Potential (Book Four, The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter 11__Catch Me If You Can

While Stefan and Rebekah had gone to Shane's office to investigate and Damon was teaching Jeremy, I was at home. 

In my room, with the punching bag in my room, I was training myself. 

I hadn't done it in forever, and that was probably because of what I had found out. 

I didn't care anymore. 

Even if I did this, I wouldn't become any closer to being an actual Hunter unless I killed an actual vampire.

Just punching it heatedly, kneeing, elbowing, kicking, it was stress-relieving and making everything seem that nothing mattered.

I had started this so long ago, when I had realized that they hadn't been going anywhere, but I had mostly done it when both of them had been out of the house, so I would be alone. 

I didn't know why, but I just did better when I was alone.

I could summon all of the energy and the anger that I could to just let lose and make the repeating, never-ending blows to the bag seem effortless yet strength-packed at the same time.

I might not have been supernatural, but I was pretty strong for a human.

And at least I knew how to use a sword.

~~~~

Kol had compelled Damon to kill Jeremy. 

Stefan had saved Jeremy, bringing Damon here to the cell so that he couldn't kill Jeremy, bleeding him out.

I was leaning against the dirt mound, handling a wooden stake.

Damon stirred on the ground, groaning as he woke.

"Easy there," I told him. "You lost a lot of blood."

Damon groaned. "So you bled me out?" 

"Yeah," I answered. "I didn't really have much of a choice. Kol's compulsion is still in effect, so you need to stay locked up. We don't have any vervain, so . . .this was the only way we could weaken you." 

"You sound real torn up about it," Damon said sarcastically.

"I don't know why you're complaining," I told him. "You'll heal."

"Shouldn't we be going after Kol?" Damon asked. "Make him decompel me?" 

"Yeah, yeah, sure," I said sarcastically. "That sounds easy enough, Damon. I'll get right on that." 

Damon coughed, failing to sit up. "At least let me see Elena."

"Come on," I told him. "You know you can't do that. With the sire bond, all you have to do is tell her to let you out of here. It's too risky. It's better for Elena if you stay in here for now, at least until we find the Cure, and then once she's no longer sired and you're no longer compelled, you can both do whatever the hell you want."

Damon looked at the stake in my hands. "Why don't you put that down before you do something you regret?" 

"I'm not a Hunter, Damon, so there's no urge to kill you," I told him. "Unless you piss me off." 

"But why do you think that you're a Potential?" Damon asked weakly. "Because you've killed vampires. I don't know how on Earth Jeremy Gilbert became a supernatural vampire Hunter before you did, just to be honest." 

"Doesn't really matter, does it?" I asked. "I don't want to be a Hunter, and I never will be. Simple as that." 

"You don't really believe that, do you, Nikki?" Damon asked.

"Do you know something that I don't?" I asked.

"I know that if something happens to Jeremy before we find the Cure, Klaus wants you to be activated so we can still go on," Damon told me. "He calls you his backup plan." 

I stood. "Well, you can tell Klaus to go to hell. I'm not helping him with a damn thing." 

I walked out of the cell, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Nicola, wait," Damon told me. "Nikki." 

I looked at him through the bars. "Sorry, Damon. Not my choice, not my fault."