Season 3: Heart of Darkness
Rosalie tucks a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear as she walks down into the basement of the Salvatore Boarding House. On her right shoulder is Alaric's bag. She rounds the corner to the cellar, where Alaric is being kept. She takes a deep breath before peering through the bars.
"Alaric?" She calls. Alaric sits on the bed with his back against the wall, he looked to be deep in thought.
"Yeah?...Still me" Rosalie unlocks the door and pushes it open. Alaric chuckles.
"You know you shouldn't be in here, defeats the point of the whole being locked in a cellar thing" Rosalie smiles gently.
"I don't think a little company will hurt" Alaric breaths out. She sets the black duffel bag on the ground. "I thought I'd bring you something, nothing special, just necessities, can't spoil you too much" Alaric smiles. Alaric unzips the bag and brings out a book. He covers his mouth and looks up at her.
"Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Rosalie snatches book from her history teacher.
"What? I didn't grab this--Damon..." Alaric shakes his head.
"Gotta love his humor" Rosalie sits down beside him. Alaric pats her thigh in a comforting way. He appreciated her efforts to make him feel better. She stares out the door. Rosalie got this cold feeling while looking out the door.
"Are you sure you want to stay in here? You don't here to be in here. It feels lonely" He sighs. He purses his lips, trying to think of words to respond back with.
"This is the right place for me to be, at least until you guys can convince my uncooperative alter ego to fess up to where I--or he hid the white oak stake" Rosalie frowns.
"We looked everywhere, you can thank me by the way. Damon trashed your loft, but I cleaned it up" Alaric chortles. His laughter dies down and he gazes over at the petite girl nervously.
"What's Klaus going to do if you can't find it?" She shrugs.
"I'm not sure. That's the only thing that'll...you know...kill him. With his record, he'll try to make more hybrids...." She leans against his shoulder. She covers her wrists subconsciously. "We'll figure this out" Alaric squeezes her knee.
"I know you will, you aren't one to give up"
"I should probably tell," Rosalie stands up, Alaric's hand sliding back onto his own lap. "Stefan is going to watch over you for a little while. With Klaus knowing where Jeremy is, I just don't feel safe with him being out there alone. Damon and I are going to bring him home" Alaric nods.
"What does Stefan think of this?" Rosalie frowns, looking down at her feet.
"He's the one who came up with it" Alaric raises a brow. "He believes that I have feelings for Damon, even though I've told him multiple times that I don't. I know I don't" Alaric sits up.
"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself more than me" Rosalie stares at him. She knew her feelings for Stefan overpowered any feeling she could even have for his brother.
***
Damon drops his duffel bag by the front door, Rosalie's are right next to his. Stefan stands in front of the fire place with his hands tucked into his jacket pockets.
"Heard anything from Klaus?" He asks.
"Not yet. I'm sure I will soon, though" Stefan turns around to face his older brother. "He's expecting me to deliver two stakes" Damon walks down the stairs over to him. "I only have one" Stefan plucks the stake off the glass stand. Damon stares at Stefan.
"Well, that's going to be disappointing for him"
"I'll get it out of Alaric. I just need some time" Stefan shrugs.
"I like that confidence, Stefan. I don't share it, but I like it" Stefan smirks.
The air felt so thick with tension that you couldn't even cut with a chainsaw. It wasn't only because of the stake situation either.
"You don't think I have what it takes?" Damon tilts his head.
"Well, you're good Stefan again. You're in control. Sorry, you might get the girl but you lose the edge" Stefan frowns. "Speaking of" Rosalie hops up the steps and rounds the corner. She pulls her sleeves over her hands.
Stefan eyes the brunette, she looked adorable. Her whole body is covered. A cream turtleneck that's tucked into her high waisted jeans. It didn't fit perfectly the jeans were baggy, it made her look tiny. Her brown hair is messily curled with a huge braid running down her back. She looks up from her hands and glances in between the brothers with sparkling hazel eyes. Her pale skin made her eyes pop. Her freckles are just about gone, but still noticeable if you were looking for them. Rosalie smiles at the two. Damon smiles back.
