My Return (Vampire Diaries) (Book Seven)

Moonlight on the Bayou

I was on the road the next day, pulling over at a gas station to get gas and a phone charger. going through my bag that I had packed with my sword so that I would at least have a decent way to defend myself against Rayna, putting it in a sheath you could wear as a bag on you back so it would be inconspicuous.

I was also on speakerphone for Stefan and Damon.

"Where are you?" Stefan asked.

"South Georgia, I think. I just ditched my car and passed Grantville off the I-85."

"You just had to make a pit stop back at the boarding house before you left Mystic Falls so you could get your sword, didn't you?" Damon asked.

"I'm sorry, but the huntress that is coming after me is a maniac with a Phoenix Sword that can send me to hell. I should be able to use my sword to defend myself."

"At least your favorite weapon is actually rational for something in our lives," Damon told me. "Your sword has been seeing a lot of action lately."

"Okay, you're about to come upon Highway 27," Stefan told me. "Take it north. Eventually, you'll connect with the I-20 and want to take that west."

"And where is this leading me, exactly?"

"A safe house that's been imbued with a magical disruption spell," Stefan answered. "Valerie said that Oscar found it during his travels. Even the strongest magic can't penetrate its walls, which means Rayna Cruz's sword can't track you there. Did you find 27 yet?"

"No, I just pulled over at a Quik-Stop in the middle of nowhere."

"Tell me you're joking," Damon told me in frustration.

I picked up my phone. "My cell's almost dead. I need a charger." My phone died. I sighed, getting out of the car, pulling on the sheath bag over my back, walking into the gas station to quickly buy a charger, sighing, stepping up to the cashier's counter to get a charger. "Hi. I need to buy a charger for my phone."

The cashier turned to look at the chargers hanging on the wall behind him, setting three boxes on the counter in front of me. "Okay, we've got the brick charger... the adapter for your car... this one's solar powered. Pretty neat."

I was in a hurry, nodding, picking up one of the boxes without really looking at it. "That's fine. How much?"

"That'll be $22.50," the cashier answered. I reached for my wallet, looking up at the surveillance camera footage on the flat screen TV behind the counter, seeing Rayna parking her motorcycle and taking off her helmet behind the shop. I started to panic, running out of the gas station without paying. "Hey!"

I ran outside, turning toward my car.

Rayna was in front of me, slashing the Phoenix Sword toward me. I ducked. Rayna slashed toward me. I backed away enough to make her miss, drawing my own sword from the sheath bag on my back, twirling it in my hand to get a better grip, standing in a defensive position. 

"Is it bad that I find you curious?" Rayna asked.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"A Potential, turned into a vampire," Rayna told me. She held up the sword for me to see. "You can feel this calling out to you, can't you? It's pushing you to take a vampire life so you can turn into a Hunter. I don't know whether to kill you or let you do what the sword wants you to do. You know the kind of vampire Hunter you could be?"

"The kind that won't stop until my family and my friends are dead," I answered. "Sorry, but that's not an option for me."

"So you would rather choose death?" Rayna asked. I shrugged. "As you wish." Rayna swung the Phoenix Sword toward me. I ducked to the side slightly to make her miss, trying to stab her. Rayna kicked my leg to make me let go. I spun around, slashing my sword into her chest, making her groan in pain. Rayna tried to stab me with her sword. I swung my sword at the blade hard enough to make her spin around until she face me again, driving the sword into her stomach, making her cry out in pain, taking it out, pushing her to the ground. Rayna started to bleed out, glaring at me. "This isn't over."