Some strong language. Enjoy! 💜
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It had been a few hours since Stefan left to find Vicki and in that time Darcy sat with Elena and Jeremy in the lounge, she made them all a coffee and now she tells them how she became a hunter.
She had told Elena, despite her protests she would be informing Jeremy how the supernatural are real. The protectress would feel better knowing her family were safe and in the know of how they could protect themselves from nasty lurking bloodsuckers who have the displeasure of manipulation with the likes of compulsion.
Jeremy sat on the floor, his back rested against to couch with a face of disbelief. "So you're telling me vampires are real? Drink human or animal blood, can compel and be killed by a stake to the heart, decapitation, desiccation, sunlight, fire and heart extraction..." He trailed off. There was too much to take in at one time.
He couldn't quite grasp the new information his sister was giving him. Before tonight he wouldn't believe any of this were real and continue with a mythical belief of them being fantasy stories. Not only that but he couldn't allow anyone entry into the house in case they were a vampire, he would have to wear jewellery containing or ingest a herb called vervain, which protects humans from being compelled.
Darcy sat on the couch behind him, running her hand through his unkempt hair. She does this when he's worked up. "Yeah, all real Jer. I know this must be hard to take in, and I know I should have told you sooner, but please believe me when I say Dad didn't think it was required yet. I mean I've never encountered a vampire until a few weeks ago."
Elena's face scrunched up in confusion, "But I don't get why to train you to become a supernatural hunter. I mean, you only came along when you was seven." She pointed out.
Darcy stared into the distance, not really wanting to discuss her traumatic past but knew she needed to, to help them understand.
"You both know about my real parents...what they did to me... I was just a child, and they did the one thing parents should never do to their child. They were supposed to love me, not abuse me. If it weren't for dad, I wouldn't be here. I could have been dead if I stayed at their hands any longer."
She didn't want to talk about that dark period in her life; every time she thought back, the darkness would creep in and threaten to drag her down.
Elena rubbed her shoulder, her eyes mist over at the thought of her sister going through that misery. "I'm sorry." She spoke softly.
They may have their differences, often have arguments, but that doesn't stop the love they have for each other, that goes for all the Gilbert family.
Jeremy tilted his head back on his older sister's knees, meeting her gaze as she feels his movements. He squeezed her knee, giving her the strength to continue forward. The Gilbert boy has always admired her bravery and how over time she's become this strong young woman, and even with her flaws to Jeremy, she'll always be his rock.
"No, it's okay it is time for you both to know... So, do you remember my angry outbursts?" They nod and grimace, both have witnessed the explosions, they can get a bit...bloody.
"I would lash out with violence...A little hurricane dad used to call me." Not much has changed in that aspect she's still violent, but Greyson taught her how to channel that aggression.
"At first he signed me up to Archery classes when I turned ten, while you would go out with mum and Jenna, he would be teaching me how to shoot a bow and arrow. From that point, I trained in combat and excelled further in my archery skills. I guess he saw my potential and had me advance beyond that."
She briefly explained when she was twelve how Maranda had caught her snooping through the closet, coming across many of their family journals. Maranda had told Grayson, and he went on explaining her the story of Jonathan Gilbert and how from him there's a long line of supernatural hunters. There was only ever one female hunter, and Grayson wanted the bring more of the females into the linage, starting with Darcy.
She left out the part John was also involved somehow, and he would at times often join in on the training sessions.
Darcy chuckles of the fond memories, and her heart clenches wishing their parents were still here, maybe they would do a better job of protecting the family. She can't help but feel like a failure, the one species she's meant to dispose of are currently mingling with her family. Maybe there's time to back out and pull out there hearts before the night is over.
~
Darcy left them to absorb the information and went to finish cleaning the dishes; It did not take long for her siblings to join and help with the cleaning.
"Maybe we should check on Matt," Jeremy suggested as he handed Darcy a dirty plate from the pile.
"Already did, he said he hadn't seen her," Darcy commented.
"He'll call when he finds her," Elena mumbled, as she dried the cutlery.
"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Jeremy voiced feeling disheartened.
"We wait," Elena said firmly. "We are supposed to wait."
