thirty-four. the descent
Salvatore Boarding House
A bright ray of sunlight shines over Rosie's adorable sleeping face, slowly waking her up due to the brightness in which she flutters her eyelids open to find that early morning has come. She looks down, only to find that her body is only wrapped around the softly thick dark brown sheet of her bed, indicating that what she did with Stefan the previous night wasn't a dream. He's finally out of the tomb underneath the old Fell's church, thanks to the deal Elena had with Elijah Mikaelson. Therefore, they owe them both for it. Katherine also deserves to remain imprisoned in the darkness of the tomb alone for what she did to them all, including her centuries-old escape. They could simply only wait patiently for Klaus to show up and finish her off.
Although what's puzzling and upsetting is when she finds that she's alone, lying, on the big queen-sized in her excessively spacious bedroom. As she slowly sits up, with her left hand holding up the sheet to cover her breasts, the satiated feeling of pure pleasure from the previous night makes her moan slightly; her caramel brown locks messy from how he ran his fingers through it as they gave in to their lust for each other. Her clear doe hazel eyes trail around the spacious room until they reached the slightly opened door, it's when her head tilts in adorable wonder to where her boyfriend is. How could he just leave her to wake up on her own? She just got him back! Therefore, she carefully sets both her feet down on the dark mahogany floor and gets up from the cold bed, her hand remaining to hold up the sheet.
"Stefan? Stefan? You're standing right behind me, aren't you?"
A shirtless Stefan, who has just walked out of her connecting bathroom, has quietly vamp-sped right behind her with a cute smile on his face, "Yep."
Rosie rolls her big hazel eyes mischievously as she quickly turns around with an adorable smile and kisses him on his pink lips which she adores so much. Although a cute pout makes it's way to her lips once she sees that he has already showered alone, without her, and is now only in a pair of jeans. Stefan grabs her lovely face with both of his hands as he leans back down to kiss that silly pout from her lips over and over again until she reciprocates.
"Good morning." He greeted her with a sultry voice which she only adores.
"I don't want us to be apart anymore. Ever." Rosie truly expressed, smiling.
"Well, you want it...you got it." Stefan grabs her by the waist, picks her up which makes her squeal out loud with her cute giggles, and lays her back down on her big queen-sized bed, in which they start to make out again with him on top of her; one of his hands moves to take the sheet from her until he started to speak once again, "I love you so much, and I don't want--"
A tired sigh leaves her at this verbal interruption, "You don't want what?"
His cute smile comes back onto his handsome face, "I don't ever want to be parted from you, ever again." He earns a sweet kiss for that, "But--"
"Oop. Don't ruin the moment." Rosie kisses him again, but her boyfriend stops her, "You're about to ruin the moment, aren't you? Wonderful."
A truly apologetic look plasters over his face, "I'm totally ruining the moment, sorry. Look, I can't just pretend like everything is okay."
"Ugh, why not? Katherine's locked away in the tomb." Rosie stated, smiling, "Serves her right. And you and I are supposed to pick up where we left off."
"I'm looking forward to it, trust me, but we still have this pressing little issue of Elena being Klaus' human sacrifice. Your best friend is going to die." He thinks that it seems very insensitive of them to do this for the person who's one of the main reasons why he's released from the tomb; he feels guilty. They can't just thank her by letting her get sacrificed to break the curse.
"Hmm. Guilt is such a bitch, isn't it?" Rosie pushes him away before she quickly sits up once again and moves to the edge of the bed to open the cabinet of the bedside table, takes out a vial of vervain and twists it open, "I know, it seems inevitable, but Elijah promised to keep her and everyone else, i.e. you and me, safe as long as we play by his rules. I'm rephrasing."
"Right. As long as you play by his rules." Stefan repeated, nodding a little.
Rosie puts the vervain in a glass, "And are you really going after Isobel?" Hopefully, the former parapsychologist knows as much about the sun and moon curse as much as she knows about an old family dating five hundred years ago. The ancient curse, however, dates back one thousand years ago.
"Katherine said Isobel could have some answers and I just have a couple questions, that's all." Stefan shrugs, "You don't think that's a good idea." Since the young vampire is already known to be a ruthless, merciless one. Therefore, they can't really trust her to tell the truth, just like Katherine. Who knows that she may be working with Katherine behind all of them?
Rosie pours water in the glass with the vervain in it, "Stefan, Elena made a deal with Elijah. He said not to do anything but live her life normally." In fact, they can't cross this Original because he can be very unpredictable.
