"Lizzie?"
"Huh?"
"It's time to get up. If you want to go and watch the show, that is."
"Do I have to?"
"Do you want to watch vampire harlot get staked?"
"Yes."
"Then yes, you do have to go. I'm not filming it for you. You need to be there to witness the intense action. Come on. You know you want to."
"You sound like Keith Lemon."
"Who's he?"
"Nevermind."
"Seriously. Who is this 'Keith Lemon' guy? He sounds kind of kinky to me."
"He is kinky. He's a character on British television. Commonly known in England for his rather awful impressions of Irish people and the evolution known as motting."
"And what would 'motting' be?"
"Google it. YouTube it. Just don't make me explain it. It's too rude."
"I'll take your word for it."
I closed my eyes shut tightly. Damon's arms loosened around me.
"Come on,"he tried again. "Get up. I'll get you a glass of Scotch, then we can be out of here. Sound good to you?"
"It'll have to, won't it? I'm not going to get a say in the matter."
"No, you're most definitely not."
"Get on with your part of the deal. I'm bored, and I need a shower. I need to change into something warm. You got a hoodie I can borrow? Stefan's old clothes are getting a bit worn out. Plus, they're all so...chavvy. I feel like a hobo. Did Stefan used to dress like a hobo?"
Damon headed over to the set of drawers and opened the bottom one, pulling out a navy blue hoodie and a pair of jeans. He lobbed them at me, and I caught them just before they smacked into my head.
"Hoodie might be a bit big,"he shrugged. "Jeans will definitely be huge on you. I can get you a belt for those, if you need one. There are t-shirts in the middle left-hand drawer - take your pick. I don't wear them. Too...casual for me. I'm sure there are a pair of shoes your size somewhere in this house - Zach always had small feet. I'll be downstairs. Getting wasted."
I rolled my eyes, sighing deeply as I dumped the clothes on the bed. Damon left the room, so I began to undress as I wondered through to Damon's private bathroom. Lucky bugger. The amount of money his family had was unbelievable. God knows how they earned that much money when neither of the brothers held a job. I hated the thought of my boyfriend committing theft, yet I had to keep in mind that that was always a possibility. Crafty bastards. I'd have to receive lessons on the tricks of the trade.
Once all of my clothes had formed a pile by the door, I turned on the shower and bathed myself in the hot water. It streamed through my blonde curls and onto my shoulders, then dripping down my chest and continuing it's path south of my body until my feet were swamped with scalding liquid.
I washed my hair and scrubbed the dirt from my body. When I finally turned the shower off, the whole bathroom was misty with heavy steam. Sweat beaded on my soaked forehead.
I grabbed a towel from the rack and covered as much of my body as I could. The ends of my hair dripped water onto the floor, and my feet left footprints on the tiles. I looked back at the marks I'd left and laughed a tinkling laugh, then choked when I realised that my laughter couldn't be defined. I was really beginning to notice my transformation into a pathetic bitch.
But I needed to forget that. Damon was expecting me to be ready in time to witness a handful of people be murdered by psycho-hybrid. It wasn't exactly entertainment, but I knew the real reason Damon wanted me there. It wasn't because he didn't want me to miss the action. It was because he didn't want to be alone when Elena's soul was given to Klaus and her love was handed over to Stefan for eternity.
This whole love triangle/square was admittedly corny. Yet I felt somewhat sympathetic towards Damon, who was caught up in the fact that Elena resembled his ex-lover, who had only compelled him to feel something for her in the first place. But Damon had really fallenfor Katherine - literally. He'd gone out of his way for her. It was inevitable that, without Katherine's vigorous compulsion, Damon would have still been a loyal, committed lover to the manipulative vampire taking residence in the Salvatore home.
And now, Elena's resemblance to Katherine was fooling him, despite the fact that Elena was the opposite of Katherine. While Elena was truly a kind-hearted teen troubled with her doppelganger blood, Katherine ran to avoid her own death, harming many in the process, then continued to be self-centred once she'd been changed into a vampire.
"Lizzie?"Damon called up as I pulled the hoodie over my head and fitted it against my chest. "Are you ready yet?"
"Nearly," I called back. "D'you think you could get me that belt?"
"Sure." Damon was behind me, his hot breath making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as he whispered into my ear. "Here."
He lifted up my hoodie and threaded the belt through the belt loops on the fitted black skinny jeans Damon let me borrow. His arms stretched around to my front and did up the buckle, then put his hands up my shirt and caressed my stomach.
"Damon," I breathed. "Get off me. You've drowned your sorrows in whiskey, and the evening's events haven't even kicked off yet. Please, gain some self pride and get your hands off me."
