"Mother, tell me that you have Elena." Damon said eyeing me as we both walked down the hall of the Whitmore hospital basement.
"Let me speak to Oscar." Lily countered through the phone and I rolled my eyes.
"No can do. I'm about to wake him up from his magical vervain nap." Damon pointed out, eyeing me.
"You do realize when you get her back, you're not actually getting her back, right?" Lily asked in annoyance and I narrowed my eyes at her voice.
"Do you think I or Mariana need to be reminded of that?" Damon argued sarcastically.
"And yet you're leveraging a member of my family just to get her body closer to you." Lily scoffed angrily back at him. "How selfish can you be?" She added and I rolled my eyes turning the corner, down another hall.
"Spare the lecture, mommy." Damon sighed before we walked into a small room that was dimly lit.
"Damon, if anyone has harmed Oscar in any way-" Lily started but he cut her off.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Say goodbye to Elena—It's not my first hostage swap." He clarified, hanging up and I sighed grabbing his hand reassuringly, which he squeezed back. We walked towards the curtain before pulling it back to see a table with a blood spot on the table.. And approximating the way the body was lying on the table a day before, the blood stain was in the exact spot that Oscar's heart would have been.. "No." Damon whispered, shaking his head as I clenched my jaw. "Oscar?" Damon asked looking around the small room confused.
"We smell the blood on you, buddy." I added turning and looking at a closet that used to be filled with patient files. I narrowed my eyes at it and looked at Damon, who slowly walked towards it before quickly opening it. I gasped as a dead and grey Oscar fell face forward towards Damon but he easily caught himself from falling. He moved out of the way and we both watched Oscar fall on the floor, not moving a muscle. "Dammit." Damon said angrily down at the, now dead heretic. "You've got to be kidding me." He added scoffing in defeat.
~~~~
"How the hell did you let this happen?" Stefan asked in annoyance and looking at Oscar who sat in a chair in front of him as we all stood in Alaric's apartment.
"Hey, don't even think about blaming this on me—I'm not the one who unscrewed his heart." Damon defended himself.
"No, you're just the one who tracked him down, kidnapped him and are still technically holding him hostage." Stefan argued, crossing his arms over his chest as he rose his eyebrow waiting for Damon to reply.
"To get Elena back." Damon pointed out, obviously getting angry.
"And how's that working out for you? Because from where I'm standing, she's in more danger than ever because you won't let her rest." Stefan countered before I finally stood in between them, watching as their mouths shut quickly.
"How dare you tell me that catering for my sister is putting her in danger. You know, I'm sorry that you can't touch Caroline since your newly found first love, Valerie, turned out to be one of the heretics. Don't for a second doubt my way of caring for my sister because I don't see you helping." I stated emotionlessly as I glared at Stefan who looked away from me.
"We need to get rid of him." Damon stated changing the subject and gesturing at Oscar.
"No, no, no, no—You need to get rid of him. I have to go take care of the baby." I sighed in annoyance back at Damon before him and Stefan put Oscar around their shoulders, when there was a knock at the door.
"Damon. We know you're in there." A voice said in annoyance and I scowled knowing it was Mary-Louise and Nora. "Open up." They stated and I waved the boys away from me along with Oscar as they obeyed quickly. "Damon, open the-" they started again before I vamped and opened the door, looking at the girls who rose their eyebrows back at me.
"Hello." I said smirking at them in annoyance before Mary-Louise walked in as Nora sighed following in pursuit.
"University housing. How lovely." Mary-Louise stated smiling around the room before sighing. "How sad." She added in defeat and I rolled my eyes, shutting the door and followed the two notches in as I saw Damon and Stefan standing on opposite sides of the room now. No Oscar in sight.
"Not as sad as being exiled here." Nora pointed out sighing.
"I suppose Lily had the wrong address for hostage trade. Where's Oscar?" Mary-Louise asked looking at Damon who furrowed his eyebrows.
"Oh, you just missed him." Damon stated, pointing to the door and I nodded shrugging in agreement.
"You reek of blood." Nora countered, looking at Damon in curiosity.
"Well, I-I've been bingeing. It's been a hard few weeks." Damon nodded, folding his arms over his chest and I sighed at him.
"And I've been judging." I added shrugging as did Stefan before Nora picked up a vase that sat on a shelve beside her. "You're not gonna find him in there." I stated in annoyance before she dropped it on the floor and I rose my eyebrow at the look she gave me.
"Look, I get it. You got me." Damon sighed, trying to gain their attention as Nora walked around the house, pushing anything that can be broken off of the shelves she went by before Stefan grabbed a picture of him and Caroline before it could break from the impact of the floor. "Oscar turned the tables and he knocked me out and then took off—We lost our only bargaining chip." Damon stated looking at the two heretic lovers.
