[Episode 14 - Fool me Once]
I wake up to my sister shaking me awake. Everything rushes in at once. The grave, Damon, Stefan, the guilt and...
"Oh m-" Elena cups my mouth with her palm and puts a finger on her lip. She points cautiously towards her left and I see Ben.
Ben was supposed to be Bonnie's date yesterday night. He graduated a while ago. Why is he with us in this room? Is he kidnapped too? Unlikely, looking how free and peacefully he was resting.
I get up with my sister and we slowly make way towards the door of what appears to be a motel room. I'm inches away from the doorknob when a voice speaks out from behind me "I wouldn't..." He smirks, almost chest to chest with my shaking twin.
He looks into her eyes and I see his pupils dilate "Don't try to escape. Don't even move. Do you understand?" Elena nods robotronically "I understand" He looks to me and nods, as if the same compulsion would work on me.
Mistake made, newbie.
I too follow suite and nod "I understand". He smiles smugly to himself and turns. As soon as he does, Elena rushes to open the door and escape. But we're dragged by the hair by a girl no younger than Jeremy. "Seriously?! Ben!" She kicks the door shut while tightening her grip on us. I twist her arm and release myself out of her hold but she still has Elena.
"I told them not to move! I did that eye thing that you taught me!" Ben shouts naively.
"And forgot the lesson about vervain!" she rolls her eyes "They date vampires, Ben. Duh!"
I frown, I do not date any vampire. I ignore the jab and point out smugly "Oh and tip for later Ben, you can only compel one person at a time". The girl scoffs and pulls me tighter against her side and I kick her in the shins.
She pushes us up against a wall and nudges the bathroom door open. Inside, is a witch I hoped would have been safe and at home. Certainly not knocked out in a bathtub of a motel.
"Bonnie!" Elena and I rush to the unconscious girl and I search for a clean cloth. Wetting one, I try to revive Bonnie. She comes around, only to be hugged tightly.
"My head... Oh my god Ben's-" I shush her gently and look to my sister. Nodding, she rushes to the tap and opens it.
Bonnie doesn't understand but she whispers "What's going on? Why are we here?"
It is then that the bulb goes off in that stupid brain of mine. What would any vampire want with a witch and the family associated with 2 vampires?
"They want to let the vampires out of the tomb" I realise.
"No!"
Just then, the door bursts open and Ben comes in, looking at the tap and then at us. Elena rushes in front of Bonnie and I come in front of them both. Ben turns the tap off and looks to me and over my shoulder.
"You're wasting your time," Bonnie states her stand defiantly "I'm not gonna help you" I smirk but so does Ben.
He holds me and Elena tightly and yanks me away from them towards the door "That's why they're here. Motivation for you to behave. You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy."
"Imbeciles have a certain glow Ben" I grit out. Ben glares at me and pushes me through the open door "Shut up. She wants to talk to you"
In the middle of the room, the girl stands smirking, "Well well. Kat and Elena Gilbert. You and your sister really are Katherine's doppelgangers. You must have the Salvatore boys reeling..."
I glare at her. I really don't want to talk about Damon, who last tried to kill my sister, nor do I wanna talk about Stefan, whose reactions confuse me.
Damn these Salvatore men!
"Who are you?" I raise a brow, not showing her my inner turmoil. I expected a snarky response, so imagine my shock when she giggles like a school girl and twists strands of her black hair "I'm Anna. Your brother may have mentioned me. I mean, we're like, practically dating..."
"Bitch" I murmur.
She shrugs and goes to the curtained window, peering out, not letting much light come in. "Bonnie's not gonna open the tomb An-"
"Oh, I think she will..."
"Do you really want Katherine out that bad?" I scoff.
"Trust me." She turns to me with a scrunched nose "No one I know wants to see that bitch again. Except Damon, the lovestruck idiot..."
"Then who is it?"
"My mother's in there..." Anna walks over to me as Ben observes me "Katherine couldn't help herself. She just had to toy around with both of the Salvatore brothers. And when she got caught, so did my mother. I watched Johnathan Gilbert take her away..."
"So?"I challenge. This is my daily game people, get up, get knocked out. And oh, play around with vampires.
"So... I think we'll skip the dead mom bonding so you can start serving a purpose-"
"Which is...?"
"Leverage" Anna states in a duh tone. She flips out a phone which is very similar to mine. I sigh and try to take it from her but she just holds it beyond her, smirking.
