Stefan and I were in the Lockwood mansion, getting ready for the day's events.
We were in the middle of grabbing several glasses and a decanter of bourbon in the study.
Damon walked in in confusion. "Is that cornbread I smell?"
Stefan smiled. "You and I are hosting Thanksgiving."
"Thanksgiving's tomorrow," Damon told us.
"Well, pre-Thanksgiving," I told him. "Whatever."
Damon looked at Stefan. "Whatever happened to taking out Julian? Remember him? Killed what would have been your firstborn? You know, I cleared out my entire schedule so we could make that guy count worms... unless you're too busy baking."
I sighed. "Julian knows that Stefan wants him dad, so our next move needs to be smart. We're probably only gonna have one more shot at this."
Damon frowned in confusion. "Not quite following the whole Martha Stewart strategy, to be honest."
Stefan smiled. "I am planning on recruiting an ally."
The doorbell rang.
Damon looked toward the door in confusion. He walked out into the foyer, opening the door to reveal Lily outside with a large Tupperware container in her hands, scowling unhappily.
Lily smiled awkwardly, holding out the container. "I brought cranberries."
Damon was confused, stepping back.
Lily walked in.
Stefan and I walked toward Damon.
Damon gave us a look as if to ask, Are you kidding me?
~~~~~~~
We were in the study.
Lily was sitting in an armchair in front of the coffee table.
I was sitting in an armchair next to her.
Stefan and Damon sat across from us on the leather couch.
On the table was a decanter of bourbon and four glasses.
Lily looked at us warily.
"I invited you over here because we can't keep doing this," Stefan told her. "I mean, I... I want us all to start over."
Lily smiled. "Well, uh, if the Pilgrims and Indians could do it, I'm sure there's hope for us."
"We call them Native Americans now, but we didn't bring you here to correct your outdated racial slurs," Damon told her. He gave Stefan and me a significant look. "Did we?"
I ignored him, looking at Lily. "We want to convince you of all the reasons that you need to help us get rid of Julian."
Damon was surprised at the tactics Stefan and I were using, leaning forward to listen intently.
Lily looked at us in confusion, chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry. Is this some kind of setup?"
"Just hear me out for a second," Stefan told her. "In 1863, I got Valerie pregnant." Lily looked at him in shock. "She kept it a secret from me, from you, from everyone. And Julian found out about it somehow, and he felt threatened by it. He beat her until the baby was no longer alive." Lily blinked in confusion, frowning in confusion, trying to process this information. "Her child, your grandchild, was murdered by Julian. She swore me to secrecy, but the truth is too important. You need to know what kind of man he is."
Damon was visibly uncomfortable by the tension in the room, piping up with a snarky comment. "What I think Stefan's trying to say is... you have really crappy taste."
Lily was clearly overwhelmed but what she had just learned, pausing for a moment, looking at Stefan. "My son... Valerie lied to me for over a century about you. Then she tried to kill a member of my family in cold blood and tried to incinerate the love of my life. Do yourself a favor. Don't lose any more sleep over the words that come out of that poor girl's mouth."
Stefan looked disappointed but unsurprised by her reaction, nodding awkwardly. "Wow. I guess the joke's on me, then, right? I mean, I was the idiot who believed her."
I picked up the decanter, pouring the four of us a drink.
Damon looked at Stefan in exasperation, mistakenly believing that Stefan believed what Lily was saying.
"I did, too, about many things," Lily told us. "But I will not make the same mistake again."
"Here's to moving on, then, right?" I asked, standing with my glass.
Lily and Stefan stood with their glasses.
Damon rolled his eyes, standing with his glass.
Lily smiled. "To moving on."
We clinked our glasses.
Lily took the first drink.
I made it look as if I was drinking.
Lily swallowed the entire glass of liquor. Her lips, mouth and throat were starting to burn and sizzle, groaning in pain. She fell to the floor, unconscious.
