
I twist the point of the dagger in Vaughn's neck.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLAXP3ri3h
"Torture me all you want," he says, smiling. "You can't kill me. The hunter's curse will torment you forever."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60pnW8XpwU
"It'll be worth it," I say to him.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MRrjq81WH
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4HfCJcJH7
"You are creepy," I comment to her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BO0czzUps
"Thank you," she says.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMojmfhP34n
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvczbYK7RxW
"How?" she asks him.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarwH0sejyi
"Oh, she had someone on the inside, some werewolf girl, friends with your professor," he answers her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbI1eoVaP9
"Hayley, Tyler Lockwood's old friend. Ah, I knew she was shady. Where'd Katherine find her?" I say.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcL5doUIMb0
"New Orleans. That's all I know," he answers me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6jgf3hEOQ
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNLssUKEbB
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hO7Nm1xzS
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjZFyEvSZr
I walk away and then call my brother.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwkcm4FLSR
"Did you find her?" he asks.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LviayncQt
"I'm still looking. How is she?" I answer.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGJVbqMnGt
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZVAiXj68Q
"Damn it. I can't- I can't just leave her behind. I can't- I can't show up without Bonnie."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCBdYWCZeD
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboxGQEUlVg
I nod and say, "I'm on my way."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQ0SWjmYhk
I hang up and Bonnie emerges from the trees a moment later.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFD9Pofj3xN
"I could actually hug you right now," I tell her, before we embrace. "Where have you been? How'd you find me? " I add.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTA14f7PSN
Bonnie pulls away.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQ8YMEzrkF
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7cs1PVBru
"Thank god," she says, as she sighs. "We were so, so worried," she adds to Bonnie, before they hug.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YSbCbYXm3
"I'm okay," Bonnie assures her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZBeOzBfPn
"Could you get Stefan out here?" I ask Caroline.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWTqMbF0Xh
"They said that she knows what to do," Caroline answers.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkbJesshqf
"Caroline, I need to talk to my brother," I tell her with a serious tone of voice.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLjBL3yXKH
"What's wrong?" she asks me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJyUE7D1Ba
I gesture at Bonnie with my eyes.
It's a dark night. Everyone else is inside, while Stefan and I talk outside.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1ogNfOY6h
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4DeMopYnZ
"Drop the veil? What does that even mean?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWFyQv0FL0
"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. "379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxr8XjXfIx
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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1s8X7FcmBf
"Elena..." I say, trying to figure out what to say.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWJflXyHYM
She's standing at her brother's bedside, where he lays with a blanket covering him.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYyeTlDYXd
She spins around and looks at me with tears running down her face.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxB5J6v9nPJ
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmp3QWNKU3F
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEcQFEe1ol
"We shouldn't--," I start, but she cuts me off.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAcynoMGJf
"Just carry him down, please."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPonlPLWVa
She leaves the room, leaving me there.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyIVxaBDm2
I hear her go downstairs and ask, "Where's Bonnie?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrxA9qEzAn
"We told Matt to take her home. We thought it'd be best," I hear Stefan tell her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZTBoRrPyM
"Okay. I guess we're gonna have to do this the old--fashioned way," she replies.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcIQHvkFIU
"Do what?" Caroline asks.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk92s8BEBaL
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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kWM37bhGc
"Elena? Elena, you need help finding something?" Caroline asks her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCvxChrVMF
Elena takes a bottle of lighter fluid out of a cabinet and squirts it over the counter, as she answers, saying, "Got it."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUdcBwDYWe
Caroline stands there with an astonished face, while Stefan asks Elena, "What are you doing?"379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjWllJbfdM
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6aE2Vq5NS
"Elena, stop it," Stefan says, raising his voice.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThoCmC5cdd
"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."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHTK9lfyAg
"Elena, stop it. You're scaring me!" Caroline yells at her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7F36eM3JH
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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRri6rW9dM
"No, no, Elena. Stop," Stefan says.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNmxlgsHW5
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJMcCzNbIU
I catch it before it hits the floor.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJ3AGgUcmm
Elena sobs and starts to fall to the floor.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaKvj02BKi
"Elena, I need you to calm down," I tell her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjdTem8NUj
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlN3XD4QIUI
"Damon... Help her," Stefan says.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLtXzH6QJQ
I crouch down next to her and pull her to me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzZjgHvNWK
"I-- I--," she says, as she cries.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoGQVAURK0
"I can help you. I want you to let me help you," I tell her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzI0SX3zsUa
Elena shudders as I touch her face.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQkG1npgFX
She sits up, pulling away as I gently caress her cheeks and smooth her hair back.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCkdWibAM8
"I can help you," I tell her.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4CUI8YxzJ
"How?" she asks me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AMnJkhuWn
"Turn it off," I answer.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoPMRpSuGK
"What? No, no," Stefan disagrees.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYCaBb4uvF
I hold up a hand to stop my brother from intervening.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTHY7CDvuq
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccpFRZaxt9
Then her humanity turns off at that. She stops crying and goes silent.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan4ZLPDwfV
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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdmbCVtOHd
"It was a mistake," he tells me.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUa7Ihyvz4
"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.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFaWGnlD6v
"Her humanity, Damon, that was all she had left."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0DvgHC35o
"Humanity means nothing when you don't have anyone to care about, Stefan."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡriNSMgQngy
"She had you," he tells me, as he nods once.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLa9QmNAOV
"She lost her brother. I'm not enough, not this time."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4er8jypm1D
"Listen, Damon. I know that you and I, we've been through some... bad spots lately, especially when it comes to her."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFbhFMcB0p
"Yeah. Well... guess none of that matters anymore."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIN7Dm2ZaX2
"Well I just, um... I want you to know that, um-," he says, as he meets my eyes.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOc8myyeJHs
"I know, Stefan," I say, putting a hand on his shoulder and nodding once.
ns 18.68.41.150da2