"Have you ever flown first class?" Damon quires. Rosalie blinks.
"We're flying in first class?" Damon chuckles. He walks over by her to pick up the duffel bags. He takes one last glance at her before walking to the front door. Rosalie walks down to talk with Stefan.
"Are you sure about this?" Stefan gives a painful smile.
"Yes, be safe, okay?" Rosalie gives a weak smile in return. She bites her lip briefly before pecking Stefan's cheek. She turns around not waiting for a response and grabs a bag. Stefan gulps.
***
"There he is" Rosalie grins. She would've never expected to find him at a batting cage. Rosalie picks up her pace in excitement. Damon grins at her. They stop at his cage. The ball flings from the pipe and flies at Jeremy, he swings and he misses. Rosalie covers her mouth, trying not to blurt out a laugh.
"Next time we compel him, remind me to make him better at baseball" Rosalie smacks his shoulder.
"Hey, he's trying. Besides we aren't compelling him again" She walks over to the fence that separates her and her best friend.
"Hey, Jer!" She shouts. Jeremy jumps; dropping the metal bat on the ground. He spins around with a smile on his face.
"Rosalie?" Rosalie giggles with a smile on her face. Jeremy eyes shift to Damon who has a serious look on his face. "What's wrong?" Rosalie's smile falters. Damon's face is too obvious. Jeremy takes his helmet off and picks his bat off the ground and exits the batting cage. They start heading for the exit.
"Katherine sired us, Rose sired Katherine. All we need to do is find out who sired Rose" Jeremy stops walking to put his bat into the holder.
"So you traveled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?" Rosalie shakes her head.
"That's his reasoning" Jeremy chuckles and throws his arm around Rosalie's shoulders.
"As if you had the balls to say something like that" Rosalie smacks his chest. Damon licks his lips.
"Dead vampire's, redundant but, yes" Jeremy gives Damon a look over the girl's head.
"Well, I can't. I can talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them" Jeremy guides them over to the wall so he can return his helmet. "I've never even met Rose" Jeremy faces Damon.
"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" Rosalie frowns.
"Damon" Damon gives her the eyes. "Okay, Rose spent a lot of time running from Klaus. She and Damon were close, so maybe we can use it to our advantage" Jeremy sighs. He knew Rosalie wouldn't do something like this unless it was important.
"Fine, fine. Can we do this later? My friend just got here and yes, Damon, I actually have some besides Rosalie" Jeremy grins. Rosalie laughs. Jeremy pecks Rosalie's temple.
"I'll call you when I'm done" Rosalie nods.
"Have fun!" Jeremy squeezes by Damon.
"When did he get sarcastic?" Rosalie chortles. She looks behind Damon to see who Jeremy's friend is, hoping it was a cute girl.
Instead of it being a possible love interest for him, Kol Mikaelson greets Jeremy with a handshake. A look of fear crosses her face as it turns serious. Damon immediately gets defensive.
"What is it?"
"Damon, i--it's Kol" Kol grins at Rosalie before flashing over to the bat rack and sliding one out, hitting Damon over the head with the wooden bat before he can process anything. Damon falls to the ground in pain. The bat splits into two.
"What're you doing?!" Jeremy shouts.
"Jeremy, run!" Jeremy stumbles back.
"No hard feelings, mate, but we aren't friends. You know, I'll never get used to aluminum" Kol plucks another bat out, this one being metal. "But hey at least they won't break" Damon grunts and sits up. Kol raises the bat but Damon quickly grabs the split bat and stabs it into Kol's chest. Rosalie gasps.
"Did--Did you kill him?" Jeremy breathes out.
"No, but it'll give us a head start. Come on" Damon grabs Rosalie's wrist and yanks her away from Kol's 'dead' body.
