Chapter 15
Jeremy paced around Tori's room. He was worried about his best friend, who was currently sitting on her bed casting a spell. There were bloodied tissues everywhere. Tori was holding a necklace Luke had given her on her birthday while she chanted some spell. She held it tightly as she continued chanting. He had managed to get Tori to let him into her room. After Liz informed Tori about his death, Tori had become silent. She simply walked out of the Salvatore's house, disappeared into her room, and had not stepped out of her room since. Liz, Damon, Stefan, and Caroline had tried everything they could to get Tori to get out of her room to eat, but Tori had spelled the door shut so nobody could get inside her room. Damon and Stefan had decided to find out information about Luke's death as Liz helped with the investigation, while Caroline tried everything possible to break into her sister's room.
It had been four days since Luke's death and three since Tori found out. Jeremy was laying in bed thinking about how he could help his friend when he received a text from Tori asking him to come to her house. So now Jeremy was pacing around Tori's room in the middle of the night because Tori requested him to help her in case her spell went wrong.
Jeremy watched as blood started dripping from Tori's nose. "T! You need to stop. Please?" Jeremy begged his friend. Tori ignored Jeremy's plea, even though that was why she had called Jeremy over, and pushed through the pain she was feeling in her head. It was not as bad as the pain she felt ever since she heard about Luke's death.
"Tori!! Dude, please. Stop," Jeremy freaked out when the blood poured out of Tori's nose like a faucet. He could see Tori's face looking paler than before, and he knew if she didn't stop, she would kill herself.
Tori tried to push through the pain, but she couldn't concentrate with Jeremy and the sharp, intense pain she was feeling in her head.
"Damnit... Damnit .....Damnit..." Tori said as she breathed out heavily, she had failed yet again. Tori lay on her bed holding a napkin on her nose as she tried to stop the bleeding. Jeremy rushed to her with a glass of water. "Here, drink this," Jeremy said as he handed Tori the glass.
"What the hell are you doing? T? You're killing yourself! " Jeremy yelled at Tori. Tori sat up, tossing the blood-stained paper napkin into the bin before taking the glass from Jeremy's hand and gulping it down.
"Tori? What are you doing?" Jeremy asked gently. He could see how truly heartbroken and tired Tori really was. He knew Tori better than himself; she was a person who kept everything inside. He hated that quality about her. He knew Tori had been through a lot. Ever since her parents' divorce, Tori has always put on a brave face and put everyone else's needs before her own. She hated showing people her emotions and never wanted to "burden" anyone about her feelings and problems. But now, Luke's death was the last straw, and Tori seemed to be falling apart.
"I'm looking for him," Tori told "Luke, he is alive somewhere and I can't, I can't find him." Tori said as she sighed in defeat. She was tired and her hope was fading with every attempt at finding Luke.
"Tori! It's been four days! Luke is dead, So, what exactly are you looking for?" Jeremy asked, confused
"J, he is not dead. Luke is NOT dead. He is out there somewhere. Okay, there is no way he is dead!" Tori said as she ran her hands through her hair
"I just need a stronger connection; this damn necklace is not strong enough," Tori ranted as she threw the necklace, which was responsible for her failing to find Luke, across the room. Tori stood up only to feel dizzy. Jeremy rushed over and held Tori, helping her sit down.
"T, you really need to listen to me. Luke is gone. I am so sorry, but this is not the way to mourn him. Everyone is worried about you. You didn't go to his funeral. This is not healthy," Jeremy told Tori. He hated that he was unable to help Tori.
"He is not dead, J! Don't tell me how to mourn somebody. You are the last person who should ever tell me how to cope with someone's death, because as I recall, you became a goddamn junkie because you were mourning," Tori yelled at Jeremy.
"Really?! Don't fucking lash out at me. Luke is dead. Tori, you need to accept that. Stop it. What makes you think that Luke is alive somewhere? Huh?" Jeremy yelled back, frustrated with Tori. He knew yelling in the middle of the night was not the best idea, but right now he couldn't care less. Since, Tori had put a silencing spell on the door after Caroline turned into a vampire.
Ever since Katherine killed Caroline, I put a protection spell on every person I and Elena care about. So if Luke was attacked, he should have survived. He is alive. I can feel it. If he died, I would know," Tori told Jeremy, who looked tired and frustrated.
"T, think about it. If he is in fact alive, why hasn't he contacted you? He is not a child; he would have contacted someone," Jeremy asked Tori
"I-I don't know, he maybe lost in the woods, he maybe cold and scared. I—," Tori tried to explain, but nothing made sense to her either. She thought back to when her mom revealed Luke's death... when she remembered her nightmare she had the night of the concert. She felt uneasy and in the morning she woke up unable to breath. That was why her eyes were blue when she woke up. Did that mean the spell broke? When she tried to understand what happened, the only explanation she had was the one she didn't want to believe. Luke was dead. "Oh my god! He's dead. He is. Luke is dead. How? The- the spell should have protected him.... Oh God! " Tori whispered in horror. Jeremy watched Tori's eyes widen in horror.
"T?" Jeremy called out as he crouched in front of her, "Tori?" He shook Tori's shoulders again. Tori looked at her best friend. "I failed him. I failed to save him. I failed to save Sheila. I failed to save Anna, Vicky, and even Caroline, my own sister. What's the point of having these powers if I can't save the people closest to me? I have failed everyone. I couldn't save anybody. I failed you too, J! I didn't even get to say goodbye to Luke," Tori stated in horror and disbelief, as tears rolled down her eyes. Tori quickly wiped her eyes and lay on her bed, heartbroken, hopeless and completely shattered. Jeremy watched his best friend half dead, and he was scared, more scared than ever, because the person in-front of him was not the girl he grew up with. Despite everything, Tori didn't cry; she was not sad, just numb. Jeremy watched Tori become a shell of a person. She stared into space. He knew she was numb and he felt helpless. Jeremy climbed into bed next to her and held the shattered girl and tried his best to comfort her.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
It was 9:00 am when Damon and Stefan knocked on the door of the Forbes residence, waiting for someone to open it. Damon listened in closely as he heard Liz, "Tori, Honey, You need to eat," Liz said as she knocked on Tori's door. It had been four days since Luke's death, and Damon was ready to get Tori out of her room. Caroline had called Stefan the previous night and told him that she had tried everything to break into Tori's room and she and her mom were worried about her because Tori had not eaten food nor had she stepped out of her room. Caroline also told Stefan that her mom was going to call her father, Bill, to come over and take Tori with him to live with him for a couple months if things didn't get better. Damon initially thought he should give his daughter space, but when he heard that Bill was going to take Tori away, he decided that he had given Tori enough space.
