Humanity 4 "The Rivalry"

Chapter 20

ASHLEY'S POV

Damon, Stefan and I are upstairs while Elena is still locked up and barely breathing in the cellar. I can hear her faint breaths as she thirsts for blood.

“She’s the calmest desiccating vampire I’ve ever seen. I remember when you starved me down there for three days, I would’ve wept at your feet for an orange peel.” Damon says.

“Look, she’s not gonna beg for blood. Begging means desperation, emotion. She’s still in no-humanity zone.” Stefan responds.

“How hungry does she have to be before we can torture some feelings back into her?” Damon asks, getting frustrated.

“A lot hungrier than she is now, apparently.” I say and he nods.

“So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Damon asks again.

“Maybe I can provide a little excitement.” I hear a voice that makes me cringe and I turn to see Katherine standing in the doorway.

“Katherine.” Stefan says quietly.

“The one and only…sort of. So, when’s the ‘welcome home’ party?” She asks, walking over and pouring herself a drink.

“Wow, look who went and got bold. Last time I checked, Klaus was plotting your eternal demise.” Damon stabs.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore, because Klaus is gone.” Katherine announces and I frown.

“Wait, what do you mean he’s gone?” I ask.

“Let’s just say that werewolf girl, Hayley, turned out to be just the thing we needed to get Klaus out of our lives…for good.” She says with a smirk.

“What do you want Katherine?” Damon asks when he sees my fists clenching at my sides. I want to rip Katherine’s head off for making me this way, and every time I’ve been in the same room as her, I feel myself on the edge of snapping.

“I’m just here to watch the great soap opera that is Elena Gilbert’s humanity switch.” She says, smiling and taking her drink to her lips.

***

Damon opens the door to Elena’s cell and she looks up weakly.

“You look terrible.” Damon tells her.

“I’m hungry. Not that you care.” She says, coughing a little bit.

“I do.” I say and she looks at me. “That’s the whole point. I do care, you don’t care. It’s about time for that to change.”

Damon takes a step forward and holds out a blood bag for Elena. She frowns a moment before quickly grabbing the bag and drinking. Suddenly, she starts spitting up the blood and throwing the bag to the ground.

“Vervain?” She chokes.

“How does that make you feel?” Damon asks. “Hurt because I’d betray you? Angry because I’d cause you pain? Or scared because you know it’s gonna get a lot worse?”

Elena tries to rush at Damon, but Stefan appears in front of her. She realizes she is outnumbered by the three of us, so she backs off.

“You wanna play games?” She asks. “Go ahead. Let’s see who breaks first. Me…or you.”

Stefan walks further into the cell along with me and Damon as we close the door, locking the four of us in together.

***

It’s been hours and nothing is working. Elena is locked in a tiny safe in the basement. Damon has been trying to get into Elena’s head to show her the happy life that she’s missing, but she isn’t falling for it. She’s fighting everything that he’s tried.