"Then why isn't Oscar answering his phone?" Mary-Louise countered, raising an eyebrow back at him and I watched Nora walk towards the bathroom slowly.
"Maybe the guy doesn't want to be found." Stefan suggested, shrugging back at her as Nora opened the bathroom door only to see it empty.
"Why don't I believe you?" Nora asked in annoyance as she turned away from the bathroom.
"Well, this is pointless. Come, Nora." Mary-Louise stated emotionlessly, walking towards the door and I opened it, being the kind person I am. Nora walked by me smirking before she dropped the smoothie that she held in her hand. I furrowed my eyebrows, quickly hovering a hand over the smoothie so it didn't hit the floor. Nora walked past me, not noticing and I smirked, dropping it in front of her and watched as the smoothie got on her shoes. I rose an eyebrow and gasped in fake shock as she turned back towards me angrily.
"Thanks for throwing it out with the rest of the trash." I smiled before closing the door quickly and looking at the boys. They nodded, walking towards the window and hiking Oscar up from the sheet he was hanging out the window from. "Screw it, let's just get the guy to the furnace." I suggested as the boys brought him back inside, dropping him on the couch as the door opened again and we all froze, seeing a college student walk in and I rolled my eyes at her. "Uh, wrong dorm, darling." I pointed out before she held out an envelope towards us and I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Okay.." Stefan whispered, grabbing it in confusion and opening it. "A message from Mrs. Nora Hildegard. Dictated but not read, 'for every hour that Oscar isn't returned, a Whitmore student will die. Starting now'." Stefan read cautiously before the college student plunged a knife into her neck and I widened my eyes, watching her bleed out until she fell on the floor motionless.
~~~
"The visions scare the hell out of me, so if I'm raising the dead, don't rush me." Bonnie warned Ric before Damon and I walked into the room to see Joe laying on a table with Ric and Bonnie on either side of it.
"Well, that's too bad. 'Cause we have to bring this guy back to life." Damon stated putting Oscar on the table beside Joe as we stood in the morgue as well now. "Now." He added impatiently and I nodded in agreement, crossing my arms over my chest.
~~~
"Phesmatos exaud mi, conjug spirits et corpe. Phesmatos exaud mi, conjug spirits et corpe." Bonnie chanted as she held a book of spells above Oscar. As she chanted the spell over and over, Alaric, Damon and I all looked from the Phoenix stone that laid on Oscar's chest to his face.. The fourth time Bonnie chanted the spell, Oscar jumped, rattling the table under him and opening his eyes only before they closed again. "Scratch that one off the list." Bonnie sighed in defeat and Damon slammed his fistt onto a metal table.
"Hey, you're not the only one banking on this." Ric pointed out in annoyance Damon turned around towards him.
"It's not for me, Ric." Damon countered angrier and I stepped in front of him, putting my hand on his chest reassuringly, which made him look down at me.
"Calm down. It's okay. There's a hundred more spells to try.. Okay?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him as he calmed down before I smiled and looked back at Bonnie. "We know that the stone works. It's creating a bridge between the body and spirit—we just need to find the right spell to make that bridge permanent." I stated and she nodded in agreement, looking through the book again before Damon's phone vibrated in his pocket and he grabbed it.
"How goes the diversion?" Damon answered raising his eyebrow as he answered the phone.
"Three. That's the number of people Caroline and I have saved. Barely." Stefan countered on the other line as music filled the background around him. Him and Caroline are at the Heaven & Hell dance for Halloween that was being thrown at Whitmore College.
"So did you call just to brag?" Damon asked in annoyance and Stefan sighed.
"How much longer?" Stefan asked frustrated and Damon looked towards Bonnie as she chanted another spell before we all screamed as Oscar caught on fire in front of us.
"Oh, Crap, Ric put it out!?" Bonnie and I yelled before Alaric quickly blew the fire out with a fire extinguisher that we had for this exact purpose.
"I think we're getting close." Damon lied and I rolled my eyes laughing at him as he smiled back at me.
"Let's try this one." Bonnie added and I rose my eyebrow, looking over the words carefully before I nodded.
"Alright. Together—Maybe it will have a stronger effect." I suggested shrugging and she nodded before taking my hand as we both looked down at the words again.
"Ababbas dogoinet mateesah elunatan. Oshawas melunaweh washaset zagoedan." We chanted once and looked at Oscar only to see him just lay there still completely unmoved as Damon hung up and sighed.
"Well, which one was that?" Ric asked furrowing his eyebrows and I shrugged.