Damon and Stefan looked at me in shock.
I smirked. "Concentrated vervain."
Damon and Stefan were both impressed.
"Wow," Damon told me. "Did I ever mention I like your style?"
I shrugged. "I had a feeling we were gonna have to do this the hard way."
Damon looked at Lily's unconscious body gleefully. "Best... Thanksgiving... ever!"
~~~~~~~
Stefan was wearing protective gloves, tying Lily to a wooden chair with thick ropes that had also been soaked in vervain.
I pulled on my jacket. "She's gonna wake up soon, and I need to be gone."
"Gone where?" Damon asked.
I pulled my hair out from under the collar of my jacket. "To distract Julian. I asked Matt to keep tabs on the house. He said that the Heretics are not in our house, but Julian is. He's the only one who hasn't left all day, but once he gets suspicious that Lily's missing, he'll come looking."
"And how are you gonna distract him without raising suspicion?" Damon asked.
"Lily said that she could get some of our well-needed stuff from the house," Stefan answered. "It's like a peace offering." He looked at me in concern. "But are you sure you're okay going alone?"
"Absolutely," I answered. "You two need some alone time with your mother. I'm gonna go deal with her lover."
I walked out, leaving.
~~~~~~~
I was outside of the boarding house.
Julian opened the door for me. "Ah, the great-great-great-great-great-great niece. Is that right?"
I walked past him into the foyer. "Close enough. I'm here to get some of my stuff, along with some of Stefan and Damon's."
Julian closed the door behind me. "Yes, Lily said that you would be by today. She has taken quite the liking to you. Seeing as you are more like a sister to Stefan and Damon, I think Lily prefers to see you as a daughter."
"Yeah, well, both Stefan and Damon act like they're both my dad," I told him.
Julian smirked. "They're that controlling, eh?"
I sighed, shaking my head. "You have no idea."
Julian led the way into the living room, toward a couple of boxes. "I believe that that is enough to get started on, isn't it?"
I walked toward the boxes, three, one for each of us. I turned to face Julian. "It's a start." I looked at my two swords on the wall behind him, feigning enthusiasm. "Oh, my swords."
I walked past him toward the swords on the wall.
Julian turned after me in confused, curious amusement. "You sword play?"
"My dad raised me to, so I could defend myself," I answered. "I was really good at it when I was human. Then I turned into a vampire, and..."
Julian stepped closer. "Then it felt like you couldn't wield it because you couldn't wield yourself. Because you hadn't accepted what you are."
I looked at him. "Yeah. But a friend of mine helped me fix that little problem."
"Really?" Julian asked. "I would like to see how well you do, since I am quite good myself. Soon we see who is the better?"
I shrugged. "But I won't do it just for the hell of it. You win, you keep the house. You keep everything, because I won't be alive to stop you. I win, you have to relinquish this house back its rightful owners. That's me, Stefan and Damon."
"Really?" Julian asked skeptically.
"This house has been in the family for generations," I told him. "Stefan and Damon have come and gone throughout their visits in Mystic Falls, and when they returned four years ago, they came here to stay. And I was literally born and raised in this house. And while I had been human, I was been so full of stubbornness and pride that I refused to leave my home, even when Stefan and Damon had their humanity off and were willing to kill me. Even when there was an Original living right under this roof."
"So the deal is if you win, you get this gaudy mansion back in your grasp, and I get what?" Julian asked.
"Nothing, because you'll be dead," I answered. "If you win, that means I'll be dead. That's the deal. Take it or leave it."
I smiled a sweet, small, feigned smile to make him fall for the trick, knowing I had him.
~~~~~~~
Julian and I were walking through the woods toward the cemetery.
Julian was leading the way, holding both swords in his hands. "Do you know what true bravery is? Most people don't. It isn't going against incredible odds and thinking you're going to win. No, that's merely confidence. Bravery is knowing you're going to lose, but doing it anyway."
