Fic: A Vampire's Policy [Vampire Diaries | R | Elena/Damon | 22/?]
[Rises from the deep] I'll bet you never thought you'd see this again, but my muse seems to have dragged itself back onto its knees again :-P
Title A Vampire's Policy
Author: jinxed_wood
Characters/Pairings: Damon /Elena, ensemble.
Rating: R
Category: Drama
Spoilers: All of season one.
Warnings: There be smut, blood and vampires, in no particular order...
Show/Bookverse: Show
Summary:Stefan reignites his hunger for human blood, Elena tries to hold on as she deals with being turned, and Damon ensures he gets his own way...
Previous parts: PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX | PART SEVEN | PART EIGHT | PART NINE | PART TEN | PART ELEVEN | PART TWELVE | PART THIRTEEN | PART FOURTEEN | PART FIFTEEN | PART SIXTEEN | PART SEVENTEEN | PART EIGHTEEN | PART NINETEEN | PART TWENTY| PART TWENTY ONE
PART TWENTY TWO
When Elena awoke, it was to a mind numbing hunger. Her skin burned hotly, as if it had been slowly flayed, and she felt her back stick painfully to the sheets beneath her. The metallic tang of her own blood filled her mouth. She couldn't move; her arms and legs were chained tightly to the iron frame bed that was obviously bolted to the floor, and she could still feel the Vervain sit heavily in her veins
Katherine’s voice filled the room. “Humans call it death by a thousand cuts. Not that bleeding out can actually kill a vampire, but it isn't pleasant. Are we thirsty yet?”
Elena twisted her head to follow the voice, and schooled her face to show nothing. Something told her it was important not to show fear. “What's the point of all this? I thought you'd rather me dead” she asked, her voice hoarse from dryness, as she spotted Katherine sprawled on a chaise lounge backed up against the far wall. There were no windows, Elena realised, and she couldn't hear beyond the four walls. They must be underground.
“My, my, I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head,” Katherine said, amused. “I wouldn't get any ideas. They're not going to find you in time.”
“In time for what?”
“Why, In time to save you,” Katherine said. “And the town, of course, but that's neither here nor there.” She got to her feet, smiling mischievously, and Elena shuddered. How was it they looked so alike? She knew they were related, but their identical looks were eerie.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
Katherine smirked. “What can I say, I miss my maker,” she said.
“Your maker?” Elena echoed.
“Oh, didn't you know?” Katherine said. “The founders of this town killed him and then buried him in this godforsaken place. They were such hypocrites. They called us unnatural and evil, but they didn't even blink when they coerced their pet witch into using him in their ritual. The life of a vampire, and the lives of a member of every family on the council.”
Elena frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Did you ever ask Damon how his mother died?” Katherine asked lightly. “He was very fond of her, you know, and he was devastated when she died. His father told him it was a bad flu or something - people died from that sort of thing then - but it wasn't the flu. Damon's father strapped her to a bed, not unlike the one you're tied to now, and made my maker drain her dry. They kept him alive for many, many weeks, starving him in between feeds and, then, when he'd drained exactly six founding family members, they had their witch kill him and bury him under this godforsaken town. He was to be their protection, you see, from all those things that go bump in the dark. A pity for them it didn't go as planned. I guess Lockwood should have mentioned the whole werewolf bloodline thing - it left quite a gap in their spell walls.”
“This is crazy,” Elena said quietly.
“No, Elena, this is history,” Katherine said. “And guess what? It's repeating itself.” She stood up and Elena could pick out the sound of feet on the other side of the door. Katherine caught her reaction and smiled.
“I've already got your first meal ready - a Lockwood, as luck would have it, “ she said, as she leaned over Elena and unlocked her chains. Elena hissed with pain, her eyes swerving to the door as it opened. A woman Elena didn't recognise dragged a half unconscious Tyler though the door.
“Bon appetite,” Katherine as she sauntered towards the door. “I'll be back to pick up the leftovers later.”
Elena felt her hunger rush through her as the two heartbeats filled the room. There was no way she could control it, she had lost too much blood. She felt something inside her flinch at the thought of killing Tyler, even through the vervain induced haze, but the woman was fair game. Gritting her teeth, she ignored her weakness and pain, and and rolled off the bed, crouching as she eyed her target. She felt her teeth lengthen, and the now familiar tightness around her eyes as the need to feed ran through her.