***
Rosalie grabs her duffel bag out of the car that Damon rented. They already collected some of Jeremy's clothes before hand. Rosalie close with almost all the Gilbert members. The motel's nicer than she expected, she felt safe.
"For the record," Damon slams the passenger door shut. "she's the one who wanted to stop in a motel, not me" Rosalie rolls her eyes.
"So where are we?" Damon shrugs.
"Corner of somewhere and nowhere where Kol can't find us" Jeremy sighs as they climb the concrete stairs.
"I can't believe Kol was a vampire" Damon scoffs.
"Well, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast? Have you met you?" Rosalie shoves Damon. "What?"
"You know what" They made it to their motel and Rosalie unlocks the door.
"This should work right, Jeremy?" Jeremy walks passed her.
"Yeah. It doesn't really matter" Damon closes the door behind him, but he had this weird look on his face.
"Alright, Whoopi" Damon closes the curtains under setting down his bag. "What do you need, candles, incense, potter wheel?" Rosalie spins around and gives Damon a disapproving face.
"Don't look at me like that"
"It's not how it works" Rosalie says.
"I know, I know. They push from the other side and you pull from this one" Rosalie sits down on the bed.
"Alright, you uh, you got a picture of her?" Jeremy asks. Damon narrows is eyes in disbelief.
"Picture? From what, our trip to Disneyland? Come on, Rose, you're not going to actually make us wait, are you?" Damon shouts. "I know you're obsessed with me" Rosalie scoffs. "What? You're judge-y today" Rosalie gets up from the bed and shuffles over to the table where Jeremy's sitting now.
"Tell me something about her" Damon licks his lips.
"Um, well...." Damon sits down at the end of the bed nearest to Rosalie. He smirks, looking Rosalie right in the eyes. "She did this little thing with her tongue" Rosalie sighs with a smile on her face.
"Damon, something serious" Damon chuckles, his laughter dying down.
"She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human....and when death came, she didn't fear it" Rosalie stares at him.
"In the dream you gave her?" Damon nods. Jeremy blinks, gazing at the space to Damon's left. "She's here" On the edge of the bed in Rose. Damon and Rosalie couldn't see her, even though they wanted to.
***
"Is she doing okay?" Rosalie immediately asks. Rose chortles, crossing her arms.
"Always the caring type. Yeah. I enjoy it here. I was running so much when I was alive and now I have the freedom to do whatever I want" Rose sits next to Damon on the bed. Jeremy stares at Rose.
"She says not to worry, she's happy" Rosalie smiles lightly.
"That's good. I'm happy for her" Rose grins.
"Is she still hot?" Damon smirks.
"Tell him he's still dripping with sex, too," Jeremy's eyes widen. "Fine. Tell him I miss him" Rosalie waits for an answer.
"She misses you" Jeremy chuckles
"And tell him that I'm rooting for him and Rosalie" Jeremy frowns, scrunching his brows together, looking in between his best friend and his friend/enemy.
"She, uh, misses both of you" Rosalie smiles down at her lip. She has the sentimental feeling washing over her.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any news on the siring front. Klaus didn't sire me. No original did. It was Mary Porter"
"She was sired by someone named Mary Porter" Jeremy repeats. Damon groans.
"Ahh, Scary Mary. Well, where is she Rose?" He demands.
"I didn't keep track of her when I was alive, much less now. Tell them to sit tight. Relax. I'll see what I can find out" Jeremy nods.
***
"Think they have Jeremy by now?" Alaric asks. Stefan sits across from him in a metal chair with a bottle in his hands.
"They should. Rosalie was probably dragging Damon wherever he was because she was too excited" Alaric chuckles.
"I can imagine that happening. Haven't heard from them?" Stefan shakes his head.
"Rosalie's worried about him. Now that she can't count on his ring anymore" Alaric smirks.
"Who knows. Maybe his alter ego's a pot-smoking, hippie pacifist" Stefan chuckles.