Julian, with a sword in each hand, turned the blades point-down, embedding the tips into a large stone beside us.
I rolled my eyes. "That's your strategy? Bore me into submission?"
Julian turned to face me, laughing in amusement, shrugging. "Well, if you won't let me give you an honorable way out, I... have no choice but give you an honorable death." I smiled fakely. Julian gestured to the swords. "Well, let's get on with it. Choose your weapon."
I immediately took the sword that was closest to me out of the stone, slashing toward Julian. Julian ducked, spinning around me, taking the other sword out of the stone, spinning to face me, slashing toward me. I raised my sword to block the move, slashing toward him repeatedly, making him back away through the woods. Julian raised his sword to block the moves, slashing toward me. I ducked. Julian tried to run his sword through me. I jumped back to make him miss. Julian was impressed, smirking. I swung my sword down low toward his legs. Julian swung the sword down low to block the blow, raising his blade to slash into me. I ducked my head to the side to make him miss, slashing toward him. Julian ducked, slashing toward me. I raised my sword to block the blow. We continued to trade blows.
~~~~~~~
I slit my sword into Julian's neck, making him bleed.
Julian wiped the blood on his neck away, laughing. "You're better than I imagined."
"I would say so, since I drew first blood," I told him.
Julian chuckled. "Let's see if you can shed more."
Julian slashed toward me. I ducked, spinning to leg sweep his legs out from under him, making him fall to the ground, making him drop his sword, rushing to grab it in my other hand, stabbing it into his chest into the ground, making him groan a scream of pain, raising my sword to decapitate him.
Julian threw dirt into my eyes.
I couldn't see as the sting brought tears to my eyes. I wiped the dirt frantically away. I looked around, seeing that Julian had fled, and I was alone.
~~~~~~~
I walked along the cemetery alone, my sword in hand, looking around cautiously, carefully. I approached an angel statue with a rock at its base, walking closer, kneeling next to the rock, seeing there was a drop of blood on the rock, dabbing a finger in it, smelling it, sensing that it was Julian's. I stood, sensing him behind me, turning around. Julian slashed his sword toward me. I ducked. Julian slashed toward me. I backed away enough to make him miss. Julian slashed toward me. I raised my sword to block the move, twisting his sword back, slashing toward his chest. Julian held his sword in front of his chest to block the move, spinning my blade away. I rushed toward him, pushing him against a nearby tree, putting my sword against his throat, almost through his neck to decapitate him. Julian had his sword raised to keep my sword back, barely able to stop me from killing him.
I realized that some, deep, dark part of me was pushing me to kill him. I wanted to kill him, more than anything. It was the only thing I could think about.
But I knew that if I killed him, I was taking the risk of turning from Potential into Hunter.
And if that happened, I didn't know if I could stop myself from killing vampires, even the ones that I cared most about.
And I was doing all of this as a distraction, not to actually kill him.
So what the hell was I doing?
The train of thought made me loosen the grip I had on Julian.
Julian was confused, but took advantage of the distraction, using all of his strength to push me back, rushing toward me, grabbing me, rushing to push me against another tree across the cemetery.
~~~~~~~
We were still fighting.
Julian slashed toward me. I backed away enough to make him miss. Julian slashed toward me. I deflected the blow. Julian slashed toward me. I backed away enough to make him miss, blocking another blow. Julian slashed toward me. I ducked, slashing toward him. Julian raised his sword the block the blow, twisting my sword down. I kicked him back to make him release.
Julian pointed at me. "When you were about to kill me... you were about to remove my head from my body, and you froze. You hesitated. Your eyes drifted. You were so close to killing me and getting everything that you wanted back. What stopped you?"
"It's not the concern of a dead man walking," I told him.
Julian chuckled, shaking his head. "No, no, no. I've seen that look before. You're afraid to kill, but you've killed humans before. I can see it in your eyes. No, you're afraid to kill a vampire." He started to circle around me. "What is it, darling?" He slashed toward me. I raised my sword to block the move. "What has you so afraid of taking a vampire life?"
