CHAPTER NINETEEN
Two Anchors
While the killing spree didn't settle Preston's murderous urges, it did settle it for enough time to get her back to Mystic Falls. She sat on the couch with Elena in the Salvatore house while Damon was having a drink.
"Today is a good day. Today is the day that we're getting Bonnie back." Elena said, continuously peppering kisses on Preston's lips.
"Greetings. Good morning, frenemies." Silas greeted, opening the curtains with his witch powers. "Ah. You know, I'm only a few hours into my old life as a witch... but somehow the sun feels warmer. Probably because I'm not cursed with having to outlive it anymore."
"Well, hello to you too." Preston snarked.
"What's with the home invasion, Silas?" Damon asked.
"Well, Damon, after 2000 years of a miserable existence... I finally get to die." Silas said happily.
Preston and Elena stood up from the couch.
"We all know that Tessa was a real vengeful bitch. Your doppelgänger, Amara, died at her hands. But today, after 2000 years, Amara and I will finally reunite." Silas explained.
"I did not need to know any of that." Preston commented, getting a glare from Elena.
"Skip the mushy parts. Look, Elena here is just trying to have a good day. And there are promises she's expecting you to keep." Damon told Silas.
"Oh, you don't think I keep promises?" Silas wondered.
"No." Preston answered, crossing her arms.
"You said now that you're a witch, you would bring Bonnie back from the Other Side." Elena said.
"I did and I can." Silas replied.
"And you promised Damon that you would do that if he helped you. But you're kind of evil, no offense." Elena explained.
"None taken." Silas replied in understanding.
"So I'm just trying to figure out how I can trust that one of your last acts in this world will be to bring my best friend back?" Elena reasoned.
"Did you want me to pinky swear?" Silas asked. Preston couldn't hold in her laugh, getting glares from both Damon and Elena.
"What? He's got more personality than Stefano, plus, I mean, come on, it's kinda funny." Preston defended.
"Elena's trying to have a good day. Just tell her how it's gonna go down." Damon told Silas.
"I just want to destroy the Other Side so I don't get stuck in purgatory when I finally do kill myself. Before I do that, I'll bring Bonnie back. And being the amazing and incredible and all-powerful witch that I am... I can totally do both. I just have to find the Anchor first and destroy it." Silas explained.
Elena furrowed her brows, "the anchor?"
"New Jersey." Silas answered.
"New Jersey? The supernatural other world is bound by an object in Snooki's backyard?" Damon questioned.
"Everything's legal in New Jersey." Preston muttered.
"It's in a stockyard, and it's being shipped out, so we really need to— hello, hunter." Silas turned around to face Jeremy. "Banner day for you, huh? Didn't you and the Bennett witch used to, uh," Silas clicked his tongue, then whistled.
"Hey, knock it off. Okay? It's okay, Jer. We all want the same thing today. Silas dead, Bonnie alive." Elena said.
"We're just supposed to believe he's gonna bring Bonnie back out of the goodness of his heart?" Jeremy said, aiming the crossbow down to the floor.
"Well, I hope not. I mean, I am kind of a monster. You know, guys, I'm feeling really ganged up on right now. The only one who isn't is the demon hunter. Okay? I would hate to lose my temper and do something..." Flames formed on Silas' fingertips, "crazy. Ah. Man, I really love being a witch again."
Preston couldn't believe that there was a version of Stefan Salvatore that she didn't want to kill. Especially since this was the 'bad one'.
"I feel like I'm constantly reinventing myself. I'm like a supernatural Madonna, don't you think?" Silas mused.
Preston furrowed her brows, "you know who Madonna is?"
"Of course I do." Silas replied. "By the way, the whole slitting people's throats with the knife... I approve."
"Oh, thanks. It's a lot more controllable than a gun." Preston said.
"I know, right." Silas responded.
Damon looked at Preston. "Are you two really bonding over murder right now?" He questioned.
"No, we're bonding over being happy." Preston sarcastically replied.
"Alright, we gotta get going. You, grab a crowbar or four from the garage."
"What for?"
"Does it matter? You two. You're not going. Men only." Silas said.
"Are you serious? He's not serious." Elena quickly denied.
"No, he's not serious." Damon said.
"Actually, I'm 100 percent serious. She's the carbon copy of my true love Amara. You understand why I don't want to stare at her imposter face all day. And Preston is a little too murderous right now." Silas explained.
"That makes no sense." Damon responded.
"It would make sense if you were ever in love with anybody who looked exactly like her." Silas told him.
"This is ridiculous. We're bringing my best friend back from the dead. I'm going. And what do you mean Preston is too murderous?"
Preston tensed up at Elena's words.
Silas used his magic to shoot an arrow into Elena's leg. Preston rushed to Elena's side to get the arrow out. Then she saw the blood and started thinking about the bloodlust and murder rampage. She quickly handed Elena a cloth to clean up the blood while Preston stood up and looked at Silas.
"Next one goes in the heart. Hurry up, I only have until sundown before Tessa tries to stop me." Silas said.
"I'm going." Preston decided.
"Excuse me—" Damon started.
"I'm going, besides, it's not like I'll stay dead if anyone or anything kills me. And you'll probably need backup." Preston argued.
Silas went to argue with her, but stopped, "fine."
