Chaos (Satisfy Series Book Five, The Vampire Diaries)

Ch. 16: While You Were Sleeping

"When?" Caroline asked. 

"'Hey, Elena, I killed Aaron'," I told them. "It's not exactly casual conversation."

"Killing someone in cold blood isn't casual, but Damon managed that just fine," Caroline told me.

"Or I can just tell her, considering I was lying in the road when he stopped his car," Enzo told us.

"So, what's in this for you, aside from getting Damon to undo every positive decision he's ever made?" Stefan asked.

"Is it such an anomaly for Damon to have a friend?" Enzo asked. "Well, if so, consider me honored."

"Okay," I told them. "We're here. Where is the antidote?" 

Enzo nodded to a group of Travelers dispersing through the stockyard.

One particular woman walked toward us.

"Who are you?" Stefan asked.

"I'm Sloan," she answered. "And you met some of the Travelers when they were taking a bucket of your blood."

"Oh, yeah," Stefan said. "How could I forget? So, you have the antidote to the Ripper virus, correct?"

"We do, thanks to Enzo," Sloan answered.

"I was trapped in that bloody farmhouse with Damon, set to have my head ripped off, when out of nowhere, Wes showed up with the Travelers and saved my life on the condition that I owed him one," Enzo todl us.

"what does that have to do with us?" Caroline asked. 

"He was running low on vampires, and he needed one to continue his work, so I let him experiment on me," Enzo told us. "Among other things, it allowed him to make an antidote." 

"When he died, the Travelers took it," Sloan told us. "And seeing as Elena is valuable to us, we're in the process of using Wes' resources to find a cure for her virus as well."

"All right," I said. "Fine. When will it be done?" 

"First, we have to find something," Sloan told us. 

"Okay," Stefan told her. "What do you need?" 

Sloan looked at Stefan. "Another one of you."

*****

"What do you mean, there's another one of me out there?" Stefan asked.

"You never stopped to think there might be another Doppelganger running around?" Enzo asked. "Clearly, you don't know your Traveler lore."

"I'm sorry, and you do?" Caroline asked, judgemental.

"I've been stuck with them for the last few weeks and I've picked up on a few things, like how the last remaining pair of Doppelgangers are special," Enzo told us.

"Special?" I repeated. "How?" 

 "None of your business," Sloan told me. 

I raised my eyebrows at her. 

"You'll have to excuse Sloan," Enzo told us. "She's under a bit of stress. The leader of the Travelers, Marcus, was it?" 

"Markos," Sloan corrected.

"Markos, see," Enzo told us. "Wants the blood from the last remaining pair of Doppelgangers, i.e . . ." He looked at Stefan. "You and Elena."

"Why?" Caroline asked

"They are special," Enzo answered. 

"Special, how?" I asked more impatiently than before.

"Don't think I didn't ask," Enzo told us. "I can witness that the Travelers are very secretive, but what we do know is that until the last Doppelgangers are out of the picture, your blood, when mixed with Elena's, doesn't do squat."