19. The Only Way
As a precaution, I convinced Elena, Stefan, Damon, and Jeremy to lock me up in the basement again later that night. I didn’t want to take any chances of the demon waking up trying to decapitate or stake anybody in the house. Pretty much everybody was against my idea at first, but persuasion helped me win them over.
I was alone in the basement; Chase had been taken away somewhere. I hoped he had amnesia after that rough blow he was given earlier today. It’d be one less threat to deal with.
I knew it was night, I could barely see moonlight. Elena wanted to make me feel comfortable, so she insisted I got a mattress, pillows, and blankets in the cell with me. It made being in the cell somewhat more endurable than it had been before.
Of course, I couldn’t totally get away with being unsupervised. I was due to have a guard outside of the cell door every now and again. Damon had the first shift, and he was supposed to head down any minute. I hated condemning myself to this, but there was no other choice. I didn’t want anybody to get hurt because of me.
My body tensed at the sound of feet and…chains? I could hear chains rattling in the distance. Was this some extra security measure I didn’t approve of? Knowing Damon, Elena, Stefan, and Jeremy, it most likely was.
“You were right when you said this was a cell hell,” I croaked when I saw him come into view. His blue-gray eyes softened—something that rarely happened. In his hand—like I had suspected—were chains. I sighed. It looked like I was going to have an uncomfortable sleeping position tonight.
He opened the barred door, shutting it behind him. I cowered into the wall behind me.
“Do you think getting near me is a good idea, what with the nervous ticks I get from having a killer demon inside of me?” I asked warily.
“You’ve had good control over them,” he said simply. He sat on his knees, just in front of the mattress. He grabbed a hand with his, shuddering. “You’re cold.” He cautiously felt my forehead. “It’s probably because you’re down here.”
I sat my hands in my lap, trying to warm them. “So who’s got the next shift?” I asked.
“Elena does.”
“Where did you drop Chase off?”
“In the middle of nowhere.” He smirked.
“I hope you really mean that and didn’t kill him.”
“I didn’t.”
Somehow, I could believe him on that. “How’d everybody else feel about it?”
“Oh, the usual: ‘There’s no way he’s got amnesia, he’s going to run off and bring back help.’ ‘What a stupid idea.’ ‘We should’ve kept him locked up.’ ‘He’d be better off dead.’”
“You’re exaggerating,” I snorted.
“Somewhat,” Damon admitted. He ran a hand through his hair. “It sucks that the witch hasn’t been back around to try something again. I’d like to make him feel the pain that you’re feeling.”
I coughed, covering my mouth. Damon clambered onto the mattress, holding me. I sighed, sniffing. This demon was tearing me apart on the inside.
“If I could make this go away, I would,” he whispered.
“I-I know,” I sputtered, burrowing into him more. I forced my eyes to keep awake. I was not about to let myself doze off, not when Damon was holding me and was so close to me, within striking range…
“I really wish I didn’t have to bring these.” He rattled the chains. “But everybody felt it’d be safer since you could probably break free from rope.”
“Hmm.” I closed my eyes briefly, and then snapped them open. I groaned.
“Does something hurt?” Damon asked immediately.
“No. I’m just so tired.”
“Then sleep.”
“I won’t.” I looked up at him. “I can’t. If I do, the demon will come through and hurt you. I’ll fall asleep when I know you’re safe.”
“I don’t see how the demon will kill me, Faith. It won’t have a stake to use.”
“I’m sure it’s crafty, so it’ll find something to attack you with,” I grumbled.
Damon tucked hair behind my ear. “We won’t have to deal with this much longer, I promise. Once Bonnie finds a spell, we’re getting that thing out of you for good—and if it’s possible—we’ll kill it. You’re not going to die because of that thing. We’re not going to lose you.”
“It feels like we’re losing that battle quickly.” I coughed again. “It’s making me weak and probably ill. Sure, it makes me suffer, but when it takes over me, it’s as strong as you.” I snorted. “I will never understand dark magic.”
“You don’t have to.” He kissed the top of my head.
“I don’t want to know what’ll happen if—if I die.” I swallowed.
“I don’t, either. But don’t worry about that, okay?” He pulled my head up with his hand gently. “You won’t die.” He pushed his forehead onto mine. “I won’t let that happen.”
I yawned, my brain really wanting to conk out for the night. No, stay awake! Do not fall asleep!
“Faith, just go to sleep,” Damon groaned.
“No,” I said stubbornly, yawning again. “Damn it.”
“You can’t win by staying up all night. You’ll wear yourself out, and then you’ll eventually cave and go to sleep anyway. There’s no point in fighting it.”