He did as I asked, but not before running his fingers around to my back and up my spine. I bit my lip, glad when he lost all contact with me and began searching under the bed for a pair of shoes.
"Here," he said plainly, throwing a pair of worn canvas trainers at my shins. "Stick those on. They might fit. If they're too big, just wear several pairs of socks."
I didn't say anything. I just slipped the shoes onto my feet and sprinted down the stairs and out of the front door. Damon caught up with my quickly, but turned back and entered the garage. He came out driving Stefan's Porsche.
"I figured Saint Stefan would need something to bring Elena back in,"he smiled sarcastically, pulling the car forward so that I could hop into the passenger's seat. Despite the alcohol's influence on him, Damon was a rather steady drunk-driver. "That, and I can't be bothered to walk right now. Get in."
I didn't bother buckling up by seatbelt. If we were in a crash, I would just go through the windscreen and suffer from minor, temporary head injuries. Nothing major.
Damon really put his foot down as he drove out onto the main road. I gripped hard onto the side of the seat, gritting my teeth. To be frank, I was more fearful for damage to Stefan's car than to my own body. There was no way I was letting any harm come to this car. This legendary car.
The car swerved over to the right and came to a stop. I turned to Damon. He was anxious. I wasn't surprised. If someone I loved was about to be inhumanely murdered for a pathetic purpose, I too would feel somewhat vengeful. Oh, wait. Someone I love is about to be inhumanely murdered for a pathetic purpose. Yay.
I got out of the car and slammed the car door behind me. Damon did the same. I walked around the front of the car and took his hand in mine. We smiled sympathetically at each other before I allowed Damon to lead me to where we needed to be.
So he did. He guided me to a clearing, where Bonnie, Elena, Stefan and Klaus were already waiting. Caroline obviously hadn't turned up yet, and my Dad was probably being kept "safe". My whole body was shaking, my head spinning. But I just shrugged it off. There was no point in getting myself worked up. Both Stefan, Damon and Tyler Lockwood were in the same position. They were all going to lose someone they loved, though Stefan would gain his again, only she would be immortal.
Klaus slowly plodded towards Damon and I, a smug grin spreading across his ancient features. He raised his hands in a supposedly welcoming gesture. I let go of Damon's hand and folded my arms across my chest. Damon wound a hand around my waist, pulling me close against him.
"Ignore that bastard," he murmured quiet enough that only I could hear. "He's not worth it. Let him get what he wants. I've given up protesting."
"Good evening, mates," Klaus drawled positively. I bit hard into my lip, drawing blood. Damon held me tighter. "Here to enjoy the show, I see. Good to know the people I'm murdering have supporters and loved ones. It makes the kill all the more fun."
I clenched my fists, anger bubbling inside of me. Then I remembered how Damon must be feeling. Yikes. And I thought I had it bad.
"Shall we begin then?" Klaus raised his voice, now addressing Bonnie - the witch who'd somehow been persuaded to perform the ritual. I would have thought someone as self-righteous as Bonnie would have declined all pleads to perform an unnatural ritual. Well, it seemed the witch-bitch was somewhat vunerable.
Bonnie walked over to a large rock in the shape of a kind of bird bath thing. I couldn't get a very good view. Klaus pulled a stone from his pocket and handed it to Bonnie. I listened in on their brief conversation.
"You're lucky there's more than one moonstone, you know," Bonnie pointed out. "Or else you'd be stuck as a psycho-hybrid forever."
"I'm very grateful you found this for me, Bonnie," Klaus nodded sincerely. "I'm very grateful that you're doing this for me. It means a lot. I'm sorry that your friends need to be a part of this. But, let me remind you that one of them volunteered and the other gave her consent."
"I understand," Bonnie confirmed. "That doesn't mean I approve of their choices. Under these circumstances, I will, however, trust their judgements."
"As I said, I'm very grateful," Klaus reminded her.
I turned to Elena and Stefan, rather disgraced when I saw them in a tight liplock. Then again, it was only to be expected. They said their goodbyes, then Elena took her place. Caroline emerged from the shadows and took a place by Elena. Two broad men came out behind her, my stuggling father being carried between them.
A single tear rolled down my cheek.
Bonnie surrounded each victim by a ring of fire, eliminating any form of escape. I cringed at the agonised looks on all of their faces. They all looked so much alike.
Stefan came up behind me and stood the opposite side to Damon. He took my hand and rubbed it soothingly. I smiled at him, and he smiled back with nothing but sincere empathy.
"Now then," Klaus announced. "Let us begin."