"Yeah, maybe" Alaric sighs.
"I can't say, I thought mine would be so hostile and militant" Stefan shrugs.
"Actually, it makes perfect sense. Your wife left you to become a vampire and your girlfriend was killed by one" Alaric gulps.
"He must really hate me. Here I am, the failed hunter-slash-drinking buddy of vampires" Stefan smiles.
"Nah. He's too judgmental"
"You sound like Rosalie. She didn't want to take my sadness out on myself. She came in here and talked to me. Why did you let her go with Damon?" Stefan shakes his head.
"It's just to see if something happens" Alaric scoffs.
"She won't do anything. She so madly in love with you that she wouldn't be able to tell now if Damon was in love with her if he hadn't have told her" Stefan sighs.
"Well this is depressing isn't it?" Klaus interrupts, standing in front of the door to the cellar with a smile on his face. Stefan jerks out of his chair. "Oh, and I found this upstairs," He waves the white oak stake. "now by my count there should be one more" Klaus frowns.
"Yeah, well, it's going to take a little more time" Stefan crosses his arms.
"Why, because we're waiting for that one to pass out? No, thanks. I think I'll just kill him" Stefan scrunches his brows together.
"Well, then you won't know the location of the other stake" Klaus smirks.
"I can live with that" Klaus steps forward.
"Well, I can't" Stefan blocks him.
"When we staked Finn, we discovered that killing an original vampire killed its entire bloodline. Now, I don't know which one of you I'm descended from, but I'd really rather not find out by dying, so why don't we just find the stake, destroy it so we can all be safe?" He composes.
"So the fate of the entire vampire race depends on you finding the stake. And to get it, we need you to pass out? Which means that I feel totally justified doing this" Klaus speeds over to Alaric and hits him over the head. Alaric falls to the ground unconscious.
"There. Sleeping like a baby" Stefan glares at his old friend.
***
Damon walks down the motel hallway when he gets a phone call. He brings it out of his pocket and answers it.
"There you are. Any sign of Evilaric?" Stefan sighs.
"Nope. Only dead Alaric" Damon scrunches his brows together.
"What?"
"Don't worry, he was wearing his ring. Klaus was here. Let's just say he's not very patient" Damon sighs.
"Kol must have told him we were in Denver. How long has Ric been out?"
"A few hours. I'm hoping when he wakes up, it won't be him. It'll be the other him" Damon narrows his eyes.
"And If not?"
"Yeah, I know. Whatever it takes. So were you able to contact Rose?"
"Yeah. No answers yet. So we're just stuck in this motel until she gets back to us" Stefan pauses. He didn't like the thought of him and Rosalie in a motel together, even if Jeremy's with them.
"Motel?"
"Yeah, we had to get away from Kol--"
"Is Rosalie okay?" Damon smirks.
"I'll call you when I know more"
"Damon--" The line disconnects.
***
"So what's up with you and Damon?" Jeremy interrupts the silence. Rosalie stands up straight, she was getting her toothbrush out. She blinks at her best friend.
"What do you mean?" Jeremy looks over at her.
"Rose said something about you two" Jeremy stares at her. Rosalie blinks innocently. She really didn't understand what he was meaning.
"What did Rose say?" The front door opens and Damon walks in. He closes it behind him. Rosalie looks over at him. Damon could feel the atmosphere.
"Everything okay in here?" He asks Rosalie. Jeremy glares at Damon.
"Yeah, we're fine" She smiles. Damon pauses.
"Um, well, I'm going to freshen up" He stands in front of her. "You might want to get some rest. I'm sure Rose will make herself known when she gets back" Rosalie nods. Damon glances at Jeremy before walking over to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Jeremy glares at the bathroom door. Clearly, he didn't approve of Damon, especially if it involves him being with Rosalie. She's too sweet and selfless for him.