Julian rushed toward me, pushing me against a tree behind me.
Enzo appeared in the woods to the side. "She's a Potential of the Brotherhood of the Five." Julian and I looked at him. Julian looked at me in shock. "Damon and I turned her into a vampire in hopes that it would put that side of her dormant for all time, but clearly, something is bringing that fiery side out of her." Enzo walked closer, using a short sword to point from me to Julian. "See, if she kills you, then she activates the Hunter gene, and then she'll be an unstoppable vampire vampire Hunter that has no remorse for killing the ones that she loves. And since everyone she cares about are vampires, well..." Julian let go of me in shock, looking at the sword in Enzo's hands in horrified recognition. "I see you two have met before."
"Where did you get that?" Julian asked.
Enzo slashed the short sword toward Julian. Julian raised his own sword to block the move, elbowing Enzo in the face, making him fall in front of a tomb, having him cornered. Enzo attempted to fight his way out, but Julian knocked the short sword out of his hands, giving him no choice but to hold his hands up in a defensive position. Julian was about to make the killing blow by beheading Enzo.
I rushed toward them, catching his wrist before he could kill Enzo, turning his sword in toward his stomach to make him stab himself, making him groan in pain, turning around, throwing him to the ground.
I walked toward Enzo, picking up the short sword from the ground. "A little tip from a professional? Next time you want to kill a bazillion-year-old psycho, don't pick a sword from the junior section."
I held my hand toward Enzo.
Enzo took it, letting me help him up, looking mildly embarrassed that I had to save him. "On the contrary, I reckon that sword was forged for that very purpose." He looked behind me. "Incoming."
I sensed Julian rushing closer from behind me, spinning around at vampire speed to drive the short sword into Julian's heart.
Julian breathed heavily in pain.
I smirked, twisting the sword, driving it deeper into his heart.
~~~~~~~
Julian was on the ground, seemingly unconscious, or dead, but not desiccated.
Enzo looked at me. "Nice fighting skills."
"Yeah, well... it's coming to me more naturally than ever before," I told him.
"I heard what he said," Enzo told me. "That you had been close to killing him. Is it true?"
I gazed off at the short sword in Julian's chest, drawn to it. "Yeah. Yes, it's true. But it wasn't just me. I felt... a darkness pushing me to do it. Like somehow the Potential side of me was pushing me to become a Hunter. I almost did it. I almost killed him and became what I'm afraid of becoming." Enzo took this all in silently. I cleared my throat awkwardly, shaking it off, turning to face him. "What are you doing here?"
"Julian wanted that sword," Enzo told me. "If Julian wants it, then so do I."
I looked at him in exasperation. "Are we talking about the sword, or Lily?" Enzo looked at me in confusion. "Oh, come on. I saw the way you were looking at her at the party. The way that Bonnie was trying to make her jealous for you. You're not doing this to stop a psychopath. You just want the girl."
"Congratulations," Enzo told me sarcastically. "You've just unlocked every man's true motivation in life. You seemed like you could use the help."
"I was taking care of myself just fine, thank you," I told him in annoyance.
"But you couldn't bring yourself to kill him, so he would've ended up killing you, or the dark Huntress inside of you would have taken over and made you kill him and be done with it," Enzo told me.
"At least I stood a chance against him," I replied. "I was a pretty good rival. You? It took him about, what, five seconds to have you cowering on the ground? And I wasn't trying to kill him."
"Then what on earth were you trying to do?" Enzo asked. "Get yourself killed?"
"I was trying to distract him," I answered.
"Really?" Enzo asked. "Distract him from what?"
I looked at him angrily, about to make a retort.
Julian appeared behind Enzo, snapping his neck, letting his body fall.
I looked at him in shock. "Shouldn't you be... deader?"