Damon sighed when he heard how desperate and tired Liz had sounded. Caroline opened the front door, letting the Salvatore brothers inside. She was glad to see Stefan, especially if he could help her sister.
"Has she eaten anything or stepped out of the room yet?" Damon asked Caroline, who looked helpless as she shook her head no.
"Liz, why don't you let me take over from here? You need a break," Damon told his friend. Liz sighed as she leaned on her daughter's room door.
"I don't know what to do Damon, it's been a week, she still... and the investigation is at a dead end," Liz said, exhausted.
"How about you go to the station and Caroline, Stefan, and I handle the rest?" Damon suggested, Liz looked at the man who she had considered her best friend and confidant.
"Yeah, I need to find out how a body can burn without an accelerant to cause a fire. Any ideas?" Liz asked Damon, who looked shocked.
"What?" Damon asked.
"Yeah, I know. The forensics team said the body was burnt but they could not find a trace of any type of accelerant, nothing. It was like his body just burst into flames," Liz told the vampire. Damon knew that the only explanation as to how Luke was burnt and killed would have been something to do with witches.
"That's a burning question, alright," Damon said, making Liz look at Damon with a 'really' look.
"Yeah, that was bad. Nevermind. Go ahead and solve that problem, and we will try and solve this one," he said as he pointed at Tori's door.
"Caroline, food is in the fridge, please heat it up and let me know if there is any progress," Liz said as she rushed out of the house after kissing Caroline on the forehead.
The three vampires watched Liz drive away from the house before rushing to Tori's room
"So, what's your plan?" Caroline asked the brothers as she folded her arms. She had tried everything that she could possibly think of to get Tori to open the door, but every single thing failed.
"My plan is simple," Damon said as he walked towards Tori's room, knocking on it. "Tori, you need to open this door now, before I break it open," Damon said as he held the doorknob.
"I'm going to count till 5, and this door better be open by then. Do you understand me?" Damon said as he heard no response from his daughter.
"Seriously!" Caroline asked as she laughed, "What do you think she is, 5?" She said before continuing, "And do you honestly not think I didn't try to break open the door? That's like the second thing I did; she spelled the damn door. Nothing is breaking that thing," Caroline said as she recalled dislocating her shoulder as she tried to break open the door.
Damon ignored the blonde girl's comments. "Blondie, you are a baby vampire, meaning you have the strength of a baby..... me, on the other hand, am strong and older, plus unlike serial killer bunny over there," Damon said as he pointed at Stefan, who rolled his eyes. "I have a really balanced diet of soccer mom and teenage boy, so my strength is way above you and him. I think I can manage," Damon said, smirking at the teen vampire.
"Alright! But when you fail, I get to say I told you so," Caroline said, making Stefan smile at her.
Damon smiled annoyingly at Caroline before turning to face Tori's door "Okay, your choice...1.....2....3....4....4 and a half .......Tori, I'm gonna break the door now, your mom is going to be pissed," Damon listened intently, trying to hear some movement, but all he heard was silence. "Alright, that's it...5," Damon said as he used his vampire strength to break the lock on Tori's door, but it didn't work. Damon then used his vampire strength to break open the door, but instead of seeing the door splinter open,like he thought he would see, it stood tall and undamaged.
"I told you so," Caroline said as she laughed at Damon's expression. "Okay, my turn," Stefan said as he walked up to the door.
"Tori, I know it's hard to lose someone you love, especially when it happens so unexpectedly. I know what it feels like, Tori. It's okay to mourn, but don't kill yourself in the process. Luke loved you, and anyone who saw the two of you could see how much you loved and cared for each other. That is why I know Luke would hate it if you were not taking care of yourself. You don't need to go out and pretend everything is okay, but the least you can do is open the door, let us in, and eat food. Your mom, me, Damon, all of us are worried about you. Come on...Please open the door and let us in," Stefan told Tori through the door.
It was early in the morning when Jeremy woke up to the sound of a knock on the door. It took him a second to remember where he was. He immediately looked at Tori, who was wide awake staring at the ceiling. She looked dead.
The two teenagers lay next to each other in silence. When Jeremy heard Damon threaten Tori, telling her to open the door or he would break it down, He laughed when he heard a thud and a groan when Damon attempted to break the door.
"T, you need to let them in, remove the spell, come on." Jeremy told Tori, who continued staring at the ceiling. Tori felt like her mind was tearing apart. On one hand, she had found her biological dad, and the whole time she thought her biological parents abandoned her and didn't love her, when in reality, her biological mom sacrificed her life for Tori. On the other hand, everyone she loved was in danger and dead. She had no idea what kind of supernatural creature she was, and there was literally nobody she could talk to about her being a swan witch. Everything was weighing down on Tori, and the weight was crushing her.
Jeremy sighed in defeat when all he received from Tori was silence, Jeremy lay back on the bed looking at Tori. The two teenagers then heard Stefan, Jeremy felt bad for Stefan, he could tell that the vampire really cared and loved his niece.
"Could you open the door," Tori whispered, startling Jeremy. Her voice was hoarse and tired. "Yeah, what about the spell?" Jeremy asked "You can open it from inside," Tori told Jeremy
"Oh," Jeremy said before jumping out of bed to let Stefan in.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Damon watched Stefan, he didn't want to admit it but he was slightly jealous of Stefan's compassion, he envied how easily the words of comfort came to his brother, maybe that was why Katherine and Elena always chose Stefan instead of him and he was scared he would lose Tori to Stefan if he didn't step up as a father. Damon was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the door lock click, causing his jaw to drop. 'How did that work?' He thought to himself.
