If only | Damon Salvatore

016. HUNTER VERSUS PREY

Chapter sixteen

"Hunter versus prey."

A storm was rolling in, and the tension inside the room was matching the rumbling sky outside. Winnifred and Cassandra paced the floor while Damon slammed a thick piece of wood over the broken window they had jumped through.

"I say we go straight to Pearl's, bust down the front door, and completely annihilate this Frederick guy," Damon declared, spinning around to face the room.

Stefan scoffed, stepping into his path. "Yeah, and then what? We turn to the rest of that house full of tomb vampires and say, 'Oops, sorry, give us back the witch who let you out'?"

Winnifred and Cassandra raised their eyebrows in unison. "Yes," they said firmly. "Or else we kill all of them."

Elena, who had been listening from the corner, shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you three made a deal with Pearl in the first place."

Winnifred whipped her head around, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Oh, this does not concern you!" She turned her back on Elena and looked directly at Stefan. "Why is she even here? She is useless. She understands absolutely nothing about how our world works. I stood up to Pearl, she bit my granddaughter, and I still chose to cooperate to keep the peace. Now Beatrix is missing again! So please tell me, oh wise vampire, if going to that house isn't the right move, what is?"

Stefan ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Look, we need to think this through—"

"I woke up this morning to learn a coven of vampires was released from the tomb," Elena interrupted, standing her ground. "As a human living in this town, I deserve to know what's going on."

Cassandra turned a cold, menacing glare toward her. "Watch your tongue, or I will make sure you stop talking for the remainder of this conversation."

"Easy..." Stefan intervened, stepping between them.

Cassandra raised her brows, her voice dripping with rage. "Easy? My daughter is out there right now with a bunch of monsters who would love nothing more than to torture and feed on her. I am right back to the exact same nightmare I lived through the night she died. If you aren't going to give us a real plan, fine. I am not staying here." She turned on her heel and marched toward the door, Winnifred following closely behind.

Stefan took a step after them. "Where are you going?"

"Home," Cassandra called back without stopping. "We have a bloody mess to clean up since we aren't out finding my daughter." With that, she and Winnifred disappeared down the hallway, leaving the Salvatores and Elena in a heavy, suffocating silence.

When Beatrix finally woke up, she found herself trapped in the dark basement. She tried to stand, but her hands were instantly yanked back down. Looking around, her eyes went wide with panic as she realized she was chained tightly to a support pole. "No, no, no, no..." she muttered, the grim reality of her situation setting in.

Suddenly, the heavy cellar door creaked open behind her. She jumped, whipping her head around. Two vampires were dragging a struggling Stefan down the stairs. Beatrix's breath hitched as Stefan locked eyes with her.

"Beatrix..." he gasped.

The two captors forced him to his knees right in front of her. "Everything's gonna be fine," Stefan managed to tell her, trying to keep his voice steady. One of the vampires sharply yanked a wooden stake out of Stefan's chest. Stefan groaned in agony, and Beatrix winced at the sound.

The individuals continued their containment of Stefan, securing him to a pulley system that hoisted him upward, leaving him barely able to maintain his footing.