"Right, she made a deal with him. I didn't make one. She should keep her deal." Stefan said with a simple shrug. She doesn't have to know about this; this is simply how he shows how grateful he is for what she has done. Besides, actions speak louder than words, after all. Therefore, he is free.
"Yeah, she doesn't want anyone else to get hurt." Rosie pointed out, especially since she knows how her best friend truly handles guilt.
Stefan feigns a look of confusion, which only makes him cuter to make her genuinely smile, "When have I ever wanted somebody to get hurt?"
Rosie gently hands him the glass of vervained water, "Vervain. Are you sure?" She tilts her head, "Just because Katherine built up a tolerance--"
"Yes, bottoms up." Stefan takes the glass and drinks but ends up coughing on the bed. After a moment, the pure agony heals and he sits back up.
She takes the glass back from him with an apologetic smile, "My turn." He's about to stop her, though she already takes a sip of the clean spiked water, which makes her cough as she places the glass back down on the table.
Stefan gently rubs her back as she continues to cough as her lips, mouth and throat burn as the water gets swallowed down. Rosie smiles once the agony heals and she earns a sweet, intimate kiss from her boyfriend at that. He grabs onto her face as he does so, even when he slowly pulls away.
"I love you so much. Are you okay?" His left hand caresses her messy hair.
"Yeah." She coughs once more and he leaves a sweet kiss on her left cheek.
"How can Elijah compel another vampire?" Stefan questioned, referring to the Original's ability to compel Rose's friend to stake himself in the heart back in Richmond, "I mean, he's an original. I don't really know what that means. I don't think anybody really knows what that means. Well, except maybe Isobel, or you. Maybe we should ask the research expert more."
Rosie nods a little, smiling adorably, "Yeah, good idea." She remains still in her spot on the edge of the bed while her boyfriend gets up and walks out.
****
Rose is sitting on the leather couch in the library downstairs, undeniably ill from the lethal werewolf bite on her left shoulder, her hazel-green eyes shut. Damon is closely looking after her, feeling truly sympathetic by her condition, when a genuinely curious Rosie walks in, carrying a blood bag. To say that he feels rather envious of what she has with his brother would be an understatement, though he's not going to stop vying for her affection.
"I was born in 1450, that makes me five hundred and sixty years old." As a miserable, former runaway vampire after she was tricked by a young girl. She truly wasted over five hundred years of her immortal life on the run. She could have met a man and fell in love with him, have children together...
Damon raises his eyebrows briefly, "Well, if you were a bottle of wine--"
Rose interrupted him, as if in a daze, "So I can die. I've lived long enough." She nods weakly. No one should be able to live five hundred years long.
"You know, if you're going to be mourned, I'm just going to kill you myself just to put me out of your misery." Damon spoke, rather hopeful for a vote; he would do anything other than watching how pathetic she is right now, as if she isn't pathetic to begin with since her one and only best friend died. It seems that feeling too much empathy is tiring for a 'remorseless' vampire. Although how should he end her life? Carelessly quick or painfully slow? Rip her heart out or stake her straight in the heart? Murder alternatives are hard.
Rosie pours the fresh blood from the bag into a crystal glass at the mini bar.
He sends a quick glance at her, "Come on, it's just a little werewolf bite." Hopefully, there's a cure for it even though it's his first time seeing this bite. It definitely looks nasty, just like the werewolf itself, and impossibly curable. He's guessing that it has to be that woman from the Grill restaurant the previous night since it was also a full moon. Is that how she retaliates for Mason's spontaneous demise? Perhaps it's now his fault that Rose is dying. Therefore, not only is he feeling sympathetic, though he also feels guilty. He truly hates this, he hates feeling like this. He doesn't want to feel like this. Although he would never admit to feel guilty over ending his enemy's life.
"Just a little, fatal to a vampire werewolf bite." Rosie reminded him the fact even though she knows well that it doesn't make the situation any better.
"Well, according to a legend which is notoriously unreliable source."
"Here you go." Rosie hands her the glass of blood, "Blood heals, hopefully." Since human blood is their natural food source as an undead being to live.
The bitten vampire drinks, "Yeah, it does feel like it's working. Thank you."
"Let's have a look, come on. Let me see." Rosie looks at the nasty bite mark on her shoulder; it has gotten much worse and has spread further down her back and her best friend honestly feels genuinely disgusted by this shown. The blood doesn't seem to heal it though, despite being a strong human's.
Damon shares a truly alarmed, deeply anxious, look with Rosie at this.