Stefan, Caroline, and Damon stood up straighter when they saw the door open but instead of seeing Tori they were greeted by Jeremy
"Little Gilbert?" Damon said confused and shocked to see Jeremy in Tori's room. "How the hell did the human get inside?" Damon asked in shock
"T, texted me last night to come over, so I snuck in through the window after she let me in," Jeremy told Damon
"You spent the night with my daughter?" Damon yelled out, he was going to kill Jeremy for taking advantage of his vulnerable daughter
"Gross, no. Tori is like my sister, dickhead. I came over to help her. You should be glad I came over. I saved her life," Jeremy told Damon. 'How Damon was Tori's father, he didn't know Jeremy thought to himself.
"Guys! Now is not the time to compare sizes," Caroline said as she pushed through the door to check on her sister only to see blood-stained paper napkins everywhere.
"Oh my gosh! Tori?" Caroline gasped in horror seeing the blood-soaked tissues. Hearing Caroline the three boys rushed inside to check what happened. Stefan and Damon's jaws dropped at the sight, while Jeremy looked around for Tori, she was not in the room.
"Tori?" Jeremy called out looking for her. "Where is she?" Damon asked the teenage boy.
"She was here a second ago," Jeremy told the vampire
"She is in the bathroom," Stefan said as he knocked on the door.
"Tori, you okay?" He asked but was returned with stone cold silence. The three vampires and human sat on Tori's bed.
"What was she doing?" Damon asked Jeremy
"She thought she could find Luke, she had put a protection shield or spell on all of us and thought that Luke was alive and lost somewhere," Jeremy told Damon who worried.
Before Damon could ask a follow up question the bathroom door opened with a pale, exhausted looking, freshly showered Tori.
"Tori?" Damon, Caroline and Stefan said at the same time.
"I am fine, Guys. I promise I am okay," Tori told the vampires. She walked to her table taking out her bag before putting her phone and some cash in her bag. Everyone in the room would have believed Tori if they had not detected how emotionless Tori looked and sounded. Stefan and Damon looked at each other with and extremely worried look. Tori looked and sounded like a vampire who had turned off their emotions. Damon was especially uneasy because he didn't know whether Tori had vampire abilities because she was conceived while he was a vampire and right now it seemed the turning off emotion abilities was one that was surfacing.
"Tori? Where are you going?" Caroline asked as she noticed Tori pack her bag with her spell book.
"To Luke's house, I need to pay my respects. Now, if you will excuse me. I need to leave," Tori said as she walked out her room. Damon rushed in front of his teenage daughter.
"You can pay your respects later, first you need to eat and you can do that while we all have a chat," Damon told his daughter.
"I am fine," Tori told her father as she tried to leave but was blocked again by Damon.
"Tori, I hate to have to agree with Damon, but he is right, it's been four days and you haven't eaten food, you look sick and pale, you need to eat," Caroline told her sister.
"I said I was Fine! Can't you get it inside you thick heads? Move Damon," Tori told her father.
"No, You are not fine, so stop lying to us and yourself," Damon told his daughter. He wanted to get some type of reaction from Tori, if she did then have a reaction then he would be okay, he didn't want Tori to be an emotionless person and he was scared shitless that she had vampire abilities which could be really bad for everybody especially Tori.
"What do you want me to say Damon, that I am sad? Angry? Luke is dead, turns out he is basically beef jerky now, burnt to a freaking crisp and I like an idiot hoped that I managed to protect him, turns out I am the only witch in this planet who is really really powerful, so powerful, in fact that I could do things no other witch can do and if word of my existence reached the wrong ears I will be hunted down for my powers, but I can't protect the people I care about, no my powers are not strong enough because everyone I care about will eventually be murdered. Oh if that's not bad enough, My biological father is a freaking vampire, my biological mother was killed, my sister was murdered by my uncle and father's ex because she wanted to send a message to my best friends sister, while the only person who knew anything about my witch abilities died because of my father's desperate need to get his ex back, who btw never really loved him, while my boyfriend was murdered by some psychopath. My powers are acting out, I have no idea what the hell I am and honestly I couldn't give two f*cks about anybody right now. I don't care whether I am mourning correctly or not, I don't care whether I am eating or not. Right now, all I want is to pay my respects to my dead burnt up boyfriend's family. So, I am going to ask you this once. Move. Out. Of. My. Way." Tori told Damon.
"No, you young lady are no-," Damon was cut of when his neck snapped and his body fell on the floor with a thud. Caroline, Stefan and Jeremy watched in shock at what Tori had done.
"Anyone else gonna stop me?" Tori asked before walking out of the house.
"Oh my God!" Caroline exclaimed in horror, she had never seen Tori this cold ever. "Something is terribly wrong with Tori," she said as she watched Tori drive away.
Stefan was in shock, Tori looked like she was in a trance, he knew right away something was not right. Before he could go and figure out what was wrong about Tori he rushed to his brother's dead body and carried him before placing him on the couch.
"First, we need to make sure Damon doesn't wake up and cause havoc in mystic falls, only after we calm him down can we figure out how to deal with Tori," Stefan told the two teenagers
"Okay, now I believe that Tori and Damon are father and daughter," Jeremy said while Caroline agreed.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Tori knocked on Luke's house door, she didn't know why she snapped Damon's neck, all she knew was that she had to be at Luke's house. It was like she was being pulled to the house and Damon was stopping her from leaving so she had to eradicate the problem.
"Tori, Honey. It's so good to see you," Betty, Luke's mother told the young girl as she embraced her.
"Mrs. Jenner, I am so sorry I didn't visit earlier or attend the funeral. I just I couldn't do it," Tori said as she held back tears. She was beginning to feel the pain she had tried to numb earlier.