***
Damon trudges out of the bathroom shirtless, having his black jeans on to cover his lower half. He peeks out the window to check if anyone was out there. Silence. Damon looks over at the beds. Jeremy's fast asleep in the bed closest to the door, Rosalie's in the bed towards the wall. She all cuddled up in the sheets.
He grabs the bottle on the nightstand and takes his shirt off of Rosalie's bed. Rosalie rolls over when Damon walks away from her bed. She watches him slide his arms through the black button up, switching hands for holding the bottle. He doesn't button the shirt up, he peeks outside on last time.
Damon backs away from the window and unscrews up cap from the bottle, pouring himself a drink. He sighs, sitting down in the chair and leaning back. He kicks his feet up on the other chair. Damon tips the cup to his lips and drinks the small amount that he had poured.
He looks over at Rosalie to see her already staring at him. She blinks at him, not saying anything, just admiring him. Damon gets up from the chair and comes up to her, laying down beside him. They simply stare at each other for a good thirty seconds before she talks.
"You never told me about that. What you did for Rose before she died" Rosalie murmurs. "How come?"
"It wasn't about you" He states. Rosalie chortles. She moves closer to him, taking her hand out from under the pillow and grabbing his hand, interlocking their fingers. Damon gulps.
"Why don't you let people see the good in you?" She mumbles. Damon stares at her.
"Because when people see the good, they expect good....and I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations" Rosalie frowns.
"It's okay to make mistakes, Damon. Even detrimental ones sometimes. I just want to let you know, that...I will always see the good in you, no matter what" Damon smiles lightly. "I'm gonna go outside really quick, if you want to join me" Damon nods.
The two of them get out of bed and silently make their way to the door, careful not to wake Jeremy up. Rosalie opens the door wide enough for the two of them to make it through. Damon closes the door. Rosalie walks to the railing.
"It feels nice out" She breathes in the fresh air, hugging her arms. It was breezy. She didn't mind the slight chill run down her back. Damon gapes at her. Rosalie looks over her shoulder with a smile. "Right?" Damon lets out a shaky breath. Rosalie completely faces him.
He walks over to her and caresses her face, pressing his lips against hers. Rosalie closes her eyes, resting her hands on his chest. Damon presses Rosalie's lower back against the railing. Rosalie had so many thoughts running through her head. If she kissing him back completely, she'd be answering Stefan's question. She felt this anxious animal pressing on her chest, almost fighting to get closer to Damon for comfort. She loved Stefan with all her heart, but there was definitely something there for Damon. Something she kept deep down in heart that she didn't want to let out. Damon backs away from her for a second. Rosalie slowly opens her eyes to look back into his icy eyes.
"Rosalie..." He breathes out. Rosalie blinks, tears lining her eyes. What should she do? She wanted Stefan, but her urge for Damon was eating her away.
"Damon, I--"
"Um, Rosalie?" Rosalie's eyes widen at Jeremy's voice. Damon turns around with a sigh.
"J--Jeremy, I, um--Is there, um--"
"Rose found Mary. She lives in Kansas" Damon narrows his eyes at Jeremy. He felt like he finally got through to Rosalie and he just ruined it.
"Fine. Let's go" He grumbles, waiting by Jeremy; bumping shoulders. He closes the door behind him. Rosalie gulps. She walks over to Jeremy.
"Rosalie, what--"
"I don't know...I...I really don't know" Jeremy brings her in for a hug. Rosalie's eyes water again. "What am I suppose to do?" She gulps. Jeremy pecks her forward, her rubs his back.
"Just think about it on the way there"
***
"This is the address" , Jeremy and Damon walk towards a creepy looking house. Rosalie crosses her arms. The air had gotten colder.
"Looks about right, you wait here" Damon instructs Jeremy. Jeremy scoffs.
"Why? So you can try and make out with Rosalie again?" Damon glares at her.
"Don't be a dick. Just sit tight and listen" Jeremy looks at Rosalie. Rosalie nods. Jeremy sighs.
"Thank you" She whispers. Damon and Rosalie make their way to the house.