She sprang.
And howled with pain, missing her target as her mind exploded.
“Don't bother even trying,” the woman said lowly, her voice knifing through the pain. “You're too young to fight me.”
“Witch,” Elena gasped out.
“My, my, aren't you a bright little vampire,” the woman said. “Try not to spill too much blood on the floor, it's a bitch to clean up.”
She heard the heavy clang of the steel door, and was eventually able to open her eyes as the witch's hold loosened. Tyler was strewn on the floor before her, laid out like a buffet. Elena bit back a sob as the hunger rushed through her. She looked away, curling her hands into fists, letting her nails bite into her palms; the pain failed to break the spiralling need to feed. On the floor, Tyler groaned, and Elena's head snapped around, following the sound.
“I'm so sorry,” she told him, and then her mouth latched onto his throat.
~~~*~~*~~*~~~
“Do we have a plan?” Stefan asked lowly, as he followed Damon into the basement..
“We find Katherine, kill her, and rescue Elena,” Damon said succinctly.
“That's a directive, not a plan,” Stefan said dryly. "I was hoping for something a little more specific."
Damon whirled on him, glaring. “If you have a better idea, feel free to share,” he said.
“Well, we could try to delay her,” Stefan said quietly. “The spell requires her to feed a member of each founding family to Elena before killing her. All we need to do is make sure she doesn't get to one of the families.”
Damon halted. “Liz's family is the smallest, easiest to protect,” he said thoughtfully.
“If that's the reasoning you're going to with,” Stefan said, with a smirk.
Damon eyed him “Spit it out,” he said.
“Nothing. I'm just not used to seeing you being protective of your friends - or even having friends,” Stefan said.
“Don't start making assumptions, brother, you know how well that worked out for us last time.”
Stefan gave him a wry look. “I'll try to restrain myself.”
“Speaking of restraint,” Damon drawled. “We have the feeding thing under control?”
“It's not an issue.”
Damon gave him a long look, before shrugging. “Okay, it's your funeral,” he said. They reached the bottom of the narrow steps, and Damon pushed open the door. Their small crop of Vervain grew in the corner, and it was getting more meagre by the day. He'd have to look into planting a fresh crop, but for now... “Where are the gloves?”
Stefan produced a pair of heavy duty leather gloves from a drawer and tossed them at him. “We're going to need more than vervain to slow Katherine down, especially if she has back up - and she always has back up.”
“And again, we're back to the part where I ask you if you have a better plan,” Damon said.
“I might,” said Anna's voice, and Damon turned to see her leaning against the door jamb.
“Eavesdropping, were we?” he asked.
“I thought it might be in my best interests,” she said, as side stepped into the room. “So this is your batcave, huh?” She eyed the vervain. “Complete with your own stock of Kryptonite.”
“I think you might be mixing your comic book references,” Stefan said dryly.
“Whatever,” she said. “The point is, Stefan has a point.”
“Hold the presses,” Damon said. “A new dawn has...dawned.”
“Aha..ha,” Stefan said.
Anna rolled her eyes. “What I'm saying is Katherine is not going to fall for the same trick twice, so I wouldn't bother with the vervain. What we need is bait. Something she needs so badly, she'll try anything to get it ...including walking into something she suspects is a trap - and she will suspect it.”
Damon crossed her arms. “I'm listening.”
“The witch,” Anna said. “She's the weak spot. They're rare and hard to come by, and the only local alternative is sitting upstairs. I say we check out this place, get the witch alone, and take her.”
“Not if she takes us down first,” Stefan said.
“She can't take us all down," Anna said. "And we'll have Bonnie running interference.”
“She won't be happy with us killing the other witch,” Stefan said.
“Who said anything about killing her?” Anna said. “We trank her, and keep her prisoner here. It'll be only a matter of time before Katherine comes looking, and we'll be waiting for her on home ground.”
“What aren't you telling us?” Damon asked.
Anna made a face “We're going to have to convince Bonnie to use the spell her grandmother used in order to trap Katherine - the one that lets a vampire in, but doesn't let it out again.”
