The Vampire Diaries: Concrete Decisions

Broken Hearts And A Wooden Stake

I'm walking the streets of Mystic Falls, thinking to myself. I've let Katherine dominate my life, but I never thought about how much of it. My entire life is based solely on Katherine' purposes. But what if there was a way to make my life easier. I know there is, but if I do it, it means I might not ever come back, but why should I care? There's nothing left for me in this world to love. I stop myself. I can't do this. It took Lexi two decades to fix me, I'm not about to make her do it again. I walk off the streets and into the forest that leads back to the Salvatore House. I'm aware that someone is following me. I stop and turn around. Behind me stands a man with brown, messy hair. He is tall and I can tell that he has blue eyes. 

"Let me guess, Alaric Saltzman," I say.

"Let me guess," he says, mimicking me, "Cecily Lauderdale."

"You know me," I say.

"You know me," he repeats.

"I've had a bad night. What do you want," I ask him. He's holding something behind his back and I guess that it is a wooden stake. I can smell something coming off of Alaric. It smells coppery, like vampire blood.

"There are a lot of people who want your head," he says.

"I'm aware of that," I say.

 "And you're not even afraid that I have you here all alone in the forest," he says.

I smile, "you're one little human. What exactly is there to be afraid of?" He smiles and suddenly, his right arm is up and something is sticking out of me. I look down to find that there's wooden stake in my chest. It didn't pierce my heart, but grazed it. I wince at the pain and smile back at him, "you missed." I lunge at him, but the stake moves closer to my heart every time I breathe. I will tell you right now, despite all the vampire lore, vampires do need to breath. Alaric makes a run for it as I fall to the ground. I drag my hand around to my pocket and dig out my phone. I dial Lexi's number and wait for her to pick up. I can feel the stake move closer and closer to my heart with each breath I take. Finally she picks up.

"Have you called to gloat or tell me that you're drunk," she asks.

"Vampire hunter," I manage to say.

"Cecily, what's wrong," she asks me. I can hear Stefan's voice on the other end, but I can't make out what he's saying.

"Forest, stake," I choke out.

"Stay right there, we're coming," she says. I hang up and try to steady my breathing. I know that it will be a while before she finds me. I try to drag myself against a tree, but with every movement I make, the stake gets closer and closer. I try to tune out the pain, but it's too much and I fall unconscious.

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I'm awoken by a voice. At first I think it's Stefan's, but when I open my eyes I can tell that it's Damon. I've never been so relieved to see him. I feel the stake move again as I take a shaky breath. I look up at the sky and guess that it is in the morning.

"Did it pierce your heart," he asks me, his eyes full of worry.

"No," I say, "grazed...it."

He nods and puts his hands on the stake, "ready?" I nod, but that's a lie. When Damon pulls the stake free I feel it scrape against my heart and I scream. He drops the stake and puts both of his hands on my face. "It's ok, it's ok," Damon says, "you're ok." I sigh as he pulls me into a hug. I feel safe in his arms, but I know that these arms are meant for Katherine. He lets me go and I look down at my shirt. It's covered in blood from last night's incidents. I rise to my feet and look around. I can hear Damon rise as well, but I hear the sound of footsteps. I turn and see Lexi and Stefan running towards us.

"You ok," Lexi asks me. I nod and smile.

"What happened," Stefan asks.

"Apparently, we have a vampire hunter in town. The new history teacher, Alaric Saltzman," I answer.

"He did this," Damon asks.

I nod, "he knew who I was too and about the price for my head."

"What price," Stefan asks.

"Someone put out a price for my death," I answer.

"Well who would do that," he asks.

"Many people," I say. We decide to wait until Elena gets out of school to talk about what happened.

"Why the hell would he attack you at night, by himself," Damon demands. He's pacing in the living room where we all were sitting. Elena had come straight here after she was let out from school.

"Why did he know you," Stefan asks.

"And why did he know about the price on your head," Lexi says.

"It's all the same answer," I say, "I have no clue." Elena and Stefan are sitting on the couch while Lexi stands in front of the fireplace. I'm lying on the floor; I find that after heart wounds, my heart repairs better when I lay down and I'm still a little sore.

"He was late for class today," Elena adds.

"That's not weird at all," Damon says, "did you manage to do some damage to him?"

I shake my head, "I tried to lunge at him, but the stake was scrapping my heart."

"Who the hell is this guy," Lexi asks.

"Well, technically he's Elena's step-father," I say.

Elena nods, "I asked Jenna about my birth parents this morning. You were right, I was adopted."

I smile apologetically, "I'm sorry."

She shakes her head, "it's not your fault."

"So what do we do now," Damon demands.

"I thought you were going to open the tomb, free Katherine," Stefan asks.

Damon shakes his head, "she's not there."

Stefan's back straightens, "what do you mean she's not there?" Damon's eyes meet mine and I nod.

"Katherine confronted me when we went back to New Orleans," I say.

"That's impossible," Stefan says.

I shake my head, "It was her. She was there, she wanted me to let you all think that she was still under the church. She wanted me to let you open the tomb."

"Which is exactly what we're not going to do," Damon says.

"Why would Katherine confront you," Elena asks.

"Because she is my maker. My life is solely for her purposes," I answer her. Elena's left speechless and I don't blame her.

"So, I'm going to ask the same question again, what are we going to do," Damon asks.

"There's a school dance tomorrow," Elena says, "Mr. Saltzman is chaperoning. Cecily, Damon, and Lexi could sign up and find out who he is." I consider the idea for a moment and actually, it's not a bad one. 

"It's not a bad idea," I say.

Lexi smiles, "I say we do it."

Damon's face is unreadable, "what kind of dance is it?"

"It's Fall Ball. It's the only dance, besides prom, that we have the chance to dress up," Elena says.

Damon sighs, "All right fine, sign us up."