Damon jogs up the stairs and opens the door, slowly creeping in. Rosalie glances at Jeremy one last time before falling in behind him. Rosalie turns the flashlight on her phone on for light. It's the middle of night; two in the morning. The moon wasn't giving any light either. Rosalie closes the door behind them.
"Jeez, it's like Vampire Hoarders" Rosalie felt a cold chill on her neck.
"Damon, who is this Mary person?" Books are cluttered on both sides of the hallway.
"Scary Mary. Really old, super creepy" Rosalie grabs the back of his shirt.
"And how do you know her?"
"Um, uh. You know" Rosalie smiles. "What? I said creepy, not ugly" Rosalie giggles.
There was a bang behind Rosalie. She lets out a squeal. Damon immediately stands in front of her. "Jesus" She breathes. Damon inches forward to where the noise came from. Rosalie lags behind in fear. He opens the door near the staircase. Damon smelt an awful scent. It hit his nose roughly. He coughs.
Rosalie points her light to the wall and gasps. On the wall is a staked Mary. Her body flooded with veins and her skin is grey. Rosalie covers her mouth.
"Mary..." Damon whispers.
"Quite the contrary" A voice erupts from the darkness.
The light to the right of them turns on. Rosalie whips around to face the light. In the chair is Kol with the bat from earlier. He smirks. Rosalie backs away.
***
"Shame about Mary. She used to be a blast. I don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an original groupie" Kol gets up from the chair. Damon stands in front of Rosalie in case Kol had any funny ideas.
"Did you turn her?" Rosalie asks.
"I think I did. But, no, wait. Maybe it was Rebekah. But there was also a Klaus period and let's not forget the Elijah affair" Rosalie gulps.
"I spoke to my brother. I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will" Kol grins. Kol taps the bat on the ground twice. "So! Where did we leave off?" Kol slams the bat into Damon's knee. Damon falls to ground with a grunt.
Kol repeatedly hits Damon with the bat. Rosalie heavily breathes. What could she do? He's a damn original. But she couldn't just leave him here.
"Rosalie, get out of here!" Damon growls. Rosalie takes a deep breath before running to the door. Kol blocks her exit. He grabs her forearms.
"My brother says you're off limits. Just don't test me" He tosses her backwards on the floor. She slams her head against the chair in the corner. She hisses in pain. Damon jumps off the ground and wraps his fingers around Kol's throat.
"Don't touch her" Kol hits Damon on the forehead with the bat. He groans when he hits the ground. Rosalie winces when she sits up.
"I've hit the nerve. Relax, darling! I just want us to be even! You snapped my neck, you killed my brother and then you humiliated me" Kol raises the bat and bangs it on Damon's side three times. Rosalie watches in horror. "There. Now we're even" Kol smirks. He runs out of the house. Rosalie picks herself off the ground, a trail of blood running down her forehead.
"Are you okay?" She asks once she helps him up.
"Ah. Yeah" He breathes. He groans, putting his arm back in place."That's better" Rosalie chortles.
"That was disgusting" Damon chuckles. He finally looks up at her and sees the line of blood.
"You're bleeding" Rosalie shakes her head.
"I'm fine" Damon caresses her cheek. Rosalie gives a weak smile.
"We better go see Jeremy" Damon nods reluctantly.
***
Damon glances over at Rosalie who's all curled up in the passenger seat with a blanket covering her. Jeremy had cleaned the cut on her face for her. She had a pretty bad headache so it was just better if she slept. She had a lot to think about. Jeremy stares at Damon.
"Why'd you do it?" He asks quietly. Damon clenches his jaw. "You'd rather tell me or Stefan first?" Damon blinks.
"Isn't it obvious? We had a little moment in the room and we both walked outside. She wanted to talk and I kissed her. I think she wanted to kiss me back but she felt guilty because of Stefan, because she's still in love him. She always will be" Jeremy sits back in his seat.
"You're making the worst mistake" He sighs.