Humanity 3 "The Renewal"

Chapter 2

ASHLEY’S POV

I slowly open my eyes and when I do, I’m in a room I don’t recognize. I may not recognize it, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know where I am. I’m in the boarding house. I can tell by the old fashioned curtains and the antique furniture.

I remember everything. Stefan going after me, taking my necklace, compelling me to stand on the railing and not move until he told me to. I remember Damon feeding me his blood and apologizing the entire time.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” I hear his voice and I turn to the doorway. He walks over to me and hands me a glass of water.

I smile softly, sitting up in bed and bringing the glass to my lips. “How long have I been out?” I ask, my voice hoarse.

“Just since last night. You haven’t missed much, except for the fact that Elena found our map of Stefan’s massacres.” He tells me.

“How did she take it?” I sigh. I knew this would happen sooner or later.

“How do you think?” He smirks, sitting on the bed next to me. “How do you feel?”

“I’m okay.” I tell him and it’s not a lie. I actually feel pretty good.

“I didn’t want to feed you my blood…I—”

“Damon.” I interrupt him. “It’s fine. You did what you needed to do. You saved me. Thank you.” I say and I lean up to kiss him on the cheek.

“He called me.” I hear a voice in the hallway and when I pull away from Damon, Elena is standing in the door.

“What?” Damon asks her.

“Stefan called me last night.”

“What did he say?” I ask.

“He didn’t say anything, but it was him. I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call’s origin. It came from Tennessee.” She explains.

Damon rolls his eyes and stands up. “Where he’s binge drinking on the country folk. We went through this, Elena. Stefan’s gone. I don’t mean geographically.”

“If he was gone, he wouldn’t have called.”

“Elena.” Damon snaps. “Look at the facts. He’s killing people. He can’t stop. Look at your best friend.” He says and Elena’s eyes land on me.

I look up at her with sympathy. I know that Stefan tried to kill me, but I’m on Elena’s side. I’m not letting go of him that easily.

***

I lied to Damon and told him that I was meeting Caroline at the Grill. He was reluctant to let me go, but I told him I was okay. I am going to the Grill, I’m just not meeting Caroline.

Damon was with Tyler Lockwood because he was trying to stop the ritual for me. It’s my fault that he got bitten. It’s my fault that Stefan had to go to Klaus for the cure. Elena needs Stefan back. We all do and I have the information about him that she needs. Damon’s not going to like this, but I’m doing this for her.

I called Ric and he said he would help me too. Now there’s just one more thing I need to do. I walk into the Grill and I see Tyler sitting at a booth waiting for me. Here we go.

“A lot of us like to keep ourselves for the full moon, chain ourselves up. But there are some werewolves that like to gather in places where they don’t have to do that, where they can enjoy it.” He explains to me.

“What kind of places?”

“Mountains, state parks, deserts, that kind of stuff.”

“Anywhere in Tennessee?” I press.