Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Because the Night

The nightmares were the worst, and every night it was the same. Her victims gathered in front of her, eyes lifeless and dull. Ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred voices overlapping at once. All asking why. They reached out for her, met her skin with cold hands, and pushed her into a darkness that she had never experienced. One at a time they got their revenge. And, every time, she knew she deserved it.

"Abigail!" Stefan shook her shoulders. "Abigail..."

"Stefan? Wh-"

"You were screaming."

Blinking rapidly, she stood up. "Wh-where is everyone?"

"Abigail, you need to sit down."

She couldn't catch her breath, she couldn't see straight, she was covered in sweat, and her whole body was shaking; however, she shouted, "I'm fine!"

His strong hands guided her weak figure back into bed. "Talk to me. Please."

"I can remember it all. The looks on their faces. Their voices. Their last words... I can remember them looking at me, begging me for their life, and taking it away. Most of them were innocent people. I-I-" She grabbed at her neck, sobbing, "I'm a monster! I'm a monster..."

"No, you are not. I know this stage, okay? The emotions are overwhelming you, but you can't let them crush you." He took her hands. "All you can do now is find something to hold onto."

She wasn't left alone for long, but in that time, she'd managed to do what she had to do in order to ease the nerves of everyone around her. They were still looking at her like it didn't make a difference, but she knew it did. If she let them know that, though, there would be no way they gave her any space at all.

"She's all I have left, Damon." She pushed the drink he tried to offer her back into his hands. "So, tell me why the hell you thought this was a good idea."

He shrugged. "It's only been a couple of days."

"She burned down our family home with our brother's dead body still inside!"

"Saves us the trouble of having to do it ourselves. I call that a win." He finished the drink meant for her. "Worst case scenario: I'll invoke the sire bond and tell her to turn it back on."

"Or," Stefan said as he stepped back into the room, "I could take her to school."

"That's your plan? You're gonna take her back to school?"

"Well, the fun route didn't exactly pay off, did it?"

"Got a free meal out of it."

"Look, do you think I want to go to school and play chaperone? You can't go because you're not a student." Stefan looked around the room finding that there wasn't much about it that looked lived in at all. "Besides, you've got to go look for Katherine. I mean, Elena needs this cure now more than ever."

Caroline came in from the bathroom. "Not that anyone asked me, but I think taking her back to school is a great idea."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Why are you here again?"

"Blame it on your fancy water filters. Your house has the only vervain-free showers in town."

"Oh, yeah. The mayor put vervain in the water supply." He clicked his tongue. "So many people to kill."

"And my mom says it's about to get worse, so she could use a little help."

Damon dropped his act. "Fine, I'll go after the psychotic doppelgänger. Stefan, you go talk to the Sheriff. Abigail, take your sister to school."