She calls a number which I hope isn't Jenna's. When the receiver picks up the call, Anna puts it on speaker and I hear a concerned Stefan "Hey are you o-"
I begin shouting motel when Ben cups my mouth from behind. I elbow him just as Anna puts a finger on her lips and raises her left brow in warning "She's fine. They're fine. For now. Tell me you have the grimoire and they'll stay fine..."
Elena thrashes against the vampire holding us but to no avail. Stefan cautiously answers Anna's words about the Grimoire that is apparently hot-in-demand.
Anna fixes a meeting. Ben lets out my sister and Bonnie and pushes us to the bed. Anna becomes strict, like a warden as she instructs her protegee "I'm leaving. Keep them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work. Just use violence."
Her words seem like she doesn't know I'm a Guardian.
That's good news.
"Tell me, how long have you been a witch?" Ben questions Bonnie off-handedly."Is there anything to drink here Benny?" I cut him off. I don't like him anywhere near my friend.
Ben gets up from the side of the bed and walks over to me, away from them.
"Are you offering?" his face vamps out, as if he expects me to scream like in a horror movie. I just roll my eyes and his face falls back to the normal mode "There's water on the night stand..."
I smile sarcastically "Thanks" but I don't make any move to reach out to the glass. Bonnie eyes the water and she looks to me "Hey. Can I have a sip?" my eyes furrow but then I catch her actual look.
I nod slowly and hand her the glass. I really hope we get to escape soon.
My witch friend suddenly throws the liquid onto the vampire and I see flames rising out of water. Wow.
As Ben yells, I grab Bonnie's and Elena's arms and push them towards the door. Apparently, Ben is faster at putting out flames than I took him to be. He yanks Elena back and I stumble onto the floor off balance.
"Come back in! Shut the door!" he instructs an aghast Bonnie. I shake my head but she obliges the vampire's threatening command "Don't hurt her!"
"Don't make me!"
I get up and look between Elena and Ben, and Bonnie. She deadbolts the door after shutting it hard. Elena sits on the bed, almost shaking with the close call. I motion Bonnie to sit as well and settle down beside them. My arms go around my shivering friends and I look at Ben for that one moment.
That one moment when he'd take eyes off either of us. Elena has vampire blood in her system so I wasn't going to risk it.
Ben paces lazily "Witches don't have eternal life, right? So you guys can die." I glare at the man but Bonnie just nods "Yes. We can die..."
"Sucks..." he chuckles smugly and I close my eyes. I need power. So that's what I'll get.
I concentrate on protecting the two precious lives beside me and I feel a jolt of power. Maybe it's my resolve, or maybe not. The next time, Ben comes to my side of the bed, I punch him in the torso with all my strength and when he bends down, his throat is in my grip.
Maybe fate was waiting for me to fight before she sent us help.
Because, the very next second, the door flies open and sunlight bursts through. Ben's body burns and with his, my hand too.
I grit and yank myself off the bed when I hear Stefan yell outside! . I push my sister and Bonnie to the door and stagger out of the damn motel room as Stefan stays behind, hopefully to threaten him or better yet, kill him.
▹▹▹
I sit on the couch at Grams' and apply ointment on the burn from earlier. It still isn't healing as fast as usual so I guess it has something to do with being in a witch's house.
Stefan and Elena enter the room and looks at Grams and Bonnie.
"For now, you need to stay here..." Stefan sighs as he stands amongst us all.
Elena comes to me and takes over applying the medicine. Stefan looks over an frowns but before he can ask me anything, the old witch interrupts "A prisoner, in my own home? I don't think so."
"I can't protect you if you leave the house..."
"We'll protect ourselves..." she states confidently and Stefan sighs.
"We need to let him have Katherine back. He's not going to stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it-"
"No!" Bonnie glares "He doesn't deserve to get what he wants!"
Elena looks to me and I look to our exasperated friend "What other choice do we have?"
I look at Shiela Bennett with a pleading look and she sighs "Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we tried to do to stay out of it. I'll open the tomb. You-" she looks to Stefan "-get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over." he nods thankfully.
"But we still have to get Damon to agree..." I trail off. Chances are, that he won't trust us easily in a few decades. However, my sister is far more optimistic "He already agreed once-"
I point out, once again "Yeah, and then we double-crossed him. So now... he's angry and he's hurt. Damon doesn't like to be fooled, not once, and certainly not twice"
Elena looks to me and then to Stefan "He's not angry, only hurt. There's a difference. I think... I know what I have to do...."
▹▹▹
"Cleared the debris away" Stefan states.