"Oh sweetie, it okay. I understand. Luke would understand too. Come on inside," Betty told the young girl.
Tori walked into the familiar house, memories of her times with Luke as they spent time at his house kept playing in her mind, but this time the house, instead of furniture was filled with cardboard boxes.
"You guy's are moving?" Tori asked
"Yes, James and I decided to go back to home, we came here only for Luke but now," Betty said as her face fell.
"Yeah, I understand. Did the police...uh.. do they have any leads of who did it?" Tori asked her dead boyfriend's mother.
"No, no leads, they said that they were going to interview a few people but that's it," Betty told the heartbroken girl.
"How is Luke's grandma taking the news?" Tori asked Betty.
"She is putting on a brave face. Umm, sweetie, If you would like to take something of Luke's thing you can, all his stuff is in the boxes in his room. Also, he wanted to give this to you," Betty said as she handed Tori a box. Tori opened the box to find a ring-shaped like a crescent moon and a full moon.
"This ring is special, Tori." Betty told the girl "In our family its tradition to give this only to people we consider family, promise me you will always wear it," Betty told the young girl
"I promise," Tori smiled gently at Betty as she slipped the ring on her left index finger before walking into Luke's room.
"I will leave you alone, let me know if you need anything," Betty said as she walked to answer the door and she heard a knock on the front door.
Tori sat on Luke's bed staring at the ring. She felt weirdly connected to Luke somehow. After Jeremy yelled at her last night, she had come to accept that Luke was in fact dead, even though something told her he was alive. However, she couldn't understand why her protection spell didn't work and why she woke up that morning with her eyes blue and gasping for air.
Tori was in a daze when she heard someone alert her of their presence by clearing their throat, bringing Tori back to reality. Tori looked up to see a dark caramel-skinned girl with long black curly hair. The girl was beautiful but something about her rubbed Tori the wrong way.
"Hi, can I help you?" Tori asked the girl who had a slight smile on her face.
"Hey, sorry I didn't mean to disturb you, Betty let me in. Who are you?" The girl asked Tori but it seemed like this mysterious girl knew Tori. Tori felt uncomfortable and the hair on her neck stood up.
"Ah, sweetheart, I see you have met Tori, Tori is Luke's girlfriend," Betty told the girl
"Tori honey, this is -," Betty said but she was cut off when the girl spoke up
"I'm Skylar, Luke's childhood friend, it's nice to finally meet you," Skylar said with a smirk on her face.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Damon gasped as he woke up holding his neck. "Oh Tori is so going to be grounded," Damon said as he groaned in pain stretching his neck sideways before standing up to run and find Tori but before he could Stuff stood in front of his brother
"Damon, I know you are pissed, why don't you let me handle Tori. I need you to check on Elena and Jenna. Caroline stay here in case she comes back. Jeremy and I will get Tori back home safe and hopefully as sane as possible," Stefan instructed, despite hating taking orders from his baby brother, Damon knew that if he lashed out at Tori right now, he could potentially destroy his entire relationship with her. He decided to seek information on the swan witch from the book he found in the university when they went to seek information on Elena's family history and Katherine's family history.
"Fine, but, text me with updates," Damon wanted to tease his brother by making a comment regarding Elena but he didn't want Stefan to lose focus on his daughter at the moment so he decided to walk away and do as he was told.
Once Damon left to keep an eye on Elena, Stefan and Jeremy drove to Luke's house.
"You look really worried," Jeremy told Stefan
"Uh, yeah, when Tori snapped Damon's neck, something felt off, I don't know how to explain it," Stefan told his girlfriend's brother.
"Yesterday, Tori looked crazy, when she realised that Luke was in fact dead I saw her become a shell of a person," Jeremy told Stefan
"I don't blame her, from the time I arrived in town, Tori has been through a lot and in a really short time. When Sheila, Bonnie's grandma died, that was the first time I saw how powerful Tori really is. Though Sheila and Tori weren't related, She was Tori's mentor and sometimes their bond is quite strong and unknowingly they formed a coven. Covens are very important to a witch, it's like a team, each member supports the other, they help each other, and when one loses, everyone feels the pain of the loss. That day Tori not only lost her mentor, but she also lost her coven. It is a big loss for a kid, and now, with Luke, she blames herself for his death even though it's not her fault. That is a Salvatore quality and it definitely is not a good one," Stefan told Jeremy
"It's not just Sheila and Luke, she lost Anna too, she told me how she watched John kill Anna, she tried to save her but wasn't strong enough. Anna and Tori had become good friends and she felt like she let her down," Jeremy told Tori's uncle
"Let's hope things get better from here on out," Stefan said
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Tori looked at Skylar who had a knowing smirk on her face. "It's nice to finally meet you," Skylar said as she held her hand out for Tori to shake it. Tori held Skylar's hand and gasped when she saw Luke's image flash in her head. Luke looked to be in pain and he was bleeding with a knife sticking out of his chest. Skylar smiled knowing Tori was seeing Luke's last moments.
"Are you okay, Honey?" Betty asked Tori in concern. "Yeah," Tori said as she kept her eyes on a smiling Skylar.
"Yeah, I just remembered, I have to meet my sister, she...uh needs my help. Thank you for the gift and have a safe journey," Tori said as she rushed out of Luke's room.
Skylar watched Tori's walls crumble which brought her joy. She needed Tori to be an emotional mess in order for her to be able to overpower Tori. Now if all went according to plan, Skylar would be the most powerful witch to ever exist.
Tori drove back home, she knew something was wrong and she was sure Luke was murdered by Skylar or at least she had something to do with Luke's death. Tori was lost in her thoughts when suddenly she was startled by a flash and a man standing in front of her car, Tori swerved the car in order to avoid hitting the man and crashed into a tree on the side of the road.