“Then chain me up and get out,” I said groggily. “If I’m sleeping, I want you on the other side of that door.”
Damon sighed. “Fine, I will when you tire out.”
He kissed me tenderly, making goose bumps rise all over my skin. I shut my eyes contently. Damon made the circuit from the corner of my eye to under my jaw. This was oddly soothing. Wait, no, he’s trying to make me sleep! But I couldn’t fight against the comfortable feeling.
Curse him and his charm, I thought bitterly. I really hoped Damon did what I asked of him, otherwise he’d end up injured, or dead—or even worse—I’d end up dead, killed by his hand on accident.
* * *
My body was throbbing—well, some areas were. Like my arms, and my front, and my legs. My face hurt a little bit, too. Uh-oh. That can’t be good. I weakly popped open my eyes to see a few slivers of daylight shine in front of the cell door. I had barely enough energy to lift my head, let alone move my limbs. I moved my eyes along my arms. New bruises—small and big—littered my arms. I sighed.
I didn’t want to think about what went down last night. My stomach roared. Did I even feel like I had any energy in me to eat anything? All I felt like doing was falling back asleep. But I knew I couldn’t do that—not unless I wanted the vampire-killing demon to take over my body and damage it more.
I wanted to call for somebody to come down and keep me company, but I couldn’t find my voice. I just felt too tired to open my mouth. I didn’t feel like doing anything. That was a bad sign. It meant that the demon wore my body out while in control of it.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to call for anybody, because Elena was the one to greet me this morning with a grave expression. I looked at her tiredly. She opened the door immediately, kneeling down beside me.
“Make it go away,” I wheezed faintly. “Please, Elena. I’m begging you.”
“If there was something I could do, I’d do it, Faith. Bonnie is doing everything she can to find a way to help you.” She rubbed my back. I breathed through my nostrils. “Nobody wants to see you like this.”
“What happened last night?”
“The demon had a fit,” she sighed. “Damon chained you up, but it broke the chains. It nearly broke the door, but Bonnie managed to come over last night and keep it contained.”
“So my injuries are from…what?”
“It trying to get out.”
I groaned. I wanted this torture to end. It was times like this when I regretted moving here to Mystic Falls with Elena and Jeremy. My life wouldn’t involve so much death and danger if I stayed in Maryland. Yet, if I didn’t come here, I would’ve never found friends in Elena’s friends, Bonnie and Caroline, nor fall in love with someone—let alone a vampire. Coming here had its perks and its consequences. So far, both were pretty even.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Elena suggested.
She practically did all the work for me, because there was no way I could hold myself up. My body ached and I felt like I had no strength to hold myself up with. I bet the demon inside me was cackling at my weak state it brought me into.
In the end, Elena carried me bridal style up out of the basement and helped me bathe. I couldn’t believe I had been reduced to being cared for by my own cousin. I felt like an old person, being helped with washing myself. But that’s just how bad the weakness was—I couldn’t do simple things like walk. I could barely talk and move my limbs. I was so weak that it was pathetic.
I had dozed off at one point in Elena’s arms, because before I knew it, I found myself on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. Was I running a fever now, too? I blinked tiredly, moving my head to gaze at the empty fireplace. I sighed through my nostrils. I never expected my life to take such a turn like this—being exposed to another world, only to be thrown into its dangers.
I was beginning to wonder whether or not I was considered accident-prone, what with the recent injures I had sustained ever since I had come to Mystic Falls.
Nobody came to check in on me, which bothered me a little. Did that mean they were out, or were they here and just in another room, out of my sight and hearing? Were they discussing ways—if there were any—on how to rid me of the demon that was slowly killing me?
My ears were locked on the door unlocking and creaking open. Feet clomped along the floor, inching closer to me. I wasn’t afraid of the person, because there was no way a vampire hunter would just unlock the door and walk so calmly in. I blinked my eyes long only to see Jeremy when opening them again.
“Why are you home?” I croaked.
“I took a half day,” he explained. He felt my forehead. “You’re not getting better.”
“I’ve been under that impression for a while now. Where is everybody?”
“At Bonnie’s. They left me in charge until they get back.”
“What time is it?” I squinted to see the curtains drawn, but a slim strip of sunlight poked through the small gap where the curtains didn’t touch.
“Nearing evening.”
“How long was I out?”
“A while. Elena said you were out cold after she helped you dress. They figured it was the best time to leave you.”
“Wait…if I was knocked out…” My heart skipped a beat.