"And set the torches like you asked. We can get down now" I point out, holding out the torch to the Bennett witches. I can hear Duke's party in full swing now. I avoid looking at Stefan and continue going down along with the women as he follows me down.
"Are you sure that Damon will come back with her?" Grams questions me and Stefan.
I nod in affirmative.
Though no one, not even he would like to admit it, Damon has a place in himself for my sister. It scares me like hell. One wrong move around him, and Damon showed us how far he was willing to scar Elena yesterday.
I trusted Elena when she said she'll get through to the older Salvatore because if there's anyone he would listen to right now, even remotely, it has to be Elena Gilbert.
We hear a whistle behind us and Damon enters "Brother. Witches..."
He doesn't even acknowledge me. I try not to get hurt by that. He could at least be angry, but no, it has to be the silent treatment.
Behind him, Elena slowly descends and I exhale a breath I didn't know I withheld. "Are we ready?" Elena warily questions and we get going with the recipe to either disaster or disappointment.
The witches set up the elements and it's mesmerising to see them in their capacity.
Damon takes out a blood bag and hooks in a pipe "What's that?" I ask but the vampire doesn't look at me.
Instead, he looks at his brother and smiles devilishly " It's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going. Unless either of your girls will be offering a vein to tap" I glare at him and so does Elena.
Stefan does the same but looks down to the ground and walks over to Elena.
"Guys. We're ready"
They both link their hands and recite something that sounds foreign to my ears. After a few minutes, the stone door to the tomb creaks to the side.
I gasp "It worked!" I look to a smug Grams "Of course it worked".
Damon waves the jubiliance off and looks to his brother "We have some fires to build". I nod and start ascending the steps to above when I hear Stefan hug my sister while assuring her that he'll be back.
I reach for the gasoline when I hear a whoosh. Fire weapon at the ready, I whip behind to see Ben "Dark down there?" I glare but my gaze turns into horror when I see my brother unconscious on the ground.
"Thought I told you to leave" Stefan comes up behind me, glaring at the new vampire. "I considered it. Then I thought, screw you"
I step towards the man in rage when I see Anna "Well, Ben's about to make a main course out of the little brother. So, you can stop me or him. Your choice" I grit my teeth as I let her vamp down into the tomb.
"Do you really think that she cares about you? Hm? You're disposable." Stefan states.
"I don't care. She already gave me what I want-" I glare over to him from the ground where I'm kneeling beside my brother "Are you going to say eternal life? You really that stupid?" Ben ignores me and goes chest to chest with Stefan.
"You know, I've heard about you. You don't feed. You're not strong enough to beat me-" He tries to attack the older vampire but Stefan easily thrusts him down.
Angered and annoyed, I speed to the gasoline tanks, glad to have my powers.
Ben smirks at me in the semi-lit darkness "That all you got?"
I smirk back, in my true element "No. I got this" I ignite the torch of gasoline and Ben screams as he falls to the ground, far from my brother, a flaming corpse.
I smile to Stefan while he helps me lean my still-out-of-it brother against a tree.
Stefan hands me the torch again and we go down.
"Got 'em" I say but I don't see my sister anywhere. "Where's Elena?"
"Damon took her inside-"
"What!" Stefan tries to rush into the tomb but Shiela stops him, shaking her head "If you go in there, you won't come out..."
"What did you do Grams?", she doesn't answer so I rush her and ask "What did you do?"
"Vampires can enter, but they can't come out. Elena will come out. But Anna and Katherine... And Damon can't"
I gasp, breath doesn't come easily as I listen to Stefan confirm what I thought "You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?"
"I told you. I will protect my own. Elena-" she looks to me "-can get out. That's all that matters-" her words are cut off by my sister's scream.
I don't hesitate. I ignore the old witch's protest as I jump inside the tomb and rush blindly towards the source. From the torch fallen on the ground, I see Anna holding a bleeding Elena to a desiccated vampire.
Before I can act, Stefan rushes past me, pushing Anna off in anger "No!" He holds Anna down while I pull my sister as fast as I can dare.
Stefan gets up as he shouts "Go! Go, I'm right behind you" I hold the back of my sister's neck and speed out as fast as I can with her weight.
I look to Elena and hug her but her gaze goes to her boyfriend, whose stuck at the doorway of the stone tomb. I take in a sharp breath as Elena is explained what is going on.
"You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" she cries. Stefan looks down, not answering
"Oh, my God!"
I swallow the lump in my throat as he whispers "I heard you scream..."
"We can't leave Damon in there. We promised him. All of us!"
"Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long..." Grams states, clearly uneasy with the new stakes. Stefan looks to me and I nod, tears almost threatening to fall.
No matter what comes in between, we're still best friends, no matter my recent thoughts and feelings, he's my best friend. Stefan nods and rushes further into the tomb in search of his brother.
I look to the witches "Can you do it?". Bonnie looks to her grandmother, somber and hopeful "We'll try" I nod but I pull forth my hands and wait. Grams understands what I mean but Bonnie doesn't "What are you doing Kat?"
"She wants us to channel her" Grams states and I scoff "I used to listen to her drunken talks, Bonnie. A lot. So, if all that she said was true, then you both can channel from me because I'm a Guardian and what-not..." I trail off.
Grams hesitates but grabs my left hand and Bonnie follows suit. I close my eyes and focus on gathering all the power I can muster while the women chant the same spell again and again.
Iteration by iteration, I feel myself getting weaker. My chest hurts and so does my forehead.
Bonnie feels somewhat same, she gasps "Oh my God. I can't!"
"Yes, you can!" Grams shouts out.
I give in more power, it's like letting someone yank your arm tightly and it hurts like no other sting. Suddenly, my knees go weak and the link breaks off. I look up to find Stefan and Elena embracing tightly and I watch Damon stagger out, hands smeared and dotted with blood.
Staggering, I go up to find him walking deeper into the forest. "Damon..." I call out weakly and he turns "Katherine?"
I take in a heavy breath "No, no, Damon. I'm... Kat..."
I drag myself closer to him as he doesn't move from the place. I hug him, all betrayal forgotten. "I'm sorry Damon... I'm so sorry..."
I whisper as he brushes his chin onto my shoulder, holding me close. Not a sniffle escapes him and not a tear. But that's not what breaks me...
"Katherine"
▹▹▹
Bonnie and I help Grams settle into bed. She was weak, and though Bonnie could tell that, what she couldn't see was the slight limp and the deep breaths that the exhausted witch was trying to hide.
"Oh, I'm fine. You don't need to coddle me girls..." I give her a look as I pull the covers over to her waist. Bonnie searches the bed-side table for something.
"It was a big spell, Grams. I could tell it took a lot out of you. I'm go get some tea. You?" She looks to me but I shake my head, the motion bringing a whirl of colours before me.
If you thought that the hardest thing is being in pain, you're wrong. It isn't.
The hardest thing is not showing that you're in pain.
I sit down,my back to the bed, by Shiela. "How do you do it?"
"What?" she asks, confusion evident in her voice.
"Hide the pain"
She takes in a wheezing breath "When you want to save the ones you love, you'll know how to. Give me your hand..." I turn and sit on my shins, I hand her my hand without thinking why she's doing so. She smiles and caresses my fingers and I feel a jolt of feeling go through my veins.
Responsibility.
Fear.
Resolve.
I feel her going away. Far far away, and it is then I realise the true expense she paid tonight. "Grams..."I weakly nudge her side.
I stumble onto my feet "Grams. G-G-rams please... Grams!" I try to shout louder. Bonnie rushes to the bed "Grams..." she sits beside her grandmother, lying still as a stone, smiling, unbreathing
"Grams, wake up! Grams!" she shakes her harder and I hug her, crying along with her. "Elena!" she screams and my sister hugs both of us.
I leave my sister with Bonnie and stagger outside, one foot in front of another. I reach a table and hold onto it as breaths become shallow and deep and my vision blurs. The phone rings and I catch hold of it, not able to see whose number it is. I feel the surface of the wood, catching hold of something hard and cold, like glass. I hold onto it instead of the table.
Moving forward, I hold the ringing device in both my hands as I try to make the dots focus into a name. I don't know how long the phone rings and how long I stagger aimlessly. My hearing is crowded with Bonnie and Elena crying and my own inhales and exhales that become forced by the second. I really wish I could hold Bonnie in my arms. Tell her how sorry I am, that I couldn't help her Grams.
With the same intention, I turn about and follow the only light visible through my tears. There's a ringing sound again.
One foot in front of the other, I tell myself.
To Bonnie. To Elena.
Keep your eyes open. Come on.
But the next time, my ankle twists and I am thrust downwards. I welcome the darkness, hoping that the pain in me would go away.
▹▹▹
3rd person POV
The young girl rolls down the stairs and lands at the bottom with a thud at the back of the room near the kitchen. The phone in her still hand beeps and Stefan leaves a message
"Hey, uh Viv... I just want you to know that, uh, I appreciate what you did back in the tomb. And uh, have you seen my watch? I think I gave it to you before the evening, you know, for safekeeping... Anyway, tell me tomorrow... Or, uh yeah, tomorrow. Bye"
The phone beeps, signalling the end of the message.