Tori groaned in pain as she hit her head on the steering wheel. She managed to unbuckle her seatbelt and get out of the car. She was slightly disoriented when she felt someone pick her up and run, she was then harshly thrown to the ground. Tori groaned in pain when she heard a laugh "Gosh, do you look pathetic," Skylar told Tori who stood up and dusted her pants
"Cut the crap, You and I know you are not here to insult me," Tori said as she looked at the witch standing in front of her "I know you are a witch and I am sure you know about me as well, considering you purposely showed me that memory of Luke. You killed him, why?" Tori asked
"Well, technically I didn't kill him, someone else did," Skylar said "Luke died because he fell in love with you, so technically you got him killed," Skylar laughed
"Why did you kill him?" Tori asked, she was trying to control her emotions but she was angry.
"Well, because he was getting in the way. I helped Luke when he had to complete his task in finding you. But when I needed him to help me he said no, and stayed with you, he wanted to protect you. Can you believe it? The lovestruck fool wanted to protect the swan witch," Skylar laughed
"What are talking about?" Tori asked, confused.
"Luke only came to mystic falls to find you, he just needed you for your powers. I told him that I could help him and his family but in order for me to do that I needed to do a blood sacrifice and you were supposed to be the sacrifice. I could have saved his family and him but no.....he wanted to protect poor little Tori. I loved him and was by his side through everything and still, he chose you," Skylar ranted
"And why should I believe a backstabbing bitch like you? Luke would never lie to me," Tori said
"Really, you remember the night of the carnival, Luke drugged you and brought you back to his place so that I could cast a spell on you. To confirm you were the one he was searching for. Guess what, you were. He has been lying to you since the beginning. Your whole relationship was a lie and he lost sight of what he truly had to do," Skylar said as Tori felt her world collapse on her. She thought back to the carnival day, she felt weird that day, and she knew that something was wrong "You are lying, I don't- I don't,"
"—Don't remember, that's because I erased your memory," Skylar told Tori who felt like she couldn't breathe but she made sure Skylar didn't know that the information she revealed affected her
"I tried to make him see the truth about you. You are an abomination in this world. He had to see that, but he wouldn't believe me. I decide it was not worth it, he was not worth my love. So I hatched a plan and got rid of him. Thanks to some help. I'm sure you are familiar with Jason. after all, he is your ex-boyfriend" Skylar said before continuing "He helped me get rid of Luke," Skylar revealed to Tori
"He stabbed Luke and got himself killed in the process, but he had vampire blood in his system and you know what the best part was? When Luke realised that I was not there to help him, he begged me to help him," Skylar laughed, "he finally understood what betrayal feels like," Skylar ranted
"Jason, on the other hand, has been quite helpful, when I told him I wanted to get rid of Luke he jumped at the chance," Skylar told Tori as she smirked, and while Jason smiled at Tori.
"What do want from me?" Tori asked the witch
"Your powers. I want your powers," Skylar told Tori who laughed humourlessly
"My powers.....you killed Luke because of my powers. You turned a monster into a freaking vampire to drain me of my powers, really? How stupid are you?" Tori yelled out
"Sweetie, I am trying to help you. You are wasting your powers on stupid things, for a Swan witch you are so weak and pathetic. It's a real insult to your ancestors. Besides you are not even a true Swan witch, you are a freaking supernatural abomination. And when I drain your powers, I will become the Regent of all the covens and the most powerful witch in the world," Skylar told Tori
"Wow, you sound like a freaking Disney Villain, all this for love and power," Tori laughed humourlessly
"You should thank me, I saved your life. When my coven leader found out about you he was going to have you captured and tortured. He was going to make you his weapon, where he would control everything about you. You would just be his mindless soldier. It surprised me how weak you were when I easily lured you to Luke's house. Jason told me how you snapped that Salvatore brother's neck. That was hilarious. At least with your powers gone, you can be a weak, pathetic human without being an insult to witches," Skylar said
Tori realised why she felt like her body didn't belong to her. "That was you. You broke the protection spell on Luke and you managed to use that to mess with my head," Tori stated, she knew something was wrong, that was possibly why she kept looking for Luke. Tears filled her eyes as she felt betrayed and hurt by Luke but what was worse was even though Luke lied to Tori about his true intentions, Tori had truly loved him and believed he didn't deserve to die. Skylar watched as Tori's guard lowered, she immediately chanted "léviter et piéger," Catching tori off guard, Tori flew back hitting a tree but instead of crashing on the ground, she was trapped mid-air with her back on the tree branch. Tori groaned in pain when she felt a small branch stab her shoulder.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Damon jumped into Elena's room startling the brunette who was reading the book on the Petrova bloodline.
"Hello Katherine jr, Pleasure to see you this shitty morning," Damon greeted the girl before jumping on her bed.
"I thought I told you to stay away from me. What are you doing here Damon?" Elena asked the vampire as she closed the book, standing up from her bay window.
"Trust me, I would rather go look for my daughter than be here Elena but your boyfriend told me to keep an eye on you while his crazy ex is on the loose," Damon said sassily to Elena who scoffed
"Since when do you take orders from someone, especially Stefan?" Elena asked annoyed
"Since, Tori snapped my neck and disappeared," Damon replied as he flipped through the book on Swan witches
"What? Tori snapped your neck? Is Stefan okay?" Elena asked panicked
"I get killed by my daughter and you ask if my brother is okay? Wow!" Damon said in disbelief "You know I literally got stabbed in the back with an arrow for you, the least you can do is show some concern for me," Damon told Elena. Elena could hear a slight undertone of just in his comment despite the sassy reply
"You are right, how's Tori?" Elena asked making Damon roll his eyes
"She snapped my neck, what do you think," Damon told the girl
"Well, I would say she is doing better than I thought," Elena replied
"Did you know baby Gilbert spent the night with Tori yesterday?" Damon asked Elena who looked shocked
"What!? Is he okay?" Elena asked panicked. She was scared Tori would hurt Jeremy ever since she saw how wrecked Tori was after Sheila's death, Elena was scared of Tori. Don't get her wrong, she cared about Tori but she didn't love her like a sibling.
