CHAPTER TWENTY | PROMISED LAND
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THE EVENTS THAT OCCURRED AFTR DAMON FOUND OUT ABOUT ENZO'S DEATH WERE NOTHING SHORT OF IRRITATING. Enzo had seemingly caused a diversion, causing the vampires to be distracted, whilst the Travelers arrived and kidnapped Stefan and Elena. Since then, Damon and Riley had been working tirelessly to try and locate them.
Damon stood in front of a Traveler that he had kidnapped, a spray bottle in his hand. "Wakey, wakey." He muttered in a patronising tone, after spraying his face with water. He then pulled a business card from the man's jacket pocket. "Mr. Sikes. Head of Corporate accounts."
"He's not gonna be easy to interrogate if he's got that cloth in his mouth, you know." The witch pointed to the white gag that was tied around the Traveler's mouth, clearly prohibiting him from speaking. "I thought you were an expert?|
"Whoops. Sorry, about that." Damon gave Riley a look and then pulled the gag from the man's mouth. "Can't have you mumbling any of those annoying traveler ditties. It's a sure migraine. So, here's the deal— my brother and his ex girlfriend have both been kidnapped by Travelers and we can't seem to find them anywhere. I mean, like, poof gone. My girl can't get a read on them, but that's to be expected. So, beside a completely clueless Hybrid in my basement and a cave full of sleeping Travelers, we've got nothing to go on except you. So, I'm gonna need you to tell us where we can find your leader, Markos."
Riley narrowed her eyes toward the traveler. The girl had woken up considerably angered considering she was unable to locate her two friends. "Start talking."
"What's up, Blondie?" Damon called over his shoulder just as Caroline entered the parlour with her eyes fixed to her phone.
"Liv and Luke aren't answering any of my—" She raised her head from her phone and gasped at the sight of the man bound to the chair in the middle of the room. "Oh, my God. Mr. Sikes?"
"I'm sorry, what? You know this guy?" Riley scoffed in amazement.
"Yeah. He helped me open my first savings account." The blonde vampire pouted. "He gave me a lollipop."
"Well, unfortunately Mr. Sikes here is occupied by some low-life Traveler. I saw him and his buddies chanting in the town square last week. I also know that Markos, and your passenger comrades are planning some big flashy spell to undo some super boring, ancient witch curse. And, where that sucks for us, it just happens to undo all the witch magic, i.e. kill me, and my sexy blonde frenemy here."
Caroline knew it was time for her to try her luck with the Traveler. "If you know where Markos took Stefan and Elena, you need to tell us."
Damon listened closely as he tried to speak again, but was unable to since Damon gagged him once more. The Salvatore pulled the gag from his mouth. "Come here, sweetie pie."
"It doesn't matter where Markos is. Nothing you do can stop him now." The Traveler viciously spat.
Damon soon grew bored with the ineffective Traveler torture. Caroline removed him from the house, and took care of him before Damon had the chance. It was at that point, the Salvatore's phone began to ring. He pulled it from his pocket and answered the unrecognisable number. "Stefan?"
"Yup."
"Seriously?" Damon gawked in amazement at the fact that his brother was calling him on a payphone. "Collect calls are still a thing?"
"Yeah. Well, you know what could have saved you the cost of this phone call? You finding us." Stefan snapped, in an almost irritated tone of voice. "Didn't Riley try a locator spell?"
"Duh! I tried, you idiot. Do you think Markos would be stupid enough to leave you and Elena traceable." Riley yelled toward the phone which caused Damon to chuckle a little under his breath. "It's only been four days. Relax."
"Four days? Four days, and you couldn't track us down. What'd you think we were having a nice spa getaway?"
Damon stopped pacing and listened to the irritation in his brother's voice. "Woah. Woah. Woah. Like Riley said, you were cloaked! We've been searching twenty-four-seven, okay? Maybe if you'd been a little more perceptive, you wouldn't have gotten yourselves doppelnapped." Damon then paused once the sound glass breaking echoed through the speaker. "What the hell was that?"
"Travelers drained us of our blood, so we've had to do a little bit of hunting." The Salvatore explained.
"You're getting Elena to feed on the innocent wildlife that's hoping around? Yeah, sure." Riley scoffed in amusement. She knew that Elena was compassionate, the girl barely indulged in feeding from anything that wasn't a blood bag.
"Believe me, she's no happier about it than I am."
"Where are you? I'll come get you." The Salvatore asked again.
"I have no idea where we are. We're in the middle of nowhere. Listen, we'll make our way back. But Markos drained most of our blood and considering the kinds of spells he was able to do with just a little bit of it—"
"—we got it, Stef. Search and destroy." Riley shrugged from the sofa. "Just keep yourselves safe. Okay?"
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Damon stole all of the sleeping Traveler bodies from the cave and dumped them at the Boarding House. He left a note for Markos, which lead the leader of the Travelers in a pursuit straight to the Salvatore.
"Nice place. Little rustic. My tastes are more modern ironically. Still—" Markos knocked on the wood that was on the wood. "—good bones and all."