“The spell that killed her grandmother you mean,” Stefan said flatly.
“I get that,” Anna said. “But lets be blunt here. Bonnie's grandmother was getting on in years, and that played a large factor in her death. Bonnie is young. She should be okay.”
“Or,” Damon said. “We don't use Bonnie at all, but get the other witch to do it. She is disposable anyway.”
“Why would she do that?” Stefan asked.
“Because she wants to live,” Damon said.
“This could go so wrong,” Stefan muttered.
Damon slapped his hands together. “Right, we've got a plan,” he said, a shade too cheerily. “Alaric and Gilbert will cover Liz and her family, and the rest of us will get the witch.”
“What about Jeremy?” Stefan asked.
“Oh come on, we both know there's no way in hell he'll agree to being left behind,” Damon said. “We'll make him our designated driver.”
“Because that worked out so well last time,” Stefan said.
“You think Gilbert will go along with this? Elena is his daughter, after all.” Anna said, “He may not appreciate being shunted off to protection duty.”
“One of Elena's parents on this witch hunt is more than enough, don't you think?” Damon asked. “And I know Isobel better than Gilbert, it's easier to read her.”
“Okay,” Stefan said, nodding. “Lets do it.”
“I'll tell Jeremy,” Anna said, making for the door.
“Wait,” Damon said, catching her arm. “First, I want a promise from you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The resurrection spell,” he said slowly. “I read the small print. Elena would work for your Mother, too... all you would need to do is feed Gilbert to her and then stake her as part of the ceremony.”
“The blood of both lines making a bridge between the living and the dead,” Anna said. “I'll admit it, it did occur to me...for all of two seconds. Then I remembered that my mother would never forgive me if I did that. It wasn't her way.”
Damon looked at her, and she looked back steadily.
“Hmm,” he said, letting her arm go.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said dryly.
“Nothing personal,” he said. “I'm just making sure we all know where we stand.”
Stefan turned to him, as soon as she was out of hearing range. “Do you believe her?” he asked.
“I believe she means it right now,” he said. “But that might change.”
“Another thing to worry about,” Stefan said.
“We'll put it on the list,” Damon said, as he threw the gloves back into the drawer. "But for now, lets catch us some witchy bait."
PART TWENTY THREE
Title A Vampire's Policy
Author: jinxed_wood
Characters/Pairings: Damon /Elena, ensemble.
Rating: R
Category: Drama
Spoilers: All of season one.
Warnings: There be smut, blood and vampires, in no particular order...
Show/Bookverse: Show
Summary:Stefan reignites his hunger for human blood, Elena tries to hold on as she deals with being turned, and Damon ensures he gets his own way...
Previous parts: PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX | PART SEVEN | PART EIGHT | PART NINE | PART TEN | PART ELEVEN | PART TWELVE | PART THIRTEEN | PART FOURTEEN | PART FIFTEEN | PART SIXTEEN | PART SEVENTEEN | PART EIGHTEEN | PART NINETEEN | PART TWENTY| PART TWENTY ONE
PART TWENTY TWO
When Elena awoke, it was to a mind numbing hunger. Her skin burned hotly, as if it had been slowly flayed, and she felt her back stick painfully to the sheets beneath her. The metallic tang of her own blood filled her mouth. She couldn't move; her arms and legs were chained tightly to the iron frame bed that was obviously bolted to the floor, and she could still feel the Vervain sit heavily in her veins
Katherine’s voice filled the room. “Humans call it death by a thousand cuts. Not that bleeding out can actually kill a vampire, but it isn't pleasant. Are we thirsty yet?”
Elena twisted her head to follow the voice, and schooled her face to show nothing. Something told her it was important not to show fear. “What's the point of all this? I thought you'd rather me dead” she asked, her voice hoarse from dryness, as she spotted Katherine sprawled on a chaise lounge backed up against the far wall. There were no windows, Elena realised, and she couldn't hear beyond the four walls. They must be underground.
“My, my, I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head,” Katherine said, amused. “I wouldn't get any ideas. They're not going to find you in time.”
“In time for what?”
“Why, In time to save you,” Katherine said. “And the town, of course, but that's neither here nor there.” She got to her feet, smiling mischievously, and Elena shuddered. How was it they looked so alike? She knew they were related, but their identical looks were eerie.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
Katherine smirked. “What can I say, I miss my maker,” she said.