"He's fine. Don't worry he is safe with Stefan. Now I need peace and quiet, I am doing research," Damon said as he showed Elena the book and papers he found in Isobel's research
"Wait is that—," Elena asked
"Yeah, all the information I could find on the Swan witch abilities," Damon said
"I'll help," Elena told Damon before taking the papers and reading
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
"Dude! Stop the car!" Jeremy yelled out making Stefan slam the breaks of his car. Before Stefan could ask what was wrong Jeremy jumped out of the car and ran towards a crashed car that was hidden on the side of the road. Stefan parked his car and ran after Jeremy when he felt dread. Tori's car was wrecked in the front and it looked like she had gotten into a pretty bad accident.
"Tori!" Jeremy yelled out when he saw the car empty. Stefan immediately rushed to the car and looked for any clue about Tori's whereabouts, when he smelled a scent that was clearly a vampire making Stefan alert. "Call Damon and tell him that most likely a vampire has Tori and take my car and go back to your house, now!" Stefan yelled at Jeremy
"Dude, no. I am coming with you to find Tori," Jeremy protested
"Jeremy, I promised your sister you would not get involved in vampire business, now I can't focus on Tori if I have to keep worrying about your whereabouts too. Now, Go!"
"Screw Elena, Tori is my best friend, I am not abandoning her," Jeremy protested again
"I don't care, Jeremy. Take my car and leave," Stefan tossed his car keys to Jeremy before running in the direction of the vampire scent.
Jeremy called Damon as he ran to Stefan's car.
Damon was sitting next to Elena reading through The Swan Witch book.
Emotions play a very important to a Swan Witch, if a Swan witch does not have control of her emotions she could cause destruction to everything around her. An unstable witch could cause tragic and catastrophic damage to the environment.
However, if a Swan witch masters the art of control, she can bring peace and balance to the supernatural world but if led to a dark path, she could destroy the world.
Swan witches are known for their pure magic, they can control elements, manipulate reality, telekinesis, and the most dangerous of all havoc magic. Swan witches who have not unlocked their full potential can be easy targets for mind control by witches who perform black magic.
Weaknesses
Nightshade plants- Found in th—-
Damon was interrupted when his phone rang "Little Gilbert have you found my rebellious daughter yet?" Damon said making Elena roll her eyes at the vampire and laugh. Damon's playful tone faded when Jeremy told him about what Stefan said.
"I'm on my way," Damon said
"What wrong?" Elena asked concerned
"It seems Tori has been taken by a vampire, Stefan has gone to find her. I have to go," Damon said as he rushed out of Elena's house
"Wait I'm coming with you," Elena told the vampire, who nodded surprising her. Damon knew Elena would not listen to him and they would argue about her staying back but right now he didn't want to waste time when he knew she would win.
After informing Damon about Tori, Jeremy walked towards Stefan's car, to go back to his house, despite hating the idea. As soon as he opened the car door he felt a sharp pain in his head before passing out.
Tori was trapped, unable to move she tried everything but the spell Skylar used was powerful. Tori understood that Skylar was a strong witch but Tori knew she couldn't let Skylar win. "Now stay still," Skylar said as she smirked seeing Tori struggle before holding Tori's head to drain her powers but just as she thought she won Tori's eyes turn blue and Tori was free while Skylar flew back because of the impact of the spell breaking
Skylar attacked Tori by aiming broken branches at her in an attempt to hurt, injure and weaken Tori but she easily deflected it.
Tori felt weak, she had been drained the last couple of days and she had not eaten anything but she knew if she gave in, chaos would ensue.
"Tori, come on I know you can't fight. You will kill yourself in the process," Skylar said as she snapped Tori's wrist causing her to scream in pain.
Hearing Tori's scream Stefan rushed to find his niece. He ran in the direction he smelt blood and found Tori bleeding from her forehead and shoulder. Tori's wrist was bent in an awkward shape and he knew it was broken.
"Tori!" Stefan yelled out rushing to her but was thrown back by Skylar. "Wow, you Salvatores are so problematic, can't mind their own damn business," Skylar said as she snapped Stefan's neck.
"I took a page out of your book," Skylar said as she walked up to a badly injured Tori. Tori used all her strength and chanted "Corporis impetus," causing Skylar to fly back and crash to the ground knocking the wind out of her. Tori rushed to Stefan when Skylar stood up and snapped Tori's ankle before throwing Tori back towards the causing Tori to break her ribs. Skylar walked toward Tori to drain her powers when Tori attacked Skylar again infuriating her.
Before Skylar could recover Tori healed her ankle and stood up. Blood was pouring out of her nose. Skylar smiled at Tori who looked battered. "I knew you would not go down without a fight, so I brought back up," Skylar gritted
"Come on out," Skylar said, Tori was breathing hard holding her chest because of her cracked ribs. Suddenly she saw Jason holding a groggy Jeremy.
"No!" Tori screamed as Jason vamped out biting Jeremy's neck causing Jermey to yell out in pain.
"That's enough," Skylar said to a slightly pissed vampire. Jason reluctantly stopped drinking Jeremy's blood and dropped Jeremy to the ground
"Stop fighting me and let me drain your powers and brown eyes over there lives, if not Jason would love to have a snack.
"Fine! Do it, but let Jeremy and Stefan go," Tori told Skylar
"T!" Jeremy groaned out
Skylar walked towards a defeated Tori and held her head "siphon potentiae unius" Tori felt a searing pain all around her body but just as fast as she felt the pain it disappeared. All Tori heard was a sickening snap and Skylar's neck broken, and a worried-looking Stefan standing in front of Tori.
Before Tori could sigh in relief she yelled out to Jeremy
"Jeremy!" Tori yelled as she saw Jason ready to kill Jeremy but before he could do anything Tori used whatever power she could muster and ripped Jason's heart out of his chest. Stefan rushed towards Jeremy and fed him his blood before rushing to his niece who lay on the ground breathing heavily.
Damon heard Tori's scream from where he found his brother's and Tori's car, grabbing Elena he ran toward the field he heard Tori. As he reached the field his heart dropped seeing a badly injured Tori, a dead girl and dead vampire, and Jeremy "Oh my God! Jeremy!" Elena ran to her brother while Damon looked for Tori.
