Reverse Psychology (Book Three Zach's Daughter Series, TVD)

Chapter 11__Our Town

Damon, Stefan and I were walking up to the witch house.

Stefan looked at Damon. "You didn't say anything to Elena about the coffins, right?"

"No, I said I wouldn't," Damon answered.

"I know what you said," Stefan said.

"Why are you asking?" Damon asked.

"Because protecting the location of Klaus' family is my number one priority right now," Stefan answered. "And the fewer people who know, the better."

"Right," I said sarcastically. "That's why you told Bonnie and us."

"I didn't tell you two, Nicola," Stefan reminded me. "You stumbled in on it and wanted in."

"And the only reason we even know they're here is 'cause you let us see them," I replied.

Stefan gave me a look. I smiled.

"Now I know how annoying yet amusing it is when Nikki and I have our fights," Damon said.

Suddenly, both Damon and Stefan just stopped walking.

I stopped walking, looking at them. "What?"

~

Stefan was inside with Bonnie to tell her to be quiet while the hybrid stepped out on the porch, turning to the left and seeing me.

His face started to turn, his eyes glowing gold like a werewolf's, but veins underneath like a vampire, about to attack me.

I wasn't worried. At all. My head tilted to the side in boredom, my hands in my jacket pockets.

Damon stood behind him, ripping his heart out through his back.

Stefan stood in the door as the hybrid's dead body fell.

"These hybrids, really bringing the neighborhood down," Damon said, throwing the hybrid's heart to the ground.

~

Bonnie had left, but I watched as Damon repeatedly hit a shovel against the closed coffin.

"You're wasting your time," I told him. "It won't open. Did you bury the body?"

"Yeah," Damon answered. He looked behind me as Stefan walked in. "Any sign of our little hybrid buddies?"

"Nope, just the dead one," Stefan answered.

"All right, Klaus has six siblings," I said. "Rebekah is now with Klaus. There was one dead kid in the old world, one dead kid in the new world, which leaves Elijah and two others. Three sleeping Originals, four coffins. So, who is in the locked box?"

"No idea," Stefan . "But whatever is in here, Bonnie seems to think will help us kill Klaus. So, the sooner she can get this open, the sooner we will know if she's right."

"Oh, you think the spirits of a bunch of dead witches that can make the coffins invisible would have figured out how to open one," Damon said, his head tilted toward the ceiling, but the spirits didn't respond. "Fine,  don't help."

"You know, none of this is gonna do us any good if Klaus' hybrid friends find our hiding place, right?" Stefan asked. "They need to go away."

"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea, Stefan," I said sarcastically. "Why don't you just ask them to pack their bags and take a long rest while we're at it? How about try to keep the peace? Don't attract attention to the real thing we are trying  hide."

"Well, I'm not gonna play defense when I have what Klaus wants," Stefan told us. "He does what I say, or I dump his family to the bottom of the ocean."

"And then he kills you and everyone you know, like, I don't know . . . us!" Damon said.

"No, he's bluffing," Stefan said. "His family means more to him than anything."

"You sure about that?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know, Nikki," Stefan replied. "I mean, I guess there's only one way to find out, right? Call his bluff."

"The only way to call someone's bluff, Stefan, is to be willing to lose everything if you're wrong," Damon said.

Stefan smiled, walking away, leaving, ignoring our words.

He was willing to lose everything.

All for revenge.

~

I wasn't part of the Council, hell, no, but I was at the party to donate some well-needed money to rebuild Wickery Bridge.

I was looking at the model on the table.

Carol Lockwood stood next to me. "Never thought I'd see the day you'd attend a Founder's Party."

"It's not for the party, for the fundraiser," I said. "My mom used to take me on the bridge when I was little, sit on the hillside, watching the river tide." I looked at her with a head tilt. "Feel like I just need to pay a little debt to fix the bridge."

"Well, that's very kind, Nicola," Carol told me. "You sound just like your father."

I smiled a small smile. "He'd do something about it, too. So it feels like I kinda half to."

"Well, you might just be the third major benefactor for us tonight," Carol told me. "Damon, Klaus . . ."

"Klaus?" I repeated skeptically.

"Mm-hmm," Carol answered. "He's willing to help and protect this town if Damon and you both can get Stefan under control, to find his family."

"Okay, this conversation is over," I said, already starting to walk away.

Stefan wasn't gonna be able to get under control, and he wouldn't give back his family.

He even kidnapped Elena to get to Klaus, for him to send the hybrids away.

All for revenge.