Wayward Heart: Book 1

Part 25

Damon rubbed his hands together in excitement, "Let's run through some scenarios."

Damon left to meet up with Alaric while Stefan went off to continue formulating the perfect plan, Emma decided to stay with the rest of the group as they walked through town square.

"Uh," Matt pipped up, "is it weird that Klaus's brother is in the middle of town?"

Everyone looked over and spotted Finn with Sage.

"I thought he left town," Elena spoke for everyone's confusion.

Caroline moved her hair so she could hear unobstructed, "They are talking about that being an old meeting place of theirs from...900 years ago."

"Maybe she is trying to talk him into reversing the linking spell," Emma suggested, "Elena, call Stefan and let him know what's going on."

Elena nodded and pulled out her phone, quickly scrolling to Stefan's number. The conversation seemed normal until Emma heard Elena gasp, she turned around to look at her, waiting for an answer. Elena's face had a look for concern which only worsened when she glanced up at Emma, she put the phone down and took a deep breath before explaining.

"Damon..." Elena tried to find the right words, "Damon is missing, Stefan and Ric think that Rebekah has him."

Everyone took a step back when they saw Emma's eyes flash brightly as if someone had tried to flick on a lighter but only got a spark.

Damon opened his eyes slowly when he heard a soft shuffling noise, he recognized the bouncing red curls as soon as he saw them.

"Emma?" He asked softly, "You have to get out of here, Klaus or Rebekah will kill you."

He could see that Emma looked sad but angry as she saw him chained up with bear traps, several knifes poking from his sides.

"They can try," Emma slipped her ring off, "but something tells me I'll have the upper hand. Just hurry up and tell me how to help."

Damon cursed under his breath but relented, "Open it, slowly."

Emma stood next to his right side and pried open one of the traps, as soon as it was open enough for Damon to slip his hand out, he did. The repeated the process again for his left hand before releasing his feet. Emma helped him to his feet.

"Let's get out of here," Emma smiled up at him, victorious.

Damon gave her a brief but much needed kiss before letting her help him to walk towards the front door, but he was unsteady on his feet, still not healed enough to make it on his own. He stumbled and pulled them both to the ground.

"Come on, we can't slow down," Emma urged him forward.

Damon shook his head, "Just go Em."

"Not a chance in hell," Emma shared his stubbornness and offered her wrist to him, "Klaus said there was something special about my blood, see if it will heal you faster."

Damon shook his head again.

"Worst case, it will give you some strength so we can get you back to the boarding house."

"Emma..."

"For once, just listen," she pulled her wrist away and instead pushed her hair to one side, exposing her neck to him.

The lust for blood combined with her smell overwhelmed him and he pulled her close, he let his lips brush the nape of her neck for a moment before exposing his fangs and sinking them into her.

His eyes suddenly popped open and he was back in the trap, it had been a dream. Rebekah was standing beside him with a hand on his leg, she had been messing with his head.

"You bitch," he spat at her.

Rebekah grinned up at him, "Do you really lust for your little Phoenix's blood that much?"

"Don't know, I've never had a taste."

"Really? I'm a little impressed."

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm a decent person," he paused, "to Emma anyway."

"Yea, you're an ass to everyone else."

"Come on, you didn't really think I had a thing for you, did you?" Damon challenged her, "I get it, if Klaus had bossed me around for a thousand years, I'd probably be pretty desperate for attention too."

Rebekah glared at him and picked up a fire poker next to her. Without saying anything she stabbed Damon in his side, eliciting a scream of pain from him.

"Caroline is with Alaric to make sure he stays...Alaric," Stefan explained to Emma as they waited outside of the Grill with Elena, where Sage and Finn were inside.

"Rebekah has Damon, shouldn't our next move be finding him?" Elena asked.

Both Stefan and Emma shook their heads but Emma answered, "See an Original, kill an Original. One falls, then they all do, this is the quickest way to help him."

"But-" Elena started to protest.

"If Damon knew for one-second that we had a chance to kill one of them and we missed it trying to find him, he would kill us," Stefan snapped.

"If the situation was reversed he would stop everything to save you," Elena turned to Emma for back up, but found none.

"I know what my brother would want," Stefan argued.

"What he would want and what we should do are two different things," Elena scowled at them.

"If you aren't going to help then get out of the way," Emma glared at Elena before walking away.

"Are you gonna help me with this or not?" Stefan gave her one last chance, but Elena said nothing, "Okay, I'll figure it out with Emma then."

Stefan jogged to catch up with Emma.

"You got a plan yet?" She asked him when she saw him at her side.

"Eh, one that is as good an any I guess," Stefan shrugged as they entered the Grill and spotted Finn and Sage at the bar doing tequila shots, "I'll find Matt."

Emma handed Stefan a small vial of vervain just as he stepped off towards the bar, blending in-between people and keeping himself out of sight. Emma headed towards the back alley where Stefan would be leading them, she checked her sleeve quickly to confirm she had her stake at the ready.

A few moments passed before Stefan came out the back door and stepped around a corner, signaling for Emma to step out as a distraction. As they followed Stefan, just like the plan called for, they spotted Emma.

"Damon's new little toy," Sage cocked her head when she spotted Emma, "what are you up to."

Emma shrugged, "Just looking for Damon. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"Not since he had his tongue down Rebekah's throat," Sage took a dig at Emma.

Emma rolled her eyes, not phased by her, Sage took the reaction personally and let her dark veins and fangs show in a menacing threat.

Stefan had finally gotten close enough to grab Finn but Sage spotted him from the corner of her eye and grabbed Stefan first, throwing him to the ground. His white oak stake fell out of his hand and onto the ground.

"Finn! The stake," Sage warned.

Just as Finn reached down for the stake Matt opened the back door and aimed a crossbow at him, hitting him in the stomach and making him stumble back. Emma saw the opportunity and ran forward, flicking her stake into her hand at the same time, she jumped on him and drove the stake down as hard as she could into his heart. As his skin grayed she stood up and backed away.

"No!" Sage screamed at the horror in front of her.

Matt retreated back into the Grill to make his escape while Stefan grabbed Emma's hand and ran with her, Finn's body catching fire just as they turned the corner onto the main street.