"Tori!," Damon yelled as he vamp sped to his daughter biting into his wrist and feeding her his blood.
"I don't know, The girl is a witch," Stefan said pointing to the dead girl on the ground "She was draining Tori's power but I snapped her neck. Tori killed Jason and collapsed. After Damon made sure Tori had enough blood to help heal herself he picked up the passed-out girl and rushed to his house. He placed his daughter on his bed and sat by her side. It took almost an hour till Tori woke up.
"Damon?" Tori said confused
"Tori, Oh God you are okay," Damon sighed in relief. He immediately checked her wounds and saw that they healed.
"I'm sorry I killed you, I was not thinking straight," Tori told her father as she cried
"Hey, hey, hey...." Damon said as he held his daughter "Honey, it's okay, I am not mad," Damon said as he held a crying Tori.
"They are all dead..." Tori sobbed, Damon held his crying daughter as she cried. He knew she had to cry in order to heal and he was going to sit with her till she was all cried out.
Stefan walked into his house with Elena and Jeremy.
"You guys stay here, I'll check on them," Stefan told his girlfriend and her brother
Stefan walked into Damon's room to see Damon holding a sniffling Tori. "Hey? Do you want something to eat?" Stefan asked his niece
"Uh, yeah. I uh, thank you for saving my life Stefan," Tori told her uncle who smiled at the young girl
"We are family, I will always be there for you," Stefan told his niece before walking out of Damon's room.
Elena and Jeremy were arguing when Stefan entered the living room. "Screw you, Elena," Jeremy said as he walked past Stefan to go check on Tori.
"What happened?" Stefan asked Elena
"I told Jeremy that he should have not gotten himself involved with everything. With Katherine on the loose and wolves running around. I don't know what to do," Elena told her boyfriend in frustration.
"Come here," Stefan told Elena as he hugged her. "It's going to be okay," he told her as he kissed her head.
"Wanna help me make something for Tori to eat?" Stefan asked Elena who smiled at him "Sure, I will cheer for you as you do all the cooking," Elena told Stefan who smiled at his girlfriend.
Stefan was chopping up garlic while Elena stirred the pasta sauce when Damon walked into the kitchen.
"Did she explain what happened?" Stefan asked his brother who looked upset.
"Yeah, she told me what happened. Luke was using Tori, the witch that you thankfully killed wanted to drain Tori's powers and apparently told Tori she is an abomination to all supernatural beings or something like that. It's bad enough she was dealing with a dead boyfriend now she found out she was being used by the boy for her powers," Damon told the couple who looked shocked.
"But Luke looked so in love with Tori," Elena stated. Stefan's heart hurt for his niece. The trio worked in silence as the food cooked. It had been a few minutes when Jeremy supporting a limping Tori entered the kitchen. Stefan was the first to notice the girl, he rushed to pull out a chair for Tori who thanked him as she sat down.
"T, are you okay?" Elena asked Tori
"Just peachy, Lena," Tori replied as Elena smiled at her with a concerned look
"Tori, you are not going to be using your magic for a few days, do you understand me?" Damon told his daughter who rolled her eyes at him
"I am fine, Damon, I just need to refuel," Tori told her father
"No! I don't care if all you have t do is re-fuel. You are NOT using your magic for at least a week. You almost died today, do you realise that? You exhausted yourself the past couple of days and in the process almost killed yourself. I may be a vampire but I still know that every witch needs to take break. If you were a normal witch you would have died the second that traitorous bastard's friend attacked you. I have been doing some research on Swan witches and let me tell you, you are still a baby witch. You may have unlocked your powers very young and you may be stronger than most witches but that does not mean you are invincible. you are not going to use any form of magic for a week till you learn, respect, and understand how precious your life is Stop being arrogant about your abilities and know that you have limits too. Do you know what you put your mom, sister, father, me even Stefan, and all through?" Damon yelled making Elena and Jeremy jump "So you, young lady if I hear one syllable of hocus-pocus, one of us here will break your neck," Damon told his daughter or more like yelled at his daughter. He hated that Tori was careless about her life and frankly it scared him how if word got out about her existence things would be bad for Tori. Today's shit show was just a small preview of what could happen in the future and he was going to make sure Tori never went through what she did today, ever again.
Jeremy, Elena, and Stefan expected Tori to argue back, but Tori simply stood up and hugged Damon "you're right, I'm sorry," Tori told Damon surprising him. Damon hugged his daughter back holding her tight. Elena could not get over how different Damon behaved with Tori, she felt weird seeing how protective and concerned Damon could be. Stefan watched the father and daughter, he was glad to see remnants of his caring brother. He had hope for the first time since turning into a vampire that Damon would be a better person and his family would heal.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
After eating lunch, Jeremy stayed with Tori at the Salvatore house while Stefan, Damon, and Elena went their separate ways. Stefan was going to check on Caroline and explain the whole situation with Tori. Elena decided to accompany her boyfriend while Damon went to get Tori's car repaired and to meet Liz to try and convince her to let Tori stay at the Salvatore mansion. Tori was glad Damon suggested she stay at the boarding house because she was scared to stay alone at her house. Today she almost died because of her carelessness and she didn't trust her instincts because they had let her down today.
"T, you okay?" Jeremy asked his friend when he noticed her space out
"Yeah, just reflecting. Ugh, I feel so stupid," Tori said as she rested her head on her knees
"You're not stupid..." Jeremy told his friend, Tori looked up at him with a raised eyebrow
"Okay, what you did the past couple of days and today was stupid but you were grieving," Jeremy told Tori who chuckled while wiping the stray tear that rolled down her cheek
"I'm sorry I called you a junkie and lashed out on you," Tori apologised
"It's fine and technically you were not wrong," Jeremy replied back
"We should form a dead ex's club," Tori suggested making Jeremy's jaw drop
"Too dark?" Tori asked making Jeremy burst out laughing. Tori smiled at Jeremy's outburst.