Darcy put the dish she was about to clean and held Jeremy by his shoulders, remaining steady eye contact. "I can go look for her if you want me to. I only stayed to make sure you were okay." She spoke softly, kneading his tense muscles.
Jeremy thought for a second before agreeing. "Yeah, you look for her and please make sure she comes back safe." He pleaded in a low whisper only his older sister could hear.
Darcy nodded, removing herself and grabbing her leather jacket off the kitchen chair. She slipped it on, not bothering with zipping it up, then picked up her crossbow and her keys, walking towards the front door and ignoring Elena's calls about where she was going.
Before she has a chance to open the door, the doorbell rang. The siblings paused before the eldest opened, thinking it could be Matt or Stefan with news about Vicki.
The person on the other side was neither...it was Damon. Elena rushed forward, pushing her sister out of the way thinking her she would get hurt and tried to shut the door, but Damon was too strong, shoving his foot through the door and inside.
"Jer, go upstairs, please," Elena insisted. She didn't want the vampire anywhere near her brother.
Damon smirked at Darcy, briefly glancing at Elena who attempted to put on the brave act. He wasn't interested in her, his gaze fastened back onto the protectress.
"Well, look who's finally turned up, huh? You've seemed to have lost something." Darcy smirked, her eyes twinkling with glee. "The pet shelter is on the other street; maybe you'll find your pet there."
Damon rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and looked down at Elena's defensive face. "You're afraid of me," He quipped unaffected. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Stefan finally fessed up."
"Stay away from us," Elena demanded with a fierce glare.
"Hey, there's no need to be rude," Damon chastised. "I'm just here for Darcy...and looking for Stefan...May I come in?" He laughed sardonically. "Oh, wait. Of course, I can. I've been invited in."
He smirked at Darcy as he stepped further into the house, shutting the door behind him. Darcy stayed rooted in her place, pushing Elena behind her, knowing her mouth would get them into shit.
Damon looked around using his senses to detect Stefan and found he was not in the house. He turned to the sisters and was amused when Elena recoiled away from him. He locked his gaze on her quivering form, aware of Darcy stepping into his space.
"We can cut to the chase if you want." He said casually. "I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda." His stare turned into a glare. "Where is Stefan?"
Darcy motioned with her hand behind her back, warning Elena not to speak. "He's out looking for your stray pet... You know the one where you snapped its neck?"
Damon rolled his eyes. "Don't look at me with those sparkling eyes." He stepped closer, getting into Darcy's personal space, face inches away from hers. He silently admired her fire when she didn't jerk away intimidated or afraid.
"The girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her."
"Is that before or after she kills Mystic Falls residents?" Darcy shot back raising a defined eyebrow, daring him to disagree. They both knew what would happen if they let Vicki run rampant.
They locked down on an intense staredown, refusing to let the other be a triumph. Both were far too egotistical to back down.
That was until Elena opened her big mouth.
"Did you thank Katherine?" The brunette glanced between the two, not appreciating how Damon gazes at her sister with lustful glances.
"Elena!" Darcy admonished, face calming herself at the girl's stupidity. Does she want them to get eaten alive?
She glanced over her shoulder, meeting Damon's shocked face and was sure she saw pain flicker through his usual mirthful appearance. But then his smug attire resurfaced like he knew something they did not.
"Mmm," Damon hummed. "Got the whole life story, huh?"
Elena scowled at him. "We got enough."
Darcy shot her a look to keep her mouth shut before her body ends up drained of blood.
"Oh, I doubt that." He said, shrugging casually.
Darcy pondered what he meant by that. Was there something else they did not know? Her razor-sharp eyes tracked Damon's movements as he moved and walked towards the door.
"Tell my brother that I'm looking for him," He went step out of the house, only to pause and look at the girls. "Oh, tip for later. Be careful whom you invite in the house."
Then he unexpectedly grabbed Darcy and sped them out of the house.
🖤💜🖤
Darcy and Damon appeared in the old cemetery, him dropping her onto the muddy ground.
"What the hell?" Darcy huffed whipping the damp leaves off her bottom. "Why did you bring me here, Damon?"
Damon walked ahead, "Oh so, you know, help me look for Vicki." He said nonchalantly trudging through the dark graveyard.
