CHAPTER TEN | CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
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STEFAN AND RILEY HAD BEEN BEST FRIENDS FOR LONGER THAN SHE COULD REMEMBER, AND THE THOUGHT OF KEEPING SECRETS FROM HIM TORE HER APART. So, once they were deep in conversation, sat across his bed, she thought it best to tell him about the fact that she had slept with Elijah Mikaelson. She was desperate to get it off her chest, especially after Rebekah's classroom antics.
"You did, what?" Stefan's mouth gaped wide open while his wide eyes were fixed upon his best friend who sat opposite him.
"Don't give me that look, please." She groaned in irritation before she slung her head backwards on the bed.
"Fine, I won't. But, come on, Elijah? Seriously?" He rolled his eyes back at her before he finally got off of the bed and began to dress himself for the day ahead.
"I know, out of all the guys I could've picked, it just had to be him. But, I don't regret it." Riley immediately revealed when she saw Stefan look at her through her reflection in his mirror. "I mean, do you think Damon regrets sleeping with Elena? Does he even know I'm back? Does he even know that I know about him and Elena?"
A small scoff left Stefan's lips. "Well, has he tried to call you?"
"Yes." Riley immediately responded.
"There's your answer."
Riley groaned out with an exasperated sigh while she let her head dangle upside down from Stefan's bed. "I need to tell him about Elijah at some point, too. He deserves to know. But, I also deserve to hear about him and Elena, from him. I just—" She ran her hands through her hair. "God, everything is just such a mess."
"Well, you should probably clean the mess up soon." Stefan turned around and shrugged but his expression immediately softened when he saw how worried she looked. "Relax, okay? Everything will be fine." He lent down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "If you need me, I'll be with Rebekah hunting for the cure. Call me."
"You got it." As the Salvatore walked out, Riley felt her phone buzz within her pocket. The minute she yanked it out, she saw Elena Gilbert written in bold letters across her phone. After everything Elena confessed, thanks to Rebekah's compulsion, she didn't really wanted to speak to her. "I'm really not in the mood to chat, Elena."
"I'm sorry. I just didn't know who else to call." Elena spoke in a panicked tone of voice. "I know I'm probably the last person you wanna talk to right now, but it's about Damon."
At the mere mention of his name and the panic that echoed in her voice, Riley immediately sat up with wide eyes. "Why? What's going on?"
"He was with Jeremy but now Kol's got him, and I just— I don't know what to do."
"I think I've got an idea." Riley breathed out as she finally yanked herself from Stefan's bed.
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Riley's one and only idea was to go to Klaus for help. Considering Klaus was set on finding the cure, and Kol was attempting to scuff those plans, Riley assumed he'd be willing to play ball. "A bit ironic you two coming to me for help. Weren't your friends just trying to bury me in a cement tomb?" Klaus' eyes darted between the two females that sat opposite him within his home.
"This is your fault. You started this when you forced Jeremy to kill those vampires." The doppelgänger snapped in immediate disagreement, desperate to place the blame on Klaus.
"And, now my little brat of a brother has gone and made things worse. Well, he never did like Damon." The Hybrid let a small smirk flicker across his lips. "I suppose I should do something, shouldn't I?"
"Well, finally he gets it." Riley rolled her eyes. "Just call him off, okay?"
"You are in no position to make demands, love." His eyes remained hard on the doppelgänger until his face softened. "Whilst I'd like to cure you to make more Hybrid's, I do have other reasons for finding the cure, not the least of which is destroying it so you lot can't use it against me."
"Oh, right! I forgot how paranoid you are." The strawberry-blonde mocked whilst she leaned forward in her seat. "Despite whatever your paranoid little mind wants to believe, you know that we all want the same thing. Elena cured. So, are you willing to help us or not?"
Klaus smirked at the witch's confidence to negotiate with him, even though she knew that he could've killed them both the moment they entered his home. He simply pulled his phone from his inner jacket pocket, dialled a number and placed it to his ear. "Little brother. Just two days home, and I'm told you've already gone and made a mess."
"Come on, Nik. I was only having some fun." Kol exasperatedly sighed from the other end of the line.
"Those vampires were for my hunter." Klaus politely stated to Kol with a smile on his face. It concerned Riley how calm he was being.
"I'll make some more. There's no shortage of people."
The Hybrid's smirk finally fell into a look on annoyance at his brother's lack of disregard. "Where's Damon Salvatore?"
"I gave him a good and proper beating just for old times' sake." The Original vampire chuckled to himself.
"Yes. Well, you've had your fun. Now, let him go and come home. Avoid any more trouble, or you'll find yourself back in a box." He smirked at the mere thought of daggering his sibling.
"Hey. No need to be nasty about it."
"On the contrary, I find nastiness to be essential whenever by siblings try to sabotage me. Listen closely, Kol. Stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?"