"It's something we found in the Shamanistic oral traditions." I countered, reading what it said in the book before Oscar yelled loudly and sat up, scaring all of us as he turned from grey to a normal flesh color. "Oh, God." I whispered, shaking my head before his screaming died down and he sat completely still in front of us.
"Bonnie, Mariana. You two are officially the two most terrifying people I've ever met." Damon stated in amusement and I laughed shaking my head as we all looked at Oscar who was breathing in front of us.
~~~
"Easy there, buddy." Damon reassured as we walked down the street as Damon held Oscar over his shoulder to keep him for stumbling.
"Where am I?" Oscar asked confused and emotionless.
"We're on our way to Mystic Falls." Damon replied, not giving enough details.
"Virginia? How did I get to Virginia?" He asked again obviously very confused.
"Well, we'll talk about it on the way." Damon replied nodding before pulling out his phone from his pocket. "Smile for mommy." He added sighing and snapping a picture of them. "Yeah, okay." Damon nodded, putting Oscar in his car carefully.
"Blood, I need blood." Oscar stated weakly and I nodded in agreement.
"Figured you might." I pointed out, handing him a blood bag and watched as he ripped it open, drinking it quickly as Damon shut the door behind him.
"Either our friend still has the munchies or ravenous hunger is a side effect of resurrection." Damon pointed out looking between Bonnie and I, looking for an answer.
"Don't look at us. We barely understand how the guy's alive." I countered, defending Bonnie and I.
"If hunger is the worst consequence of the stone or spell, then we got off easy." Bonnie added slowly sighing and I nodded in agreement.
"Are you sure you want to do this to Joe?" Damon asked Bonnie raising his eyebrow at her carefully.
"It's now or never, Damon." Alaric replied shrugging at him and Damon sighed.
"No offense Ric, but I was asking Bonnie. Mariana isn't gonna be here to help you. That's just saying if you'll need it." Damon stated eyeing Bonnie again and we all looked at her, waiting for her to answer.
"Look at you sad sacks. What am I gonna say? No?" Bonnie asked smiling at Ric in amusement. "Mariana go get your sister. I'll go get his girl." Bonnie added reassuringly and I smiled, hugging her before Damon and I got in the car.
~~~
After fifteen or so minutes in the car, Damon was speeding down the highway and I was already annoyed. More annoyed that I have ever been the previous day. "Can you—can you slow down, please?" Oscar asked, breathing heavily from the backseat.
"Trust me, you do not want to make Lily wait." Damon warned, ignoring Oscar and not slowing down. "I learned that the hard way, here. This will take the edge off." He added handing him another blood bag.
"I'm gonna need more." Oscar warned and I sighed as he ripped the blood bag open, drinking it ravishingly.
"Not until we get our story straight—We were in Myrtle Beach, we got wasted, you passed out." I stated, going over our story with him as I looked at him through the rear view mirror and watched him furrow his eyebrows in confusion.
"I've never been to Myrtle beach." Oscar countered and I furrowed my eyebrows back at him.
"How deep does this amnesia go?" Damon asked sighing in defeat and I shrugged in reply,
"I just need a little more, okay, A-A taste, a drop." Oscar added from the back and Damon and I eyed each other carefully.
"That was the last one." Damon stated emotionless and Oscar scoffed in annoyance.
"Well, then you're gonna have to stop this thing!?" Oscar yelled loudly in reply and I widened my eyes at his anger as it cane out of nowhere.
"Not until you get one right." Damon countered in annoyance, not taking his attitude. "Now, multiple choice. You were in Myrtle beach—A, partying too much—B," Damon started before Oscar groaned, kicking one of the backdoors open and jumping out. Damon stepped on the break abruptly, bringing the car to a hault and I widened my eyes as we got out to see Oscar gone from our sight as Mystic Falls was seen from across the road. "Dammit." Damon stated angrily, looking around us completely uneasily.
"You check the roads. I'll get the woods." I stated about to speed off but he vamped in front of me and I furrowed my eyebrows. "Damon-" I started before he cut me off.
"Don't get hurt. He's a heretic, Ari. I can't-" Damon started but I kissed him quickly before pulling back.
"I should be telling you this. You're the one without any leverage." I replied in worry before kissing him quickly again and vamping off.
~~~
I sped through the woods before I came to a stop as I heard screaming somewhere in the distance. I furrowed my eyebrows, speeding towards it but when I got to where it was coming from, I saw a bus full of dead tourists, with blood splattered on all of the windows. What a wonderful death place. Bus, in the woods, on Halloween. I thought to myself in annoyance. I was about to approach before Lily came out of no where and I furrowed my eyebrows, staying back.
