Book One: Panacea (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Thirty-Two

e Diana groans as she wakes to her cell phone ringing. She barely slept with the storm outside and her internal freak out about the 'figure' she saw. She blindly reaches for it on the bedside table.

"Please don't be X" she mumbles to herself before setting the phone to her ear. "Better be a good reason you woke me" She then sits up listening to the reply. "You have got to be kidding me!" she snaps down the line.

...............

Damon boards up the window that Frederick and Beth-Anne broke through the night before. Stefan, Diana, and Elena watch him. Diana's not happy, pretty far from it. She rubs her head and paces the floor a little.

"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night," Damon states, Diana lets out a breath.

"I can't believe I am about to say this....but...I agree with Damon" She adds, Damon looks at her surprised.

"Yeah. And then what? We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, 'Oops. Sorry?'" Stefan asks her.

"No...then we kill them, all of them" Diana answers.

"I can't believe you made a deal with her," Elena tells Damon.

"It was more like a helpful exchange of information. And it's not like I had a choice. She's...scary. Besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back.

"Of course she is. Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process." Elena counters.

"You don't have to be snarky about it." Damon comments.

"I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb. I've earned snarky."

"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

"I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities.

"Ouch"

"This isn't being very productive" Diana snaps. "We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the other vampires?" Damon leaves the room. "Or I'll just talk and everyone will ignore me?" Diana nods a little and then rolls her eyes. Stefan gives her an apologetic look as he hugs Elena.

"I'm sorry. He just makes me so cranky." Elena comments.

"I know. He makes everybody cranky." Stefan agrees.

"So, what are we going to do?"

"Damon, Diana, and I are gonna handle everything, I promise," Stefan tells Elena, Elena looks at her sister who reluctantly nods.

"Well, what about me? I can't just sit here and do nothing." Elena asks them.

"That's exactly what you're gonna do," Diana argues. "Because that's what going to keep you safe." Stefan nods in agreement.

"Which means nothing if you're not safe, too." Elena counters. "Either of you"

"What do you mean? We're perfectly safe. We have Damon, the self-serving psychopath on our side." Diana teases, Elena smirks and then chuckles a little. Stefan smiles.

"Well, that's a little comforting" Elena teases back, Diana smirks and shakes her head before she turns serious.

"Elena, I was trained for this" Diana reminds her. "It's my duty to defend this town from vampires, and right now, those tomb vampires are the biggest threat...I'm going to deal with them" Elena nods a little.

"I know, Di" She whispers softly.

.........

Diana sits in a booth at the Grill as she eats lunch and reads a book, her mind trying to figure out a way to deal with the tomb vampires, in her own way, without having to involve Elena or her vampire boyfriends. Damon slides into the booth across from Diana, she lets out a breath.