"I think you read the flyer wrong. See, the bodies are the only thing on the bargaining table. And in the attic, and in the garage and in the kitchen." The Salvatore sarcastically grinned at Markos just as Riley wandered in to see the two glaring at each other.
"Uh— What the hell is going on and why's there a Traveler in the kitchen sink?" Riley furrowed her brows toward her boyfriend who just shrugged at Markos.
"About that. Please tell me taking hostages isn't your grand plan. It feels a little small. Much like the half bathroom off the foyer." Markos sarcastically remarked again.
"Small? He's stolen your Travelers and dotted them around our house and you think that's small?" The witch began to slowly pace around the room with a tumbler of bourbon in her hand. "Oh. Right!" She clicked her fingers. "He hasn't mentioned that they're all doused in gasoline and I can start fires with my mind. Hm. Figured he'd left something out."
"You're right. None of this would be possible without their willingness to passenger themselves into your citizens and help perform my spell." The leader of the travelers pulled an object from his pocket. "And, while I'd like to give them the opportunity to return to their actual bodies." He then walked over to a sleeping Traveler and stabbed him in the neck. "It's not essential to my plan."
"Oh." Riley trailed off, immediately setting her sights on Damon. He looked as if someone had just shot a puppy.
"Did you two really think you'd found the whole of my people? Travelers are everywhere. They're the faces that surround you everyday. The world over. The ones you don't notice because you're too busy making a mess of all you have. They want those things too— A home. A family. A better life. And, they're willing to die for it."
"You want a promised land. I get it, okay? But, look. Off the record, I mean, Mystic Falls is kind of a dump. Bad schools, terrible traffic and forget about ever getting a decent cup of coffee."
Markos simply shrugged at Damon's negative points. "Mystic Falls is a means to an end. Like a small pebble dropped into a very large pond." He picked up two ice cubes and dropped them into his class of bourbon.
"Wow. You're a great poet. But, I mean we're trying to have a conversation here. So, if you could speak properly, that would be great." Riley rolled her eyes again.
"Once we destroy the spirit magic in this town, the witches' curse will finally be broken. From there, the spell will ripple outward, unravelling spirit magic as it spreads. Only pure magic, our magic, will remain. My people will be free to go wherever they choose. And when witch magic, and all that it has ever created has gone from this Earth, you will be, too."
Damon clicked his tongue and folded his arms across his chest. "I think I've heard about enough." He then sped forward and tried to attack Markos, only to be thrown across the room.
"You underestimate me." Markos quickly glanced at Riley. "And you, little witch, you try anything and I'll make sure your boyfriend dies before the damn spell even starts."
"You sure about that?" She glanced back confidently, though she knew that he could probably do it.
"I've completely transfused myself with doppelgänger blood. I'm channelling all the power of my people. Neither of you are strong enough to kill me anymore. Not that it matters. The spell has already begun."
Riley had taken herself outside and attempted to call Stefan to let him know that the spell was taking place but he wasn't answering. She entered back into the parlour with a worried look on her face as Damon glanced over to her. "He's not answering."
Markos attention was taken by the noise of rumbling in the basement. He eyed the witch up suspiciously. "What kind of game are the pair of you playing?"
Before anyone could respond the Traveler, Julian, that was inhabiting Tyler's body, pounced on Markos' back and bit straight into his neck. "It took you long enough!" Damon yelled out, impatiently.
Markos simply threw the Hybrid off his back in an instant, that's when Julian noticed that something was really wrong. He rose his hand upwards, and felt his mouth. "My fangs. What the hell happened to my fangs?"
"Wait, what?" Riley asked as Damon stepped forward and burned as the sunlight immediately hit his skin. "No way. No, no, no."
The sleeping Travelers started to awaken, one-by-one. The Salvatore moved straight over to his girlfriend, and pushed her behind him as they all got to their feet. "And what were you saying about this being your home?" Markos asked, as Damon doubled over in pain while a pool of blood gathered on his shirt. "Like I said, this spell will continue to unravel spirit magic as it spreads. Which means you're not long for this. The suns about to set. Feel free to buy yourself some time to say your goodbyes. You and this traitor of yours can try to outrun the spell for a little while, anyway."
"Damon!" Riley yanked the Salvatore desperately toward the door, grabbing his leather jacket on the way. "Damon, we need to move, now!"
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Thankfully, after they desperately ran in an attempt to outrun the Travelers spell, Jeremy gave them a ride to Whitmore Campus. They pulled up, Stefan and Elena in front of them with a look of relief on their faces.
"Jeremy, head back with Matt. We need eyes and ears in Mystic Falls." Stefan told the young Gilbert boy, his eyes lingering between the two humans once Damon and Riley joined them. "You three take Jeremy's car. I'm gonna wait here for Caroline and Bonnie."
Riley and Damon nodded, whilst Elena looked to her brother. "I'll call you in a few hours, Jer."
"Be careful."
Riley, Elena and Damon jumped in Jeremy's SUV and began to drive away from Whitmore. Riley felt incredibly anxious about leaving her friends behind while they set off first, but they were running out of time.
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