Return To Mystic Falls

Not Alone

Fog rolls in, covering the ground in a blurry haze. As I grow closer to the tomb, the rotting smell of damp earth fills my nostrils. The moon hangs low, illuminating the night sky with a yellow glow. To my left a twig snaps. From the shadow of the trees, Klaus' witch appears. She stands tall, jaw set, her eyes glowing like those of a cat caught in the headlights of a passing car.

"You won't be able to save him," she announces, slinking towards me. "Did you really think Klaus would leave him unprotected?"

Flying forward, I bring the witch to the ground, her body slamming into the damp leaves. I curl my hand around her throat, enjoying the little gasps for air as she tries to fight me off. "Wishful thinking."

The witch grunts, fighting against me. The pain begins to grow, eating away at my mind, turning my vision blurry, coloring it red. As I fight against the pain, a gun goes off. The witch's body lurches forward, the pounding in my head receding. Casting the body aside, I stand, taking in my surroundings. Matt stands before me, chest heaving, shotgun still sitting on his shoulder. Of all the people to be here right now. "What are you doing here? "

"Where's Caroline?" Matt demands, his eyes narrowing.

Sighing, I take a step forward, hands held up, trying to show Matt that I'm not the enemy here. I want everyone safe and sound back in their beds just as much as he does. "Listen, man, not a good time to play the hero."

"Where is she?" Matt cocks the shotgun, lining up the sights on my chest. "And what did you do to her?"

Lifting my hands, I let them sit by my ears. No one is going to get out of this alive if we're fighting amongst ourselves. "I'm just here to rescue Tyler Lockwood. I have no idea where Caroline is, okay." Matt's hands tremble, the clouds lifting from his eyes as I slowly walk forward, taking the gun from him. For now, I need him out of the picture. Lifting the gun above my head, I let it down hard against Matt's skull. He'll wake up with a nasty headache, confused as to why he's out in the woods. "You're lucky I already screwed up once today, or you'd be dead." Letting the remaining bullets from the gun fall to the leaves, I cast aside the weapon. Back to business.

Descending the steps to the tomb, I can hear chains rattling. Soft voices echo off the walls. As I round the corner I see them both. Caroline and Tyler chained to opposite walls of the tomb. The blonde blinks as she turns to look at me as if I'm the last person she'd expect to be breaking her out of here. "Damon?"

I'm just as surprised to see her. Katherine's claims were false. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. She's always been working for herself. Any little bit that can get her ahead. "Caroline? Your boyfriends outside with a gun loaded with wooden bullets." I squat down next to Caroline. "You have some explaining to do."

"What? Matt?"

"Matt knows about you?" Tyler questions, shifting around into a sitting position.

As I break her free, Caroline tries to explain herself to Tyler, "No, I—"

Pressing my finger to blondie's lips, I shake my head, "Shh, tomorrow's problem. Let me just get you out of here."

Caroline digs her heels into the earth as I try and push her toward the tomb exit. We need to get out of here before the moon reaches its apex and Tyler starts to turn. It doesn't matter that we're his friends or if we've saved him in the past. Once he's a werewolf he'll come after both of us. "No, I'm not leaving without him."

Of course she's not. Caroline, the werewolf lover. I hate women with big hearts. Sighing, I turn back to Tyler, "How fast can you get the hell away from here?"

"I need to get to my family's cellar. I can lock myself up," Tyler responds, not giving me a definite answer.

"I'll help," Caroline assures me.

Turning back around, I curl my fingers around the link of chain that's keeping Tyler tied to the stonewall, "Don't make me regret this."

Caroline helps Tyler to his feet, the three of us exiting the tomb. Blondie's eyes grow wide as she sees Matt lying, face down on the ground. Hurrying over to him, she gathers his face in her hands. She turns to me, angered, "Did you hit him?"

"Did you already forget the part about the gun with the wooden bullets?" Honestly, she's lucky he's not dead. I might not be the scariest beast out in the woods tonight.

As Caroline stands, Tyler begins to groan. His body twists, contorting in unnatural ways. I should have left him chained to the tomb wall. He would've transformed and broken free anyway. Now all of us are in danger.

"Tyler?"

Tyler bats away Caroline's touch, falling to the ground, "It's starting."

"Ugh," this is a bad situation turning worse by the minute. We need to get the hell out of here. "Grab wonder boy and let's go."

Caroline shakes Matt awake, helping him to his feet. Slowly, we all begin our journey through the woods. Tyler groans the whole time, grasping onto trees as his bones break and reform themselves into the structure of a wolf. Matt looks over his shoulder, feet stumbling across the muddy ground as Caroline practically drags him along the path. "Is he okay? What's happening?"

"He's gonna wolf out on us," The electronic ping of my phone prevents me from chastising Caroline any further for her soft spot for the werewolf. "Bad time, little brother."

"What the hell are you doing?" Stefan answers.

Sighing, I glance back over my shoulder. Caroline, Matt, and Tyler have all stopped walking. Tyler rolls back and forth on the ground, curled into the fetal position as he lets out howls of pain. "Saving the day. I figured you'd understand. Just tell Elena to stay put."

"She's already gone, Damon."

My heart beats in my ears, as I swallow down my stomach over and over. I must have heard him wrong. "What?"

"Klaus came. He took her," Stefan's voice is steady, emotionless. He's separated himself from the situation. He truly believes that she'll be safe, that this ludicrous plan will work. He's an idiot.

Biting back the harsh insults that my lips beg to speak into existence, I take in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, "I'll take care of it."

"Wait," Stefan's words still my hand, preventing me from ending the call. "Damon, there's more."

"What else could there possibly be, Stefan," I spit back at him.

My brother lets out a shaky breath, "Klaus wasn't alone."

"Who was with him?" On the other end of the phone, Stefan's even breathing fills my ear. I can hear the sound of his mouth opening and closing. My patience wears thin. "Dammit, Stefan, who was with him?" I growl, my question echoing off the trees.

"Diana."