“Your maker?” Elena echoed.
“Oh, didn't you know?” Katherine said. “The founders of this town killed him and then buried him in this godforsaken place. They were such hypocrites. They called us unnatural and evil, but they didn't even blink when they coerced their pet witch into using him in their ritual. The life of a vampire, and the lives of a member of every family on the council.”
Elena frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Did you ever ask Damon how his mother died?” Katherine asked lightly. “He was very fond of her, you know, and he was devastated when she died. His father told him it was a bad flu or something - people died from that sort of thing then - but it wasn't the flu. Damon's father strapped her to a bed, not unlike the one you're tied to now, and made my maker drain her dry. They kept him alive for many, many weeks, starving him in between feeds and, then, when he'd drained exactly six founding family members, they had their witch kill him and bury him under this godforsaken town. He was to be their protection, you see, from all those things that go bump in the dark. A pity for them it didn't go as planned. I guess Lockwood should have mentioned the whole werewolf bloodline thing - it left quite a gap in their spell walls.”
“This is crazy,” Elena said quietly.
“No, Elena, this is history,” Katherine said. “And guess what? It's repeating itself.” She stood up and Elena could pick out the sound of feet on the other side of the door. Katherine caught her reaction and smiled.
“I've already got your first meal ready - a Lockwood, as luck would have it, “ she said, as she leaned over Elena and unlocked her chains. Elena hissed with pain, her eyes swerving to the door as it opened. A woman Elena didn't recognise dragged a half unconscious Tyler though the door.
“Bon appetite,” Katherine as she sauntered towards the door. “I'll be back to pick up the leftovers later.”
Elena felt her hunger rush through her as the two heartbeats filled the room. There was no way she could control it, she had lost too much blood. She felt something inside her flinch at the thought of killing Tyler, even through the vervain induced haze, but the woman was fair game. Gritting her teeth, she ignored her weakness and pain, and and rolled off the bed, crouching as she eyed her target. She felt her teeth lengthen, and the now familiar tightness around her eyes as the need to feed ran through her.
She sprang.
And howled with pain, missing her target as her mind exploded.
“Don't bother even trying,” the woman said lowly, her voice knifing through the pain. “You're too young to fight me.”
“Witch,” Elena gasped out.
“My, my, aren't you a bright little vampire,” the woman said. “Try not to spill too much blood on the floor, it's a bitch to clean up.”
She heard the heavy clang of the steel door, and was eventually able to open her eyes as the witch's hold loosened. Tyler was strewn on the floor before her, laid out like a buffet. Elena bit back a sob as the hunger rushed through her. She looked away, curling her hands into fists, letting her nails bite into her palms; the pain failed to break the spiralling need to feed. On the floor, Tyler groaned, and Elena's head snapped around, following the sound.
“I'm so sorry,” she told him, and then her mouth latched onto his throat.
~~~*~~*~~*~~~
“Do we have a plan?” Stefan asked lowly, as he followed Damon into the basement..
“We find Katherine, kill her, and rescue Elena,” Damon said succinctly.
“That's a directive, not a plan,” Stefan said dryly. "I was hoping for something a little more specific."
Damon whirled on him, glaring. “If you have a better idea, feel free to share,” he said.
“Well, we could try to delay her,” Stefan said quietly. “The spell requires her to feed a member of each founding family to Elena before killing her. All we need to do is make sure she doesn't get to one of the families.”
Damon halted. “Liz's family is the smallest, easiest to protect,” he said thoughtfully.
“If that's the reasoning you're going to with,” Stefan said, with a smirk.
Damon eyed him “Spit it out,” he said.
“Nothing. I'm just not used to seeing you being protective of your friends - or even having friends,” Stefan said.
“Don't start making assumptions, brother, you know how well that worked out for us last time.”
Stefan gave him a wry look. “I'll try to restrain myself.”
“Speaking of restraint,” Damon drawled. “We have the feeding thing under control?”
“It's not an issue.”
Damon gave him a long look, before shrugging. “Okay, it's your funeral,” he said. They reached the bottom of the narrow steps, and Damon pushed open the door. Their small crop of Vervain grew in the corner, and it was getting more meagre by the day. He'd have to look into planting a fresh crop, but for now... “Where are the gloves?”