"Hey, did you get a ring to match the apology gift I gave you?" Jeremy asked as he saw Tori look at the ring on her finger
"No, Luke's fake mom gave it to me. Apparently, this ring was a gift he wanted to give me before he was killed. Betty made me promise to never take it off," Tori told Jeremy as she stared at the ring.
"You don't have to wear it, you know, especially after finding out that Luke lied to you," Jeremy told Tori
"No, I want to wear it. Luke may have lied about everything but to me our relationship is real," Tori said as she looked at Jeremy "was real," Tori corrected herself before continuing "The memories I had with him were good and I want to remember that, at least for now,"
Jeremy put his hand over Tori's shoulder letting Tori rest her head on his shoulder. The two teenagers sat in a comfortable silence each lost in their own thoughts.
"J, could you come with me to Sheila's house?" Tori asked breaking the silence
"Why? I thought you were grounded to not use magic," Jeremy told Tori
"I'm not going to use magic, I just need to drink a protection potion that Sheila has in her house. Skylar managed to infiltrate my mind today, that's why I snapped Damon's neck. Sheila always made me drink it, I didn't know why at that moment she was so strict about it but now I know. It's to ensure nobody gets into my head to control me," Tori told
"Sure, let's go," Jeremy said jumping up. He quickly texted Stefan to let him now what Tori told him and they were both out the door.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Liz walked into the Salvatore Boarding House along with Damon. "Thank you so much, Damon, for looking out for Tori," Liz told Damon
"I told you, Liz, Tori is family to me," Damon told Liz as he knocked on the bedroom door before walking in.
"Hey honey," Liz greeted her daughter who was staring out the window. Tori turned to look at her mother
"Mom, I am so so sorry for putting you through hell the last couple of days," Tori told her mom as she hugged her.
"Oh, sweetheart! It's okay. I'm just glad to hear your voice," Liz told her daughter as she hugged her tight.
"Have you eaten anything?" Liz asked
"Uh, yeah. Stefan made pasta and I had some pop tarts," Tori told her mother as Liz put Tori's hair behind her ears.
"How are you feeling?" Liz asked as she sat next to her daughter.
"Better, I finally accepted Luke's death. He gone and there is nothing I can do about it and I have come to terms with that," Tori told her mother
"Why don't you come home we can watch some of your favorite movies and eat junk. I am sure Caroline would love to join too," Liz suggested
"Uh, mom maybe tomorrow, I think I want to stay here tonight, I can't stay a home today, please," Tori asked her mom
"If it's okay with Damon you can stay," Liz told her daughter
"She can stay however long she wants," Damon replied
"Okay, then I guess I will head home and check on your sister. You take care Sweety and call me if you need anything, okay." Liz told her daughter as she kissed her forehead
Damon walked Liz to her car "Don't worry Liz, she is safe, I promise." Damon assures a worried-looking Liz.
"Thanks again Damon," Liz said as she smiled at the raven-headed man.
Liz walked into her house with a tired sigh. She was exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally. She went into Caroline's room to ask her if she wanted anything to eat but saw that Caroline was fast asleep. Carefully closing the door, Liz walked into the kitchen and took out the leftover food from the refrigerator, and heated it up. Just as Liz sat down to eat she heard a knock on the door.
Liz opened the front door to see Elena standing. "Elena? This is a pleasant surprise," Liz told the girl
"Sheriff, I came to check on Caroline and Tori," Elena told Liz
"Oh, honey, Caroline is asleep and Tori is staying in the Salvatore boarding house. I could tell them you came over," Liz told Elena
"Oh, how is Tori doing?" Elena asked
"Better than the last couple of days. She needed a change in scenery so I thought she could stay with Damon and Stefan since they seem to be able to get through to her. I'm so sorry honey, please come inside, I can make you a cup of hot cocoa or something," Liz told Elena
"Oh no no... I'll come over tomorrow, I need to head back since it's getting late. Goodnight!" Elena told Liz
"Goodnight Honey, drive safe," Liz told the girl before closing the door. After eating her dinner Liz was going to head to bed when she got a phone call from the station, sighing in frustration Liz answered the call "Hello, Sheriff Forbes here," Liz answered
"Sheriff, we found a body of a young girl, suspicious death and we also found a body of a dead vampire." The officer told Liz.
"Alright, send me the location, I am on my way," Liz said before hanging up, Liz quickly wrote a note for Caroline and rushed out the door.
It was early in the morning when Caroline woke up to a loud noise, Turning around she jumped up when she saw Elena standing near her bed. "Elena?" Caroline asked her friend
"Nope, try again," Katherine said smirking at the frightened blonde
"Katherine," Caroline said as realisation hit her. Caroline hoped Tori would be able to help her, only if she could make a loud noise to alert Tori. Katherine knew exactly what Caroline was thinking.
"Tori is not here," Katherine said making Caroline's face fall in fright "Don't be scared. We are gonna have so much fun together," Katherine said as smirked.
"How did you get inside?" Caroline asked, her dead-un-dead heart beating fast as she watched Katherine walk around her room without a care in the world.
"Your mom let me in, she is so sweet, offered me cocoa and all, although she thought I was the cheap version of me, Elena. I mean I can't blame the woman. These clothes are disgusting," Katherine said as she liked at her top.
"Now, back to why I'm here. You are going to make sure Elena stays away from the Salvatore house today," Katherine told
"Why?" Caroline asked confused
"You don't need to know the details all you need to know is I want you to break Elena and Stefan up and be my eyes and ears on their relationship. Jenna is going to have a barbecue party and you are going to keep Elena distracted the whole day. If you fail to do so, I will kill your sweet little overstressed mommy while I make you watch before ripping your pretty little eyes out," Katherine told Caroline who looked terrified
Hey guys! It's been really long since an update. I hope you liked the chapter.
Now, I have a task for everyone. who do you want Tori to end up with, comment and let me know.
Don't forget to vote, like, comment and share
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