"How is it?" Rose asked as she tries to look as well, though has difficulty so.
"Definitely...better. Right, Minerva?" Damon called out to the banshee, who has just showed up in the room as well and seems truly shocked, wide-eyed, and in pure horror by the lethal wounds; Rose looks at her at the mention.
"Um..." Minerva slowly shakes her head, guilty to lie to her, "It's not bad. Hey, where's Stefan?" She looks at her own doppelgänger by this question.
"He left. I need you to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel but I think that's going to upset Elena and especially Elijah." Rosie nods, hinting that the Original can get very unpredictable when it comes to deals.
"Why can't you do it?" Minerva asked with a truly puzzled but cute frown. Isn't her look-alike the girlfriend of Stefan Salvatore? Why would it be her?
"Because he's stubborn, and he doesn't want to listen to me. Damon?"
He spoke up once again for his simple response, "No can do. I'm with Stefan on this one but if you could play nurse for a little while--"
"Oh, I can't. I'm needed at the barbecue at Baylor for my senior year. I have to go to North Carolina for today." Minerva dismissed rather apologetically.
"Okay, fine." Rosie simply shrugs, "I'll call Elena to take care of Rose then--"
"It's not necessary." Rose cuts in rather guiltily for being a burden to them.
"It is necessary. Elena is a do-gooder. It's in her nature, she just can't resist. Come on, Rosie." Damon walks out of the room with his best friend after him even though he remains to hold pure resentment for Elena Gilbert.
Minerva looks at Rose for a second, then trails after Damon and Rosie out of the library in deep concern and pure sympathy, "Um, is she going to die?"
Damon dials Elena's number on his cell phone while Rosie answered the question with a shrug, "Probably. The werewolf bite caused some kind of infection and it's getting worse, and there seems to be no cure for it."
"Like poison?" Minerva guessed with a squint of her big doe hazel eyes.
"I don't know, Minerva. I'm not an expert." Rosie shakes her head a little.
"Poor Rose. I'm so sorry." Minerva truly expressed in genuine sympathy.
"Death happens. We come, we go. Sooner she dies the better. It's gloomy as hell in here." Damon spoke as he puts his cell phone back in his pocket.
****
Mystic Grill Restaurant
The platinum blonde young woman, Mason's friend, is eating alone at a small round table for two people as she scrolls through her cell phone, Stefan watching her from another small table for two by the window. He looks at his cell phone as well; Alaric has texted him the number of Isobel. He dials it to call though no one answers, so he leaves a voice message.
"Isobel, it's Stefan Salvatore. I need to speak with you, it's about Elena. Please know that it's important." He hangs up and sees Damon and Rosie, who have just walked in through the main front door, quickly alarming him. Although he knows that it's clearly his brother's idea to show up here in the first place, probably to have an early lunch with his girlfriend, perhaps?
Rosie spots the familiar young woman first, who mentioned about it to Damon, whose first instinct is to walk toward the werewolf, though Stefan quickly comes over and stops him, which Rosie mentioned, "Stefan."
A small smile makes it's way up to his attractively chiseled face, "Hey baby."
A frown of pure confusion appears on Damon's handsome face, "What are you doing here?" He really doesn't want his brother to be the good cop now. Not after what the woman did the previous night-- she threatened him and she must be the one who bit Rose. Therefore, she's their new foe in town. He doubts that his brother knows about her, though Rosie probably told him already-- either the previous night or earlier this morning back at home.
"I'm waiting for you. Listen, there's a lot of people here." Stefan stated the obvious about their surroundings of indoor public-- the place is packed.
Rosie nods as she looks around sarcastically, "We're aware, Stefan."
"Oh, damn. There goes my plan to rip her spleen through her back." Damon spoke as he playfully nudges his best friend's side, referring to the blonde. He's not simply just going to let his enemy walk away from this-- new or not. Rose, a friend, is dying because of her; therefore, he needs to bite her back. Besides, one vampire bite can kill a werewolf, after all, as it is vice versa. Although thanks to his brother, the public audience has to be taken care of. That doesn't mean they can't compel these people to forget what occurred, if only they don't have vervain in their system. Therefore, his brother's right.
Rosie shakes her head, "We're not here to kill anyone, Damon." Even though the woman practically already killed their friend with only one vicious bite.
"Yeah, says you." Damon uttered stubbornly with a scoff of pure disbelief.
"Hey, listen, I know you're upset about Rose." Stefan begun to coax him; honestly, he feels rather upset and sympathetic about the vampire as well. The old vampire seems to be a true friend to his brother after Rosie, really.
