It's Been a Long, Long Time (tvd)

Chapter 11: The Soon-to-be Hybrid

"Yes, thank you, Penny."

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I knock on Damon's bedroom door but don't wait for an answer. When I walk in, I see him laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. I hear Stefan and Elena wake up but ignore them. "Damon?" I ask softly.

He looks at me, his hard expression softening a bit. "Hi," he says plainly.

"Look, we're going to make it out of this alive. All of us. I promise that I will do my best to ensure that."

"But what if we don't?" He quietly snaps.

"Let's not think about that right now. Focus on what you can do to help," I encourage him.

He doesn't say anything, just huffs. I wanted to lighten the mood a bit because we shouldn't be sad yet. I jump on him, straddling his lap, and start tickling him. He tries to keep a straight face but fails, ultimately laughing. He goes to flip me over, but I vamp to the doorway then start running down the hall and stairs at human speed.

When Damon and I have play fights, we typically don't use our vampire powers much.

I hear him behind me as I reach the bottom of the steps and laugh. When I run into the study, both of us are not aware of our surroundings as he catches me, turns me around, and picks me up. He then spins a few times, making my smile impossibly bigger.

I hear a throat being cleared and turn my head to see Stefan, Elena, and Elijah by the fireplace in the study. I'm still in Damon's arms and notice Elijah looking at him with... an angry feeling?

Damon lets me down, kisses me on the top of my head, and vamps out of the room. "What's up?" I ask, turning to the three other people in the room.

"We were just talking about the plan," Stefan says, unfazed by the me and Damon thing.

Elena looks at me weirdly before blurting out, "What was that?"

Stefan sighs. "I'm guessing one of their tickle fights. It's a way they cheer each other up."

I nod and go to sit in the chair next to where Elijah's standing. "We should assume Klaus is prepared to break the curse," he says.

"Elena said that the sun and the moon curse is fake? That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus." Stefan asks for clarification.

"Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline," Elijah continues. "The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting."

"I'm gonna zone out," I tell them, "let me know if there's anything new you're gonna say."

I zone out, like I said, focusing on my fingers running along the leather chair. They continue talking and Damon comes in spewing some bullshit. I don't have to be listening to know that.

Eventually, Stefan and Damon leave. I'm snapped back into reality when I hear Jenna screaming. I get up and vamp to her.

When I'm next to her, I see Alaric and Jenna with a crossbow pointed at him.

"Jenna, put the crossbow down, ok? It's me," Alaric says.

Everyone joins. "Hi Jenna," I say since I haven't seen her in a while.

"Hi, P," she responds.

They figure out that it is actually Alaric in Alaric's body and he says he has a message from Klaus. "The sacrifice happens tonight," he says.

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I'm upstairs in my room reading while they have their little reunion/info session. When I hear Damon and Elena talking, I listen in to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I hear him bite into his wrist and vamp to his bedroom, pushing him against the wall. Unfortunately, I already see blood in Elena's mouth.