Preston got in the vehicle with the boys, sitting in the back with Jeremy.
"He's with Tessa. Why does he keep going back to her?" Elena questioned over the phone.
"'Cause he's a man... wait, sorry, a boy." Preston corrected herself.
"Look, who knows? Amnesia-Stef is a fickle little—" Damon started.
"Wait. You didn't tell Elena what you did to Stefan?" Silas wondered, making the three others look at him.
"Tell me what?"
"Silas needed his psychic juju to get into Tessa's head. And the only way to temporarily reactivate his abilities was to break Stefan's neck... a couple of times." Damon said casually.
Preston zoned out.
"Knock-knock." Silas said, confusing everyone.
No one answered him, much to Silas' dismay.
"Knock-knock. Who's there? The mayor. The mayor who?"
Preston and Jeremy looked at Silas with confusion.
"Well, who?" Damon finally gave in and asked.
"No one. That's the joke. No one because I killed the mayor." Silas finished.
"You're a dick." Jeremy told Silas.
Preston looked down at her forearm, it was going from light to dark, and repeating that consistently. Then she thought back to the vision she had, where she saw the guy with Damon. She looked at Damon, who looked back at her. "What?" He questioned.
"Nothing."
They eventually stopped, and Preston cracked her back when she stood out of the vehicle.
"Thank god." Damon breathed out.
"God's actually a dick." Preston murmured, getting a look from Damon. "What? He is." Castiel had told her a few things about Chuck, and she was ready to kill God.
While Damon and Jeremy walked over to the door, Silas stayed behind for a second with Preston. He looked at her forearm and gestured to it. "I never did get to see the Mark Of Cain before."
"Well, it's a seven with 2 dots, there you go."
"Amara told you about finding a person to rely on, right? An Anchor to bring you back from darkness. You're one of the few that can use an anchor to help. Most just keep going and have to transfer the mark or something along those lines." Silas explained. "Oh, by the way, you might want to ask Damon about the guy." Silas smiled then walked away to the door.
"Okay. Where is this stupid Anchor thing?" Jeremy asked.
"I have no idea." Silas said.
"You brought us all the way here, and you don't know where it is?" Preston questioned Silas.
"What do you mean you have no idea?" Damon also questioned.
"Give me some credit, man. I did psychically dive into Tessa's mind to see this specific warehouse."
"Which we could have gotten Preston to do." Jeremy mused. "What does it look like?" He asked.
"Again, I have no idea. Tessa created it after she locked me away in a tomb for 2000 years... and left me to starve. Remember? Remote island, creepy hallucinations?" Silas reminded.
"Wait, you don't know where it is or what it looks like?" Damon restated.
"It binds the spell to a supernatural hell dimension. It's not gonna look like an IKEA sink." Silas sassed.
"IKEA shit is hell to put together though." Preston told Silas.
"Fair enough." Silas replied.
"Quit dawdling. We need to find this thing before the Travelers show up." Silas told them.
"Why are they interested in this Anchor?"
"They hate me for creating the immortality spell. They know the Anchor's the only thing standing between me and my soulmate. And every love story needs that one thing that just keeps getting in the way." Silas explained.
"Alright, calm down, Romeo, we get it. You and Amara are soulmates." Preston said.
Damon got a phone call from Amara who had lured Elena to her.
They went outside. "We can't kill Silas. Silas is the only one that can bring Bonnie back. And he's not going to until right before he destroys the Other Side." Jeremy told Damon.
"Tessa wants to do it now. Something tells me patience isn't her strong suit." Damon turned around.
"Damon, you promised. You promised Elena that she would see Bonnie again." Jeremy said, frustrated.
"You don't think I'm aware of that? But if Tessa kills Elena, guess who's not gonna make it to Bonnie's welcome-home party. Plan's off, Jeremy, Preston. Bonnie's not coming back." Damon told them.
"And there's no way to negotiate with Tessa? At all?" Preston questioned.
Damon looked down.
"So you're just gonna give up, Damon? You're just gonna leave it all. Do you even care—"
"I know damn well this is just because of the mark. You wouldn't be saying any of this to me if—"
"If what? If I didn't have the mark? Because last I checked, you saw the mark form. You killed me, multiple times, might I add. You convinced Alaric to kill me a few times, you twisted my mind into thinking you were a decent person."
"I'm not the one keeping the mark from my girlfriend."
Preston just stood there.
Damon had his hand on the door while looking at her.
Jeremy walked away in order to not kill Damon or witness Preston murdering Damon.
"The guy."
"What?"
"The guy I keep seeing in my visions, the one who can calm me down, you know him, or knew him. And I know that because I saw you two. There was a cell, then a fire, and blood."
Damon knew who she was talking about, and he looked shocked. "It doesn't matter, he's gone."
"Then why do I keep seeing—"
"I don't know. Now, go find Jeremy before he tries to kill Tessa instead." Damon told her.
Eventually, Damon figured out the Other Side's anchor: Amara.
When they got back, Preston just laid on her bed, thinking about the very few things she knew about her anchor. He knew Damon. Must be a supernatural being. Was trapped in a cell and there was fire.
In this chapter, we have Preston calling out Damon on his bullshit
Plus, Preston and Silas bonding over murder
Okay, bye!