"Ha, yeah, no that's not happening. You got yourself into this mess. You can clean it up." Even though she said that she followed behind, crossbow raised at the ready.
While they were bickering about who's going to find Vicki first, a gunshot rang out. Damon was back at Darcy's side, picking her up and speeding over to the sound. Where they found Stefan further inside the cemetery, lying on his back, his chest pulsing with blood.
"Oh shit, man down!" Darcy called out jumping from Damon's arms and ran over to Stefan's pained form. She dropped to her knees to stop the bleeding, not knowing what was happening. Then another gunshot sounded.
She let out a pained cry, feeling a bullet shoot into her shoulder. "Ahh! What the fuck." She fell forward on top of Stefan who let a pained grunt. She wheezed panting heavily, rolling twice off him, so she wasn't hurting him and on to her front.
"Darcy!" Stefan rasped breathlessly. He looked down around them, there was blood everywhere, soaking his clothes and pooling around Darcy's slackened form. He couldn't focus on anything other than the sounds of Darcy's cries and Damon biting Logan Fell. Then Damon was at his side, digging his hands into his brother's chest and tearing out a bullet.
"It's wood. They know. If anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me...My ring—," Damon trailed off. He stood up, staring with wide eyes at the female hunter, watching in disbelief as a pained tear slid down her face. "Shit. Don't tell me she got shot too!"
He rushed over, examining for bullet holes, he found none on her front.
"Her back!" Stefan yelled once he gained back the feeling of his body once the wound had healed. He bolted forward.
"Ahh, you twatface!" Darcy let out a pained whine, swearing them to oblivion while he rolled her onto her side, displaying the bullet lodged in her right shoulder.
"This is gonna hurt like a bitch." Damon warned, giving her no time before ripping out the bullet.
"Fuck! You bastard that kills!" Darcy cried out with gritted teeth; her eyes sprinkled from the sheer pain searing through her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, you can cry about it later... Come on. We need to find Vicki." Damon said, sitting her up. He bit into his wrist and shoved it in front of her face. "Come on, princess drink up it will heal you."
Darcy looked between the Salvatore brothers and hesitated. She knew that if she drank Damon's blood, and if something were to happen within 24 hours, she would turn into a vampire. Her mind flashed back to her family who was most likely shitting themselves with worry, then next the protectress was sealing the deal, consuming the blood.
She'll protect them until her last breath, human or not.
Once Darcy was healed the two vampires helped her up knowing absorbing blood can induce headaches. Stefan returned Damon's ring.
Just as he was putting it on, they heard slurping. They turned around seeing Vicki drinking Logan's blood.
"No! No! Vicki!" Stefan yelled and sped over as she pulled away from Logan's body.
"I'm sorry," Vicki said, wiping the blood off her mouth and running away.
"Well, this is just freaking great," Darcy said, throwing her arms up in frustration. Then she whipped to Damon, who had an 'oh shit' look on his face. "I told you what would happen, didn't I Damon? I said I would shove a stake up your ass and seeing how I probably won't be successful; I'll do this instead."
Damon watched perplexed as Stefan stepped away, seeing Darcy pick up her crossbow off the floor. "What are you doing?"
"This." She pulled back the string and released, watching as the contraption shot out the embedded arrow and struck Damon in his thigh right next to his groin.
"Ahh, fuck what the hell?" Damon yelled, feeling the arrow burn into his flesh. He ripped it out, gasping heavily and snapped the offending metal stick in half. "Vervain?...you've laced them with vervain." He shook his head in disbelief.
"Mmm. Next time I won't miss on purpose." Darcy smiled sweetly and turned on her heels, walking through the cemetery. She called over her shoulder to the brothers. "Have fun babysitting."
She left them to clean up their mess. Maybe they would learn their lesson? Darcy laughed to herself because like that was likely.
~
Wow! 600 views! Thank you so much for all of your reads and votes. I never imagined gaining so many in just a week! 😭♥️
P.S...I struggled with this chapter if any of you lovely readers see any mistakes, could you kindly point them out? Thank you! 💜
Next update should 'hopefully' be on Wednesday! I'm still judging for two separate contests. I will try and fit in a new chapter.