Chaos (Satisfy Series Book Five, The Vampire Diaries)

Ch. 17: Rescue Me

I was alseep in the train cart, waking when I heard the sound of Stefan screaming in pain. I sat up, realizing that Sloan must have been doing the linking spell again, growing angry and rushing out of the cart. 

"Good," Sloan said. "Now your friends can kill him." 

I rushed toward her, gripping her throat. "We had a deal. Caroline and Enzo finds Stefan's last living Doppelganger--"

"Tom," Sloan told me.

"Tom," I said sarcastically. "They take care of Tom, and in return, you stop using Stefan to psychically doppel-bomb him. Because every time you link the two, you are frying Stefan's brain."

"I don't give a damn about his brain," Sloan told me. "It's his blood that matters." The Travelers picked Stefan up, putting him onto a gurney and starting to carry him away. "And until Stefan and Elena are the last two Doppelgangers on Earth, their blood is uselss to me. So you better believe I'll give your brother a back alley lobotomy if your friends fail to kill Tom Avery."

"Well, if there is one thing that I can guarantee, it's that Caroline Forbes doesn't fail at things," I told her. "So do it again and I'll kill you, too." 

I let her go, still irritated.

Sloan glared at me.

I smirked.

*****

Sloan called Caroline.

Enzo answered the phone. "Atlanta assassination squad. How may we be of service?" 

"I take it you haven't located the Doppelganger yet?" 

"You told us to find a nameless paramedic at the scene of a car accident in a city of freeways, fried green tomatoes and terrible drivers. It's not exactly as easy as it sounds." 

"Which is why I'm calling. The Doppelganger's name is Tom Avery. And I just saw him deliver a patient to Atlanta Metropolitan Hospital. I'd find him and kill him before I have to burn through Stefan's mind again and Kaylin kills us." 

Sloan hung up, looking at me.

I smiled a sweet-but-not-sweet smile. 

*****

At the new Traveler camp, Stefan finally regained consciousness. "We moved. Why?" 

"I'm guessing they don't call themselves Travelers for their mileage points," I told him. 

"I know this place," Stefan told us. "We're right outside of Mystic Falls."

"Believe me, I'd rather be at the beach right now, but this is where we're supposed to meet our fearless leader," Sloan told us. 

"Markos, right?" Stefan asked. "You said he wants our blood. Why?" 

Before she could answer, my phone started to ring.

I saw it was Caroline, answering. "I hope you're calling me to tell me the Doppelganger is dead."

"Sloan's stupid doppel-visions gave us bad information. Put Stefan on the phone." 

I put the phone on speaker, setting it on a make-shift table in between us. 

"Caroline, what happened?" Stefan asked.

"Tom's been missing from the hospital for months. Is there any other things that you noticed in your visions? Any small details that could maybe help us out?" 

"No," Stefan answered. "I can't remember anything. After the spell happened, it's like I blacked out."

"The link connects us to the Doppelganger's mind," Sloan told us. "If we're seeing old memories, that means we have to go deeper."

"No," I told her. "No, no. If he's blacking out, that means that the link is destroying his memories." 

"Stefan, convince your sister not to kill us so we're not forced to kill her," Sloan told him.

I took a step toward her.

"Kaylin . . . " Stefan trailed off in warning.

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked. "If this doesn't make you forget who you are, it'll kill you!" 

"And if you kill her, they'll kill you," Stefan told me. "Just stay calm." 

I exhaled. 

Sloan stood behind Stefan again, touching his temples, going back into Stefan's head to get more information.

Stefan screamed, groaning in agony. 

I knelt in front of him. "Stefan? Stefan! Are you still with me? Stefan, I'm still here, okay? Stef, listen to my voice. Can you hear me? I'm right here, okay? Just hold on." 

*****

"Can you hear me?" I asked. "Just say something, please!" I glared up to Sloan, starting to stand. "Stop!" 

Stefan's hands gripped my arms suddenly to keep me from going after her. "Kaylin, I'm here."

"Okay," I said.

"6643 Peachtree Drive," Stefan told us. "There was, uh, a redheaded woman. Her name was Hazel."

"Thank you. I won't let you down." 

"Caroline, he's a good person," Stefan told her. "Don't do it."

"Clock's ticking," Sloan told us.

I hung up my phone.

***** 

Caroline had come back, lying in the same train cart that Stefan was.

I was sleeping in my own, now that I knew that Tom Avery was dead and Sloan wouldn't fry Stefan's brain anymore.

I woke up when I heard the Travelers chanting, looking up. "What the hell . . ." 

I got up to investigate, going outside. Seeing Stefan and Caroline coming out of their own, I pulled them into my hiding spot so that we wouldn't get caught. 

We saw the Travelers gathering around a fire, passing around a bowl full of blood.

"Those buckets . . ." Stefan trailed off. "They're drinking my blood, and Elena's."

 "Oh, my God," Caroline told us.

Sloan stuck a torch in the flames, setting one of the Travelers on fire. Suddenly, they all went up in flames, burning alive.

"This is it," I told them. "Come on, let's go home."

We rushed away, never looking back.