"He is." Rosie simply sided with the younger Salvatore, truly and always. She knows how much the old vampire means to her best friend, even though he doesn't admit it because he keeps protective walls around himself to prevent himself from getting hurt again-- he remains hurt for what Katherine and Elena did to him; the both of them broke his heart.
Damon, however, remains to be in denial with his frown, "Why does everyone think that I'm upset about Rose? I'm fine. I don't know if you know this but sometimes, vampires die. Now that lady wolf is over there, I'm going to have a friendly chat with her, so if you both will excuse me--"
Rosie cuts in, "Uh, you know what? Why don't you just sit down and watch as I have a chat with her instead? Hm? I don't trust your impulse control."
"Why? You think I'm going to kill her in the middle of a bar?" Damon scoffed, rather offended by what she just said. Not that he won't do it. In fact, it will be rather effortless that it will only take one simple broken neck to end her.
"No. But it's just that I've never talked to a lady werewolf in person before, so--" Rosie simply shrugs, "--there's always a first for everything. Ease up." Not everything has to come down to violence. She wants a civil conversation with even their enemies. She seems rather determined too.
She walks over to the familiar young woman at the small table and sits down opposite her while Stefan and Damon are closely watching her as they take their respective seats at an unoccupied table for four people. The phone number Stefan has called is calling, which makes him stand back up and answers it as he walks away. Therefore, Damon chooses to sit at the main bar instead, in which he simply ordered from the bartender a glass of scotch as he closely watches Rosie interact with the new platinum blonde.
"Well, if it isn't the one whose friend is the one I meant to kill...I'll have to get that right next time. Maybe you're next." Their new enemy snarled out of pure resentment which she harbors for all vampires as she puts down her fork from eating her full plate of spaghetti with meat sauce for brunch.
Rosie fakes a smile, "You're not going to be able to lay a finger on me." Even if she does manage so, she will, with no hesitation, break her entire arm off.
The beautiful young woman fakes a mocking smile in return, "Want to bet?"
"I don't do bets, sorry. Now this isn't very lady-like of me when I say that there is a high chance that you won't even get to live to see another full moon unless you tell me how to cure a wolf bite...and then I won't kill you." Rosie warned her as a great ultimatum with a straight, smiling politely, face.
She feigns a look of wonder as she sips her hot coffee, "Huh. Promise?"
Rosie nods once, the fake smile remaining on her lovely face, "Yes."
She puts some money down on the table with a slam and then looks back at her immortal foe, "Bite me." She gets up when Rosie spoke once again.
"Don't tempt me." Rosie stands up from her temporary seat after her.
The young woman scoffs in pure disbelief, "I'm not afraid of you." She isn't afraid of any vampires despite this one in front of her is a unique hybrid.
"Then you are very, very stupid. Because I don't think you realize how unpredictable I can be." Rosie stands up properly, whose height is only five feet two — much shorter than the perilous werewolf right in front of her. Many vampires can be unpredictable, after all, including her own self. Therefore, she doesn't believe that what her murderous foe is saying is the truth. Although she doesn't dare to underestimate any of her enemies.
"How's your friend? Rose, is that her name? Have the chills started? The unbearable pain?" The vicious biter herself mocked with feigned sympathy. Rose wouldn't be the first vampire who she has bitten. She could bite Rosie, or anyone in town even, as her own ultimatum for her foes to stay away. Otherwise, they would be next to meet the tragic fate as the bitten vampire. She knows about the legend-- one werewolf bite is already lethal to them.
"If there's a cure, tell me or start watching your back." Rosie snarled at her, her tone stone cold with no mood for any jokes or mockery at the moment. She would love nothing more than to grab this woman's neck and twist it.
"Did I mention the dementia? It'll eat away at her brain. Soon she'll be rabid. You want a cure? I'll tell you the only cure that exists: take a stake and drive it through her heart." She walks away, and Rosie and Damon share a look.
****
Salvatore Boarding House
Damon walks in through the unlocked front door after he has finished burying Rose's body in the dark woods after he showed it to the sheriff after he staked her himself at home upstairs, which seems to be the one and only solution to end her excruciating agony. Rosie, however, is seen waiting for either Damon or Stefan to come home for the night in the excessively spacious though unoccupied parlor room, sitting silently on the vintage couch in which a white fragile mug of warm Chamomile tea is in both of her small hands as she slowly sips on the drink, taking her own pleasant time.