"Oscar! What on earth has gotten into you!?" She yelled at him in shock as he slowly stepped towards her, getting off the bus and succeeded in taking a body out with him. I furrowed my eyebrows at his behavior and watched Lily get scared at the sight of him. "Oscar, you know you are not yourself when you feed." She warned, backing up from him slowly as he walked towards her threateningly. "You remember how we live." Lily added, getting more frightened as Oscar walked towards her more quickly and more angrily now. "YOU REMEMBER EVERYTHING IN MODERATION!?" Lily yelled out frantically, falling back as Oscar stood over her now and I took my chance when I saw it. I vamped up from behind Oscar before snapping his neck and watched him fall beside Lily. Lily looked down at Oscar shocked before up at me and I sighed a bit.
"Now I get it." I stated nodding down at the two of them. "Your favorite sons are the ones with ripper problems." I added smirking in amusement as I found humor in the situation. "I highly recommend a detox and most likely an intervention." I pointed out before extending a hand towards her, which she took. "Now it's your turn. Where the hell's my sister, Lily?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.
~~~~
I threw my lighter at the bus, watching it set the bodies as well as the blood Oscar spilled, on fire. I turned around, walking over towards Lily and Damon who had just arrived as Lily got off the phone. "I just asked Beau to remove the cloaking spell on Elena's coffin. You'll find her in the ruins of the old Salvatore mansion." Lily stated clearing her throat at Damon and I.
"Clever..ish." Damon replied obviously impressed with her but didn't want to show it too much.
"I'm glad you think so." Lily replied about to walk away before Damon cleared his throat.
"I'm moving back to Mystic Falls." He stated emotionlessly and she furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"I will certainly ask my family to take it under consideration." Lily replied nodding back at him and I scoffed.
"I don't think he was asking." I pointed out, crossing my arms over my chest at her.
"These people didn't deserve to be killed by one of your free ranged children—Stefan's up to his hero hair in Heretic drama, Mariana has to take care of a baby that might as well be calling her 'mommy', and I worry that Matt Donovan's funeral is gonna cut into my social schedule.." Damon stated tilting his head at his mother in annoyance.
"And what—you're gonna help keep order?" Lily asked laughing a bit at the thought. "Damon, you could hardly keep a covered box safe." She added in disbelief and I clenched my jaw as she turned to me. "You do realize, this innate desire to keep Elena physically present in you life—this childish refusal to let her go, will only put her in more danger. After everything you've been through, it would be terrible for you to lose her all because you're too terrified of who you actually are without her." Lily stated furrowing her eyebrows at me and I smirked, tilting my head at her.
"My mother, Katerina Petrova, died a year and a half ago—and before I gladly shoved a travelers knife into her, do you know what she told me?" I asked slowly walking towards Lily with no emotion showing on my face. "She told me that I was a disgrace to our family because I protected the family that I grew up loving and caring for." I whispered eyeing Lily carefully. "You would know a little bit about that, wouldn't you?" I asked emotionlessly and she looked away from me. "Having both of your sons growing up without you." I added and she swallowed hard before turning back to Damon.
"Return to Mystic Falls. It's no skin off my nose." Lily stated before turning to walk away from us again.
"Wait—I want one more thing." Damon added and Lily turned back towards us, furrowing her eyebrows.
-Time Skip-
'Dear Elena,
It seems as if Hell itself has frozen over.. I'm writing it all down, granted I'm a half a bottle in, thanks to Damon's 1950 Chateau Cheval Blanc. A bottle he waited sixty five years to open. He used to spend nights sitting in his wine cellar, convincing himself that he could actually hear it age.. Tannins growing, fermenting, but he finally realized appreciating its beauty didn't make the time go by faster. The bottle laid there on its shelf, torturing him while he waited for Katherine and time stood still. Eventually, he convinced himself that no sip of the wine could ever taste as good as he dreamt it would.. So he hid the bottle and walked away—and that is the story of why he drinks bourbon.
The plot line is-I don't know who I am without you.. My little sister. The little girl I grew fond of even though I told her I hated her so many times. As long as you lay in the casket, for me, time will stand still.. So who is Mariana Rosalyn Petrova-Gilbert... without her sister? A selfish friend. A horrible daughter? Well, maybe with a little luck, I'll do right by you. My beloved little sister.
You may be one thousand miles away, or one hundred years away, but you're still with me, and my heart will forever be in this coffin. Next to my twins.' I wrote smiling before patting the casket next to me. I looked up from the casket and saw Tyler back the van up before he got out and Damon helped him lift Elena's casket into the back of it. I slowly sighed, closing the diary and drank the rest of the wine that was in my glass before I got a text from Bonnie.
'Joe's awake. -Bonnie.' I slowly sighed, shaking my head before pouring more wine into my glass.