Humanity 4 "The Rivalry"

Chapter 22

"You have no idea how much I've missed this." Ric says with a nod before holding up a bottle of bourbon. "And this." He smiles.

Elena reaches over and takes the bottle from Ric's hands. "No, hey. Hey!" Ric tries to stop her, but she takes a drink.

"She just got her humanity back. Let her live a little." Jeremy says and we all laugh.

Jeremy holds his hand out for the bottle, but Elena doesn't give it to him. "You wish." She says with a smirk.

"I'm dead. What are they gonna do, thrown me in juvie?" Jeremy asks, smiling.

"Well, at least you'd have a place to live." Ric teases and Elena throws a fry at him.

"You all suck." She says as we all laugh at her.

"Now there it is...that smile." Ric says, looking at Elena. "I wasn't sure we were gonna see that again."

Elena sighs and leans back against a tombstone. "I did some pretty terrible things." She admits.

"We all have." I remind her as tears fill her eyes.

"Hey, no. No tears. If Caroline was right, we only have until tonight. We need a no crying rule." Jeremy tells her.

"But the crying's good. It means that I'm finally feeling something, and right now...I feel happy." She says with a smile.

We all smile back at her. This feels so good and so normal. I'm really glad that we have this time right now, even if it is going to be short.

Elena's phone starts ringing and she sits up. "It's the Grill. It must be Matt." She says before answering it. "Hey, you went AWOL this morning. What happened?"

She pauses for a minute and her face changes as she listens to the voice on the other end. I can hear it too.

"Hello, Elena. It's your dead friend, Connor. You remember me?" I hear Connor ask.

This is bad.

DAMON'S POV

I hear the doorbell ring and I walk over to pull it open. I frown when I see the one person I hoped I would never see again.

"Vaughn?" I ask.

He smiles, lifting a gun and shooting me in the shoulder. The force causes me to step back, groaning in pain.

"Got a little message for you, laddie." He smirks. "Straight from the mouth of the witch Qetsiyah."

ASHLEY'S POV

"We want Silas, and we want the cure." Connor says to Elena on the other end of the phone as I continue to listen in.

"I don't know where they are, so I guess I can't help you." Elena responds confidently.

"Alright. Well, you know who's gonna need some help. Grandma and Grandpa Jones, in town for the big high school graduation, along with Auntie Sue and Uncle Mark..." Connor trails off and Ric stands up.

He gives Elena a look before leaving. I can tell by the determination on his face that he's going to find Connor at the Grill.

"Matter of fact, everybody here at the Mystic Grill for graduation brunch. You either give me what I want, or they die." Connor threatens before hanging up the phone on us.

DAMON'S POV

I groan as I pull the bullet from my shoulder.

"Borrowed this from my jarhead friend, Connor." Vaughn tells me as he examines his gun. "Shoots wood like lead."