Julian shrugged, throwing the short sword through my chest, through my back to the tree behind me, pinning me there.
~~~~~~~
I was still pinned to the tree by the sword in my chest, groaning in pain.
Julian picked up his abandoned sword, walking toward me, holding the sword to my throat. "It's your destiny you should be afraid of. Perhaps putting you out of your misery will be a mercy to us all."
Julian was about to decapitate me.
Stefan and Damon appeared, pulling Julian away from me.
We heard Lily's voice. "Don't!"
The boys turned around to see a very terrified Lily standing several feet behind them, ahead of me.
Julian immediately let go, rushing toward Lily. "Oh, thank God you're all right. You must have been given such a scare."
Damon glared at Julian.
Stefan pulled the short sword out of my chest, making me gasp in pain, tossing it to the ground.
I nearly fell to the ground.
Stefan and Damon caught me, balancing me until I could get back on my feet.
Lily looked toward us in concern. "What's going on here?"
I looked at the bloodstain on Lily's shirt over her heart. "I could ask you the same thing."
"Nicola here drove a sword into my chest, unknowing it would be the same as driving it into yours," Julian told her.
I looked at them in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"
"This bastard linked his life to Mom's and then engages in a duel with her descendant?" Damon asked. "The said descendant, by the way, can't kill a vampire without turning into a psycho vampire vampire Hunter? What is this, 'Hamlet' community theater?"
Stefan looked at Julian. "You tried to kill her."
"You didn't see her," Julian told them, picking the short sword up from the ground, holding it up for us to see. "The second this sword was within her vicinity, in turned her into something she wasn't. It unlocked the Huntress inside of her that wanted her to kill me to activate it." He used the sword to point at Enzo's unconscious body. "Lorenzo should have never brought it near her. You do not want this blade near your darling little girl, boys, or she'll turn into the monster that will kill us all."
Stefan looked at me. "Nikki?"
I hesitated, gazing off, breathing heavily. "He's right. Get that thing away from me."
"My pleasure," Julian told us.
Julian and Lily walked away, leaving.
Stefan and Damon looked at me in confused concern.
I sighed, not knowing what to say, looking down.
~~~~~~~
After dark, I walked into the Lockwood house, trying to impatiently dodge Stefan and Damon's questions.
Stefan and Damon followed me.
"Nikki, what happened?" Stefan asked.
I turned to face them. "I don't know. It's like the second that Enzo brought that sword into the cemetery, it was driving me to kill, and I would have killed someone or ended up gotten killed if you guys hadn't show up."
"Why the hell would a sword drive you to kill vampires?" Damon asked. "I mean, I get it. We all know how great you are with a sword. But why this one, and why this much?"
"What part of, 'I don't know', escapes your understanding?" I asked. "Enzo said that Bonnie was doing research on the sword. I'll ask her about it, okay? I just... I just need to figure it out for myself before I can tell you guys, because I have no clue what the hell happened to me out there today? I was just going to distract him so you guys could have your day with Lily. I swear to God. And then..."
Stefan sighed, walking closer. "It's okay. We'll figure it out. Together."
I sighed uneasily. "Yeah.
~~~~~~~
I heard a knock on the front door, walking over to answer it. "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I opened the door, shocked to find Lily was standing on the front porch. "Did you come back to get your dish?"
"May I come in?" Lily asked.
I stepped aside so she could walk in.
Lily stepped inside.
Stefan and Damon walked in.
"What's going on?" Stefan asked.
"You were right," Lily told us.
Damon looked at her in shock, snarky. "Pardon me? I'm sorry, I didn't... I didn't quite hear what you said."
Lily sighed. "You were right about Julian. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. I've traded on monster for another. But I am not going to let him hurt us anymore." She looked determined to do right by her real family this time. "I have a plan. Ad this time, we won't get caught."
Stefan, Damon and I looked at each other, still shocked by this turn of events.