“Don’t worry, the demon didn’t come out. If it had, you wouldn’t be here. It’s strange since we all thought it’d take over you.”
“Maybe it knows that it’ll get to have my body forever soon,” I murmured grimly.
“Faith, don’t say that.”
“Jer, I’m dying.” He flinched at the words. “I know it, you know it—hell, even the demon knows it. It knows that I refuse to kill a vampire. Once I’m gone, nothing is going to stop it from having a body to live in and use it to do what it was made to do.”
“Faith, just stop talking.”
I clamped my mouth shut. I’d never heard Jeremy sound so…rough and disturbed before.
Jer sighed. “I know you want to give up—that’s probably all you feel like doing at this point. Nobody can blame you for that, because we’d all probably feel the same way. But you know what? I’m not ready to give up on you, and neither is Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, or Damon. If we aren’t ready to let you go, why should you be?”
“Jeremy—”
“Don’t say it’s pointless in trying to save you, Fay. There’s still hope. There’s still a chance.” He grabbed my hand softly. “Now…are you hungry?”
In truth, I hadn’t thought about food at all today. I told Jeremy I’d try a little something. He just gave me some crackers and water—not much flavor, but it was still food. I managed to get that down. The water felt refreshing, the crackers made my stomach a little less empty than it had been.
By the time darkness fell—the strip of light no longer existed between the curtains—Jeremy sat in the chair, staring at the walls in front of him. I stared off into space, my mind just bringing up random thoughts. Where was Chase? Did he regain consciousness? Had he really gotten amnesia, wiping his memory of his vampire-hunting days? And where was James, the witch who was the reason I was dying? Did he leave Mystic Falls, knowing he was outnumbered by vampires and had no reinforcements with him?
What about Caroline? I hadn’t seen much of her for a while. I had heard about her, but that had been when hunters had been around her house. I kind of missed her. I mean, since I was dying, it’d be nice to see her again.
My heart panicked at the mention of my death. I’d never get to see my grandparents ever again. I couldn’t imagine how they’d feel when they’d learn that I was dead. They’d probably feel guilty for letting me come down here to Mystic Falls. I paled and tried to shove that ridiculous thought aside.
But what about everybody I had come to know here? How would they feel? Elena and Jeremy would be distraught even more than they had already been when Aunt Jenna passed. I was sure Bonnie and Caroline would miss me even though we weren’t that tight. Now as for the brothers, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t really get to know them that much—more Stefan than Damon. I couldn’t see Stefan mourning over me a lot like Elena and Jer.
As for Damon, that was hard to predict. He felt something, but it wasn’t strong like my feelings for him were. If I were to die right now, I’d want to tell him that I loved him, that way he knew. When I’d die, I hoped one of the last people I saw was him. I’d feel at peace knowing that the people I cared about were with me until my last breaths.
I was snapped out of my depressing thoughts by feet announcing more people arriving. I heard Jeremy leave me. Most likely everybody was back. I tilted my head to see Jer, Elena, Stefan, Damon, and Bonnie come into the living room. My heart thumped anxiously. If Bonnie was here, then that meant she’d found a way to help me!
But as I looked at her, Bonnie didn’t look very happy. In fact, she looked rather grim. My happiness died. If Bonnie looked like that, then something was wrong. I swallowed with difficulty.
“W-what’s going on?” I wheezed. I searched each of their faces.
“Faith,” Elena croaked. Her voice sounded cracked. That was a bad sign. “We think we’ve found a way to help you.”
“That’s a good thing…isn’t it?”
“Yes…and no.” Elena fiddled with her hands, eyes locked on the floor.
“We looked through everything possible,” Bonnie took over. She sat down on one of the chair’s arms. “What you have inside you is a very dark piece of magic, something I haven’t really encountered before. We tried to find anything that associated with a demon, but we didn’t have much luck.
“Then…we started getting creative with our own ideas.”
“And…?” I pressed.
All eyes were on Bonnie.
“There’s only one way out of this. It seems like a fifty-fifty shot, but we think it’ll work.”
“Okay. So what does it involve?” Jeremy asked.
“Nobody wants to try it this way, but it’s the only way.”
“What is, Bonnie?” I pleaded. “Don’t beat around the bush. Just say it.”
Bonnie sucked in a breath. “The demon is using your body as a host—meaning that as long as you live, the demon lives.”
Even though Bonnie didn’t outright say it, I knew what the plan was. I hyperventilated. All this time, I had begged for someone to kill me because of what the demon was putting me through. Now, I was actually going to get my wish. My death wasn’t going to be pushed back any longer.
By the end of today, I’d be dead.