He seems evidently tired by her presence, expecting her to speak up about his short-lived friendship with Rose, "You're supposed to be asleep."
"I couldn't because I stayed here and waited to make sure that you're okay." Rosie puts the mug down on the mini bar and hands him a glass of scotch with a truly sympathetic smile for her best friend, "I'm worried about you." She knows he's not okay, judging by the torn expression shown on his face. Despite knowing Rose for only a few days as a friend, he remains to grieve.
"I appreciate the gesture. I'm just glad it's over." Damon drinks the liquor with his evidently sad icy blue eyes shut to avoid making eye contact with her because he knows her talent at reading most people like an open book. He doesn't want to admit the fact that he's utterly upset by Rose's demise. It was inevitable and the platinum blonde werewolf was right all along. His best friend's sincere concern, however, is one of the main reasons why he is utterly in love with her; he's in love with his brother's girl. Well, what's new? He's only in love with her determination, her concern, her commitment, her patience, her understanding. No wonder his brother is in love with her too.
A girl like Rosalina Kartwright is not that easy to come by. She's a gem.
"You know I don't believe that." Rosie denied with a slow shake of her head as she examines his evidently torn, grieving expression that his friend died. She knows that he knows he actually does care, though he's just defensive. He doesn't want to let his guard down anymore to allow himself to get hurt. Therefore, he remains to put up walls around himself to protect his true self underneath-- the real Damon Salvatore, who's such a worthy young man. She doesn't know the reason why, though at the thought of his defensive mechanism, it only makes her love him even more despite how bad he is. Although she knows that he's only pretending to be someone he's not; to portray himself as the careless murderer which everyone views him to be.
"Go to sleep, Rosie. Get some rest. It's a whole new day tomorrow."
"Damon, I'm your best friend. I know you." Rosie truly expressed the truth, encouraging him to do the same. She wants the real truth of his feelings. It's not like he can't trust her. He has known her their whole lives, despite her being an unfortunate amnesiac in the present day. Although she knows how close their families used to be even when they weren't even born yet. The two wealthiest families in Mystic Falls were practically fated to become one big family to join together as a family which has possession over old money. Their parents were practically even best friends since they were only kids. Therefore, Rosie could already be considered as a lady Salvatore by now.
He nods a little, his patience only thinning, "I'm well aware of that."
"And a friend usually knows when their friend is hurting." Rosie continued.
He knows that extremely well once it comes to her because he remembers very well, remaining fresh in his subconscious, when she used to be the one to comfort and accompany his brother since the darkly depressing day of their mother's funeral at the local cemetery back when he was only an odd nineteen. Rosalina was undeniably the best friend Stefan Salvatore has ever had, especially of how pure and loyal she is even when she is now undead. He envies that, he envies the friendship and the love the pair have for each other because he wants what they have. He wants Rosie Kartwright as well. Although he doesn't want to sound pathetic than he already is, therefore he doesn't say it at all. He is not just her best friend, he is her secret admirer.
Damon snapped at her in defeat and frustration, "What do you want to hear? That I cared about Rose? That I'm upset? Well I didn't and I'm not."
Rosie scoffs in pure disbelief, "There you go again, pretending to turn it off, pretending not to feel. Damon, you're so close, don't give up." He does care.
"I feel, Rosie, okay? And it sucks! What sucks even more is that it was supposed to be me. Jules was coming after me." Damon referred to the platinum blonde young woman, overwhelming guilt shown on his features. Perhaps this is what his supernatural enemy wants-- to suffer a friend's loss. This exact, nagging, annoying feeling in the reason why he doesn't want to feel. Although he can't, because he's keeping it all together for her. For love.
Despite how frustrated he is, Rosie remains to love how beautiful he is-- how real, and how emotional he seems at this truly vulnerable moment. Guilt, frustration, shame, exhaustion, resentment, self-restraint; they're real, and they're raw, and he only shows it to her because he truly does trust her. For that, she seems utterly glad and proud of him to do so. She loves him.
"You feel guilty. That's good." Rosie nods a little. At least he feels.
"That would be human of me, wouldn't it, Rosie? And I'm not human. You're not human. You want to talk about giving up? That's all you've done is give up! Go to sleep. It's been enough doom, gloom and personal growth for one night." Damon told her as an older brother should speak to a younger sister.
"Okay, I will." Rosie embraces him into a long hug to indicate that she loves that he has the moment to show his true self a little, "Good night, Damon."
She walks out of the parlor room and walks towards the main stairs.