Stefan produced a pair of heavy duty leather gloves from a drawer and tossed them at him. “We're going to need more than vervain to slow Katherine down, especially if she has back up - and she always has back up.”
“And again, we're back to the part where I ask you if you have a better plan,” Damon said.
“I might,” said Anna's voice, and Damon turned to see her leaning against the door jamb.
“Eavesdropping, were we?” he asked.
“I thought it might be in my best interests,” she said, as side stepped into the room. “So this is your batcave, huh?” She eyed the vervain. “Complete with your own stock of Kryptonite.”
“I think you might be mixing your comic book references,” Stefan said dryly.
“Whatever,” she said. “The point is, Stefan has a point.”
“Hold the presses,” Damon said. “A new dawn has...dawned.”
“Aha..ha,” Stefan said.
Anna rolled her eyes. “What I'm saying is Katherine is not going to fall for the same trick twice, so I wouldn't bother with the vervain. What we need is bait. Something she needs so badly, she'll try anything to get it ...including walking into something she suspects is a trap - and she will suspect it.”
Damon crossed her arms. “I'm listening.”
“The witch,” Anna said. “She's the weak spot. They're rare and hard to come by, and the only local alternative is sitting upstairs. I say we check out this place, get the witch alone, and take her.”
“Not if she takes us down first,” Stefan said.
“She can't take us all down," Anna said. "And we'll have Bonnie running interference.”
“She won't be happy with us killing the other witch,” Stefan said.
“Who said anything about killing her?” Anna said. “We trank her, and keep her prisoner here. It'll be only a matter of time before Katherine comes looking, and we'll be waiting for her on home ground.”
“What aren't you telling us?” Damon asked.
Anna made a face “We're going to have to convince Bonnie to use the spell her grandmother used in order to trap Katherine - the one that lets a vampire in, but doesn't let it out again.”
“The spell that killed her grandmother you mean,” Stefan said flatly.
“I get that,” Anna said. “But lets be blunt here. Bonnie's grandmother was getting on in years, and that played a large factor in her death. Bonnie is young. She should be okay.”
“Or,” Damon said. “We don't use Bonnie at all, but get the other witch to do it. She is disposable anyway.”
“Why would she do that?” Stefan asked.
“Because she wants to live,” Damon said.
“This could go so wrong,” Stefan muttered.
Damon slapped his hands together. “Right, we've got a plan,” he said, a shade too cheerily. “Alaric and Gilbert will cover Liz and her family, and the rest of us will get the witch.”
“What about Jeremy?” Stefan asked.
“Oh come on, we both know there's no way in hell he'll agree to being left behind,” Damon said. “We'll make him our designated driver.”
“Because that worked out so well last time,” Stefan said.
“You think Gilbert will go along with this? Elena is his daughter, after all.” Anna said, “He may not appreciate being shunted off to protection duty.”
“One of Elena's parents on this witch hunt is more than enough, don't you think?” Damon asked. “And I know Isobel better than Gilbert, it's easier to read her.”
“Okay,” Stefan said, nodding. “Lets do it.”
“I'll tell Jeremy,” Anna said, making for the door.
“Wait,” Damon said, catching her arm. “First, I want a promise from you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The resurrection spell,” he said slowly. “I read the small print. Elena would work for your Mother, too... all you would need to do is feed Gilbert to her and then stake her as part of the ceremony.”
“The blood of both lines making a bridge between the living and the dead,” Anna said. “I'll admit it, it did occur to me...for all of two seconds. Then I remembered that my mother would never forgive me if I did that. It wasn't her way.”
Damon looked at her, and she looked back steadily.
“Hmm,” he said, letting her arm go.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said dryly.
“Nothing personal,” he said. “I'm just making sure we all know where we stand.”
Stefan turned to him, as soon as she was out of hearing range. “Do you believe her?” he asked.
“I believe she means it right now,” he said. “But that might change.”
“Another thing to worry about,” Stefan said.
“We'll put it on the list,” Damon said, as he threw the gloves back into the drawer. "But for now, lets catch us some witchy bait."
PART TWENTY THREE