ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [4]

XV • I WOULD FOR YOU

fifteen. i would for you

Mystic Falls Suburb

A currently unidentifiable young woman is walking down the abandoned local road with her hood up when suddenly, a very muscular and intimidating vampire vamp-speeds behind her before starting to follow her at a human pace from a short distance away. The woman is listening to loud music through earbuds which are connected to the phone in her back pocket, and she appears to be oblivious to the unknown man behind her.

Finally, she stops and turns around to face him, revealing that it's Deputy Penny Ares, Matt's friend, dressed in civilian clothing, "What do you want?"

"Just looking for a bite." The young, intimidating man's sharp fangs and bloodshot red eyes appear, and the lone woman feigns her fear skillfully.

She takes a step back from him, "Oh God. You're a vampire."

"And you're lunch." Before he can attack her, however, he's staked from behind by Matt, who has one of Alaric's stake-shooting guns in his hands.

Penny removes her earbuds from her ears and gives him a look before she looks down at the man, truly puzzled, "Shouldn't he be turning all gray?"

"Desiccating, you mean." Matt cocks and reloads the gun, which is still aimed at the vampire, who is now on his knees on the ground and is gasping and gagging as though the stake hit him in the lungs rather than the heart.

"Yeah, all the other ones turned gray. Unless, of course, you missed."

He frowns at her, "How many vampires have I killed in the last few days?"

His friend shrugs with a 'How should I know?' look, "A lot. But who knows how many you would have killed if you hadn't missed a third of the time?"

"He's got a thick jacket on. I can't exactly see where his heart is."

"Outerwear? That's your excuse?" Penny, with a 'Seriously?' look, pulls out her own gun and shoots him in the chest, right in the heart, killing him instantly before looking at her friend with a cocky grin, "There. All dead."

"You going to stand there and brag all day, or are you going to help me load him into the car? We got to get him out of here before the--"

Suddenly, Krystal, Damon's one-night-stand, appears behind them with at least another half-dozen of her fellow vampires standing around her, "Julian's other vampires get suspicious? Too late. You're both dead meat." Matt reaches for his stake-shooting gun, and Krystal sneered at him with a snarl, "Touch it and die. Actually, why don't you die anyway?"

Before any of the vampires can react, they're all shot down, one after another after another, by Rayna, who has her own wooden stake-shooting shotgun that she uses to kill all of the vampires. When Krystal turns around and gapes at her in pure shock, Rayna shoots her, in the heart, as well without a second thought. Matt and Penny look stunned by the sight of her, especially Matt, as she steps over their bodies to walk toward them.

The young man frowns at her, truly puzzled and shocked, "Minerva?"

"You know her?" Penny, still stunned, sighs in relief, "You saved our lives."

"Yes, I did. Which means you owe me one. And just for your information, I'm Rayna. Not Minerva. You ever heard of a vampire named Stefan Salvatore?"

Matt, processing that Minerva has another ruthless doppelgänger, looks around for a moment, clearly torn about how to answer that question.

****

Salvatore Boarding House, Stefan and Rosie's Bedroom

Rosie's cell phone rings, and she picks it up off the bedside table to check it as she remains lying on the big, comfortable bed. However, when she sees it's Enzo, she mutes the ringer and sets it back down, just as Damon walks into the big room as he pours the contents of a flask into a mug of coffee.