"Fine, I won't touch him. You have my word."
"Thank you, Klaus." Riley solemnly nodded at him with a look of gratitude when she and Elena both got up and walked out of the Mikaelson mansion.
Riley walked ahead of Elena, desperate to not have to engage in any more conversation with the girl. "Riley, Riley, wait up." Elena called behind the strawberry-blonde.
"I said I didn't want to talk, Elena." Riley finally answered when she turned around to see the brunette stood behind her.
"I know, but perhaps you could just listen for a second?" She breathed. "I wanted to apologize for, you know. I know you're in love with Damon but for some reason, so am I. But, it's the sire bond or whatever but— I'm really, really sorry. For everything."
"You know the worst thing about all of this?" Riley scoffed in an attempt to hold the tears back. "The two people I was closed to didn't even have the guts to tell me themselves. I heard it from Stefan. Not you. Not Damon. Stefan." After that, Riley twirled back around on her heels and walked away from the vampire.
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It turned out that Kol did not listen to Klaus' demand, and instead he compelled Damon to find and kill Jeremy. After learning that Damon was hunting Jeremy down in an attempt to kill him, Riley begrudgingly assisted Elena and the pair ran through the forest, hell-bent on finding Damon before he found Jeremy.
"Damon, stop!" Elena yelled out from behind the Salvatore vampire, who immediately stopped when he heard her voice. "Please, I know that you don't wanna hurt Jeremy. So, please stop."
As Damon turned around to look at Elena, to his surprise, his eyes met Riley. "Riley?" He had no idea that the female was even back in town, but the minute he set his eyes on her, he felt nothing but guilt. "I can't— Riley. I can't stop this."
"Are you kidding me? Yes, you can. Of course, you can." Riley scoffed when she took a few steps forward. "Listen to me, Damon. You're literally one of the most stubborn people I have ever me. If there's anyone that could resist compulsion, I think it'd be you." She saw the look in his eyes, the way he was trying so desperately to fight with himself. "Just fight the compulsion, Damon. Please."
Damon's face softened as he felt a sudden ease from the compulsion. In that moment, all he could think about was Riley and how he wanted to be with her. He wanted to hold her just like had he done all those weeks ago. He wanted to kiss her like she was the only person that mattered to him, because she was. To Damon, nobody could ever compare to Riley Evans. Not even Elena.
But, when a droplet of blood fell onto the floor a short distance away, Damon looked back at her in disappointment. He knew that in that moment, there was only one way to stop him. "Riley, stop me. Do it, now!" He screamed out when the witch waved her hand and his body suddenly dropped to the floor.
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A soft grunt left Damon's lips from the floor of the cellar and that was an indication that he had realised just where he was. Once Riley snapped his neck, Stefan grabbed his body and dumped him into the basement cellar, where he then proceeded to bleed him out in an attempt to keep him weakened.
The Salvatore's eyes met Riley's, who was stood just outside the cellar, then he turned toward his brother. Stefan stood above him, arms folded across his chest with a stake in his hand. "So, you bled me out?" A soft grunt left the vampire's lips.
"Yeah, I didn't really have much of a choice. Kol's compulsion is still in effect, so you need to stay locked up." Stefan spoke with an emotionless look on his face. "We don't have any vervain, so this was the only way I could weaken you."
"You sound real torn up about it." Damon scowled in his brother's direction, then he turned to Riley. "Didn't you try and stop him?"
Riley tilted her head, her eyes locked with Damon. He knew that just by the look on her face, she knew everything. "What'd you want me to do, Damon?" She shrugged.
Damon thickly swallowed, her eyes hesitantly leaving the strawberry-blonde once he gazed back to his brother. "Shouldn't we be going after Kol and make him de-compel me?"
"Yeah. Yeah, sure. That sounds easy enough, Damon. I'll get right on that." Stefan scoffed with a sarcastic tone of voice.
Damon weakly dropped back against the floor, a soft cough left his lips as he stared up to the ceiling. "At least let me see Riley. We need to— I need to talk to her."
Riley looked toward Stefan with a sad look on her face. The Salvatore had told her that under no circumstances was she allowed inside the cell. "Come on. We're drying you out, and right now, Riley is just one extremely tempting blood source. You could tear her apart. So, no."
"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Damon weakly responded again with a soft chuckle. He knew that Stefan was angry with him, and he was enjoying every moment of torturing him.
"It's better for everyone if you stay in here for now. At least until we find the cure. And then once Elena's no longer sired to you, you're no longer compelled to kill Jeremy, you can do whatever the hell you want." Stefan gave him a sarcastic grin before he turned on his heels and left the basement.
"Riley—" Damon's voice grew weaker as he used what little strength he had left to attempt to pull himself up right. With one final glance at Riley, who stood at the door with her eyes fixed on him, he dropped back onto the ground and fell unconscious.
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