(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Ninety-Six

At Klaus's Mansion, Rebekah clamps bear traps around Damon's wrist and hangs him from the ceiling. There is already blood on his shirt from his earlier stab wound. This is turning out to be the worst of days. He was supposed to be looking forward to having a night in with Daphne, maybe a cheeky bath together, definitely sex. Now he is being hung and likely drawn and quartered tonight instead. Much less fun.

"I found them in the shed" Rebekah informs him, as if he cares where the bear traps come from. "What kind of monster would trap a poor, defenceless animal?"

"You've got to admit, even for me, it's a little kinky" Damon snarks slightly as he pulls at the bear traps, testing them, but there is no way for him to get out of them without utterly shredding his arms and hands. Rebekah picks up a knife from the table near the wall and then walks around Damon.

"You rejected me," She tells him. "And that hurt.....So I've decided to bleed the vervain from your system" She rips open his shirt and cuts Damon's chest with a knife. He groans in pain.

"You want to compel me to be your boyfriend?" Damon asks and scoffs a little. That is ridiculously ironic considering his earlier behaviour with Caroline.

"Actually, I'd rather compel you to kill your brother. Or Daphne. But, since vampires heal, bleeding you may take a while. We should probably stick to the major arteries" Rebekah cuts Damon's neck, he bleeds profusely. Klaus enters the room and slows when he realises what his sister is doing and who she is doing it too. He knows enough to be worried about Daphne facing them head-on should she come for him, but at the same time, one of his enemies is strung up like a turkey for carving.

"Well... look what you've caught" Klaus comments. "If you're trying to bleed him of vervain, don't you think it would be easier to hang him upside down?" Klaus motions with his hand.

"I'm perfectly capable of inflicting pain, thank you very much" Rebekah argues.

"Well, excuse me, it's not like I have any expertise in the matter" Klaus rolls his eyes sarcastically, Damon rolls his eyes because he doesn't want to listen to them bickering like an old married couple, that's just creepy and weird.

"You know, why don't you just leave me be and go and manage your witch" Rebekah pushes for Klaus to leave. She wants to do this herself. She wants to not have him hovering over his shoulder. Klaus grins and leaves. Rebekah turns back to Damon. "Hmm, where were we?"

......

At the boarding house, Stefan stands at the front doors looking down at his phone when Daphne approaches him with her jacket. She wants to get going. Wants to go and get Damon back from Rebekah. They've been pushed around by these people long enough. The Originals have a hold on them, and every day it is getting stronger. They need to do something about it.

"Matt texted me and said Finn is still in the Grill. We need to plan our next move" Stefan tells Daphne who frowns as she pulls on her jacket. That is not what she was thinking about doing next. Screw Finn. She wants to go after Damon before Rebekah does some real damage to his beautiful face.

"Rebekah has Damon; our next move should be finding him" She scolds Stefan.

"No, we need to stay on point. See an Original, kill an Original. That's the plan" He argues.

"Yeah, that was the plan before Damon's life was hanging in the balance" She counters.

"Look, Daphne, I understand that you're concerned about my brother's life, but if he even knew, for one second, that we were talking about missing a chance to kill these people he would lose his mind"

"Yeah, and if the roles were reversed he would stop everything to save you" She points out, he lets out a breath and shakes his head.

"I know what my brother would want"

"What he would want and what we should do are two different things" She counters. "We can't leave him with her...."

"You gonna help me with this or not?" Daphne stares at Stefan, scornfully and shakes her head. She is sticking to her own plans. She is going to save Damon with or without Stefan's help here. "Okay, I'll figure it out myself." Stefan leaves, slamming the door shut behind him. Daphne lets out a breath.

......

In her bedroom, Daphne drags her trunk out from against the wall and flips the lid open. She is not going to infiltrate Klaus' mansion, where she assumes Rebekah has taken Damon, without making sure she knows what she is doing. What she can do. They have to assume that someone will come for Damon. And Rebekah isn't as stupid as people might think. She knows Daphne will come. She has to know it. She grabs a travel potions bag from the trunk and stands. Then she pulls the bag strap over her head before she moves to her dresser and the shelf above it where there are rows and rows of potions. Her eyes scan over them, her fingers tapping on the labels as she looks for which ones to take with her. Which ones might just be useful in this situation. She grabs a few, sliding them into her bag before she leaves. She can't risk apparating into the mansion from here. She doesn't know what Klaus or Rebekah are in the house, she might end up popping up in front of them. That will be a short fight. Infiltration is going to be her best option. Silent. Sneaky. Which she can totally do.

......

Back at Klaus' Mansion, Damon is weak and still in the trap. Blood has dried on his skin, his wounds have healed but the blood is proof they still happened. He keeps his head hung low as he breaths slowly. He hears someone approaching him and lifts his head to see a dark figure entering the room. He shifts his head, trying to clear his vision. To get a proper look at whoever it might be. But it doesn't take him long to figure out who it is. The orange aura to them. Daphne. And he instantly feels panic swell inside of him. The thought of her putting herself in harm's way. In Klaus' way.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asks, pulling at the bear traps on his hands. Trying to free himself with more fervent now. "Rebekah will kill you"

"Then hurry up and just tell me what to do" Daphne counters as she reaches him. Damon looks up at his wrists, trapped in the bear traps.

"Open them. Carefully" Daphne pulls her wand from her sleeve and touches the tip to the bear trap, drawing it around the metal. It clicks open and Daphne grabs Damon, holding him up while she opens up the second one. Damon is too weak to move on his own, so Daphne has to hold him up as they walk away. She does her best, but she is one person and he is putting all of his weight on her.

"We get out of this and you need to go on a diet" She comments, he snorts and then groans, pained. Damon starts to fall over and Daphne urges him on. "Come on, come on, we have to keep going" They make it through the door when Damon collapses on the floor, Daphne falls down next to him. He pushes at her, Wanting her to just leave him and go. She rolls her eyes and grabs his arm. "I am not going to leave you" She promises as she helps him back up to his feet. He tumbles again. Too weak to stand now. Daphne lets out a breath and lets him down so she can pull up her sleeve. "Here" Daphne holds her wrist to his mouth. "Drink" Damon bites her wrist and starts to feed. After a while he stops and looks at Daphne. He moves in toward her, shifting on his knees till he is at her side, fingers turning her face so he can press his forehead to hers. She sighs and leans into him. He shifts so he can kiss her, only she is not actually there. None of it happened. It was all a daydream set into this head. Damon is still stuck in the trap. He should have realised. Firstly, because he's seen her use the unlock spell before, and she didn't. And secondly, she could have just apparated them away. And she didn't. He should have realised it wasn't real. He hears footsteps approaching. Rebekah.

"Uh, you bitch"

"It's not fun when someone messes with your mind, is it?"

"Actually, I was having a pretty good time in there." Damon counters with a small smirk. Trying to make light of the whole situation.

"Mmm, well I hope you were nicer to Daphne than you were to me" Rebekah counters.

"Oh, come on, I couldn't have hurt you that bad. You didn't really think I would have a thing for you, did you?" Damon asks her, whilst laughing, mocking her. Rebekah looks hurt. "I get it. If Klaus bossed me around for a thousand years, I'd probably be pretty desperate for attention too" Rebekah stabs Damon in the stomach and he screams.