Vibration makes the watch on the ground inch towards the fallen girl. The fading light of the phone falls on the tiny sketch of a 17 year old happy boy under the glass, just as the small pool of blood inches towards it.
▹▹▹
Elena hiccups and goes out to call an ambulance. Her brows furrow when she doesn't see or hear her twin anywhere. "Kat?" she calls out but she gets no response.
She calls the ambulance, informing them of Grams. She goes back to a crying Bonnie, still trying to look for a spell that can bring her back. "Bonnie. Bonnie! Bonnie!" she shakes her shattered friend. They both gasp for breath as they cry, hugging each other.
A phone rings and Elena wipes away her tears and looks to it's Stefan. She presses ignore and helps Bonnie calm down.
This time, another ring sounds, only, the sound is different. It's Stefan, calling Bonnie's phone. Elena picks up the phone and relays the shocking news to her boyfriend. Two minutes later, the bell sounds.
As soon as he's in the house, Stefan goes up the stairs and to the older witch. He holds her wrist, even though he couldn't hear her heartbeat.
He looks to Bonnie "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry Bonnie..." Bonnie just hiccups and buries her head into the covers near the dead witch's hand.
Stefan bows his head in respect for Sheila Bennett, a saviour, a witch, and walks out with a guilty heart.
As he nears the stairs, he smells blood.
Sweet.
Attractive.
Strong.
He breathes in and out till the urge is suppressed and rushes towards the direction of the scent. Another set of stairs lead to the back of the kitchen and in the darkness, the vampire sees the figure of a fallen girl. He jumps down and lands just beside the one person whom he couldn't take in such a state.
"Vivi!" He gasps and immediately tears into his cold wrist and places the stream of vampire blood near her still lips.
It just drips down her cheek.
Stefan panics, one of the first times in his whole life. He tries to listen for her heartbeat but there isn't any.
"Elena!" he shouts.
He places his hands on his best friend's heart and pushes with all the might he dared to push with. The twin rushes down calling for him but hears his efforts to pump the heart to life.
"O my God Kat!" she cries and rushes forward onto her knees. She couldn't lose another person she cared about. Stefan takes in another forceful breath and continues pushing both his palms towards the heart.
Her chest flops lifelessly.
"No. No no no no. Vivi!" he cries out.
He fists both of his hands now, and beats it on her chest, hoping that something, anything, similar to a semblance of life. And he hears it after one whole minute. The heartbeat is irregular, too small, but there.
Stefan tears his healed wrist open once more and puts his blood to her lips and this time, he takes in a breath of relief when the revived Guardian gulps it down in a small movement.
▹▹▹
I feel a something cold trickle down my throat and I gulp it greedily. I don't know how long I keep doing that but when I have the energy to open my eyes, the first face that I see is Stefan's.
He hugs me to his chest and I ignore the throb at the back of my head "O God! You're okay. You're okay..." he breaths in, hugging me as long as he can.
I see Elena next and we hug. But our embrace is interrupted by ambulance sirens and the bell ringing. I look with wide eyes "We need to go Vivi" Stefan picks me up and goes towards the back door. I start to protest but Elena shakes her head "I'll take care of this". I sigh and close my eyes. I'm so tired.
▹▹▹
Stefan sets me down on the Salvatore couch and I hug myself in weakness. The vampire blood has heightened my senses and I feel strength returning to me.
I look to a worried Stefan "Thank you..."
"For what? Putting you in danger?" he guilt-trips himself.
I shake my head "Uh-uh. None of that guilt. I offered to be channelled for a reason and no one can stop me. Not even you, Stefan Salvatore, the eternal broody bunny-muncher"
He sighs and settles down on the floor beside the couch as I feel sleep fighting its way to my eyes. "So?"
"So what Stefan?"
"We didn't talk about what you saw the other day... Katherine and..." he trails off.
I smile and close my eyes, "You loved her. And you feel guilty for the accidental part you played in her getting apparently locked up... No more..." I snuggle deeper into the cushions with a breath.
"You know, the funny thing is, I know that you mean good with my sister. No matter your past,no matter your future, you'll give everything up just to see her happy. That kind of love never dies Stefan...."
Before I can sleep, I murmur "I could only hope to get a man who looks at me the way you look at Elena. Good night..." I murmur and welcome the oblivion of sleep.